The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Chapter 554: Chapter 109: Messi’s Strongest Mouthpiece! For the 2011 Golden Ball Award! Neuer: "Wang Shuo, I’ll Fight You!

This player seemed even more excited than Wang Shuo, the goal scorer himself.

"You really did it!"

"Wang, you actually did it!"

Gundogan shook Wang Shuo’s shoulders, shouting excitedly.

Few people knew that he was born and raised in Gelsenkirchen.

Like everyone from Gelsenkirchen, he took pride in the idea of joining Schalke 04.

And indeed, at the age of eight, his wish came true when he joined the Schalke 04 youth academy.

He became the absolute pride of his family, and everyone believed he had a bright future ahead of him at Schalke 04.

Their family’s path would be changed forever!

But unexpectedly, just one year later, a knee problem left him unable to walk for a full six months. The doctor advised him to stop playing football altogether.

And Schalke 04’s response was to terminate his contract and send him back to his old team.

Gundogan was lucky. He overcame the pain in his knee, soon returned to the football pitch, and his performance grew better and better.

Three years later, when Schalke 04 invited him back, he refused without a moment’s hesitation.

Later, he went to Bochum, then began his professional career at Nuremberg.

And now, he was at Dortmund!

While at Nuremberg, all his encounters with Schalke 04 had ended in defeat.

But this season at Dortmund, he was finally vindicated.

And it was in the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals, as a starting player no less!

He had assisted Wang Shuo on a one-on-one, breaching Schalke 04’s goal!

...

This was the Ruhr Derby!

After conceding a goal, Schalke 04 started playing like madmen, desperate to counter-attack.

But the more they pressed, the more awkward their situation became.

Then, in the 14th minute of the match, it was Gundogan again.

After a one-two with Götze in the midfield, he sent a through-ball forward.

Wang Shuo swiftly shook off two of Schalke 04’s center-backs. Near the right side of the penalty area line, facing a halfway-committed Neuer, Wang Shuo didn’t let him guess whether he would use his left or right foot this time.

He went for a direct chip shot, sending the ball into the Schalke 04 goal behind the keeper.

2-0!

Then, in the 33rd minute of the first half, another straight pass from Gundogan landed precisely between Hewedes and Mertesacker, bouncing behind the defensive line.

Wang Shuo made a quick forward run. As Mertesacker tracked back to defend, Wang Shuo used two quick, consecutive flicks to knock the ball to his left. He chased it down and once again found himself in a one-on-one situation.

Facing Neuer, Wang Shuo blasted a shot with his left foot, once again finding the back of the Schalke 04 net.

"Hat-trick!!!"

Wang Shuo excitedly turned and sprinted off the pitch, running wildly toward the sideline to celebrate.

At that moment, the Dortmund fans who had traveled for the away game erupted in the stands.

Although they were severely outnumbered, with a 3-0 lead, the passion erupting from the Dortmund fans was something the Schalke 04 supporters could not possibly drown out.

Gundogan even ran off the pitch and jumped straight onto Wang Shuo’s back.

Returning the favor, Wang Shuo carried Gundogan on his back as he celebrated along the sideline.

In truth, Gundogan knew it himself.

His three passes hadn’t actually been that great.

The first one was a little underpowered and too close to the center-back. If it hadn’t been for Wang Shuo’s superior speed and his excellent first touch and follow-through, it might not have been a scoring opportunity at all.

The second was too close to the goalkeeper, which was why Wang Shuo had to chip it.

The third pass was the worst quality of all.

But Wang Shuo, with his consecutive flicks, had forcibly turned a bad pass and an awkward situation into a goal.

That was a testament to a player’s individual skill!

Gundogan himself never expected he would be able to pull off a hat-trick of assists against Schalke 04.

But now, he was thoroughly convinced!

’Being teammates with a player like Wang Shuo... even chances that other forwards would struggle with, he can convert into goals.’

’For a passer, what could be more blissful than that!’

But for a goalkeeper, it was an utterly devastating experience.

And so, in the 58th minute of the second half, when Schmelzer sent in a cross from the left side of the penalty area...

Under Mertesacker’s tight marking, Wang Shuo executed a clever touch—a flash of Spiritual Light—that nutmegged the defender. After shaking Mertesacker off to find himself in yet another one-on-one, he was met by a charging Neuer, who had abandoned his goal and dove for the ball.

’You again?’

’You bastard, I’ll stop you no matter what!’

As a result, Wang Shuo was a step faster. After knocking the ball past Neuer, he was tripped directly by the goalkeeper’s hands inside the penalty area.

The referee, Gagelmann, unhesitatingly awarded a penalty and gave Neuer a yellow card.

The yellow-penalty combo effectively served as the death sentence for this match.

At that moment, a thought flashed through the mind of the fallen Neuer.

’It’s true what they say... all villains die from monologuing!’

’Why did I have to go and provoke him?’

’This monster’s skill is just terrifying!’

’He promised one-on-ones, and he actually delivered nothing but one-on-ones!’

’How ridiculous is that?’

But how could Neuer know that at this very moment, Wang Shuo was also finding the situation unbelievable.

’I really didn’t expect all four chances to be one-on-ones.’

’I really wasn’t doing it on purpose!’

’All I can say is, Schalke 04 wasn’t playing conservatively in this match.’

Thinking it over carefully, Wang Shuo identified the problem.

Schalke 04’s midfield defense wasn’t good enough, which forced their center-backs to frequently press forward and challenge for the ball.