The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 251 - 66: Wang Shuo the Magician! It’s Showtime! Wang Shuo: Marco, Do You Want to Score Tonight?
Of the two holding midfielders, only Kael was a dedicated defender responsible for providing cover.
Which flank he covered depended on the situation on the pitch.
The responsibility of playing the ball out from the back fell to the two center-backs, Hummels and Subotic, and the left-sided holding midfielder, Shahin.
Shahin was left-footed and often surged forward to link up with Foyelner in the number 10 role.
Although Foyelner’s official position was number 10, it wasn’t fixed; he roamed all over the pitch.
A moment later, a Landes goal kick sailed upfield, but Subotic won it back.
Dortmund began to orchestrate their next attack.
As Wang Shuo dropped back from his forward position, he motioned for Grosskreutz to cut inside.
Just then, Subotic launched a long, diagonal pass to the left flank upfield.
De De surged forward to receive the ball and played a diagonal pass to Wang Shuo’s feet.
Wang Shuo found himself in a pocket of space and brought the ball under perfect control.
Before a defender could close him down, he tapped it back to Foyelner, who was beside him.
After making the pass, he immediately turned and sprinted forward at top speed.
Wang Shuo and Foyelner had played together for over a year and had already developed a great understanding.
Without taking a touch, Foyelner instantly chipped a lofted pass over the defense and into the left side of the penalty area.
Wang Shuo burst into the Landes penalty area at blistering speed, with center-back Flieberger in hot pursuit. He glanced over his shoulder at the approaching ball. Positioning himself just left of the penalty spot, he planted his left foot as a pivot, twisted his body, and swung his right foot to meet the ball on the volley.
As the ball dropped, Wang Shuo met it flush with his right foot, sending a lightning-fast shot rocketing into the right side of the Landes goal.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"
"It’s in!!!"
"Just eleven minutes into the match, Dortmund is the first to breach the Landes goal!"
"Wang Shuo!"
"Dortmund’s twenty-million-euro man!"
"He’s been incredibly active since the opening whistle, constantly directing and orchestrating attacks up front."
"This time, he seized his opportunity, burying a spectacular volley into the Landes net!"
"One-nil!"
After scoring, Wang Shuo sprinted excitedly toward the sideline.
In truth, there were only just over five thousand spectators in the stands for this match.
The stadium was only half full.
But this was a goal in the UEFA Europa League!
This was Wang Shuo’s debut in a European competition!
The thought made Wang Shuo jump into the air, pumping his fists in celebration!
His teammates all rushed over from behind him.
"I guess I finally understood your signal that time, huh?" Foyelner said, excitedly throwing his arms around Wang Shuo.
But Wang Shuo feigned a look of disdain. "It was still a pretty average pass."
"You’d better explain yourself! What was so average about it?" Foyelner grabbed his head in a playful headlock.
Everyone roared with laughter, crowding around the pair as they headed back to their positions.
"Hey, is that the head coach’s signature boxing celebration?" Kuba asked, finding it novel. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Wang Shuo laughed. "The Farmer’s Triple Punch."
...
With the first goal on the board, the Dortmund players all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
More importantly, they could now play with more patience and started to show more creativity.
This was especially true for Wang Shuo.
His chemistry with his teammates still wasn’t perfect.
Often, his teammates couldn’t grasp his intentions quickly enough.
On the pitch, it was impossible to shout every instruction clearly. A quick call, a hand signal, even a look—if it wasn’t understood instantly, the opportunity was lost.
Another major difference between Dortmund and Mainz was that while the Bumblebees had strong flanks, their attacks were still primarily orchestrated through the middle.
The wing play was used more to create width and attack the half-spaces.
As a result, Wang Shuo was able to find more space in the central areas.
In the 24th minute, as Wang Shuo once again dropped back from his forward position, Shahin was advancing with the ball. He played a crisp ground pass precisely to Wang Shuo’s feet.
Wang Shuo’s movement drew Finagle out of position.
By the time Shahin’s pass reached his feet, Finagle hadn’t yet gotten tight to him.
With his back to the goal, Wang Shuo used the inside of his right foot to touch the ball to his left. He then spun left, toward the center, bypassing the onrushing Finagle.
For Wang Shuo in his current form, a move like this was not difficult at all.
His opponent was, after all, just a player from the Danish League.
"A beautiful first touch to get away!"
After bypassing Finagle and collecting the ball, Wang Shuo ran at Flieberger. He feinted as if to move right, then sharply cut the ball to his left with his right foot, completely deceiving Flieberger.
With a touch forward on his left, he charged into the penalty area.
"A breakaway!!"
"A brilliant series of Breakthroughs from Wang Shuo! He’s carried the ball into the box!"
"Let’s see if he can keep his cool and finish this chance!"
"It’s in the back of the net!!!!"
"Dortmund score again!"
"Two-nil!"
"Wang Shuo has scored a brace!"
"That’s Dortmund’s twenty-million-euro man for you!"
"In his first-ever match for the club, and his career debut in a European competition, he’s scored a brace!"
"You have to admit, this is a truly talented young player."
"Let’s take another look at the replay of that goal."
"We can see here, the two Landes center-backs were completely unable to stop Wang Shuo."
"Finagle, in particular, failed to use his body to block off the space in time. Once Wang Shuo got around him, he was powerless to prevent his breakthrough."
"That’s the kind of quality Wang Shuo possesses!"
...
With Wang Shuo’s brace, Dortmund took complete control of the match.
However, the team also began to ease off on their attack.
After all, it was the first match of the new season, and they had a first-round DFB-Pokal match coming up next.
