"It won’t just be limited to Europe; it will be a synchronized global release. All major media outlets, TV stations, and websites will receive the campaign materials, and we’ll be investing even more resources, especially in Asia."

Wang Shuo understood.

Platini took office in early 2007. He was desperate to make his mark and, at the same time, win over the smaller nations that had voted for him. So, he pursued a two-pronged approach.

First, he further expanded the Champions League, primarily in the preliminary qualifying rounds.

Many people even claimed that Platini was biased toward teams from smaller nations during the draws.

The most typical example was how, in every Champions League group stage, there always seemed to be one group that essentially "guaranteed" a spot for a team from a smaller nation.

Of course, no evidence has ever been found to support this claim.

Second, he reformed the UEFA Cup.

Strictly speaking, rebranding the UEFA Cup as the UEFA Europa League was Platini’s most impactful move when it came to growing the pie.

With the Champions League reigning supreme, the UEFA Europa League’s influence was naturally limited. This meant resources had to be invested in promotion and marketing.

And promotion and marketing require material.

"Your goal didn’t just break the all-time fastest goal record for the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, and European Cup Winners’ Cup, it also surpassed the fastest goal record in Champions League history."

"The Champions League?" Wang Shuo genuinely hadn’t realized that.

"Previously, the fastest goal in the Champions League belonged to Roy Makaay of Bayern, who scored against Real Madrid in 10.12 seconds. But you just did it in 10.07, 0.05 seconds faster!"

Wang Shuo was at a loss for how to react. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

’Isn’t this a little ridiculous?’

’I’m really going to piss Bayern off for good!’

"Records are a part of a tournament’s history and legacy. For the UEFA Europa League, in its very first season, to break a long-standing historical record held by the Champions League and the old UEFA Cup, and to set a new record for all European club competitions... well, the higher-ups are definitely..."

Kuhn didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was crystal clear.

As far as UEFA was concerned, they wanted to leverage the breaking of a Champions League record to generate a wave of hype for the UEFA Europa League.

It was truly the perfect marketing material!

Moreover, Wang Shuo was from Asia—from China, specifically—which could help UEFA break into new markets.

"I can also let you in on a little secret: Peter Williams, UEFA’s marketing director, and his team have already started drafting a proposal."

He had said enough.

Having made his friendly gesture, Kuhn walked off to attend to his duties.

He left Wang Shuo standing there, finding it all a little hard to believe.

For the first time, he was seeing up close how superstars and legends were truly forged, step by step.

Of course, the most crucial element was the football itself—the goal on the pitch.

But in this day and age, the factors off the pitch were just as important.

This reminded Wang Shuo of something.

Legend has it that before the ’King of Football,’ Pele, signed with Nike, he was broke and deeply in debt.

Back then, the so-called ’King of Football’ didn’t even exist as a concept.

But Nike wanted to break into the football domain. They saw an opportunity and signed Pele, working with him to create and market the ’King of Football’ brand.

FIFA saw the potential commercial value and actively got involved as well.

Over the years, how many fans, how many young players, fell in love with and devoted themselves to football all because of Pele, the ’King of Football’?

...

"First, congratulations, Wang. You not only broke the record for the fastest goal in the history of the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Cup, but you also broke the record for the fastest goal in all European competitions."

"Thank you."

"Can you still recall what it felt like when you scored the goal?"

"It felt amazing! I was pressing with Marco and Kuba, who are both incredibly fast. The moment I saw Marco win the ball, I just knew we had it."

"We like to take the initiative right from the kickoff, so scoring a goal was the ideal outcome."

In a small, meticulously arranged press conference room, Wang Shuo sat on a sofa with the female host from UEFA.

The backdrop behind them featured the UEFA crest, but it also included the Dortmund logo.

Wang Shuo was dressed in his Dortmund Kappa training gear, but as he casually crossed his legs, he revealed a pair of Adidas sneakers on his feet.

His entire outfit had been prepared by Lina Gerk; she had even taken him to get his hair cut.

He looked sharp, clean-cut, and full of energy.

Lina Gerk had also reminded him to smile often, but not to laugh out loud.

"It’s true, Dortmund has been playing better and better this season. Can you describe the goal for us? Was it a planned tactical play, or was it improvisation on the pitch?"

"A bit of both, I’d say."

Wang Shuo nodded. "Our coach drills into us before every match that we need to press the opponent and seize the initiative early on."

"Before the match, we noticed their defenders seemed a little complacent."

"And the three of us in the attack are all very fast. When we made that decisive push forward, the ball was lucky enough to end up right in front of us."

"I think there was definitely some luck involved with that goal, but when the opportunity presented itself, we were ready for it, and we capitalized on it."

"You mentioned being ready. Some experts have reviewed the footage over and over, and they noted that just before Dortmund won possession, you actually slowed down. But the moment the ball was won, you immediately accelerated. A lot of people are saying your off-the-ball movement is excellent."

"Thank you."

Wang Shuo smiled and said thank you again.