Wang Shuo looked at the Bayer Leverkusen center-back in surprise. He noticed that Friedrich was gazing at the Mainz penalty area, his eyes red, but there was a smile on his face.
"I ca to Mainz when I was 16 and stayed until I left at 28."
"I just wanted to win a championship to extend my career with the national team."
He had left because Mainz had been relegated.
At the ti, everyone thought it would be very difficult for the team to return to the Bundesliga.
Mainz also needed to sell their captain for a sum of money to keep the club operating after relegation.
Friedrich’s transfer could be considered a deal mutually agreed upon by both the club and the player.
Both sides got what they needed, making it a beneficial arrangent for all.
But who would have thought that just one year later, Mainz would fight their way back!
And what’s more, as a newly promoted team, they had won the Bundesliga half-season championship.
Now, they had even made a historic run to the DFB-Pokal final.
This was sothing for Mainz to celebrate.
For the Mainz fans, it was a joyous occasion that cos once in a lifeti.
But for Friedrich, it was an unmitigated personal tragedy!
"No matter what, Wang, I should thank you. At least you’ve accomplished what I always wanted to as a Mainz player but never could."
"So, in Berlin, you have to keep fighting. Please!"
After speaking, Friedrich reached out and patted Wang Shuo’s shoulder heavily, as if passing a weighty responsibility onto him.
But Wang Shuo had Eagle Eye.
He clearly saw that as Friedrich turned to leave, his eyes were brimming with tears—just like Wang Shuo’s own teammates, who were celebrating wildly in the penalty area.
...
While Wang Shuo and his teammates were cheering and celebrating on the bus back to Mainz, the German dia had already gone into a frenzy.
Bild wrote a match comntary congratulating Mainz on their historic entry into the DFB-Pokal final.
"This is the reward that Klopp and his players deserve!"
"It’s also a return for Mainz’s hard work throughout the entire season!"
Bild believed that despite their overall strength being far inferior to Bayer Leverkusen’s, Mainz had stubbornly withstood the pressure and scored against them twice.
Wang Shuo deserved the lion’s share of the credit, but at the sa ti, Mainz’s midfielders and defenders were not to be underestimated.
"Klopp has instilled a tenacious spirit into this team."
Bild also highlighted Wang Shuo’s two goals.
"This 18-year-old Chinese player has already beco one of the most dangerous attackers in the German Football Scene."
"More importantly, he is still leading the Bundesliga’s top scorer chart!"
Other German dia outlets like Kicker Magazine and the Frankfurt Allgeine Zeitung were all singing Mainz’s praises.
They also gave Wang Shuo’s performance extrely high praise.
And this ti, Wang Shuo’s na even spread beyond Germany once again.
France’s L’Equipe Newspaper dedicated an article to him, titled "Chinese Genius Shines in the DFB-Pokal."
The United Kingdom’s The Tis also wrote an article titled, "A Brace! Bundesliga’s Top Rookie Sends Mainz to Historic DFB-Pokal Final."
Marca Newspaper also reported on the DFB-Pokal semi-final, with the headline: "Mainz’s Genius Shows His Might, the Pharmacy Crashes Out of the DFB-Pokal."
Italy’s Torino Sports Daily also wrote an article: "Europe’s Top Golden Boy Sinks the Pharmacy Twice."
Following Mainz’s win of the half-season championship, which made Wang Shuo’s na skyrocket in the European Football Scene, this was another wave of widespread dia coverage.
In truth, for cup competitions like the DFB-Pokal, England’s FA Cup and League Cup, or Spain’s King’s Cup, the semi-finals are when they really start to draw significant attention.
Wang Shuo, having scored a brace, was once again reported on by nurous dia outlets, naturally drawing the attention of many fans.
After returning to Mainz from Dusseldorf, Wang Shuo also saw a sea of praise for himself.
He even secretly went lurking on Chinese websites and saw that major portals, news sites, and forums were all reporting on the match, reposting all sorts of news from Europe.
All kinds of football pundits were comnting on Wang Shuo’s performance.
Wang Shuo felt a secret thrill of satisfaction as he read them.
While browsing China’s largest sports forum, he saw that the conversations between "Green Grass by the Field" and other fans were all highlighted. More and more fans were leaving comnts saying they wanted to go abroad to watch the DFB-Pokal final.
Passports and visas were actually relatively easy to sort out.
Accommodation and transportation weren’t big problems either.
After all, Berlin was the capital of Germany.
The real trouble was the match tickets.
Wang Shuo saw that Green Grass by the Field had left a comnt saying they were trying to figure sothing out, and that maybe they could ask Wang Shuo’s agent for help.
’Ask Thomas Essien?’
Wang Shuo wanted to laugh. ’You might as well just ask .’
He then recalled that for the second round of the DFB-Pokal, the forum had also arranged for soone to be at the stadium.
It seed to have been organized by this sa Green Grass by the Field, who had also contacted Thomas Essien.
Essien had later complained that the person didn’t speak German, which made communication difficult.
Speaking of which, Wang Shuo felt quite embarrassed about it.
They had made a special trip to do a live text and photo broadcast, but in the end, he hadn’t even played in the match.
After thinking for a mont, Wang Shuo clicked on the avatar and sent a direct ssage.
"Hello, I’m right here in Mainz, Germany. I can help you guys get tickets. Here’s my QQ."
After sending the ssage, Wang Shuo went back to browsing German websites.
While surfing the German web, Wang Shuo happened to co across another interesting piece of news.
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