Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 12: 12. I won’t sit on the bench for 90 minutes this time!

Bundesliga Matchday 2: VfB Stuttgart vs. Bayer Leverkusen.

Lance rode Bayer Leverkusen’s black team bus to another city for the first time.

For some reason, he suddenly felt like he was on a field trip.

When he was in elementary school in Belgium, the school organized outdoor scientific expeditions every year.

In reality, it was just a group outing, similar to spring outings organized by schools in Germany.

Every time Lance sat on the bus, listening to the noisy voices of his classmates, his heart would be filled with anticipation.

In a trance, Lance seemed to return to his 8-year-old self.

Julian Brandt, sitting next to him, interrupted Lance’s memories.

”Lance, an interview—what are your thoughts on being on the roster for the first time?”

”No thoughts, after all, I might not even play.”

”Don’t be so pessimistic! Maybe we’ll both play and absolutely trash those bastards from Stuttgart!”

Julian Brandt was accustomed to spouting German curses, and Lance habitually filtered them out automatically.

”If you were the coach, would you put me on?”

”Uh...” Julian Brandt gave an awkward laugh. ”Of course, you’re so strong, I’d definitely put you on.”

Lance’s performance in the warm-up match against SC Freiburg truly subverted Julian’s perception.

He had initially thought the 16-year-old Asian kid was just there to make up the numbers.

But the result... Holy shit! He’s really strong!

Leaving aside his physique and speed, Julian Brandt felt inferior in terms of pure technical finesse.

Fortunately, football emphasizes all-around ability, with higher demands on physical fitness.

In a real 1v1, Julian was confident he could crush Lance.

Of course... that only applied before Lance turned 18. After Lance turned 18, Julian Brandt lost his confidence.

”How are you so sure you’ll play?”

Lance posed another soul-searching question.

”Well... I’m so handsome, I’m bound to get a chance!”

Julian Brandt’s voice was loud, and it was overheard by the head coach in the front row.

Sascha Lewandowski turned around and glared at him.

”With your training attitude, you still want to play?”

”No, no, Coach, I’ll definitely train seriously.” The blond young man instantly cowered.

”You’d better,” Coach Lewandowski warned him sternly.

On the other side of the aisle, the starting left winger, Mexican international Andrés Guardado, glanced at him with disdain and commented blandly:

”What a moron.”

”Fu...” Julian Brandt stopped himself from saying the F-word, thinking better of it.

Guardado was a starter, he was a substitute; it was better to be a bit submissive when appropriate.

Lance watched the drama unfold, feeling that his Bayer Leverkusen teammates were a bunch of clowns.

When he used to watch football matches, he always thought that the stars of top European clubs were aloof, haloed celebrities.

But after actually interacting with them, there were too many eccentric people in the locker room.

Everyone also had their foolish moments in private, no different from ordinary people.

Most football stars dropped out of school to play professionally, so they weren’t very educated themselves; in other aspects, they were even worse than ordinary people.

It severely demystified Lance’s perception.

He only hoped that he could get a chance to play in tomorrow’s match, even if it was just for one minute!

What if playing for one minute could increase his template fusion progress!

Lance was filled with anticipation.

...

Two days later, at VfB Stuttgart’s home ground, Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Lance sighed softly as he looked at the numbers on the scoreboard.

————

90:00 +

VfB Stuttgart 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen

33′ Stefan Kie?ling

————

Bayer Leverkusen’s main striker, the tall Stefan Kie?ling, scored with a header in the 33rd minute of the match.

It was the only goal of the entire game.

With Bayer Leverkusen holding the advantage, their solid defense and counter-attacks gave VfB Stuttgart no chances.

When a team has the upper hand, there’s naturally no reason to desperately substitute a striker.

In the second half, three defensive players were successively brought on, and Bayer Leverkusen completed two consecutive wins in the new season.

Julian Brandt and Lance sat on the bench for 93 minutes until the end of the match.

Son Heung-min had already become a starter for Bayer Leverkusen, playing 68 minutes before being substituted, creating three dangerous chances, but failing to score.

It must be said that the Korean ace’s performance was commendable.

Even Lance couldn’t help but praise his performance.

In his prophetic dream, Son Heung-min would become the Asian ace in the future, later transferring to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, and seemed to have even won a league title.

Unfortunately, Lance easily forgot things after waking from his dreams, so he didn’t remember what title Son Heung-min won.

After being substituted, Son Heung-min politely fist-bumped every teammate on the bench.

When it was Lance’s turn, Son Heung-min also nodded and fist-bumped Lance.

”Well played.”

”Kamsahamnida... Oh, Danke.”

Seeing Lance, Son Heung-min subconsciously wanted to speak Korean but changed to German for ”thank you.”

After Lance proved himself last time, Son Heung-min no longer felt any resistance towards him.

Instead, he was somewhat curious: just how strong was this East Asian youth?

However, due to his self-esteem, Son Heung-min had to maintain his persona as a veteran, trying to be as cool as possible.

...

”Hey! Lance, you’re back. Too bad you couldn’t play yesterday.”

”Thanks, but it’s okay. I just joined the team, I still need to settle in.”

”Right, that’s a good mindset to have. You’ll definitely shine.”

After returning victorious, the club had a half-day off.

Lance took the opportunity to use the training base’s gym for free, lifting weights for two hours.

Afterward, he dragged his slightly tired body back to his apartment.

Originally, the club had arranged for Lance to stay in the youth academy dormitory, and Lance had lived there for nearly a month.

However, due to the large number of youth players boarding at the academy this time, there weren’t enough dorm rooms.

Lance was once again facing the prospect of moving out of the dormitory.

Unlike last time, the club handled Lance’s accommodation this time, finding a high-end apartment for him about 5 kilometers from the training base.

The apartments were mostly occupied by faculty and staff from the neighboring ”Theodor-Heuss-Realschule” secondary school.

This happened to be the secondary school where Lance took tutoring for his high school diploma, making it convenient for him to catch up on academic subjects on non-training days and obtain his qualification sooner.

Bayer Leverkusen was indeed very meticulous in its humanistic care for players.

The apartments were all single rooms of over 40 square meters, with private bathrooms, and all appliances like water heaters, microwaves, air conditioning, refrigerators, and TVs were fully equipped.

Utilities and rent were covered by the club, allowing Lance to live comfortably until he bought his own home.

The apartment also had a professional front desk and gatekeeper.

Lance had already become familiar with Hans, the gatekeeper, these past few days.

Uncle Hans’s entire family, four generations, were die-hard Bayer Leverkusen fans, regulars in the South Stand for loyal supporters, and long-time season ticket holders.

Uncle Hans was full of enthusiasm for the team’s newly signed young players.

”By the way, the DFB-Pokal is in four days. You might get a chance to play.”

”Huh? Really?”

”Of course.” Uncle Hans knew all about the club’s habits. ”Usually, they might be more conservative in the Bundesliga, but the opponents in the first round of the DFB-Pokal are 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga teams, so they’ll definitely use a rotated squad with reserves.”

”At that time, you’ll have at least a 90% chance of playing. The exact amount of time will depend on the coaches’ arrangements.”

Lance’s hopes were rekindled.

Four days would pass quickly. Was his debut really so close?

Lance still had a slight concern at this moment.

However, when the DFB-Pokal roster was announced, he indeed saw his name!

”This time, I won’t be sitting on the bench for 90 minutes, right!”