The God of Football starts with passive skills

Chapter 5 Is he really from the youth team?
Matches in the German U19 league are usually played around noon.

For example, in the 19th round, Mainz U19 traveled to Offenburg U19 for an away game, which was scheduled for 10:00 AM.

The German Football Association divided the U19 league into three competition zones: South/Southwest, West, and North, in order to minimize long-distance travel for away games.

After all, Bundesliga teams have limited youth training budgets and rarely stay overnight at away games.

Even so, the distance from Mainz to Offenburg is a full 220 kilometers, and it takes more than two hours to travel all the way on the highway.

Therefore, the team assembled early in the morning and departed from Mainz.

When we arrived at the Carl Heitz Stadium in Offenburg, there was still more than half an hour before the match kicked off.

This is a very simple stadium. Only the western VIP stand has a small roof; the rest are just a few simple cement steps.

Because it was an U19 match, there weren't many fans in attendance, only about four or five hundred people, standing or sitting here and there.

In front of the rooftop stands are the coaching benches and substitute benches of both teams, all next to each other, offering absolutely no privacy.

The locker room is located behind the rooftop stands.

After everyone changed their clothes and did a quick warm-up, the competition was about to begin.

Although the U19 matches seem very unprofessional compared to regular Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 matches, Wang Shuo is still excited.

This was the first time he had represented the team in an "official" match since he came to Germany.

He didn't even qualify for the competition until the day before it started.

Kramny continued to use Mainz U19's signature 4-3-3 formation.

After Klopp took over Mainz's first team, he initially continued Wolfgang Frank's 4-4-2 formation.

But later, he adapted to the times and adjusted his tactics, switching to a 4-3-3 formation.

This led to Mainz's historic promotion to the Bundesliga in the following years, and their subsequent successful survival in the Bundesliga.

17-year-old André Schürrle started the game and played as the team's striker.

Along with him, 18-year-old Robin Medinitz shoulders the heavy responsibility of the team's attack.

Medinitz joined Mainz's youth academy in 07. He is a bipedal player who is proficient with both feet and plays on both wings.

Wang Shuo was assigned to sit on the bench.

Kramny had told him beforehand to observe him carefully and that he would be brought on as a substitute in the second half.

As a team struggling to avoid relegation this season, Offenburg U19 continues to use the three-defender formation common in German football.

Before the match, Wang Shuo felt that even if Mainz U19 couldn't easily defeat their opponents, they could at least dominate them.

After all, their ranking is much higher, and they are a youth training team of a German second division club.

To his surprise, from the very beginning of the match, Offenburg U19, playing at home, dominated Mainz U19.

Especially a short player on the right wing.

He is probably a little over 1.7 meters tall, very fast, very agile, and has excellent footwork.

Every time he gets the ball, he poses a huge threat to Mainz's left flank.

"This French kid is called Jonathan Schmid. He's 17 years old, just like you, and he's already being eyed by many Bundesliga teams."

Sitting next to Wang Shuo is Kai Hofem, a center forward and a product of Mainz's youth academy.

18-year-old Hofem is a substitute striker in the current Mainz U19 team, while the younger Schürrle has become the starter.

"Is he French?" Wang Shuo asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Hmm, probably from Strasbourg."

Wang Shuo began to understand.

Offenburg is located west of Germany's Black Forest, right next to the French border, and very close to Strasbourg.

Wang Shuo also noticed an interesting phenomenon.

The Mainz U19 players seem quite used to this kind of scene.

Considering that Schürrle and Robin Medinitz could become the main attackers, Wang Shuo had already guessed it.

Mainz U19's standard tactic is a 4-3-3, but it is actually a defensive counter-attacking strategy.

If the two wingers retreat, won't the 4-3-3 formation become a 4-5-1 formation?

However, Offenburg U19 was clearly on guard against Mainz U19's counterattack.

Wang Shuo also noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Despite being U19 teams, both sides displayed a well-organized and cohesive tactical approach, demonstrating a strong sense of unity and continuing the excellent traditions of the German national team.

But this made the game somewhat deadlocked.

Moreover, there is a lot of physical contact.

Neither side created any real opportunities.

It's not that European youth teams don't value results and only focus on developing talent.

"In the U19 youth team, if you want to see exciting goal-fests, you have to go to strong teams like Bayern Munich and Stuttgart, whose youth training is outstanding and full of talent."

Hofem noticed Wang Shuo's confusion and explained.

“Even talents like Pedro Lina and Fernando Ernesto in our team were eliminated by them.”

Both players were eliminated from Bayern Munich's youth academy.

Among them, Mexican prodigy Pedro Lina, Wang Shuo has been on the team for two weeks and has never even seen him once.

It is said that he missed training for a long time and was sentenced to death early, just waiting to transfer after the season ends.

Fernando Ernesto has been training consistently. He has Angolan citizenship, so his physical condition is undoubtedly excellent, and more importantly, his footwork is also outstanding.

And he's a left-footed player.

As a prodigy from Bayern Munich's youth academy, his strength and talent are undeniable.

But he had no desire to stay in Mainz and his performance was very inconsistent.

When he's in a good mood, he plays well; when he's in a bad mood, he finds all sorts of excuses to take leave.

Even when he reluctantly participated in training, he did it perfunctorily in every way.

In Thomas Essien's words, 18-year-olds are particularly difficult to deal with.

Kramny simply didn't bring him to the away game for this match.

Wang Shuo and Hofem chatted casually.

It was mostly Hofem who was talking, and Wang Shuo was listening.

But he spent most of his time observing the game.

This was the first time Wang Shuo had observed a match up close since acquiring his second passive skill, "Insight."

He soon discovered that, with the help of [Insight], he gained a deeper understanding of the game.

On several occasions, when he saw Offenburg U19 make a pass, he was even able to detect the opponent's intentions before his teammates on the field.

Whether it's a pass back, a change of attack direction, or a change of passing route, he can detect it immediately.

He could not hide his opponent's intentions from him at all.

He even had a feeling that if he played, he could anticipate the opponent's intentions and, through running and pressing, preemptively intercept or disrupt their plans. This made Wang Shuo secretly eager to try it out on the field.

……

The first half ended 0-0.

On the field, Offenburg U19, who were fighting to avoid relegation, were actually better than Mainz U19.

Mainz U19's strength lies in midfield interception and defense.

After the second half began, the situation remained unchanged.

Wang Shuo warmed up during halftime and waited for the second half to begin.

In the 55th minute, Kramny called Wang Shuo over.

"You go up and replace Jan Kirschhof. We need to intensify our attack!"

"Remember, Wang, there's still a little over half an hour left in the game. Your task is to give it your all and put as much pressure on your opponent through your movement, understand?"

Wang Shuo nodded solemnly.

Soon, Kirchhoff, a defensive midfielder who is over 1.9 meters tall, patted Wang Shuo on the shoulder and sent him onto the field.

After Wang Shuo entered the game, he slowly ran towards the left flank of the frontcourt.

According to Kramny's instructions from the sidelines, Schürrle continued to play in the middle, while Robin Medinitz played on the right wing.

Mainz is still using a 4-3-3 formation.

After observing from the sidelines for nearly an hour, Wang Shuo has figured out some of the tactical routines of Offenburg U19.

From the moment he stepped onto the field, he maintained a steady pace and didn't rush to show off.

Offenburg U19 continues to hold the advantage.

They still want to attack the right flank of France, specifically Schmid's side.

This young player is the most threatening player in the Offenburg team.

Wang Shuo had already sensed their movement when they switched the ball in the middle and had quietly laid an ambush.

Just as Offenburg U19's midfielder was about to pass the ball to Schmid on their right wing, Wang Shuo suddenly accelerated, bursting out from the side and, before Schmid could receive the ball, tackled it to his midfield teammate.

The sudden change not only disrupted Offenburg U19's attack but also surprised the Mainz U19 players.

When Wang Shuo got up from the ground and started sprinting forward to participate in the counterattack, he found that his teammate had lost the ball when passing it.

Wang Shuo, who had just crossed the center line, had to run back immediately.

Turning his head to the side, he could clearly see the disappointment of head coach Kramny on the sidelines.

What a great opportunity to counterattack!
The head coach of Offenburg U19 also went to the sidelines and loudly reminded his players.

Both are professional coaches, and Wang Shuo's sudden attack just now aroused their vigilance.

The Offenburg U19 players also noticed the Asian player who had just come on as a substitute.

Wang Shuo wasn't in a hurry.

Since sneak attacks didn't work, he resorted to wide-ranging runs, openly pressing and pressing, actively participating in the attacking third while constantly dropping back to help defend the midfield.

……

Wolfgang Zemitz, the head coach of Offenburg U19, quickly realized something was wrong.

"Is this guy really from the youth team?"

Such tireless running is rare in youth teams.

What's even more outrageous is that for the first hour, Offenburg U19 had been dominating Mainz U19.

But things changed after that Asian player came on the field.

The team's ball movement got stuck.

The ball was frequently interfered with halfway through the pass; either the passing lane was blocked or the passing opportunity was missed.

It almost got lost several times.

And every time, that Asian player is there.

One or two times can be explained as a coincidence, but if it happens every time, is that still a coincidence?
If Zemitzhi grew increasingly frustrated as he looked at the film, then Kramny grew increasingly astonished.

In the past, he had always thought that Wang Shuo was only good at running.

But now it seems that Wang Shuo can not only run, but he knows how to run.

Unlike Zemitzki, Kramny had a more successful playing career, so it's clear that Wang Shuo's runs were not aimless.

Almost every time, they perfectly blocked Offenburg U19's passing lanes, shutting down the opponent's attacking direction.

This not only made it difficult for Offenburg players to exert their strength, but also allowed Mainz to gradually reverse their disadvantage on the field.

Even the French player Schmid, who was originally very active on his left flank, fell silent after Wang Shuo came on.

"This kid can play so smartly?" Kramny himself couldn't believe it.

In just over ten minutes, Wang Shuo turned the tide?

In the 74th minute, Wang Shuo retreated again and suddenly accelerated his sprint.

The Offenburg player's pass, which was clearly meant for a teammate, looked more like a direct pass to Wang Shuo's feet.

After intercepting the ball midway, Wang Shuo, with his back to the direction of the attack, did not hold onto the ball and immediately passed it back to his teammate in midfield.

After passing the ball, he turned and sprinted forward.

The ball was moved to the right wing and passed to Robin Medinitz.

Mediniz passed the ball diagonally behind his back, trying to find André Schürrle.

The 17-year-old Schürrle, once he picked up his speed, easily shook off all of Offenburg's defenders.

But Metinitz's pass was not good.

After receiving the ball, Schürrle was unable to break into the penalty area and was forced to stop the ball outside the right corner of the penalty area.

At this moment, both of Offenburg U19's center-backs returned to their defensive positions and rushed towards Schürrle, blocking his path into the penalty area.

Schürrle managed to hold onto the ball, but couldn't find any passing lanes around him.

Just when he was at his wit's end, he suddenly saw a figure wearing a red jersey.

"Pass it here!" The man raised his hand, asking for the ball.

He was positioned right behind the two center-backs.

Schürrle had no time to think and immediately sent a cross.

After the ball was passed between the two center-backs, Schürrle finally took a closer look and realized that it was Wang Shuo, who had just intercepted the ball in his own 30-meter zone.

After Wang Shuo stopped the ball in the penalty area, he chased after it at top speed.

Facing a goalkeeper who dared not come out, Wang Shuo unleashed a right-footed shot.

The ball nestled into the bottom left corner of Offenburg U19's goal.

　During the new book release period, please read it! Please add it to your favorites! Please vote with monthly tickets! Please recommend it!! Thank you!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)