"Hat-trick!!"
"My God, you really scored a hat-trick!"
"Woohoo! Wang, you're a legend!"
After Wang Shuo scored, he ran to the athletics track at the edge of the field to celebrate, and Schürrle and the others quickly chased after him.
His Mainz teammates swarmed him, roaring in his ears and unleashing their excitement.
They were facing the German overlords, Bayern Munich!
So far this season, what team had managed to score four goals against Bayern in a single match?
Their Mainz had done it!
Moreover, Wang Shuo had become the first player to score a hat-trick against Bayern this season.
"My God, this is just incredible!"
"A hat-trick against Bayern!"
Schürrle grabbed Wang Shuo and shook him with all his might, as if he were a roly-poly toy.
Wang Shuo himself was also incredibly excited.
He hadn't really been thinking about it. All he had wanted was to breach Bayern's goal again.
It didn't matter to Wang Shuo whether he scored himself or a teammate did.
But when the goal came, he was still thrilled.
...
On the sidelines, more and more fans began to applaud.
Even though most of them supported Bayern, they had to acknowledge Mainz's outstanding performance.
Wang Shuo, the hat-trick hero, sparked a particular buzz among the fans.
But everyone had the same question.
"What's this Asian player's name?"
"When did Mainz get such an incredible player?"
"My God, he's got to be the first player to score a hat-trick against Bayern in the last two seasons, right?"
"Based on my years of watching football, this kid is something special!"
Klopp and Buvac were among those applauding.
"This kid is really something," Buvac praised with a smile.
Klopp was smiling too. He glanced at his close friend. "Zeliko, it's rare to hear you praise a player like that."
Zeliko Buvac, who held dual citizenship in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, arrived in the German leagues in '91. In '92, he joined Mainz, then in the 2nd Bundesliga, and played for them until '95.
Klopp had arrived at Mainz a bit earlier, in '90.
Kramny was the last of them to arrive, joining Mainz in '97 and staying until his retirement in '05.
A right midfielder and a right-back, Klopp and Kramny were Mainz's golden duo on the right flank back in the day.
But when it came to orchestrating the midfield, the 1.92-meter-tall Buvac was the heart of Mainz's midfield.
And because of his own talent as a player, Buvac had very high standards for others.
Klopp had immense faith in his former teammate, who was now his right-hand man.
At the very least, Buvac had a uniquely sharp eye for talent.
"He's got this tenacity about him. Plus, his stamina and speed are excellent. I really think he's the kind of player our first team needs right now."
After saying his piece, Buvac looked at Klopp.
Klopp nodded emphatically.
Even though it was just one match, he was also extremely impressed with Wang Shuo.
After exchanging a glance, the two immediately made their way over to the coaches' bench, walking up to Kramny.
"My God, Jurgen, Zeliko, what are you two doing here?"
Kramny was stunned to see them.
"We've been here for a while. Watched a fantastic match," Buvac praised with a hearty laugh.
Klopp also nodded with a smile. "You guys played exceptionally well today."
"The players did all the work. I didn't do anything. Look, I haven't even made a substitution."
As he spoke, Kramny saw Hoffenheim finish his warm-up and return, and immediately signaled for him to go on.
But he wasn't subbing off the hat-trick hero, Wang Shuo. Instead, he was replacing Medinitz, whose stamina was completely drained.
"'Wang's stamina is excellent. He'll have no problem lasting until the end of the match,' Kramny explained."
"'Wang?' Klopp had a feeling he knew who that was."
"'That's right. The one who scored the hat-trick.'"
"'Oh? When did he join the club?'"
"'Came for a trial on March 16th. I decided to keep him after that.'"
After a pause, Kramny pointed at Klopp and chuckled. "You've been too busy to come see us train or play recently. He's consistently been our best performer."
"'I think he should be able to make the first team next season.'"
"'Next season?' Buvac asked, puzzled. 'Why not now?'"
Klopp nodded in agreement. "Yeah, our first team is in desperate need of a forward with his kind of work rate."
Kramny's face lit up at first, but his expression quickly turned to one of regret as he shook his head.
"'He could train with the first team, but he wouldn't be able to play in any matches.'"
"'Why not?'"
"'He was born in September of '90.'"
Klopp and Buvac were both instantly crestfallen.
"'Why couldn't he have been born a few months earlier?' Buvac asked with a wry smile."
Kramny let out a helpless laugh.
'How was he supposed to answer that?'
According to German Football Association regulations, a player must be at least 18 years old to sign a professional contract.
To play for the first team in a professional league, you also have to be at least 18.
For players registered in a club's own youth academy, the rule can be relaxed slightly: they must turn 18 by the end of the current season.
In other words, if Wang Shuo had been born in May, he could play for the first team right now, even at 17.
But since he was born in September, he would have to wait until next season.
At this thought, Klopp and Buvac exchanged a look, each seeing the disappointment in the other's eyes.
They both truly saw great potential in Wang Shuo.
And the first team happened to be in dire need of some new blood.
"'What if you talked to Christian? Try for an exception, like Dortmund did with Shahin?' Kramny suggested."
He was genuinely fond of Wang Shuo and had high hopes for him.
As a friend of Thomas Essien, he also sincerely hoped Wang Shuo would make it big.
Of course, Klopp and Buvac knew all about the Shahin situation.
Dortmund's Shahin had set the record for the youngest player in Bundesliga history. When he made his debut for Dortmund in 2005, he was only 16 years and 11 months old.
'Why was he allowed to play?'
At the time, Shahin's outstanding performance in the youth world cup had attracted the attention of numerous major European clubs, including Arsenal, who were all trying to sign him. The Gunners had even made a three-million-euro offer.
To keep Shahin, Dortmund decided to apply to the German Football Association for a special permit, asking for an exception to be made that would allow him to play.
But that was Dortmund!
Dortmund's president, Laubal, was also the vice president of the German Football Association and president of the German Professional League.
And Mainz?
Although they were also part of the German Professional League, their influence was a far cry from Dortmund's.
"'Even if Christian were willing to try and file for it, the German Football Association would probably turn it down.'"
Klopp couldn't help but sigh as he said this.
He looked back at the match, his gaze falling on Wang Shuo, and he shook his head with a regretful sigh.
'If only he'd been born a few months earlier!'
...
The moment the final whistle blew, all the Mainz players on the field erupted in cheers.
They were all elated to have defeated Bayern!
The fans watching from the sidelines also broke into applause.
They had originally come to see the talented players of Bayern Munich U19.
But after witnessing such a dramatic, back-and-forth match, they felt that the Mainz U19 squad had been the more impressive team and had earned their victory.
4-3!
The match ended in a narrow victory for Mainz U19.
In the final few minutes, neither side had the energy left to mount another attack.
This was also the match where Bayern Munich U19 had conceded the most goals in the Southern Division so far this season.
They had conceded a total of four goals.
Meanwhile, Wang Shuo had scored three of those goals himself, completing a hat-trick.
What made Wang Shuo even happier was that he had been fouled by Bayern players a total of ten times during the match.
His Passive Value had now increased to 26 points.
This made Wang Shuo confident that he could accumulate 50 Passive Value points by the end of the season.
But in the next moment, a new message from the system made Wang Shuo ecstatic.
"Congratulations, Wang Shuo! By scoring a hat-trick and leading your team to defeat the league's strongest opponent, you have completed the 'Upset Victory' Achievement. Reward: one Passive Skill Card."
"'Do you wish to draw now?'"
Wang Shuo froze when he saw the message.
'Achievement?'
'This is the first time this has ever happened!'
'So I can get rewards for this too.'
But as he mulled over the message, he realized, 'This clearly isn't so simple. It wasn't just any Achievement that would grant a reward; it had to meet specific, special conditions. Take today's match, for example. Bayern Munich U19 was the strongest team in the league. I scored a hat-trick, leading my underdog team to victory. All of those conditions were essential.'
'And similar Achievements could only be completed once; they couldn't be repeated.'
'So, trying to farm Passive Skill Cards through Achievements obviously isn't going to be that easy.'
But Wang Shuo wasn't disappointed.
After all, it was another way to get rewards, which was ultimately a good thing.
Just as Wang Shuo was about to enter the Ball God System, he heard Kramny calling from the sidelines.
"'Wang, come over here for a second.'"
Wang Shuo looked over and saw Kramny waving him over from the sidelines.
Two tall, burly strangers were standing next to the head coach.
'Who are they?'
...
As Wang Shuo ran toward the sideline like a returning hero, accepting congratulations from his Mainz teammates, the Bayern Munich U19 players trudged off the field, heads hung low like defeated roosters.
Their head coach, Niedermayer, didn't go to console his players.
He felt that his players had been far too arrogant in the first half.
If they had shown the same ferocity they had at the start of the second half from the very beginning, Mainz wouldn't have stood a chance.
Niedermayer believed his players had lost this match simply because they were too arrogant.
So, he deliberately decided to let them stew in it.
But when he glanced over at the Mainz bench, he saw Kramny introducing Wang Shuo to first-team head coach Klopp and assistant coach Zeliko Buvac.
This gave Niedermayer an idea.
It seemed the young player's outstanding performance had already caught the eye of the Mainz first team.
With that in mind, Niedermayer decided he would call Hennes later to recommend Wang Shuo.
After this match, and especially after witnessing that final comeback, Niedermayer's opinion of Wang Shuo was even higher.
He felt that a young player like this could not only hold his own in the Bayern Munich U19 squad, but would also have a chance to play for the first team in the future.
And he was a Chinese player, no less.
As Germany's most globalized powerhouse club, Bayern had always been salivating over the Chinese market.
If they could actually sign a player from China, Hennes would definitely be interested.