The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 131 - 49: New Leader, Wang Shuo! Klopp’s Team Is "Sick" Again! Wang Shuo: I’ll Create the Miracle

Chapter 131: Chapter 49: New Leader, Wang Shuo! Klopp’s Team Is "Sick" Again! Wang Shuo: I’ll Create the Miracle

As long as they locked down Wang Shuo, the other players posed little threat.

’Mainz is already performing at its absolute limit.’

’Unless Wang Shuo can fly, there’s no way he’s breaking through our iron wall!’

Hecking was full of confidence in the defensive tactics he had spent a week tailoring specifically for Mainz and Wang Shuo.

...

Of course, Wang Shuo couldn’t fly.

But he could run.

And he could really, really run.

It was a blunt approach.

But sometimes, the bluntest approaches were the most effective, and also the hardest to counter.

After conceding a goal in the 16th minute, Mainz was in a bit of disarray.

It took a great deal of effort, but Wang Shuo, along with teammates like Kalhan and Nowitzki, managed to stabilize the team.

He himself was constantly up front, looking for opportunities.

Hannover 96’s defensive coordination was clearly better; they left no openings when switching their marks.

His teammates couldn’t provide much help, either.

Even Hainauer was being shut down.

Wang Shuo kept running, running nonstop.

’No openings?’

’Then I’ll create them!’

This required constant running, constantly pulling the defense out of position.

By continuously draining their stamina, openings would naturally appear once they reached a certain limit.

Wang Shuo was very confident in this trump card of his.

And it had never failed him.

Sure enough.

As the first half drew to a close, Hannover 96’s midfielders and defenders were starting to slow down.

It wasn’t that their stamina was completely depleted, but that they needed to conserve some energy for the second half.

Besides, Wang Shuo had been running for over twenty minutes without creating any real chances.

This proved that Hannover 96’s targeted defense was still very effective.

In the 42nd minute, Czech Republic international Steiner received the ball outside the right corner of the penalty area, but Lővér successfully dispossessed him.

After winning the ball, Lővér hastily booted it forward.

The clearance was rushed and hurried, but the Hannover 96 players were also caught off guard.

When it landed in Mainz’s half, there wasn’t a single player nearby who could get to it in time.

After the ball bounced, it arced toward the left of the center circle in Mainz’s half.

Wang Shuo had been running near the halfway line the whole time.

The moment he saw the ball coming down, a single thought appeared in his mind.

’Here’s my chance!’

He could clearly sense that the defenders around him had slowed down.

So, he accelerated and gave chase.

The right-sided of the two defensive midfielders, Bastian Schulz, also chased after the ball.

The 23-year-old German midfielder wanted to control the ball and launch another attack.

But at almost the same moment, he heard a warning from his teammate, center-back Farrenhorst, from behind him.

"Watch out, someone’s behind you!"

Bastian Schulz had just turned his head when he felt someone rush past him like a gust of wind, getting in front of him.

’So fast!’

He couldn’t even see clearly who it was.

But he didn’t need to guess—not with the number 9 on the back of that red jersey.

In the instant Wang Shuo surged forward, Bastian Schulz saw him lift his foot.

’Trying to trap the ball?’

Bastian Schulz scrambled forward and immediately went in for a scissor-tackle slide.

He wanted to take down both the man and the ball.

’Worst case, it’s a yellow card!’

Wang Shuo had indeed intended to trap the ball and turn, but in the split second that Farrenhorst shouted his warning, he didn’t forget to glance back at Bastian Schulz.

Aided by [First Move], even with just a glance, Wang Shuo could clearly see his opponent’s intention.

’If I trap the ball, he’ll definitely take me down with it.’

’What should I do?’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

In that instant, a flash of inspiration struck Wang Shuo.

His raised foot didn’t change its position, but the technique did.

Instead of trapping the ball with the inside of his foot, he now flicked it up with his instep.

Wang Shuo flicked the ball right up and over his challenger.

He was still tripped by Bastian Schulz’s scissor tackle.

But as he fell, the already-prepared Wang Shuo took a staggering step, quickly extended his right foot, and planted his hands on the grass as his body slid sideways to the ground.

If time were to freeze at that moment, everyone would see Wang Shuo looking like a cheetah on the plains of Africa, crouching low in the grass, with the descending football as his prey.

Only, other competitors also had their eyes on this prey.

In the next moment, Wang Shuo kicked off powerfully with his legs and shot out like a bolt of lightning. He got to the ball just before left-back Cherundolo, knocking it forward and bringing it under control on his right side.

Only then did the entire Bruch Road Stadium erupt with the gasps of the Mainz fans!

Especially when they saw Wang Shuo and Cherundolo in a race down the left flank.

The 1.8-meter-tall Wang Shuo, even while dribbling, was not losing a step to the 1.72-meter-tall Cherundolo.

What the fans didn’t know was that this was because Wang Shuo was keeping the ball on his right foot, using his body to shield it from Cherundolo on his left.

But as he entered Hannover 96’s defensive third, Farrenhorst appeared, blocking Wang Shuo’s path.

Wang Shuo only needed a glance to guess what he was planning.

’He wants to force me out to the left, outside the penalty area, and double-team me with Cherundolo.’

’What an experienced center-back!’

’But I’m not going to be that easy to stop!’

Without slowing down in the slightest, Wang Shuo firmly used his left shoulder to shield the ball from Cherundolo while feinting as if he intended to break through the defense on the left.

And he was heading for the left edge of Farrenhorst’s defensive zone.