The Mainz U19 match was at 10:00 AM sharp.
That afternoon at 5:00 PM, the Mainz first team played their 26th match of the 2nd Bundesliga season.
Head coach Jurgen Klopp led the team in an away match against Oer.
After drawing with Hoffenheim at home in the previous round, Mainz had now drawn two games in a row.
In the last nine rounds, Mainzâs record was two wins, five draws, and two losses.
Everyone knew that if they couldnât turn things around soon, Mainzâs excellent shot at promotion to the Bundesliga would be ruined.
The away game against Oer, a team fighting relegation, was a must-win match!
If they couldnât even beat a relegation-battling team like Oer, how could Mainz even talk about promotion?
Klopp had also meticulously prepared a series of tactics.
He still wanted to dominate the start of the game.
Just four minutes in, midfielder Daniel Gunkel made a run from deep to score the opening goal for Mainz.
This made Klopp exceptionally emotional on the sidelines.
The young, bearded German coach not only cheered loudly but even started shadowboxing on the touchline.
But unexpectedly, he had celebrated too soon.
Just four minutes later, Oer scored from a corner kick, breaching the Mainz goal.
1-1!
The score was cruelly leveled.
In the 16th minute, Oer capitalized on Mainzâs eagerness to attack and launched a counterattack.
Forward Adam Nemec received a pass from his teammate Curry and successfully put Oer in the lead.
Mainz began to panic.
Oer, on the other hand, switched to a defensive counterattack strategy after taking the lead.
The frantic Mainz players almost got into a fight with their opponents. Gunkel and left-back Marco Rose both received yellow cards in quick succession.
But even so, Mainz still couldnât turn the tide.
After play resumed in the second half, midfielder Kalhan made a run from deep in the 52nd minute, capitalized on a passing error by the opposing center-back, and equalized for Mainz.
Hope was reignited for Mainz.
But in the 69th minute, Oerâs right winger Fabian MĂŒller once again scored against Mainz.
3-2!
Oer was in the lead again.
Klopp immediately substituted two players at once to further bolster the attack.
In the 75th minute, center-forward Borja assisted Kalhan for another goal, completing his brace and leveling the score once more.
But afterward, neither side managed to score again.
In the end, Mainz drew 3-3 with Oer in the away match.
...
When the final whistle blew, Klopp stood stunned on the sidelines.
He truly had no better solution for the teamâs current situation.
âIâm out of ideas!â
The key to this match was the first half.
If Mainz wanted to defeat their opponent, they had to increase their attacking pressure.
But the entire 2nd Bundesliga knew that Mainz was in trouble.
Most of their goals this season had come in the first half of the league.
Back then, the team operated very smoothly, with an offense that was like a rising tide.
The attacking combination at the time was the Ecuadorian center-forward Borja, on loan from Olympiacos, along with Marcus Foyelner and Chadli Amri, forming a trident up front.
In midfield, they also had Daniel Gunkel and Miroslav Kalhan, who were adept at making late runs into the box.
This allowed Mainz to perform exceptionally well in the first half of the season. They were not only the best defensive team in the 2nd Bundesliga but also the one with the most potent attack, an unstoppable force.
But the good times didnât last.
Starting in October, first Foyelner got injured, then Gunkel.
But the biggest problem was Chadli Amri.
The Algerian international, who had been their most active player in the first half of the season, had been plagued by injuries ever since the winter break training camp.
Although none of the injuries were serious, his playing time was sporadic, and his form was very inconsistent.
With the engine of the offense sputtering, the teamâs entire midfield and attack came to a halt.
It was also around that time that Klopp received a call from Bayernâs General Manager, Hennes.
Klopp didnât hide any of this.
He was very good friends with the clubâs General Manager, Christian Heidel, so he was completely open and honest with him.
Heidel supported his move to Bayern at the end of the season!
Therefore, this didnât cause any trouble for Mainz.
On the contrary, many players started working even harder, hoping that Klopp would take them with him when he went to Bayern.
But unexpectedly, Bayern chose Klinsmann.
Under pressure from both inside and out, Mainzâs performance was greatly affected.
Borja, Foyelner, and GunkelâMainzâs top three goalscorers this seasonâhad scored almost all of their goals in the first half of the season.
After the winter break, these goalscorers had all gone silent at the same time.
This just went to show the predicament Mainz was currently in!
If it were just a problem with the attack, it might have been manageable.
In the goalkeeper position, the starting keeper Dimo Wahe had only played the first two rounds of the season before being sidelined until March due to shoulder surgery.
The injury to this club veteran, who had been guarding the goal since â95, had a huge impact on the team.
Fortunately, the backup goalkeeper, Christian Witeklo, performed well after taking over.
But at the end of October, Witeklo also got injured.
And his injury was identical to Dimo Waheâs: his shoulder.
With two goalkeepers injured one after another, Klopp had no choice but to use his third-string keeper, Daniel Ischdonat.
When March finally came, Dimo Wahe returned from his injury.
But not long ago, the starting keeper got injured againâa meniscus tearâand was out for the rest of the season.
Klopp was truly at his witâs end regarding the teamâs current situation.
He knew how to beat opponents on the pitch, but he couldnât defeat injuries.
Take this match against Oer, for example.
Klopp believed that in a situation like the first half, if it had happened during the first part of the season, the team would not only have been able to suppress Oer and score continuously, but the backline also wouldnât have had so many problems.
The center-back pairing of Nowitzki and Subotic was the most stable in the Second Bundesliga this season.
With Rose on the left and Hogland on the right, it was the best defensive line in the 2nd Bundesliga.
It was also the key to how Mainz, despite all its disasters, was still able to maintain its hope for promotion.
But now, they were playing like this.
Klopp really was out of ideas!
...
"Looking at how this match played out, the midfielders Kalhan and Gunkel canât keep pushing forward like that. With Pekovic left alone at the back, the defense canât handle the pressure."
Assistant coach Zeliko Buvac was still analyzing the situation calmly.
He was Kloppâs number one strategist.
Klopp was still frowning. "You saw it too. Borja and Foyelner canât score right now. The late runs from midfield are barely getting us goals."
"If they donât push up, wonât we just be sitting back in a defensive shell?"
Buvac, of course, knew this as well. "The most critical problem right now is that our front trident isnât putting enough pressure on the opponentâs midfield and defense. We canât effectively suppress them, which is why the midfielders have to push forward so frequently."
Borja was on loan at Mainz from Olympiacos in Greece.
He performed exceptionally well in the first half of the season, which had now led to a stalemate in the buyout negotiations between Mainz and Olympiacos.
Moreover, Borja had recently hit a goal drought.
At the end of the day, he wasnât a Mainz player yet.
Foyelner was a technical player with good speed, excellent footwork, and passing ability, but he primarily played on the left wing.
Chadli Amri wasnât playing on the right wing; Serdan Balajic started today.
The Serbian forwardâs movement was even worse than Foyelnerâs.
"Cologne beat Offenbach 3-1 away this round. Weâve dropped to fourth place now, out of the promotion zone."
The current rule in the Second Bundesliga was that the top three teams were directly promoted, and the bottom four were relegated.
But starting from the 08/09 season, the third-place team would have to play a promotion playoff against the 16th-place team from the Bundesliga.
The third-to-last team would have to play a relegation playoff against the 3rd-place team from the German Third Division.
By then, getting promoted to the Bundesliga would be even more difficult than it was now.
"We have to make a change quickly and get back into the top three, or the situation will become increasingly unfavorable for us."
Buvac looked at Klopp and reminded him solemnly.
"Donât forget how we were relegated from the Bundesliga last season."
Of course, Klopp hadnât forgotten.
In fact, during the second half of the 06/07 Bundesliga season, Mainz had briefly climbed out of the relegation zone.
At the time, Mainz thought they had weathered the storm and relaxed a bit. That, combined with injuries and other issues, led to the team suffering consecutive crushing defeats in the final rounds.
Starting from round 26, Mainz lost to Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg, Schalke 04, Hannover 96, and Stuttgart one after another.
In the final round, they suffered a humiliating 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich.
Buvac brought this up as an example to remind Klopp that he had to solve their problems as soon as possible and create more breathing room for themselves.
Mainz wasnât a big club; their margin for error was extremely low!
Klopp heard his trusted assistantâs advice.
But he was in a difficult position.
To solve Mainzâs current predicament, he could either make adjustments to the existing lineup...
...or dig for fresh blood from the teamâs current resources.
That only left the second team and the U19s.
"Zeliko, find some time. Letâs go watch the second team play."
...
Wang Shuo was unaware of the desperate situation the first teamâs head coach, Klopp, was facing.
He, on the other hand, was finding his groove more and more with the Mainz U19 team.
A week later, the team faced their 21st match of the season, an away game against Fuerth.
Fuerthâs head coach was former Bayern player Frank Kramer.
Although the Fuerth U19 team hadnât performed very well this season, they were still very tough on their home turf.
They launched a fierce offensive against Mainz U19 right from the start, and in the 5th minute, a late run from midfielder Martin Sotner breached the Mainz U19 goal.
Afterward, Fuerth switched to their signature defensive counterattack strategy.
Mainz U19 responded with a high press, with Wang Shuo leading the charge to pressure Fuerth U19âs midfield and defense, but it wasnât very effective.
Instead, it was in the 31st minute that Mainz won the ball near the halfway line and immediately launched a counterattack.
Wang Shuo used his excellent movement to find an open space, receiving a pass from SchĂŒrrle on the right side of the penalty area and firing a shot with his right foot to equalize for the team.
1-1!
After that, no more goals were scored for the rest of the first half.
In the second half, Wang Shuoâs stamina advantage became apparent.
He continuously pressed forward, applying pressure.
In the 50th minute, it was Wang Shuoâs high press that forced the Fuerth center-back, Glabbel, into a passing error.
After winning the ball, Wang Shuo charged into the Fuerth penalty area and scored in a one-on-one, putting his team in the lead.
2-1!
Starting in the 55th minute, Frank Kramer made two substitutions in the span of just five minutes.
He made his third substitution in the 70th minute.
All were intended to strengthen the attack.
But Mainz remained dominant. Wang Shuoâs stamina was still plentiful, and he tirelessly applied pressure in the midfield and front lines.
This made Kramny hesitant to substitute him, hoping he could continue to create goal-scoring opportunities.
Sure enough, Wang Shuo soon repaid Kramnyâs trust.
In the 76th minute, it was Wang Shuo who made a brilliant tackle in the opponentâs half and passed the ball into the box. SchĂŒrrle used his speed to make a diagonal run into the right side of the area, controlled the ball, and scored with a clean shot.
3-1!
Just five minutes later, another high press from Wang Shuo caused chaos. Robin Medinitz snatched the ball in the ensuing scramble and fired a shot from the left side of the box, finding the back of the net.
4-1!
Only at this point did a satisfied Kramny finally make a series of substitutions.
In the end, Mainz U19 completed a 4-1 comeback victory against Fuerth U19 away from home!
After a string of consecutive victories, Kramnyâs team had now climbed to 7th place in the Southwest Division with 34 points.
They were now just four points behind the 4th-place team, Frankfurt U19.
And in the next round, Mainz U19 would host Bayern Munich U19, led by the local German prodigy, Thomas MĂŒller.
This was also set to be Mainz U19âs most anticipated home game of the season.