At the Heinrich home, Aunt Maria was overjoyed.
"Chen! Are you really playing in the next League match?"
"Not entirely sure, but the coach promised me."
"That's wonderful! We get to watch you play, and it's a home game!"
Aunt Maria celebrated to herself, pulling her husband Hans into the discussion.
"We need to prepare well with the guys and give Chen an unforgettable welcoming ceremony to celebrate his League debut!"
"Exactly! We must make a grand scene!"
Uncle Hans was also so excited he was dancing with joy.
"Last time in the German Cup, we didn't go to the stadium to watch you play, so this time we definitely have to make a big fuss!"
"Yes!! Our Chen is finally going to play!"
Their eldest son, Frank, was also very happy.
Since Chen Tao joined Dortmund, the whole family had waited two months, finally reaching this moment.
Chen Tao watched their excited celebration, reaching out his hand, wanting to speak but hesitating.
The coach had only given a verbal promise, letting Chen Tao prove himself.
What if he went back on his word during the match?
Wouldn't everyone's preparations be in vain…
However, seeing the Heinrich so excited for him, Chen Tao didn't have the heart to spoil their mood.
He had originally thought he would be drifting alone overseas, but he never expected to meet such a lovely family in this foreign country.
Only the youngest daughter, Anna, held her Motorola V3 flip phone, typing rapidly on the keyboard, chatting happily with someone unknown.
Noticing her family acting like children, 15-year-old Anna pouted:
"Immature."
…
"Chen! You're on the squad list again!"
The day before the match, at the locker room bulletin board.
The Dortmund players gathered, their eyes fixed on the latest squad list posted on the bulletin board.
As per usual, after the training match a week before the game, everyone already had a good idea of the starting lineup.
It was generally understood that the first team players would likely start, and the second team would be substitutes + reserve players.
The 18-man squad list on the bulletin board was just the final confirmed version, not much different from the training lineup.
Chen Tao had been appearing frequently in the first team recently, clearly showing signs of playing.
Şahin's excitement was somewhat puzzling.
"Do you know Marco from the youth team?"
Şahin lowered his voice mysteriously.
"Of course."
Marco Reus! Chen Tao certainly knew him.
When they trained with the youth team, the two had even chatted briefly.
A handsome blonde young man, though a bit thin, even more slender than Chen Tao.
"What about him?"
"Rumor has it the club is going to sell him. He's been waiting at least two years for a first-team opportunity."
Şahin's envious gaze also held a hint of jealousy:
"You're three years younger than him and already on the League squad list. So, now you know why I'm excited, right? Your damn talent!"
As good brothers from the youth academy,
Nuri Şahin watched with his own eyes as the incredibly talented Reus was repeatedly overlooked by the coaching staff due to his physique.
He had always felt it was unfair to Reus,
but he never expected Chen Tao, who was equally slender and even younger, to make it into the first team.
Crucially, no one had any objections; the guys in the locker room felt it was only right.
It seemed the coaching staff wasn't looking down on Reus; his talent simply wasn't high enough.
"Too bad it's not a start."
"You!"
Şahin was fuming. Chen Tao was on the League squad list and still wasn't satisfied, even complaining!
What an annoying guy!
"Do you know how many years I waited to get on the League squad list?"
"Both of you, that's enough!"
Captain Kehl stopped their humble bragging.
Nuri Şahin had previously set the Bundesliga record for the youngest appearance at 17 years and 82 days.
Tomorrow, it was highly possible that this record would be broken by Chen Tao.
Two young prodigies discussing this were like two top students, one scoring 150 and the other 149,
how were the other brothers who barely passed with 90 points supposed to live?
The most infuriating thing was that Chen Tao was completely unaware of this.
"It's indeed a shame not to start."
"You brat!"
The entire Dortmund locker room glared at him in unison.
Comparing oneself to others can be infuriating!
…
Match day.
The Signal Iduna Park, a massive stadium with a capacity of 81,264, was filled with passionate fans.
Despite the team's recent poor performance, the Black and Yellow fans still chose to come to the stadium to lend their support to their team.
As both teams warmed up on the field, black and yellow flags and scarves began to wave wildly,
the overwhelming and shocking scene left Werder Bremen's young midfielder, Mesut Özil, utterly astonished!
"By God, this home atmosphere is too crazy, isn't it?"
"Of course, today's game won't be easy, after all, it's a devil's home ground."
Werder Bremen's core midfielder, Diego, frowned deeply.
Signal Iduna Park was just a sponsored name; everyone was more accustomed to calling this stadium—Westfalen!
Europe's most terrifying devil's home ground!
During warm-ups, both teams occupied one half of the field, keeping to themselves.
However, they would still observe the opposing players from a distance.
"Huh, why is there an Asian person? Korean or Japanese, I still can't tell the two countries apart."
"Probably Korean, they have a Korean defender."
Dortmund's reserve left-back, Lee Young-pyo, was Korean, active in his runs, had decent crossing ability, but lacked in physical confrontation.
Rosenberg thought they were talking about him.
"No." Özil shook his head, "It shouldn't be Korean, it's someone younger."
"There really is!"
Werder Bremen's tall center-back, Mertesacker, used his height advantage to peer closely.
Indeed, there was a tall, slender Asian person juggling the ball on the opposite side, his face looking quite young, estimated to be only fifteen or sixteen.
"He played in the last Cup match and had two assists. They say his technique is excellent."
Captain Borowski's information was accurate.
The entire Werder Bremen team's attention was focused on Chen Tao, watching him juggle the ball with dazzling fancy footwork.
It couldn't help but make people marvel.
Then they saw him kick the ball into the air and complete a volley shot.
To everyone's anticipation, this shot went wildly off target, a brilliant performance that ended up falling flat.
"What was I even expecting?"
"He doesn't look as skilled as you, Mesut."
"Pure acrobat. Dortmund is truly hopeless this season."
The Werder Bremen players shook their heads in disappointment.
While his teammates were mocking the young Asian boy, only Mesut Özil's eyes were serious.
He just felt that he wasn't that simple!
…
"Dortmund still hasn't recovered from their slump. Playing at their home stadium, the entire team is in a poor state."
"Werder Bremen took the initiative, scoring first in the first half with a sharp attack!"
"Diego delivered a brilliant through ball, and Rosenberg scored with one touch inside the box!"
"Dortmund is temporarily trailing 0-1 at home!"
…
"Oh oh oh, that goal was an accident! Werder Bremen leads by two goals away from home!"
"Hugo Almeida's header inside the box hit the crossbar, Robert Kovač made a clearing error, and Frings blasted a shot from the edge of the box into the goal!"
"Only 30 minutes into the first half, Dortmund suffers another blow!"
Germany TV 2's gold medal commentator, Sauer, used sharp words to mock Dortmund:
"They all look like they haven't woken up yet. Has the club fallen so low that players have to work part-time to pay off debts?"
"Head coach Thomas Doll on the sidelines, the former German international, had clear ideas on the field and excellent passing vision…"
"But as a head coach, he's constantly muddled, showing no tactics whatsoever, simply a disorganized mess."
"They even loaned a 15-year-old Chinese youngster. Who knows what for. He's sitting on the bench today, and his experience in the VIP viewing area is probably terrible…"
"Bad news, Dortmund is down by two goals in the first half."
"Good news, the first half is only 45 minutes. They can catch up on sleep during the 15-minute halftime to avoid sleepwalking in the second half."
In commentator Sauer's view, with only half the game played, the suspense had completely vanished.
On the way back to the locker room.
Werder Bremen's young substitute, Özil, felt bored.
He had expected a close contest, but unfortunately, before he could even exert himself, the opponent had already fallen.
Even if he came on as a substitute, it would just be garbage time, with no challenge whatsoever.
It seemed his premonition was wrong; whether that young Asian played or not no longer mattered.
Inside the home team's locker room.
The atmosphere was freezing, no one spoke, a complete silence.
Head coach Thomas Doll scanned the crowd, wanting to speak but hesitating.
He was only good at tactical analysis and not skilled at inspiring morale with words.
Among the disheartened crowd, only the flame in Chen Tao's eyes had not extinguished; he looked unwilling to give up.
"Chen."
"Coach?"
Called aside by the head coach, Chen Tao vaguely realized that this was the moment!
Indeed, Thomas Doll sighed deeply:
"Go warm up. You're going straight on in the second half. Don't forget our previous promise; prove it to us."
"I've been waiting for you to say that!"
Chen Tao deftly tossed his training jacket onto the bench,
the black and yellow home jersey wrapped around his bursting desire to fight!