"I’ve got it. I’ll talk to the captain about organizing a team dinner this week. I’ll figure it out."
With one match a week, there was usually one day off.
This ant Wang Shuo could easily arrange a team activity.
Klopp was very satisfied with Wang Shuo’s assurance.
Just as Wang Shuo stood up to take his leave, he reached the door and suddenly thought of sothing. He turned back and grinned at Klopp.
"Boss."
Klopp looked on in surprise as Wang Shuo turned back.
"Actually, there’s a very important reason why Mainz hasn’t been able to beat Bayern for over a hundred years. I hadn’t arrived yet!"
Klopp froze on the spot.
"You’ve seen it for yourself since I arrived. From a 3-1 loss to a 1-1 draw, we’ve been constantly improving."
"So, we will definitely win the DFB-Pokal final in Berlin!"
"It will be the first ti in the club’s hundred-year history that we beat Bayern, and the first ti we win a national title!"
"It would be incredibly significant!"
After he finished speaking, Wang Shuo smiled, turned, and left.
’It’s not just the players who need confidence,’ he realized. ’Klopp needs it too.’
Behind him, Klopp let out a chuckle and laughed. "That arrogant little brat!"
Klopp understood Wang Shuo’s intentions.
He could also feel Wang Shuo’s determination.
Because deep down, the two of them were the sa kind of person!
People who had co from the mountains, from the forests!
...
「Afternoon of May 3rd, Bruch Road Stadium.」
On Matchday 29 of the Bundesliga, Mainz hosted Werder Bren.
In their four-ga losing streak, aside from Hannover 96, all their opponents had been top-seven teams in the league.
But this round, facing an 11th-place Werder Bren, Mainz managed to regain so of their form and stability.
Especially after a week’s rest, the players’ form and fitness had clearly recovered.
Defeating Bayer Leverkusen and historically reaching the DFB-Pokal final had also given the entire Mainz club a boost in confidence and motivation.
In the middle of the week, the team also organized a dinner.
No one from the coaching staff or managent was involved; it was just the players.
At this dinner, everyone spoke freely, sharing their thoughts on the team’s current situation, voicing their dissatisfactions, and even venting about the coaching staff or managent.
Ultimately, however, the players were still quite satisfied with their current situation.
After all, before the season started, everyone had pegged Mainz as a pri candidate for the relegation zone.
Last season’s 2nd Bundesliga champions, Borussia Mönchengladbach, had been struggling in the relegation zone all season.
More importantly, even though Mainz had been plagued by constant injuries this season—with so players suffering recurring setbacks—they had yet to see any truly serious injuries.
Veterans like Pekovic and Kalhan, who many had been worried about, were still holding up and able to play.
Deep down, everyone knew it was because Wang Shuo was shouldering the burden up front.
A forward who averaged 12 kiloters of running per ga was leading the line, like an umbrella shielding everyone behind him from the wind and rain.
In any team’s locker room, seniority and hierarchy matter.
But it’s also a pragmatic place where a player’s contributions are what truly count.
At Liverpool, so 18-year-old youngsters still had to clean the senior players’ boots.
But an 18-year-old Owen was already one of the key figures in the locker room.
anwhile, an 18-year-old Ronaldo had not only represented Brazil in the ’94 World Cup but was also beginning to shoulder the future of Brazilian football and had beco the mainstay of Eredivisie giants Eindhoven.
So in Mainz, the words of the 18-year-old Wang Shuo naturally carried weight.
While things were looking up for Mainz, Werder Bren, on the other hand, was dealing with quite a few problems.
Their key player, Diego, was sidelined for a week with a strained back.
sut was also out for a week with an injury.
The simultaneous absence of two key midfielders left Bren’s head coach, Schaff, short on options for his lineup.
As a result, the two teams at Bruch Road Stadium were locked in a stalemate for an hour.
Schaff was actually determined to take down the out-of-form Mainz and pocket the three points.
So, with Mainz’s Pekovic having been subbed off due to injury in the 22nd minute for Kirschhoff, Schaff made an aggressive move at halfti, bringing on Austrian center-forward Martin Harnik to replace defender Pulledel.
The attack-minded coach stacked his frontline with Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro, Austrian striker Martin Harnik, and Swedish striker Rosenborg.
But it was precisely this substitution that led to Werder Bren’s mistake in the 61st minute.
Helle made a run up the right wing and passed to Schürrle just after crossing the halfway line.
Hainauer quickly ran to et it, took the pass from Schürrle, and played a return through ball behind the defensive line into the right side of the penalty area.
Now a man down in defense, Werder Bren’s backline was breached by Schürrle, who used his raw pace to break through.
The Mainz youngster received the ball on the right, just outside the box, and powered his way to the byline before cutting a low pass back towards the top of the six-yard box.
Just then, Wang Shuo, who had deliberately delayed his run, arrived to et Schürrle’s cross with a simple side-footed shot.
The ball shot into the bottom-left corner of Werder Bren’s goal!
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"
"Mainz capitalizes on the opportunity! After missing a few chances earlier, Wang Shuo finally gets his goal!"
"It’s 1-0!"
"That was a brilliant breakthrough down the right wing."
"A beautiful one-two between Schürrle and Hainauer set that up perfectly."
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