Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 16: 16. Kevin De Bruyne

Rewind 12 hours, before the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

Late at night.

Lance, who was selected for the matchday squad, was quite excited and unusually sleepless.

According to team discipline, all players in the matchday squad must stay together and be managed uniformly.

Even at Bayer Leverkusen’s home ground, the club booked a 5-star hotel for them.

Two people shared a standard room, and coaches would check rooms at night to prevent anyone from sneaking off to nightclubs.

Lance’s roommate was, without a doubt, Julian Brandt.

This guy was sleeping soundly, snoring occasionally.

Lance was annoyed by the noise and simply lay in bed playing with his phone.

Originally, he was browsing Kicker, Germany’s largest football forum, similar to domestic forums like Tieba, Hupu, and Douban groups.

Fans of various Bundesliga teams were all there, constantly bickering and interacting.

Lance registered a burner account to enjoy the drama and gossip, when he suddenly received an iMessage:

”Lance, how are you doing? Are you settling in well at Bayer Leverkusen?” — Kevin De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne, a good brother from his KRC Genk days in Belgium.

Their families were neighbors; De Bruyne was 6 years older than Lance and had played with him since childhood.

When De Bruyne joined the KRC Genk club, Lance followed him in.

Unfortunately, Lance was still in the youth academy, while De Bruyne had already been promoted to the first team and become a key player.

Until he left KRC Genk, the two never had the chance to play side by side.

For some reason, Lance had a premonition.

De Bruyne would undoubtedly become a world-class midfielder in the future!

Later, De Bruyne was signed by Chelsea and moved to England.

Chelsea had established itself as Champions League winners, and Lance thought his good brother had found a good home, even envying him.

Who would have thought, De Bruyne was not happy at Chelsea, being loaned out to Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga immediately after joining.

This year, it was agreed he would return to Chelsea and be able to enter the starting lineup.

The new coach, the ’Special One’ José Mourinho, publicly stated that De Bruyne was not in his plans.

Since the start of the Premier League season, Kevin De Bruyne was destined to warm the bench.

A dejected De Bruyne was also sleepless, and happened to want to vent to his brother.

”I might get to play tomorrow.”

”That’s great!”

”How about you? Still unable to play?”

”No chance, the coach hates me.”

De Bruyne sighed deeply.

Mourinho kept putting him down, saying he was fragile, lacked physical advantage, had average shooting, poor defense, decent passing, and insufficient speed and breakthrough ability, making it impossible for him to survive in the Premier League.

De Bruyne had long lost his confidence.

”Kevin, I told you, you are the future second-best midfielder in the world.”

”Thanks, then who’s first?”

”Of course, me.”

”You little brat, you’re clearly a forward! Are you still going to compete with me?”

”I can play midfield too.”

With Lance’s distraction, De Bruyne’s mood improved considerably.

He was 6 years older than Lance, but he felt like they were the same age, like brothers in a family.

Lance joined the first team of Bayer Leverkusen at 16, so optimistic and hardworking...

As an older brother, he couldn’t fall behind!

”Thanks, Lance, I really want to play a match with you if I get the chance.”

”Alright, if we meet, I’ll crush you.”

”Fuck off! Are you getting cocky?!”

After a few playful jabs, De Bruyne put down his phone, feeling much better.

After chatting with his brother for a bit, Lance also felt a little sleepy and fell into a deep sleep.

...

Now.

BayArena.

Lance was too excited after his first two goals and didn’t have time to do a celebration.

For the third goal, he finally thought of a celebration...

Unfortunately, his shot was a bit central, saved by the opposing goalkeeper, who fumbled it.

Eren Derdiyok arrived just in time, scoring on the rebound!

”Well, the celebration I just thought of will have to wait for next time.”

In stoppage time, Bayer Leverkusen completed a 3-2 comeback!

”Let’s rewatch this goal in slow motion!”

Viewers in front of their TVs also wanted to know how the goal went in.

It turned out that the 3. Liga team SV Lippstadt was stunned; Bayer Leverkusen’s two consecutive goals severely deflated their opponents’ morale.

According to DFB-Pokal rules, it’s a single-elimination match; if it’s a draw after 90 minutes, it goes to extra time, and if it’s still a draw after extra time, it goes to a penalty shootout.

The 3. Liga team’s stamina and experience were relatively weak, so they would surely be exhausted in extra time.

Thus, the SV Lippstadt players were a bit anxious; after conceding, they immediately restarted play, planning a quick attack.

Unexpectedly, their passing intention was too obvious, and Emre Can easily intercepted it!

Emre Can looked up and saw a figure in front, sprinting wildly!

The success of the first two goals had already given Emre Can infinite trust in Lance!

”It’s up to you!”

Bang—

A long pass from the back, mindlessly aimed at Lance.

SV Lippstadt’s strong black defensive midfielder followed closely, attempting to use his physical strength to collide with Lance.

Just as the opponent was about to collide with Lance, Lance suddenly stopped sharply, turned, jumped, and chested the ball down!

”What?”

The black defensive midfielder immediately rushed forward, but Lance had already clipped the ball with his ankle and flicked it outwards.

”No way!”

The opponent thought Lance intended to break through to the right and quickly followed him.

In an instant!

The opponent’s eyes blurred as Lance’s feet moved nimbly, completing a breakthrough to the left!

An aerial elastico!

This time, the first touch, dribble, and escape were all completed in one fluid motion, catching the entire opposing team off guard!

At the edge of the box, Lance was completely unmarked!

[Rage Value: 88%]

Unfortunately, his playing time was too short to accumulate 100% rage and activate his S-tier peak strength template.

Given the circumstances, Lance could only try a long-range shot.

His years of training and sweat weren’t for nothing!

Secret Art!

Uh... just a normal long shot.

Bang.

The ball was well-struck, flying towards the goal, but slightly central, and was blocked by the goalkeeper’s diving save.

The rest, the audience already knew.

Eren Derdiyok scored on the rebound in front of the goal, and Bayer Leverkusen, with a scare, successfully snatched the victory!

The entire SV Lippstadt team almost collapsed; after the goal, everyone slumped to the ground.

”Damn it! Why!”

”We tried so hard! Why can’t we still beat Bayer Leverkusen!”

The hero who turned the tide, the savior of BayArena, Lance looked down at his opponents lying on the ground, with not an ounce of pity in his heart, only the obsession to win and advance!

Assuming it would be difficult for him to play in the Bundesliga.

Bayer Leverkusen faced a three-front battle: Bundesliga, Champions League, DFB-Pokal.

He was most likely to get more opportunities in the DFB-Pokal!

Therefore, the further the DFB-Pokal went, the more chances Lance would get to play!

”Sorry, I have to win this match.”

...

”Lance, can you give an interview?”

”Lance, please come over here! Thank you!”

After the match, Lance was exhausted.

Even though he only played for 15 minutes, the entire time was high-intensity confrontation, leading to huge physical exertion.

It would be strange if carrying the whole team didn’t consume a lot of energy.

He followed the team for the curtain call, circling the stadium, raising his hands to thank the fans present, enjoying the cheers and applause of over 30,000 people.

He wanted to return to the changing room as soon as possible to take a shower and rest well.

But, drenched in sweat, he was surrounded by the media.

”Me?”

”Yes, Lance, you are today’s Man of the Match, and you need to do a short interview.”

”Alright.”

Guided by staff, Lance came to a background wall covered with advertisements.

Camera lenses completely surrounded him.

Microphones of all sizes were practically shoved into his mouth.

”Lance, this is your professional debut today, and as the youngest player in DFB-Pokal history, what are your thoughts? How was your mindset after coming on as a substitute?”

The reporter, worried Lance wouldn’t understand German, and seeing his standard Chinese features, instinctively asked in English.

However, Lance made the reporters present light up, answering in fluent North Rhine accent German.

”I don’t feel much, I just want to help the team win. The coaches need me, and I just need to play seriously.”

A formulaic answer, with no explosive content.

The reporter couldn’t help but have ill intentions.

”Excuse me, before you came on, the team was trailing a 3. Liga team by two goals. After you came on, the team scored three consecutive goals to complete the comeback... You personally scored two goals and orchestrated one dangerous attack. How would you evaluate yourself and your teammates’ performance?”

The reporters present were all waiting for the 16-year-old greenhorn to speak bluntly; if he said anything negative about his teammates, he would surely be taught a lesson in journalism.

But Lance didn’t give them a chance at all.

”My teammates’ performance was excellent, showing superb perseverance. In the final stage, my teammates and I combined to score the winning goal, completing the comeback. This victory is inseparable from every teammate, and from the coaches’ excellent decisions and on-the-spot reactions. We were lucky enough to achieve it.”

Then it was the reporters’ turn to be awkward.

You’re a 16-year-old kid, do you really have to be so shrewd?!

Lance simply curled his lips into a slight smile, completely at ease.

There was nothing they could do; the reporters eventually asked a few more formulaic questions, and then the Football Association presented Lance with his first MVP trophy.

Winning MVP after playing just 15 minutes as a substitute, earning a perfect 1.0 rating for Man of the Match!

In Germany, 5.0 is the worst, 1.0 is the best.

Lance’s debut, in an unexpected way, left an astonishing impression on the media, fans, coaching staff, teammates, and everyone!

”Wow, the trophy is quite heavy.”

Lance looked down at the DFB-Pokal MVP trophy.

It was a silver and gold metal plaque about the size of an iPad mini, with a silver base, cool and heavy to the touch.

”Come on, smile!”

Click!

Lance’s professional debut was finally captured in this MVP commemorative photo!

No one could have imagined what kind of storm the sunny, youthful boy smiling in the photo would stir up in the upcoming Bundesliga!