Chapter 334: Chapter 78: Combo Skill! Dribbling Past Three! Is He Really Wang Shuo? Usurping the Head Coach? The Scoop on Klopp, Guaranteed

It was far more than a simple upgrade of his Passive Skills.

He still didn’t know how powerful the Domain Skills that came with leveling up from Intercontinental Level to World-level would be.

But he was becoming more and more adept at creatively combining his Passive Skills.

For example, after obtaining [Foundation], he found he had a much clearer understanding of his muscles and how to exert force.

[Eagle Eye] could make his vision sharper, allowing him to see more detail.

[First Move] could help him predict his opponents’ next actions.

And [Spiritual Light] would often grant him sudden flashes of inspiration.

Just like with the first goal earlier—first turning sideways, using the outside of his right foot to chip the ball up from the turf, then turning smoothly with the momentum.

That was the effect of a [Spiritual Light] flash.

But the physical confrontation before that was the result of [Foundation], [Eagle Eye], and [First Move] all working in tandem.

He had actually been able to anticipate Muhammad’s movements and use of force.

In the 43rd minute, when Dortmund intercepted the ball in midfield and launched a counterattack, with Kuba charging down the right flank, Wang Shuo happened to be running right between the two center-backs, Mackenna and Muhammad.

As he ran, Wang Shuo constantly turned his head to watch Kuba on the ball, observe the other defenders, and closely monitor Mackenna’s and Muhammad’s every move.

His brain was firing on all cylinders.

Like a high-speed computer, it was constantly analyzing, judging, and deducing.

Finally, as they charged toward the edge of the box, Kuba came to a stop.

Wang Shuo stopped as well.

But just as he stopped, before Mackenna and Muhammad could even get their footing, Wang Shuo suddenly exploded into motion again, feinting as if he was going to burst into the penalty area between the two center-backs.

This immediately spooked Mackenna and Muhammad, who both converged toward the middle like a closing gate.

But what they never expected was that after taking just one step, Wang Shuo immediately cut behind Mackenna, making a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area.

From outside the right corner of the penalty area, Kuba sent a low, diagonal cross.

It traveled perfectly from the right corner of the box toward the outside of the far post.

Wang Shuo arrived right on cue, effortlessly blasting the ball into the near corner with his left foot, sending it into Mondragon’s goal once again.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"2-0!"

"Wang Shuo scores a brace!!"

"Dortmund scores another just before the end of the first half!"

"That was an incredibly intelligent run."

"Cologne’s two center-backs were completely fooled by Wang Shuo."

"After that brace, Cologne is now in a very precarious position."

"On the other hand, for Dortmund, even though their captain Weidenfeller was subbed off due to injury, it hasn’t affected the Bumblebees’ morale or fighting spirit in the slightest."

"With his brace, Wang Shuo has helped Dortmund stabilize the situation!"

...

The first half ended with a score of 2-0.

As he walked off the pitch, it was only after a reminder from Foyelner that Wang Shuo, the team’s temporary captain, remembered he was wearing the armband.

As captain, his first duty now was to gather all his teammates and get them back to the locker room quickly.

After 45 minutes of high-intensity play, everyone was gasping for breath.

The moment they got back to the locker room, they immediately sat down to drink water.

Some players were carrying knocks and needed brief treatment from the team doctor.

At this point, everyone was basically busy with their own things.

But the team captain was an exception.

Wang Shuo only had about five minutes.

He first went over to Subotic and Hummels, focusing the conversation on the problems with their defense on several corners and set pieces in the first half, which had led to dangerous situations created by the opposition.

"They like to head it on for a second ball. We’re not defending that well."

"On the other hand, our attacking set pieces need to be more direct."

Subotic and Hummels were in complete agreement on this.

Wang Shuo then walked over to Shahin and Sven Bender.

He mainly wanted to understand how the midfield was operating, as well as discuss set piece tactics.

Shahin was the team’s free-kick taker; he handled both corners and free kicks in the attacking half.

After gathering feedback from his teammates, which took about two minutes, Wang Shuo immediately turned and headed for the coaches’ area.

At that moment, Klopp and the other coaches were already in the middle of an intense discussion.

The halftime break was only 15 minutes long. Minus the time walking on and off the pitch, it was really only about 14 minutes.

It was really just like going to war.

Often, the vastly different performances or completely changed morale that fans see between a team’s first and second half are all results of changes made during the halftime break.

The captain’s role was to gather opinions and provide centralized feedback.

If the players were left to give feedback individually, things would get chaotic and waste a lot of time.

After listening, Klopp patted Wang Shuo on the shoulder, signaling that he had received the message.

After returning to his seat and twisting open a bottle of water, Foyelner leaned in from the side.

"So? How does it feel to be captain?"

"Nerve-wracking. The pressure is immense!" Wang Shuo said honestly.

He was beginning to understand why the captain’s armband at Real Madrid had crushed Raul.

’The more responsible a person is, the greater the pressure they feel.’

’And Raul was the type of player who needed a relaxed environment to play his best, so naturally, he was crushed by it.’

Klopp quickly walked over. It was time for the coach’s talk.

He started by analyzing the problems from the first half, offering solutions for specific details one by one.

This included defensive set pieces, as well as attacking set pieces in the final third, and more.

As for his plan for the second half, it was basically the same as always.