The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 84 - 42: Well Done, Wang Shuo! The New Season’s First Upset! Clickbait and Image Rights
A foul? 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
No!
The referee didn’t blow the whistle!
Because on the left flank, a figure in red was rapidly charging forward.
But that didn’t stop Wang Shuo from gloating internally.
’One point of Passive Value, plus an assist.’
’That feeling, like an ’and-one’ in the NBA... so good!’
"Foyelner!"
"A great chance!"
"A fast break for Mainz!"
"Foyelner receives the pass, he’s one-on-one with the keeper!"
"GOOOOAL!!!"
"2-1!"
"My God, in the 39th minute of the first half, Mainz has once again breached VfL Wolfsburg’s goal."
"It came from another interception up front."
"Klopp’s team is playing with incredible courage!"
"At a critical moment, Wang Shuo used his dribbling skills to create another goal for Mainz."
With Foyelner sprinting at full speed, Zacardo couldn’t keep up.
After scoring, the German player turned and ran.
He saw Klopp, who had been sitting on the visitor’s bench, leap up the instant he scored. Overcome with excitement, Klopp charged out of the technical area and started punching the air.
This thrilled Foyelner, who sprinted over, wanting to share a passionate embrace with his coach and enact a heartfelt scene between mentor and student.
But as he got closer, he heard Klopp yelling.
"Well done, Wang Shuo!"
"Great job!"
Foyelner’s heart sank instantly.
’Boss, I’m the one who scored the goal!’
’Are you praising the wrong person?’
’I mean, half the credit for this goal goes to Wang Shuo, but I scored it... I scored it...’
For a moment, Foyelner had the urge to turn and run away in tears, but it was too late.
He threw himself into Klopp’s warm embrace like a swallow returning to its nest.
Thankfully, Klopp’s next words were praise for him.
"Great finish, Marcus. Your forward run was perfectly timed. You’ve improved a lot."
Foyelner was soon overcome by the joy of scoring.
Especially when Wang Shuo also ran over, grabbed him in a hug, and shook him back and forth like a roly-poly toy.
It was Wang Shuo who had signaled for him to make the run, and it was Wang Shuo who had delivered the brilliant pass.
He remembered it all!
...
During halftime, Klopp chewed everyone out.
Everyone except Wang Shuo.
Why not Wang Shuo?
"If you had Wang Shuo’s tactical understanding and his ability to execute, we wouldn’t have conceded a goal in the first half at all!"
Klopp’s justification only made him yell louder.
This made even Wang Shuo feel a bit embarrassed.
The whole team was getting an earful, and he was the only one spared. It made him feel like an outcast.
But Klopp’s scolding was highly effective.
Riding the momentum of their 2-1 first-half lead, Mainz came out after the break and went on the offensive again, ready for a bloodbath.
In Klopp’s words, they had to go all-out until at least the 60th minute.
But in reality, it only took four minutes for Mainz to score again.
Wang Shuo dribbled the ball upfield and passed it to Helle on the right wing. As Helle made a forward run and prepared to cross, he was fouled by Schäfer.
Hainauer made up for his earlier mistakes, delivering a brilliant free kick that Subotic headed into the net from inside the box.
3-1!
However, that was the end of Mainz’s offensive burst.
Especially after the 60-minute mark, the team’s stamina rapidly declined. Even with Klopp making successive substitutions, they couldn’t reverse the decline.
Then, in the 83rd minute, Griffith also broke through and scored against Mainz.
2-3!
Seeing a chance for a comeback, VfL Wolfsburg launched an even more frantic counter-attack.
But both sides were exhausted, and in the end, neither team could score again.
Mainz defeated VfL Wolfsburg 3-2 away from home, pulling off the first major upset of this Bundesliga season!
...
The team bus slowly drove past the global Volkswagen automobile factory, beginning the long three-hour journey on the highway.
Back-to-back away games took a heavy toll on the players.
This time, Wolfsburg was east of Hanover. Although the distance was shorter, it was still exhausting.
On the bus, Wang Shuo liked to sit by the window.
It allowed him to see the scenery along the way.
"Check out the news. It’s blowing up."
Subotic held out his newly bought Nokia 3G phone to Wang Shuo.
He was subscribed to German media outlets like Bild and the Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung, which sent news alerts immediately.
"Promoted Team Wins Twice in One Week to Kick Off Season with a Bang!"
Wang Shuo clicked on it and found the article was a commentary on Mainz.
The two wins in one week included last weekend’s DFB-Pokal match.
"Wonderkid Conquers Wolfsburg on Bundesliga Debut, Shatters Magat’s Championship Dreams with Goal and Assist!"
When Wang Shuo saw this headline, he froze for a second.
’Are they talking about me?’
’Clickbait!’
’Pure clickbait!’
"Haha, click on it and take a look. It’s an article from Kicker Magazine."
What?
Wang Shuo was taken aback.
In his mind, Kicker Magazine had always been synonymous with authority, even more reputable than Bild.
’How did they also "fall" to the level of writing clickbait?’
Wang Shuo clicked on it and saw that it was indeed a post-match report from Kicker Magazine.
The content was more or less a summary of the match, with a special focus on praising Wang Shuo’s performance.
It also mentioned the performance of both teams.
As for VfL Wolfsburg, contrary to the headline, Kicker Magazine gave them credit but noted that with too many new signings, Magat needed to accelerate their integration, or they would struggle to compete for the title in the new season.
"This means something completely different from the headline!" Wang Shuo almost cursed out loud.
"You have to get used to it. They use headlines to get you to click," Subotic said with a laugh.
