The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 45 - 29: He’s Really a Genius

"Oh my god, he scored!"

The moment Wang Shuo scored, the entire Bruch Road Stadium erupted.

On the bench, Borja, who had just been substituted off, shot up from his seat in utter disbelief. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was agape, wide enough to fit a whole egg.

The Ecuadorian could never have imagined that the iron wall he had struggled against helplessly for over an hour would be breached by Wang Shuo in just two minutes.

This was simply unbelievable!

"How did he do that?" Borja muttered to himself.

As he sat back down, he clearly noticed Boakye and Jovanovic next to him trying to suppress their laughter.

It wasn’t hard for him to guess that his two teammates were laughing at the complaint he’d just made.

’But this is just ridiculous, isn’t it?’

’He scored after just that little time?’

Looking over at the coach’s box, Klopp was already so excited he was shadowboxing, completely lost in the moment.

Borja didn’t need to guess to know that, at this very moment, the head coach must be filled with regret.

’He put Wang Shuo in too late!’

The more the Ecuadorian thought about it, the more bitter and frustrated he became.

’It’s not logical! It’s not scientific!’ 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’Are the Kaiserslautern defenders made of paper?’

’If they are, then what was that whole last hour about?’

...

"Hahaha, see? You’ve got to rely on our Wang Shuo!"

"Mighty! Wang Shuo scored less than two minutes after getting on the field. Incredible!"

"What did I tell you? If the Mainz coach had put Wang Shuo in earlier, they would’ve broken through Kaiserslautern’s goal ages ago."

"Don’t be fooled, Wang Shuo’s goal looked simple, but it was actually very difficult."

"Exactly. But that just proves how amazing Wang Shuo really is."

"He’s scored in three consecutive 2nd Bundesliga matches now. Wang Shuo’s momentum is insane!"

On the domestic sports forums in China, the fans watching the live broadcast went wild the moment the goal was scored.

Forum posts, QQ groups, and all sorts of other channels were rapidly sharing the news.

As Wang Shuo’s performance continued to improve, the amount of attention he attracted grew higher and higher.

This was especially true for major portal websites, which were now closely following the match’s progress.

In the short span of less than 3 minutes after Wang Shuo’s goal, all of China’s major portal, news, and sports websites reported on it immediately.

This further boosted Wang Shuo’s popularity back home, drawing the attention of more and more fans.

He even began to attract more casual observers, and his fame started to skyrocket.

...

Back at Bruch Road Stadium, Wang Shuo was unaware of the reaction he was causing back in China.

After the goal, he remained completely focused on the game.

There wasn’t much time left for him.

With about 20 minutes left, he still needed to push himself if he wanted to earn 3 Passive Value.

So, even after scoring, he continued to run his heart out, looking for opportunities.

To everyone else, it looked like Wang Shuo wasn’t satisfied with just one goal and was striving to help the team extend their lead and secure the victory.

The fans in the stadium were all cheering for Wang Shuo, encouraging him.

Especially when Wang Shuo got the ball and tried to make a Breakthrough, only to be tripped by Kaiserslautern’s center-back Schonheim. He just grinned, scrambled up from the grass, and immediately started trying to win the ball back.

This immediately moved the more than 20,000 Mainz fans in the stadium, who all started chanting Wang Shuo’s name from the stands.

The momentum grew, and the chants became louder and louder.

Even the commentators on German Television were full of praise.

"What a forward! His desire to win is incredibly strong!"

"Although he’s only 17, Wang Shuo has left a very deep impression on us every time he’s played."

"We can see that many Mainz fans here in the stadium are cheering for Wang Shuo."

"No one could dislike such a hard-working and ambitious young player."

Besides his tireless effort during the match, the most important thing was that his runs were mostly aimed at open spaces.

As long as his teammates could get the ball to his feet, every time it sent a shiver down the spines of the Kaiserslautern defenders.

Naturally, this also made the Mainz fans in the stands incredibly excited.

"This is the kind of performance our Mainz attackers should be delivering."

"Exactly! Borja was on the pitch earlier and posed no threat at all."

"Is this kid really only 17?"

"It’s absolutely true. I’ve seen him play for the U19s."

"My god, he’s a real genius!"

"Come on, Wang Shuo!"

"Score another one!"

"Everyone, chant with me! Wang~ Shuo~"

"Wang~ Shuo~"

As more and more Mainz fans in the stands began to chant his name, not only did everyone in the stadium hear it, but even the 2nd Bundesliga television broadcast picked it up.

The director even cut to a shot of the stands.

"Listen to that! The Mainz fans are cheering Wang Shuo on!"

"This 17-year-old Chinese youngster is the youngest goalscorer in Mainz’s century-long history, and now the club has placed great hopes on him."

"I believe it won’t be long before he sends shockwaves throughout all of Germany!"

Klopp and Buvac stood in front of the home team’s coaching box, listening to the increasingly fervent cheers coming from all around the stadium.

As legendary players for Mainz themselves, they were also deeply inspired.

For any club, the fans are the most precious asset!

"This kid’s rate of improvement is staggering!" Buvac’s admiration was written all over his face.

"The key is that the Kaiserslautern defenders have no answer for him." Klopp couldn’t stop smiling.

However battered and frustrated they had felt being suppressed by Kaiserslautern’s defense for over an hour, that’s how cathartic this moment felt now.

Not only were they in the lead, but they were continuing to pin Kaiserslautern down.

The moment the visiting team relaxed their guard or showed any weakness, it immediately turned into a threat.

...

The match reached the 86th minute, and Mainz completed a tackle in Kaiserslautern’s half, near the centerline.

Kalhan passed the ball to Balik on the right side of the attack.

Balik controlled the ball with the outside of his left foot, cut inside, shook off a defender, and sent a diagonal pass forward.

Wang Shuo astutely ran into the center of the attacking third, receiving the ball in front of Kaiserslautern’s two center-backs.

The closest one, Schonheim, immediately rushed toward him.

The 1.91-meter-tall German center-back was well aware of Wang Shuo’s speed, so he didn’t close in. Instead, he kept some distance to avoid being beaten in one move.

Despite being only 21, as a product of Germany’s national youth teams, Schonheim was very experienced in defense.

He was confident that at this distance, no matter which way Wang Shuo changed direction, he could block his path instantly.

Even if the ball got past, the man wouldn’t.

"Come on!"

Schonheim stared intently at the opponent before him, his gaze unwavering.

’A mistake like last time won’t ever happen again!’

The opponent’s choice to face him head-on was within Wang Shuo’s expectations.

After stopping the ball between his feet, Wang Shuo immediately made his decision.

Back when Wang Shuo had received the boost from [Swift], his footwork had become very fast. But because his [Ball Sense] was still relatively poor at the time, the effect wasn’t particularly pronounced.

He had to rely more on feints to deceive opponents.

But ever since his [Ball Sense] was upgraded to the Regional Level, as his feel for the ball became more acute and his understanding deepened, this was especially true for so-called technique.

The same move, if sped up by 1.2 times, could have a world of difference in its effect.

Before, Wang Shuo never understood why Barça’s genius, Messi, was so sharp at dribbling past players.

Why couldn’t opponents stop him?

Now, he understood.

Because Messi was fast enough!

Messi is short, has a low center of gravity, and has a high frequency of movement.

For Manchester United’s ace, Ronaldo, who was also incredibly skilled, to get past someone, he needed to rely on feints like step-overs.

For Real Madrid’s Dutch winger Robben to beat a man, he often needed drastic changes in speed and direction, which is why he had so many injuries.

But Messi didn’t need to, because he was fast enough.

Changes of pace and direction, feints—they’re all for deceiving the opponent, for unbalancing them.

But if you’re fast enough, you don’t even need to do that.

Just like Messi.

His every move is real.

If the defender can’t keep up, he immediately seizes the initiative and transitions into the next move.

And if the defender does keep up?

His extremely high frequency of movement allows Messi to quickly make another move in the opposite direction of the defender.

That’s why, when facing Messi, especially one-on-one, defenders feel immense pressure.

Which of his moves is real, and which is a feint?

When Wang Shuo faced Schonheim one-on-one, this was exactly what he did.

After stepping out with his right foot, his whole body leaned toward his right shoulder.

Schonheim immediately made his judgment.

’It’s real!’

So, the Kaiserslautern defender immediately shifted his center of gravity to block him.

But Wang Shuo’s movement was too fast. With a la croqueta, he instantly knocked the ball back to his left foot and pushed it forward.

Just like that, he feinted past Schonheim and sprinted forward with the ball.

The whole process sounds long when described, but in reality, it was all completed the instant Wang Shuo received the ball.

The two of them seemed to just brush past each other.

A collective gasp immediately echoed through Bruch Road Stadium.

"Oh my god, he dribbled right past him!"

"Wang Shuo beat Schonheim with just a single feint!"

No one had expected Wang Shuo to beat his man so cleanly, so completely!

So much so that Kaiserslautern’s last center-back, Owatarra, immediately turned to chase back, but Wang Shuo still managed to break into the penalty area with the ball.

Not only that, but on the left side of the penalty area, Wang Shuo suddenly came to a sharp stop, cut the ball back towards the center with his right foot, and was about to beat Owatarra again.

This French player from Burkina Faso had rushed in too aggressively and couldn’t keep up with Wang Shuo’s rhythm at all.

In desperation, he could only reach out and grab Wang Shuo’s jersey.

Just as Wang Shuo was about to shake off Owatarra, the sliding center-back grabbed his jersey, and both of them fell to the ground.

The referee, Perry, immediately blew his whistle.

Once again, a deafening cheer erupted from Bruch Road Stadium.

Penalty!

Yellow card!

All the Mainz fans began to shout in excitement.

Wang Shuo, however, slammed his hands hard against the grass.

To everyone else, it looked like he was frustrated at being pulled down and missing a chance to score.

But in reality?

Wang Shuo was celebrating finally getting the 3rd point of Passive Value for this match.

With this, he had accumulated 50 points and could get another Passive Skill Card.

When Kalhan came over and pulled Wang Shuo up, he initially thought Wang Shuo would be angry or upset and was even thinking of offering the penalty kick to him.

But to his surprise, Wang Shuo just waved his hand cheerfully.

"You take it."

Wang Shuo pointed to the penalty spot, making a welcoming gesture toward Kalhan.

This gesture immediately earned him a storm of applause.

"What a humble young man!"

"He’s already scored one goal, and even though he missed out on a golden opportunity, he still gave up the penalty."

"Let’s take another look at that Breakthrough just now."

"Here’s Wang Shuo, face-to-face, breaking through Schonheim head-on."

"Schonheim is a starting center-back for our Germany U-21 team, and he was beaten just like that."

"You have to admit, Wang Shuo’s dribble and Breakthrough was truly beautiful."

"Let’s watch Mainz’s penalty now."

"Kalhan, with a very calm run-up!"

"GOAL!!!"

"2-0!"

"Mainz converts the penalty, and they now lead Kaiserslautern 2-0!"

"Mainz has pretty much locked up the victory."

"They have the 17-year-old Chinese youngster, Wang Shuo, to thank."

"It was Wang Shuo’s substitution that turned the tide, creating two goals for Mainz."

"I believe that after today’s match, the Mainz head coach, Klopp, should have already made his decision."

"As a starting forward, Borja’s current performance is nowhere near as good as Wang Shuo’s."

Five minutes after Kalhan scored the penalty, the referee, Perry, blew the final whistle.

Thanks to Wang Shuo’s goal and the penalty he created, Mainz defeated Kaiserslautern 2-0.