Bundesliga Matchday 3: Bayer Leverkusen vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Lance still didn't get a chance to play, not even making the matchday squad.
He understood that he had just participated in the DFB-Pokal four days ago, so it was impossible for him to play two matches in a week.
It was a pity, though, Lance wished he could play and hoped the coaches would notice him.
Because from the stands, Lance grew increasingly anxious.
"Oh, my!"
"What kind of play is that!"
"This ball!"
"Ugh!"
The surrounding fans all sighed in unison.
At BayArena, Bayer Leverkusen was temporarily trailing Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-1.
In this match, the attacking duo was Son Heung-min and Stefan Kießling.
Opponent Borussia Mönchengladbach adopted a defensive counter-attacking strategy, with dense personnel in the penalty area, making it impossible for Son Heung-min to display his strength.
Son Heung-min was more adept at utilizing his speed and explosiveness to break through opponents in counter-attacks, rapidly advancing with the ball.
He was good at finding opportunities, whether passing or shooting.
However, in positional play, Son Heung-min was not an organizer like Andrés Iniesta or Xavi Hernández.
Nor was he a player with strong "static breakthrough" ability like Lionel Messi.
Son Heung-min was very confused controlling the ball in front of the penalty area; with no space to break through, he could only pass the ball back and forth with his teammates.
Bayer Leverkusen had an empty 70% possession rate, yet only managed 3 shots, with 0 on target.
Conversely, Borussia Mönchengladbach's quick counter-attacks were incredibly sharp.
In the first half, one shot resulted in a goal, temporarily giving them a one-goal lead over Bayer Leverkusen.
The second half was no better; the team still couldn't break through.
Ultimately, with the only goal of the entire match, away team Borussia Mönchengladbach handed Bayer Leverkusen their first loss of the season.
Lance wished he could rush onto the field and play himself.
Many opportunities, in his opinion, could have been handled: a more delicate first touch, an attempt to break past one or two defenders, then a decisive shot.
If he were on the field, there might be a chance, at least to equalize the score.
If the team continued to lose like this, Lance would truly have to volunteer his services.
...
The next day, there was no day off after the team's loss; all Bayer Leverkusen players trained as usual.
Lance could feel that the atmosphere in the locker room was relatively subdued.
Before changing into training gear and heading to the training ground, the locker room suddenly erupted in an argument.
"Hey, you idiot."
"Who are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you, yellow-skinned monkey."
"Fuck, say that again?"
"What? You played so poorly yesterday, and you're still not convinced?"
"I'm going to..."
Son Heung-min was red-faced with suppressed anger.
The person insulting him was the 194cm tall Philipp Wollscheid, a German center-back and former defensive cornerstone for 1. FC Nürnberg.
He was tall and strong, making Son Heung-min seem frail in front of him.
This white man had a hint of racism in his bones.
After the loss yesterday, even before the stadium emptied, he was already criticizing and complaining about Son Heung-min, saying he wasted opportunities in the attack.
Yes, Son Heung-min admitted he didn't play well yesterday.
He was more adept at breaking through and performing with space for the ball, strong in 1v1 explosive moves, balanced with both feet, and good at shooting.
But against dense defenses, Son Heung-min admitted it was a weak point for him, with low efficiency.
His crossing ability was also very poor.
Yesterday, there was a golden opportunity where Son Heung-min could have shot after receiving the ball, but he hesitated and chose to break through.
Unfortunately, the ball was intercepted by the opponent, leading to a counter-attack and a conceded goal.
If blame were to be assigned, Son Heung-min's share of the blame for yesterday's match was not small.
Yes, I played poorly, and I apologized publicly after the match.
The head coaches and captain have already moved on from this, so who are you? Why are you still harping on it!
From criticizing yesterday to now, and even direct racial insults?
Son Heung-min wished he could rush up and punch him but didn't dare to strike.
Seeing Son Heung-min back down, Philipp Wollscheid became even more aggressive.
He had an irrational dislike for all Asian and African players; he was a typical white supremacist.
Previously, Son Heung-min was an important signing for the team, bought for 10 million euros, so he didn't dare to pick a fight.
Yesterday, he finally found an opportunity and couldn't wait to rub it in.
"Yellow-skinned monkey, trash! Go back to your Asia, all of you are..."
"Hiss--"
The surrounding teammates all felt a bad premonition.
This guy's insults were too nasty, too much, brother.
Captain Simon Rolfes frowned, preparing to step forward and intervene.
Son Heung-min's hands trembled from the insults, yet he didn't dare to argue.
Bang--
A figure flashed past, delivering a fierce uppercut to Philipp Wollscheid's abdomen.
Before Philipp Wollscheid could react, the 194cm giant fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen and curling up like a shrimp.
Liver KO!
Everyone in the locker room looked at the "assailant" in unison; it was none other than Lance, who was usually optimistic, cheerful, and well-liked!
"Holy shit!"
"Is this what they mean by 'man of few words, but decisive action'? His strike was so decisive."
"Philipp Wollscheid is such a loudmouth, I wanted to hit him too."
"I think he deserved it. They're teammates, saying such nasty things is too much."
"Serves him right."
"But Lance's fighting power is a bit fierce."
Suddenly, all of Bayer Leverkusen's locker room members gained three more points of respect for Lance.
"Lance, thank you."
Seeing Lance stand up for him like this, Son Heung-min was incredibly grateful.
A 16-year-old kid was braver than him...
Son Heung-min truly felt ashamed of himself.
"I didn't help you, I just wanted to deal with him."
Lance rotated his wrist, looking down coldly at the guy on the floor.
"Lance, come with me for a moment. We'll go explain the situation to the head coaches."
Captain Rolfes sighed.
Lance, as a newly discovered potential star, must not be affected by this incident.
Fortunately, after hearing the full story, head coaches Sascha Lewandowski and Sami Hyypiä had no intention of blaming Lance.
"Don't worry, Lance. I hope Philipp Wollscheid didn't offend you. His words and actions have seriously violated club discipline. We will punish him... but Lance, next time don't be so impulsive; if something happens, you can leave it to the coaching staff to handle."
Hyypiä patiently explained.
He was worried that Lance, being young and hot-headed, might suffer if he got into a fight with older players.
"Thank you, coach, it won't happen again."
Lance was indeed a bit impulsive.
Although his nationality was Belgian, he always considered himself of Chinese blood.
If a Korean was insulted, so be it.
But that idiot actually insulted his own people; Lance couldn't tolerate it.
After the incident, the club acted quickly.
The instigator, Philipp Wollscheid, was suspended and fined by the club, and the locker room was instructed to keep the news quiet to prevent the internal conflict from spreading.
The club even apologized to Son Heung-min and Lance, making Philipp Wollscheid bow to both of them in person.
Physical assault was a minor matter, but if issues of discrimination spread, it would have a very negative impact on the club.
Philipp Wollscheid completely backed down; from then on, he would try to avoid Lance by a mile.
He was just a paper tiger, a coward who only bullied the weak.
That day, after training, Lance felt a bit uneasy.
Before head coach Sascha Lewandowski left, he couldn't help but stop him.
"Lance? What's wrong, is there anything else?"
"I just want to know if this incident will affect my chances of playing."
Sascha was always stern and serious.
Today, seeing Lance's expression, he almost couldn't maintain his composure.
"What, are you so eager to play? You know, in other teams, you'd likely spend two years in the youth academy and only play in the first team at 18. We've allowed you to stay in the first team, which is already special treatment; aren't you satisfied?"
Lance shook his head, his gaze incredibly firm.
"I believe I have the ability to help the team. No matter the match, my presence might create more opportunities."
"That confident?"
"Not confident, I'm just stating facts."
"Oh!"
Well, well.
Sascha had never seen such an arrogant kid before.
You say you're useful and you're useful? Where do you get such courage?
Sascha Lewandowski laughed in anger.
"Alright, alright, since you've said all that, in the next Bundesliga match, the tough away game against FC Schalke 04, I'll see what use you can be!"
"Coach..."
Eh? No, wait.
Lance was about to argue further when he suddenly realized.
The head coach just agreed to give him a chance?