Chapter 303 - 73: Volley! Attacking Combo! Wang Shuo Dependency

Tony Kroos stood outside the corner arc, hands on his hips, looking at the chaotic crowd inside Dortmund’s penalty area.

He was searching for Hyypia and Friedrich, and for the signals from the two center-backs.

Friedrich was easy to spot, as he was wearing the captain’s armband.

When the referee blew his whistle, Tony Kroos quickly took the corner, sending the ball precisely into Dortmund’s penalty area. He was aiming for Friedrich.

But the Dortmund defenders were ready.

Subotic was a step ahead, clearing the ball out of the penalty area with a header.

Right-back Owomoyela immediately sprinted to the right edge of the penalty area to meet Subotic’s clearance. He looked up, saw Wang Shuo charging forward, and immediately launched a long pass with all his might.

Owomoyela’s pass was intended for Wang Shuo.

But the quality of the pass was poor.

By the time it reached the center of the pitch in the attacking half, it was far too high, sailing over Wang Shuo’s head.

Never mind Wang Shuo; even the trailing Lars Bender and Castro couldn’t get to it.

The ball flew over Wang Shuo’s head, dropping toward the left side of the pitch.

Wang Shuo glanced back to his left, then accelerated his sprint forward, raising a hand to call for the ball.

The ball landed in an open space on the left and skidded toward the sideline.

Reus tore down the pitch from his own half at top speed. He crossed the halfway line, still accelerating, and caught up to the ball just before it went out of bounds, stopping it with a single touch.

At the same moment, however, Lars Bender was closing in on him.

Reus clearly had no intention of going easy on his teammate’s brother. Before Bender could get close, Reus flicked the ball sideways and cut inside.

Having just shaken off Lars Bender, Reus drove a diagonal pass with his right foot, sending the ball toward the right side of the penalty area.

Wang Shuo went into a full sprint, leaving left-back Castro behind as he charged into the right side of the penalty area.

Goalkeeper Adler stood his ground in front of the goal.

The newly-capped German international was highly touted.

The biggest difference between him and Neuer was that Neuer loved to, and was known for, rushing off his line.

Adler, however, was a more traditional German goalkeeper; he preferred to stay inside his six-yard box.

It’s hard to say which style is superior.

But on this occasion, at least, as Reus’s pass dropped into the right side of the box and Wang Shuo closed in, Adler clearly lacked the courage to charge out.

Just as the ball was dropping, Wang Shuo arrived at the perfect moment. Meeting its descent, he planted his left foot and immediately swung his right.

He could feel the clean, solid contact of his instep striking the ball.

He could also feel the ball deform on impact before rocketing toward the goal at incredible speed.

Adler clearly hadn’t expected Wang Shuo to hit it on the volley without taking a single touch.

Although he reacted instinctively, the ball flew through his hands at lightning speed and drilled into the net behind him.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"It’s in!!"

"Just five minutes into the match, Dortmund are the first to break the deadlock against Bayer Leverkusen!"

"A volley from Wang Shuo!"

"My goodness, what a magnificent goal!"

"From Subotic’s clearance, to Owomoyela’s long ball, to Reus’s touch and pass, and finally to Wang Shuo’s volley to finish it off—the entire sequence, from start to finish, took only eleven seconds!"

"Eleven seconds!"

"From Dortmund’s goalmouth to the back of Bayer Leverkusen’s net, in just eleven seconds!"

"Absolutely unbelievable!"

"But that’s Dortmund for you!"

"And that’s Wang Shuo for you!"

"He’s always producing something incredible."

"And just look at that volley."

"Absolutely breathtaking!"

On the sidelines, Klopp’s jaw had dropped. His mouth was open so wide you could have fit a fist in it.

In that moment, he even forgot to unleash his signature triple fist pump.

In front of the home team’s bench, Heynckes had also rushed out, his face a mask of shock. He stared in disbelief at his own goal, at Adler.

’He never would have imagined Dortmund could score a goal like that. Especially from Wang Shuo.’

’As a legendary German striker himself, Heynckes knew better than anyone just how incredibly difficult it was to execute a volley like that. It was next to impossible!’

’That one strike was enough to showcase Wang Shuo’s incredible Ball Sense and his anticipation of the ball’s trajectory.’

’Not to mention his read on the goalkeeper, Adler.’

’But to observe all those factors, process them, and understand them perfectly in such a short amount of time... it was just too difficult!’

’And yet, Wang Shuo had done it!’

’If they weren’t on opposing sides, Heynckes would have genuinely wanted to applaud the young man.’

"How in the world did Gao Huairen produce such a monster?" Heynckes muttered, shaking his head again and again.