Chapter 2 What Did You Say?
"What did you say?" Yang Pan, who was resting at home, preparing for the league match the next day, was very surprised when he received a sudden call from Li Yan.

"I want to ask if you know a young goalkeeper named 'An Ke'?"

"An Ke? What's wrong?"

"In the ongoing German Derby, the person guarding Borussia Dortmund's goal is a young Chinese man named 'An Ke'."

Yang Pan was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, "Ha, hahaha! He actually fooled us for so long! That bastard! Yan-ge, how's he doing?"

Yang Pan's reaction was tantamount to admitting that he knew An Ke, and that their relationship was pretty good.

"He's performing exceptionally well, you could say. He's the most eye-catching player on the field so far. It's hard to believe this is his first Bundesliga match! German and domestic reporters are going crazy, trying to gather all sorts of information about him. That's why I wanted to ask if you knew him."

"Not only do I know him, but Zhang Jun, Kaka, and him were all classmates in high school, and we were on the same soccer team. I, Zhang Jun, and Kaka attacked in the front, and he alone took care of all the opponent's attacks in the back." Yang Pan's words were exaggerated, because among Zhang Lintao, Sima Hongxin, Xia Bo, and An Ke, the "Four Great Goalkeepers of Luoyang High School," An Ke conceded the most goals. But now Yang Pan wanted to help An Ke. He knew that An Ke's family had some difficulties, and if he could become famous and increase his income sooner, those difficulties wouldn't be difficult anymore. So he greatly exaggerated An Ke's abilities to Li Yan.

And Li Yan hung up the phone with satisfaction, because Yang Pan also gave him some "juicy details" from An Ke's high school days… Yang Pan hung up the phone and smiled slyly.

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During the match, An Ke suddenly felt a chill. Strange, the game was so intense, why did he feel a chill down his spine?

"Jens Jeremies intercepts Florian Kringe's ball in the backfield, then quickly advances the ball to midfield. Bayern is counterattacking!"

Roy Makaay seems to want to take a powerful long shot, but Christian Worns won't let him succeed. "Long shots every time, do you think our defenders don't exist?" He stood in front of Makaay. Let's see how you shoot!

But Makaay smiled slightly and pushed the ball sideways to Claudio Miguel Pizarro, then started to cut inside!

A one-two? Worns decided not to go up and block Pizarro, but to retreat and block the passing lane between the two.

But Pizarro didn't pass the ball, he shot directly with a finesse shot! The soccer ball drew an arc and flew towards the goal!

Damn it! Worns didn't expect his retreat to give the opponent a direct shot! When he turned his head to look, he saw An Ke soaring into the air, using one hand to hold the soccer ball and push it backwards! The soccer ball went over the crossbar and flew out of the baseline, not in!

"Good… good job, An!" Worns shouted gratefully to An Ke, who was getting up from the ground.

An Ke just smiled. If he had any regrets about this match so far, it was that he didn't "roar" enough. Maybe it was because it was his first appearance, or maybe it was because the players on the field were more senior than him, so he couldn't shout. In short, An Ke couldn't shout out his intentions loudly. In many cases, he clearly saw the loopholes in the team's defense, but he just couldn't open his mouth. The fact that Borussia Dortmund's defense was a bit chaotic under Bayern's strong offensive could not be said to be unrelated to his lack of clear and strong command on the field.

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In the second half of the match, Oliver Kahn became the most leisurely person. Apart from the trouble that Borussia Dortmund caused him in the later part of the first half, Kahn seemed to have nothing to do most of the time. So this gave him time to watch An Ke's performance on the other side with interest.

In some ways, he's a bit like me, agile, and the more intense the match, the better his condition. But his goalkeeping skills aren't perfect, and he's not calm enough. Overall, he's a promising talent. I wonder which coach is training him…

If it weren't for him, Borussia Dortmund would have been beaten to the ground by us long ago! But Bayern must win this match. Your first appearance has been very good, but it ends here.

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With five minutes left before stoppage time, the score was still 2:1, with the home team Borussia Dortmund leading. And Bayern was going all out, launching a blitz-like offensive against Borussia Dortmund. Even if they couldn't win, they had to take a point away!

"Hold on, Borussia Dortmund! Hold on, An!" The fans shouted loudly to cheer for Borussia Dortmund, who were in full defense.

This atmosphere made Lin Jia a little excited. So many people are placing their hopes on you alone, An Ke, do you feel it? You're at your handsomest right now!

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"Bastian Schweinsteiger suddenly shoots in the penalty area, but it was saved by An Ke! Pizarro follows up with a shot! Oh, before he could kick it, Worns cleared the soccer ball out of the baseline! Borussia Dortmund is in a very difficult situation now, but An Ke is faithfully fulfilling his duty--goalkeeping! He saved it! We just did a statistic, An Ke has made six key saves in this match! This is two-thirds of Roman Weidenfeller's statistics for the first four rounds! We estimate that as long as An Ke can maintain this state, then when Weidenfeller recovers from his injury, he will find that he has to sit on the bench!"

※※※

Ze Roberto broke through on the left side, and everyone thought he would cross, but he chose to shoot directly!

The soccer ball flew quickly towards the near corner! An Ke judged that Ze Roberto would cross at the same time as Ze Roberto started his shot, so he shifted his center of gravity and steps outwards, wanting to intercept the cross directly. But he quickly realized that something was wrong! Because the soccer ball was heading for the near corner of the goal!

"Direct shot! This ball…" Before Wang Jianxiang could finish speaking, An Ke unbelievably twisted his center of gravity and pounced towards the near corner!

How can I let your accidental shot ruin my future? Don't joke around! An Ke pounced back desperately, then reached out and slapped the soccer ball out of the baseline!

The ball didn't go in!

"A great save!" The commentator of the German Sports Channel roared. In his opinion, it was really not easy for a big guy of one meter nine to make a movement as agile as a cat.

Ze Roberto was also very frustrated. He thought this ball was a sure goal. Even if the goalkeeper could reach it, he would at most slap the ball into his own goal. But he didn't expect Borussia Dortmund's goalkeeper to make a magical save!

Even Kahn thought this save was a bit incredible. Ze Roberto shot suddenly, and the opposing goalkeeper thought it was a cross, so he moved in advance, but he forcibly changed his center of gravity in an instant! Amazing physical qualities!

Originally, at the moment Ze Roberto shot, the fans all held their heads, intending to be sad and heartbroken for the goal, or pray to God to let the ball hit the post and bounce out. But after seeing An Ke's God-like performance, they all raised their arms high and cheered loudly for An Ke.

The match went into stoppage time, and Borussia Dortmund still led Bayern Munich 2:1. When in poor condition, if they could defeat Bayern in the highly anticipated "German Derby", it would be a shot in the arm for both the club and the fans.

Relying on his outstanding performance in his first appearance to help the team defeat a strong enemy. An Ke's debut was really perfect. Many Chinese reporters were already conceiving exciting match reports in their minds and notebooks.

"Chinese Goalkeeper's Debut, Ninety Minutes of Perfect Storm!"

"Bayern's Players No Match for An Ke, Encounter the Chinese Great Wall!"

…

How about these?

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"The referee indicates that the match will be extended by five minutes due to An Ke's injury. As long as five more minutes pass, Borussia Dortmund will usher in their second victory of the season at home! And An Ke will also usher in a perfect debut, laying a solid foundation for his later matches. Let us give him our blessings in advance! Haha!" Wang Jianxiang said happily. At this moment, he even forgot that a soccer match cannot be easily concluded until the last second.

Wang Jianxiang forgot, but Bayern's players didn't forget. They seized every opportunity to attack. From now on, the entire Borussia Dortmund team was pressed back to their own half. Bayern was playing "half-court offense and defense practice" with them!

Even Lucio Ferreira da Silva Lucio rushed to the position of attacking midfielder, which shows how determined Bayern was to score.

Frings was again booed by the home fans when he got the ball. He seemed to be irritated and looked like he was about to take a long shot.

Long shot? That's really great! Worns smirked in the penalty area. There are people everywhere in the penalty area now. Blindly taking a long shot will only be blocked out, wasting an opportunity in vain. Shoot, shoot!

Florian Kringe returned to the front of the penalty area to defend. Seeing that Frings intended to take a long shot, he quickly rushed up to stop him. But Frings just flicked the ball to the right, dodging Kringe's tackle, and then he flicked his right foot and passed the ball to Lucio, who was coming up from behind!

Lucio was famous for scoring from free kicks and long shots when he was at Leverkusen. In his best season from 2001 to 2002, some German media even called him the "King of Center Backs" in the Bundesliga. Now, this "King" was facing Borussia Dortmund's goal and swung his left leg!

Powerful shot!

The soccer ball passed through the crowd in the penalty area and flew towards the goal!

I want to prove it!

An Ke flew out to save. Because his vision was blocked by the crowd, his reaction was slightly slower. But his explosive leap was much faster than usual. Lucio's shot was very fast and the angle was tricky. In this case, there was no way to catch it directly, so he could only hit it out first!

An Ke punched the soccer ball with both fists, hoping to knock the soccer ball out of the baseline, but because Lucio shot directly without stopping the ball, the soccer ball was spinning quickly, so it didn't completely change its trajectory after being hit by An Ke, but instead deviated to the other side, still in the large penalty area!

"Kick it out! Kick it out!" Van Marwijk shouted loudly from the sidelines, regardless of whether his players on the field could hear him.

"Roy! Roy Makaay!" On the other side, Magath was shouting the name of the Dutch striker, hoping that this efficient striker could once again play the role of "key player".

"Damn it! It's too chaotic!" Worns wanted to clear the ball, but at that moment there were three people in front of him, and he couldn't get the soccer ball at all.

Evanilson was the closest player to the soccer ball. He planned to clear it with a big kick. But the penalty area was too chaotic, and he didn't know who bumped into him at a critical moment, causing him to lose his balance and miss the soccer ball. Instead, he fell to the ground!

Makaay! It's Roy Makaay! The savior in Magath's eyes, Bayern's "new bomber". He got the ball! He swings his foot and pushes it! Empty goal! He will definitely score!

But An Ke jumped up from the ground at this time! He slapped the incoming ball with one hand! The soccer ball was deflected again by his slap, and veered to the right!

I want to prove that I can also become a star! I want to prove it to my dad, I know you're watching the live broadcast!

"Miracle! An actually saved the ball!"

But it wasn't over yet. The soccer ball was still not out of bounds. It was still in the large penalty area, flying towards the crowd in a swaying manner, as if leisurely watching a good show.

"Damn it! Shoot!" Kahn roared near the center circle. He no longer cared about the goal behind him. "That kid can't react anymore!"

He was right. After making two consecutive brilliant saves, An Ke was lying on the ground again, leaving a huge goal empty for everyone.

One day, I will make a name for myself for you to see! Watching Zhang Jun, Yang Pan, and Kaka being surrounded by everyone at the class reunion, An Ke made a vow in his heart. Now, at the Westfalenstadion, he finally had the opportunity to realize his initial vow. As long as this attack is ended, Bayern will be out of the game.

Who is it this time? The penalty area was a mess, but Pizarro, through a defender, stomped his foot towards the soccer ball! He still wanted to shoot despite the difficult situation, but after all, his position was not good. His kick only slightly deflected the soccer ball, and the soccer ball bounced on the ground, bouncing towards a temporary "no man's land."

"Clear it!" Worns shouted.

A black shadow rushed up, it was Frings! He made a diving header, he wanted to use a second goal to snatch a point from his old club!

This is a sure goal! No one can stop me! Frings roared in his heart. He wanted to use this goal to retaliate against the fans who had been booing him for ninety minutes, and teach them a lesson.

※※※

When she saw Frings shoot, Lin Jia also inexplicably became nervous. But she wasn't a fan of any team, so why was she nervous?

Could it be that she was worried about An Ke?

※※※

An Ke vaguely heard a burst of cheers. He thought it was from the Bayern fans. You want to celebrate now? It's too early! Unwilling to admit defeat, he magically pounced again. He didn't even figure out who shot the ball, where the ball was, how high, how fast, or which direction it was shot in. He made a save completely by instinct.

I want to grasp my own future…

An Ke cupped his hands together, he wanted to catch the ball directly!

But the instinctive save was still a little less accurate. The soccer ball did not fall into his hands exactly, but hit the lower edge of his palm, and then… bounced out!

Fumble!

When the soccer ball landed, An Ke also landed. He knew that if he didn't catch the ball, the goal would be in great danger, so he didn't care about anything and jumped up to try to save the ball again. This time, he must press it firmly under him!

But Makaay appeared in front of him like a ghost. The soccer ball happened to fall in front of his feet. It was really a suitable position for a direct shot…

No! An Ke waved his hands at the soccer ball in horror, trying to stop Makaay.

Makaay didn't give him any more chances. He pushed it gently but quickly. The soccer ball dodged An Ke's hand and rolled across the goal line without any suspense, and didn't stop until it was blocked by the net.

Cheers! Cheers rang out! This time it was definitely from the Bayern fans. They dedicated their cheers to the running Dutchman.

Roy Makaay, as Magath had hoped, once again became the "key player" and saved Bayern Munich. He was running wildly to celebrate, he was taking off his clothes, he wouldn't care about the yellow card warning. The goal in the last minute made him almost crazy.

But God, if only this was the winning goal!

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An Ke lay on the ground in despair. His eyes were still staring at the soccer ball in the net.

Borussia Dortmund's defense finally collapsed at the last moment, and he himself failed to save Borussia Dortmund again with his hands. His outstretched hand towards the soccer ball was like a dying struggle made by a victim trapped in a quagmire, meaningless and ridiculous like a clown.

Ridiculous, ridiculous, An Ke! Weren't you perfect for ninety minutes? Why couldn't you catch the soccer ball even once in the final moments? Haven't you always been looking forward to the storm coming even harder? But why did you fumble when you really faced the storm?

You usually act like a hero, but you become a coward at the critical moment!

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"This…" Wang Jianxiang had just said that An Ke would help Borussia Dortmund defeat Bayern. He didn't expect that as soon as he finished speaking, Borussia Dortmund's goal would be lost under Bayern's fierce attack, and the three points they had in their hands would become one point! He didn't know how to explain this strong contrast of less than ten seconds before and after. In previous matches, when encountering this situation, he would either cheer for the scoring side or regret for the losing side. It was very simple to divide two completely opposite emotions to two teams. But today, because Borussia Dortmund had An Ke, everything was different. Simple regret was unfair to An Ke's efforts. “…Soccer is really a result that you don't know until the last second…” In the end, he could only say this. He didn't know how Borussia Dortmund fans would view An Ke's fumble at the last moment. After all, not everyone can gladly accept the change from victory to draw.

But after a brief silence, thunderous applause rang out at the Westfalenstadion. Borussia Dortmund's fans sent their applause to An Ke, who was still lying on the ground.

"Get up, An!" Worns waved to him. "You have nothing to regret, you've done your best!" Seeing that An Ke didn't get up, he went up and pulled him up. "Listen to this applause, it's all for you alone."

"Yes, sorry, captain." The first thing An Ke did when he got up was to apologize to Worns.

"What's there to apologize for? We didn't lose! Stand up straight, you should be proud of your performance! Come on, wave to the fans and thank them for their applause!" Worns patted An Ke's butt. "Good kid, you've stolen all our limelight!"

"Yeah!" An Ke raised his hands as he was told and clapped towards the stands. This move once again caused a burst of cheers.

"Well done, kid!"

"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even get a point!"

…

Borussia Dortmund fans are indeed the most lovely fans.

※※※

Lin Jia found that the fans around her were also applauding and cheering. She found it a little incredible. An Ke clearly lost a goal just now, why didn't everyone blame him, but instead applauded and cheered for him? Could it be that everyone was dizzy?

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Afterwards, Borussia Dortmund had just kicked off the ball, and the match ended. After thanking his teammates for their praise, An Ke walked straight to his idol Kahn and asked him in German to exchange jerseys with him.

Kahn didn't refuse. He took off his shirt and handed it to An Ke, then took the jersey he handed over and patted him on the shoulder: "You did a great job, kid. You will be the best player of the match!"

"T-thank you, Oliver!" An Ke was still a little stuttering. He just wanted to exchange jerseys, but he didn't expect Kahn to take the initiative to talk to him. Being praised by Kahn, he had already forgotten the frustration of losing a goal just now.

"Keep up the good work!" Kahn waved his hand and turned to walk towards the player tunnel. In the mixed zone, he unexpectedly met a person. "Oliver?" The person he was calling was An Ke's goalkeeping coach, Oliver Oude, who was also his mentor.

"A wonderful match, but you were a little leisurely today, compared to the other goalkeeper." Oude smiled and greeted Kahn.

"I thought I would never see you again in my life… Why are you here? I remember you would rather spend your time in a bar than come to watch the game live." Kahn stood on the side, making way for the players behind him, and occasionally exchanged simple greetings with people he knew.

"Isn't it because of him?" Oude pointed to An Ke's jersey on Kahn's shoulder.

"An?" Kahn was a little surprised.

"My second disciple, how is he? Not bad, right?"

"I was wondering why he's so much like me!" Kahn laughed, "A very good young man."

"Then how does he compare to you?" Oliver smiled maliciously.

"This… he's not as good as me at the moment, but he's better than me at the same age. It's really not easy to start for Borussia Dortmund at the age of twenty-two. But his goalkeeping skills don't seem perfect enough…"

Oude laughed. "You can consider being a goalkeeper coach after you retire. You have a good eye. Uh…" He saw many reporters pouring in from a distance. They must be looking for Kahn to ask about his impression of An Ke. It's better for this drunkard not to get in the way here. He originally planned to find An Ke later, but when he saw so many Chinese reporters pouring into the mixed zone just now, he estimated that An Ke would be very busy tonight. He himself was anxious to drink, so he would leave anything to be said for later. Tonight, there is wine, tonight, get drunk. "I have to go, I'm still in a hurry to drink. It seems you're going to be busy, haha!"

"You're still the same as ever!" Kahn shook his head helplessly.

Sure enough, An Ke had just walked to the entrance of the player tunnel when he was surrounded by countless reporters. Flashes kept flashing, and countless microphones were arranged around him in several circles. People were throwing all sorts of questions at him loudly.

Isn't this exactly what he wanted?

Enjoy it, An! This night belongs to you!