All signs indicated that Wang Shuo intended to use his speed to forcibly break through the defense from the outside.
Farrenhorst got his wish. Delighted, he imdiately turned sideways to close in.
It was common knowledge that Wang Shuo wasn’t strong in physical confrontations.
But at that very mont, Wang Shuo, who had been charging toward the left side of the defensive zone, suddenly slamd on the brakes and flicked the ball horizontally with the outside of his right foot.
Unlucky Farrenhorst!
The Hannover 96 center-back could only watch helplessly as the ball rolled right past his planted foot.
At that mont, if he could have moved his left foot just a little, the ball wouldn’t have gotten past.
But after shifting his center of gravity, his planted foot was completely immobile.
He watched, powerless, as the ball slipped away right under his nose.
What was even more cruel was that Wang Shuo mirrored the move, stopping and changing direction to cut inside horizontally.
He reached out, trying to grab him.
At a ti like this, who cared about committing a foul?
But Wang Shuo was prepared and blocked Farrenhorst’s hand.
By the ti Wang Shuo caught up to the ball again, the other center-back, Christian Schulz, had already moved over to provide cover.
But for Wang Shuo, this was no longer difficult.
Catching up to the ball, he took a series of quick, short steps, then suddenly accelerated. He followed up with a skillful La Croqueta, about to break through the gap between Schulz and Farrenhorst and into the penalty area.
If he got past them, it would be a one-on-one with the keeper!
But Wang Shuo had overlooked one thing.
The 1.72-ter-tall Cherundolo was very agile. Although Wang Shuo had kept him pinned on the outside, he had managed to adjust and was now chasing Wang Shuo from behind.
Seeing Wang Shuo about to dribble past Christian Schulz and break into the penalty area, he acted decisively. He reached out from behind, grabbed the jersey at Wang Shuo’s waist, and pulled hard.
’A free kick is the worst that can happen!’
But Wang Shuo was too fast.
Everything happened in an instant. Wang Shuo had just stepped one foot into the penalty area when he lost his balance and fell.
The mont Wang Shuo hit the ground, the entire Bruch Road Stadium erupted in uncontrollable fury!
"Penalty!!!"
"That damn Yankee, he fouled him!"
"That has to be a penalty, an indisputable penalty!"
The Mainz fans in the stands behind the Hannover 96 goal, who were the closest to the action, were especially enraged, looking as if they would tear down the barriers, rush onto the pitch, and rip Cherundolo to shreds.
Cherundolo was also clearly startled.
The next mont, he heard the sharp, clear blast of the referee’s whistle.
Peter Seipel unhesitatingly pointed to the penalty spot while also beckoning Cherundolo over.
The more than 20,000 Mainz fans in the stadium erupted in a unified, thunderous cheer.
The Hannover 96 players closest to Seipel sensed the danger and imdiately sward him, trying to explain the situation.
But Seipel just kept waving his hands and shaking his head, indicating he wouldn’t listen to any explanations.
Cherundolo argued that when he grabbed the jersey, the player was still outside the box, so it shouldn’t be a penalty.
As for a yellow card, he would accept that!
But what he didn’t expect was for Seipel to pull out a red card!
"Why?"
Wang Shuo, "playing dead" on the grass, peeked and saw Cherundolo completely lose control, roaring at the referee.
"This is clearly a yellow card, why is it a red?"
At this point, the Arican couldn’t care less about the penalty.
But Seipel’s stance was resolute.
He first held up both hands, signaling for the Hannover 96 players to calm down. Then he glanced at Wang Shuo, who was still on the ground, apparently to determine whether to call for the team doctor or even a stretcher.
However, after just one look, he confird the guy was playing dead.
This almost made Seipel crack a smile.
"At the ti of the foul, you and Christian Schulz were level. You were both the last defenders."
"But more importantly, the definition of the last man hinges on denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity."
"It was obvious that if he had gotten past you, he would have been one-on-one with the keeper."
Seipel’s explanation was so well-reasoned that no one from Hannover 96 could offer a solid rebuttal.
Only the head coach on the sideline, Dieter Hecking, was still roaring and yelling, insisting it wasn’t a penalty and that it was a biased call.
After confirming his decision was correct, Seipel walked over to Wang Shuo, who was still down.
This was also a routine inquiry from the referee.
Wang Shuo was, of course, fine. He quickly got up with the "help" of his teammates.
But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen Seipel smiling.
’I really did fall! I wasn’t acting, and it definitely wasn’t a dive!’
’Hey, if you don’t believe , watch the replay later.’
’I’m trying to win the European Golden Boy Award, not an Oscar for Best Actor!’
...
In the end, Cherundolo was sent off the pitch.
Kalhan calmly took the penalty and scored in one go, equalizing the score for Mainz!
There was actually a small incident before the penalty kick was taken.
Kalhan had wanted Wang Shuo to take the penalty that he himself had earned, but Wang Shuo refused.
’Damn this Virgo personality!’
Anyway, Wang Shuo just didn’t like taking penalty kicks.
Even while competing with Ibisevic for the top scorer title, he was still unwilling to take them.
With an extra man, the ga gradually began to tilt in Mainz’s favor.
In the 71st minute of the second half, Foyelner created a corner kick opportunity up front.
Hainauer took the corner. Nowitzki headed the ball across, and Subotic smashed it in from close range to score.
2-1!
As for Wang Shuo, he was under tight marking from Hannover 96 for the entire match.
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