Chapter 1 When Yan Min Dribbled the Ball Towards the Penalty Area

When Yan Min dribbled the ball towards the penalty area, he presented Arsenal's defenders with a dilemma: should they defend against Yan Min, or should they defend against Mark and Reus?

As Yan Min dribbled past defenders, Mark and Reus also accelerated forward, appearing near the edge of the penalty area.

Yan Min's breakthrough drew two Arsenal defenders, Sagna and Koscielny, leaving Arsenal short-handed on the back line.

If they defended against Yan Min, the center would be open.

But if they focused on defending the center, the defensive pressure on Yan Min would be minimal, and he could shoot directly...

Meanwhile, in the stands, many Borussia Dortmund fans were anxious, shouting at Yan Min: "Pass the ball! Pass the ball!"

It was just like the previous match between Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal. Yan Min dribbled the ball into a dangerous area, and if he simply passed the ball out, his task would be complete. What happened next had nothing to do with him. If the ball went in, he would be the assister of the equalizing goal, a major contributor. If the ball didn't go in, no one could blame him. Everything he had done up to that point was good enough. Without him, Borussia Dortmund wouldn't even have had this chance to shoot.

But in the last game, Yan Min didn't choose the easy path. Instead, he chose to shoot himself. The result, of course, was that the ball didn't go in, and Borussia Dortmund lost a golden opportunity to equalize, suffering a bitter defeat on the road.

Afterward, Yan Min's poor choice was widely discussed in the media, and he was even labeled as the "main culprit for Borussia Dortmund's away defeat."

So, would Yan Min learn from his mistakes and make the right choice at this moment in the game?

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Yan Min.

Arsenal goalkeeper Szczęsny gestured to his teammates, pointing to Mark and Reus lurking in the center, signaling his teammates to pay attention to them.

At the same time, he moved towards the near post, preparing to block Yan Min's potential shot.

After dribbling into the penalty area, Yan Min angled his body towards the center and raised his right foot, as if he was about to pass the ball horizontally.

Szczęsny, who was moving towards the near post, paused slightly—he had to be ready to dive back...

But in that instant, Yan Min's right foot struck the ball, not to pass it to the center, but stiffly, using the inside of his foot to sweep the ball!

A shot!

With his body almost parallel to the goal, he used his right foot to kick a shot that flew towards the near post!

No one expected that after making the wrong choice in the previous game, Yan Min would boldly choose to shoot again!

Szczęsny never imagined that Yan Min would choose to shoot so decisively, and aim for the near post. His reaction was already fast. After seeing Yan Min shoot, he still managed to dive back towards the near post. Fortunately, he had only paused and hadn't immediately moved towards the center, so he could still dive back.

He wasn't far from the near post, so he still had a chance to block the shot.

But the speed of Yan Min's shot still exceeded his expectations, flying into the goal past his outstretched hand, grazing the near post!

When the ball was caught in the net, Westfalenstadion fell into a strange silence.

The silence lasted for a very short time, probably less than a second.

But because it had been so noisy before, the silence, even if brief, was very "jarring."

Soon, the sound returned to Westfalenstadion. Every Borussia Dortmund fan let out a huge cheer, raising their arms and shouting, not hiding their joy and excitement!

"Goal! Ah! Goal! Yan Min! The Chinese substitute player!" Marcel Reif shouted. "A clean shot! He didn't give Szczęsny a chance to save Arsenal! In the last match between the two sides, Yan Min wasted a crucial opportunity. After the game, he said 'shamelessly' that he didn't regret the shot, and if he had another chance, he would do it again... At the time, it caused strong criticism from the media and fans. But this time, he did what he said, the same choice! Shoot! Goal! What a great show! Ha!"

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After shooting, Yan Min fell to the ground—that shot was actually completed by twisting his body, and after shooting, he lost his balance.

Seeing the ball fly into the goal, he slapped the turf, struggled to his feet, and ran wildly towards the corner flag.

Running in front of the camera lens in the corner flag area, he jumped, turned around, and showed his back to the camera, while raising both hands and pointing downwards with his thumbs at the name above his jersey number: "yAn".

He wanted everyone to remember this name, remember this number, remember him!

Zhou Yi saw Yan Min's very domineering celebration as he ran to celebrate with him, shaking his head and smiling as he ran—that kid!

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"Yan Min!! Yan Min!! Ahhhhh! Beautiful goal! Beautiful!! A goal that can definitely be selected as one of the top ten goals in the Champions League this season! From the up-and-coming Chinese kid, Yan Min!" After the ball flew into the goal, He Ping excitedly shouted, even more excited than when Zhou Yi scored in the first half, his voice a little hoarse.

Why was he so excited?

Because he saw another rising star of Chinese football.

And when more and more such stars from China shine in the night sky of football, when he looks up at the stars again, he will not feel lost and lonely because of the lack of stars from China in the night sky.

Cheering for foreign stars in the Champions League commentary is always not as good as cheering for your own country's stars.

After Yan Min scored, the Chinese internet exploded:

"Damn! Yan Min! It was actually Yan Min who scored!"

"He really dared to shoot that ball! Isn't he afraid of missing it again?!"

"Yan Min's luck is too good... he can even score with a shot like that!"

"That's right, that's right, his luck is bursting! If he did it again, he might not be able to score!"

"What's wrong with luck? As long as he scores! Who cares how he scored!"

"I object to the luck argument. Before Yan Min shot, wasn't a series of breakthroughs also luck? This goal is a reflection of his strength!"

"I am a fan from Chongming, Shanghai. I have been watching Yan Min play football for more than a year. This is a very typical style of Yan Min's football. Sometimes he is a bit selfish, but he can also score some great goals. As long as he thinks he can shoot, he will never hesitate or pass the ball to others. When he was in Chongming, he was jokingly called the 'King of Wasted Shots' by some people. I didn't expect him to be like this in Borussia Dortmund as well. But this time, this goal is really his style. He has scored similar goals in Chongming..."

……

On the Internet, a discussion frenzy about Yan Min's goal and about Yan Min himself was set off.

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Back at Westfalenstadion, the on-site announcer Norbert Dickel was lengthening his voice and shouting: "2:1! Borussia Dortmund leads! The scorer is——"

Tens of thousands of Borussia Dortmund fans responded in unison: "yAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAn!!"

In the huge cheers, Yan Min, with his arms open, closed his eyes and leaned back, as if pushed by the cheers, letting his body lean back, lean back, lean back, and fall to the ground.

But he didn't really fall to the ground on his back, because as he was about to fall, he was caught by his teammates who rushed up.

Mark and Reus were the first to catch him, and then others rushed up and stood behind him.

So Yan Min lay half-reclined on the "human sofa."

He still closed his eyes, not moving, enjoying the glory treatment that belonged only to him—so many world-class stars are now acting as cushions for me!

After enjoying it for another second or two, Yan Min was helped up by his teammates, and then they hugged him one after another.

Behind them was the famous Yellow Wall of Westfalenstadion—the Borussia Dortmund fans in the south stand waving their fists and cheering.

The photographers at the edge of the field held their large cameras and pressed the shutter button non-stop,咔咔咔.

Some reporters even thought of a name for this photo in their hearts: "Acceptance."

Having joined Borussia Dortmund for three months, it seemed that only at this moment was Yan Min truly accepted by this team and this city.

Marcel Reif watched this scene and said with emotion: "Enjoy the cheers, young man, you deserve it. Think about it, before this goal, when he came on as a substitute, he was under the gaze of almost everyone's doubts. Of course, that also included me... And count forward again, after the last game against Arsenal, how much abuse did he bear? I won't plead for him, because this is part of football. Yes, this is part of football, since you can enjoy the cheers and all the preferential treatment when you become a hero, then you should be prepared to be responsible for failure."

"...This is football, this is real life. No one can always enjoy glory, but no one is destined to be unable to extricate themselves from the quagmire of failure. And what is better about football than real life is that the process from failure to victory can be greatly shortened, condensed into a ninety-minute game, or a short few games... Welcome to the best reality show stage in the world, where countless legendary stories are staged in turn, I hope you will be one of them!"