Chapter 307: Chapter 74: The Genius’s Dilemma! Fastest Goal in History! Dortmund Goes Wild! Wang Shuo, UEFA Has Its Eyes on You

"Yeah, that’s true. But I remember Messi didn’t get many votes the first time he was nominated either."

"Only two votes."

"Right, very few."

"The most important thing isn’t how many votes you get in the first year. It’s about consistently making the list every single year. Then, gradually, everyone will recognize you as a superstar."

"Look at Podolski. He was a one-year wonder, and then he fell off."

"Good point. But I don’t think that’ll happen to Wang. He’s so consistent."

"You can tell just by how hard he trains."

"The key is he’s an iron man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get injured."

"Maybe that’s his greatest gift. No matter how hard he trains, he doesn’t get injured. That’s incredibly rare!"

Wang Shuo listened to his teammates’ discussion while silently reading the newspaper.

Bild reported that he was the first player born in the 90s to ever make the 30-man shortlist for the Golden Ball Award.

And so far, the only one.

By his own estimation, he probably wouldn’t get many votes either.

But his teammates were right about one thing.

’When it comes to something like the Golden Ball Award, the key isn’t how many votes you get in your first year, but whether you can make the list every year after that.’

’Gradually, everyone will recognize you as a superstar.’

’And most importantly, you have to be the team’s number one.’

’Ronaldo and Rooney at Manchester United were the best proof of that.’

’And Messi at Barça—didn’t he only rise to the top after Ronaldinho stepped down?’

’The Golden Ball Award has had a different winner almost every year because it’s just that hard to win!’

’To win it, you have to become your team’s top player and lead them to undeniably impressive results.’

’That’s how Kaka, Ronaldo, and Messi won their Golden Balls—Milan’s Champions League title in ’07, Manchester United’s in ’08, and Barça’s treble in ’09.’

For Wang Shuo, that was all still too far away.

Right now, the most important thing for him was to keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Once everyone was ready, they left the locker room and headed out to the training ground.

They found Klopp and the coaches already waiting for them on the field.

When they saw the players coming out, they all broke into smiles.

"First, some good news."

Klopp announced with an eager, booming laugh.

"For the first time since 2003, we at Dortmund finally have someone on the Golden Ball Award shortlist again!"

"And that person is... Wang Shuo!"

The training ground immediately erupted in applause.

Even Klopp and the coaching staff joined in.

"Wang, for you, your career is just beginning. Keep it up!"

With that, Klopp prompted Wang Shuo to say a few words to his teammates.

The other players all started cheering and egging him on.

Wang Shuo couldn’t refuse, so he had no choice but to step forward.

"This is something I honestly never expected. I’m very excited and very proud."

"But what I want to say most is, thank you, everyone!"

"Without everyone’s support and help, I absolutely could not have achieved this kind of performance, so..."

"I could say a thousand things, but it all comes down to this: Thank you all!"

"I’ll treat everyone to a big meal!" As he said the last part, Wang Shuo couldn’t help but laugh and quickly ran back into line.

Subotic, Foyelner, Reus, and the others started whooping, all shouting that they wouldn’t let Wang Shuo off the hook and were going to make him pay for an expensive meal. The other players all chimed in.

This made Klopp and Buvac exchange a glance.

The Dortmund players’ coordination on the field was getting better and better.

More importantly, the atmosphere in the locker room was excellent. This season held great promise!

"Alright, now that everyone knows, this is a big deal for us at Dortmund."

"It proves that after many years in a slump, we are on the verge of a revival."

"Especially now, when we’re at the top of the league table!"

"We have to keep this momentum going!"

"I believe that if we maintain our current momentum, we have a chance to become the ’autumn champions’!"

"And by the end of this season, we will definitely be the champions!"

...

Dortmund also placed great importance on Wang Shuo being nominated for the 30-man Golden Ball Award shortlist.

Not only did they publish the news on their official website, but they also had the stadium announcer make a special declaration before the Matchday 11 Bundesliga home game against Hertha Berlin.

So, when Wang Shuo stepped onto the pitch at Westfalen Stadium, the entire stadium was chanting his name.

Wang Shuo was also extremely active in this match.

Just five minutes after kickoff, he received a diagonal pass from the right flank from right-back Owomoyela, successfully beat the offside trap to break into the box, and smashed the ball into Hertha Berlin’s net, opening the scoring for Dortmund!

This goal once again sent the more than 80,000 fans in the stadium into a frenzy!

Then, in the 50th minute of the second half, it was Wang Shuo again, dropping deep to orchestrate the play. He sent a brilliant pass to Kuba. Subsequently, Owomoyela made an overlapping run into the box and was fouled by a defender, earning a penalty kick.

Shahin calmly stepped up and converted the penalty.

2-0!

In the end, Dortmund secured a 2-0 home victory over Hertha Berlin!

In the same round of matches, Bayern drew 0-0 away at Stuttgart.

Hamburg lost 2-3 at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

After going up by two goals away from home, Bayer Leverkusen was held to a 2-2 draw by Schalke 04, who scored twice in five minutes.

As a result, Dortmund continued to lead the Bundesliga table with 28 points.

Bayer Leverkusen was on 23 points, while Werder Bremen and Hamburg both had 22, but Hamburg dropped to 4th in the league.

...

On the evening of November 5th, in the fourth match of the UEFA Europa League group stage, Dortmund played at home against Celtic.

When the Spanish referee, Cavaleiro, blew the whistle to start the match, Wang Shuo led Reus and Kuba in a charge toward Celtic’s half. At that instant, no one knew what this charge truly signified.