The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

To pull off a move like that even once would have been ridiculous enough.

He did it twice in a row!

Wang Shuo, are you a monster?

...

After equalizing, Dortmund’s morale soared, and they began a fierce assault on Chelsea.

No one knew their own situation better than Dortmund.

The team’s stamina could only last until the 70-minute mark, after which their performance would start to decline.

Therefore, they had to seize the moment and try to turn the score around before their stamina gave out.

A 1-1 score was better than a loss, but only just!

So, on the sidelines, Klopp relentlessly signaled for his team to push forward.

Led by Wang Shuo, the Dortmund players began a frenzied press.

And in the 61st minute, Bosingwa earned a yellow card for a flying tackle on Reus.

Four minutes later, Ivanovic also received a yellow card while defending against Wang Shuo.

Then, in the 68th minute, Dortmund won the ball near the left side of the center circle and passed it to Reus, who quickly sent it forward to Wang Shuo’s feet.

Wang Shuo dribbled forward at a steady pace, forcing Ivanovic to continuously backpedal.

As he retreated to the left edge of the penalty area, the Serbian center-back realized he couldn’t fall back any further.

Ivanovic felt he had a read on Wang Shuo’s dribbling rhythm and decided to halt his retreat to make a block. He was confident that even if he couldn’t get the ball, he could at least stop Wang Shuo’s advance.

But the very instant he stopped, Wang Shuo suddenly accelerated, exploding forward once more and rocketing ahead at top speed.

Having just been burned once, Ivanovic’s first reaction was, ’A feint!’

’Another damn feint!’

’Who do you think you’re fooling?’

’Am I really going to fall for the same trick twice?’

But as Ivanovic waited for Wang Shuo to change direction, he seemed to have forgotten one thing.

Wang Shuo’s Breakthrough ability was exceptional!

Seeing that Ivanovic wasn’t giving chase, Wang Shuo opened up his stride, sprinting with the ball at full tilt. He instantly left Ivanovic in the dust, surged into the left side of the penalty area, and, facing the onrushing Cech, unleashed a thunderous shot with his left foot.

The ball flew past Cech at incredible speed, practically grazing the inside of the left post as it drilled into Chelsea’s goal.

The force was so great, it looked like it would tear right through the net.

After the goal, Wang Shuo raised both hands high and excitedly turned to run in celebration.

He was met with the wild cheers of the entire stadium.

And a dumbfounded Ivanovic.

The Serbian center-back desperately wanted to stop Wang Shuo and ask him, ’Why’d you play it for real this time?’

’Why didn’t you cut inside?’

Wang Shuo paid no mind to what he was thinking.

Because he was keenly aware of just how deadly [Hunter] was!

And it felt absolutely exhilarating!

How could he describe this feeling?

If his acceleration before was like a gasoline engine, now it was like he’d been fitted with an electric motor—full speed the instant the power was on.

And he could switch his speed and rhythm at will.

The only constraint was his body’s ability to withstand it!

But this feeling of doing whatever he pleased was just too damn good!

...

"He’s even stronger than he was last December!"

In the stands of Westfalen Stadium, the Dutch scout Peter De Vries was watching the match with Chelsea owner Abramovich. They had just witnessed Wang Shuo’s brace with their own eyes.

And after Wang Shuo scored his second goal to put Dortmund ahead of Chelsea, he made a point of running to the South Stand to celebrate with Dortmund’s die-hard fans, receiving cheers from the entire stadium.

Peter De Vries had to lean close to Abramovich to say this amidst the thunderous roar of the crowd.

"He’s improved again?" Abramovich found it incredible.

’Isn’t his rate of improvement a bit too fast?’

"It’s quite normal. At his age, players are known to improve by leaps and bounds. Sometimes a single match can transform a player. It was the same with Ronaldo back when he went from Eindhoven to Barça."

Abramovich had great trust in Peter De Vries.

But he was still shocked by the speed of Wang Shuo’s progress.

"Doesn’t that mean this kid can already be compared to Messi and Ronaldo?" Abramovich couldn’t help but ask.

"More or less, but his technical characteristics are different."

Peter De Vries’s assessment once again startled Abramovich.

Ronaldo was born in ’85, making him 26 now, right in his prime.

Messi was born in ’87 and would be turning 24 in June.

You could say they are both at a relatively mature age in their careers.

And Wang Shuo?

He’s only 20 and won’t turn 21 until mid-September, half a year from now.

’Going by the typical development curve for an athlete, if you give Wang Shuo a little more time, won’t he surpass Ronaldo and Messi?’

At this thought, a pang of regret suddenly struck Abramovich.

And that regret was growing stronger.

"We made a very serious mistake, Peter," Abramovich said.

Peter De Vries, of course, knew what his boss meant.

’They shouldn’t have brought in Torres during the winter break!’

In fact, Chelsea signing Torres and Liverpool signing Carroll—both parts of that chain reaction of transfers—had been spectacular failures.

’Looking at the ineffective Torres on the pitch now, it would have been better not to sign anyone at all and just wait half a year for Wang Shuo.’

"Is it too late for me to have regrets, Peter?" the Russian asked.

Peter De Vries was at a loss for words, unable to give an answer.

’Real life isn’t a game of Football Manager.’

’And players aren’t just a bunch of emotionless stats.’

’Chelsea had spent so much money to sign Torres. If they turned around and sold him off for a low price just six months later, what would happen to their reputation in the transfer market?’