Chapter 1 The First Encounter

The match between the Dortmund youth team and the Bayern Munich youth team belonged to the German Youth League. This was the first time the two teams had faced off in a season. Dortmund was currently ranked eighth, while Bayern Munich was second. The gap in strength between the two teams was as obvious as their rankings. Recently, Bayern had a young striker who had scored ten goals in four games over fifteen days! His high-efficiency scoring had made him the top scorer in the youth league and had also attracted the attention of Bayern's first team.

Bayern also had someone present to film the entire match, so that head coach Magath could gain a deeper understanding of the young player's abilities.

Jose Paolo Guerrero Gonzales was his name. He came from Peru and had arrived in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, Germany, alone in 2002. He had given up his professional player status with Lima to join the Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich as an apprentice. In the past two years, he had trained hard in the Munich youth team, representing the team in amateur leagues… In short, he did everything he could to prove himself.

Now he was beginning to shine in the youth league, and the path he had always pursued was finally appearing before him.

Compared to Van Marwijk's headache over the goalkeeper situation, Bayern's head coach Magath was worried about his forwards. Dutchman Roy Makaay was in good form, but prone to injury. Paraguayan forward Roque Santa Cruz Cantero was seriously injured and would be out for three months. And the Iranian Vahid Hashemian, who had been bought in the summer, was still struggling to integrate into the team. Now Magath only had Makaay and Claudio Miguel Pizarro available as forwards, and if anything happened to either of them, it would be the end of him. Fortunately, at this time, Guerrero had burst onto the scene in the youth team, scoring thirteen goals in the youth league this season, an astonishingly high rate.

Magath had naturally taken notice of this twenty-year-old lad. After observing him in three consecutive matches, Magath decided to observe him one more time. If he continued to perform so well, he would promote Guerrero to the first team.

And this match was the one between the Dortmund youth team and the Bayern Munich youth team.

One match would determine the future of two young men.

※※※

The Dortmund youth team lads were particularly active during their pre-match warm-up, because first-team coach Van Marwijk was sitting on the bench, chatting with Rheinberg beside him.

Anke was warming up under the guidance of the goalkeeping coach. He also knew that Van Marwijk was watching him from the sidelines. He had to perform well and make him remember him.

The coach kicked a half-high ball to Anke's left side. Anke flew to make the save. He could have caught it directly, but his hand slipped, and the ball bounced off the post, escaping his grasp!

The coach smiled: "An, I know what you're thinking, but there's nothing to be nervous about."

Anke picked up the ball and kicked it back to the coach, muttering in his heart: "You wouldn't know! I'm not nervous at all!"

Anke really wasn't nervous; he was overexcited.

The thought of being selected by Van Marwijk to join the first team, becoming a real professional player, earning several times more than he did now, and being much better off than finding a job back home after university, he would not only be able to support himself but also his parents, buy a villa, buy a sports car, let his parents retire early and enjoy their lives, and when he returned home, he would be interviewed by reporters, appear in newspapers, and on television… He was so excited that he was shaking all over. How could he have caught the ball just now?

※※※

The match began. Because it was a youth team match, not many people came to watch. Among those present were scouts from various clubs. Bayern's assistant coach chose a good position, set up the camera, and began to faithfully record Guerrero's ninety minutes.

Van Marwijk also sat up straight and focused his gaze on goalkeeper Anke. He wanted to carefully observe how capable this Chinese player, who had been strongly recommended by Rheinberg, was. Actually, he didn't have high expectations. As long as he could barely reach Bundesliga level, he would promote Anke to the first team to fill in for two months until Weidenfeller recovered from his injury.

In the early stages of the match, the game was uneventful. Both sides were probing each other. The occasional long shot was either blocked by a defender or went too high or wide. Anke hadn't had a chance to show his skills yet, except for kicking goal kicks. He was so anxious that he almost wanted to ask the defender to pass the ball back to him directly, and then dribble towards the opponent's goal.

Guerrero received a through ball from midfield. He took advantage of the situation to get past the defender, then charged into the penalty area, a one-on-one!

Here it comes! Anke thought happily in his heart, and then planned to rush out of the goal, but he had only rushed out two steps when he saw that the opponent intended to shoot directly! He hurriedly stood his ground again. Guerrero's left foot seemed to be aiming for the near post, and Anke unhesitatingly dove towards the near post, but Guerrero pulled the ball back, switched to his right foot, and shot!

The ball drew an arc and flew towards the far corner!

Anke didn't have time to react at this point. He could only watch helplessly as the ball flew past him and into the far corner of the goal!

Twenty-two minutes into the match, the Bayern Munich youth team took a 1-0 lead!

And this goal was precisely due to Anke's hesitation when he attacked. Suddenly stopping during an attack was a major taboo in a one-on-one situation, only giving the opponent an opportunity. Anke was just too excited. As soon as he saw the opponent get past the defender, he wanted to rush out and show off, without considering that the opponent was still seventeen meters away from him at this time. That distance was enough for the opponent to do anything, and besides, a defender was already chasing up behind him. Anke could have looked at the situation and then made a decision.

Regarding this goal, Van Marwijk shook his head below: This goalkeeper is too impetuous. How can an unstable goalkeeper guard the goal well? It seems he is still young!

Although Rheinberg was also very dissatisfied with Anke's low-level mistake at the critical moment, when he saw Van Marwijk shaking his head, he hurriedly explained: "He's just a little nervous, maybe I shouldn't have told him the news that you were coming…"

But Van Marwijk continued to shake his head: "No, no. A goalkeeper who gets nervous under pressure can't be considered a good goalkeeper."

Anke, who had conceded the goal, didn't even turn his head to look at the ball. Instead, he directly turned his gaze to the coach's bench. When he saw Van Marwijk shaking his head, his heart suddenly sank. He was done for! He had left a bad impression on the head coach, there was no hope for the first team; no hope for interviews; no hope for a villa; no hope for a girlfriend… He was extremely remorseful in his heart. Why did he have to stop at that moment? Even if rushing out was a mistake, he should have charged up in one breath!

"Idiot!" Suddenly, a loud shout startled Anke and attracted the attention of others. A wretched old man was standing in the stands, shouting at the field. "You're just embarrassing me in this state! How did I teach such a disciple!"

"Drunkard?!" Anke was very surprised. This was the first time he had come to see his match in person. Since "graduating" from him three months ago, he had never seen him again, only hearing Rheinberg say that he had left Dortmund to earn money for wine elsewhere. But why did he suddenly appear here today? Could it be that he had been fired again?

"Who told you that you could brake when attacking?! What's going on in your head? Idiot!" Oliver was still scolding, leaving the others stunned. They didn't understand what relationship he had with Anke and thought he was just a drunk causing trouble.

"He is…" Van Marwijk pointed at Oliver and asked Rheinberg.

"Oliver Erde, Anke's goalkeeping coach before he joined our team."

"A drunk?" Oliver's red nose was as conspicuous as a red light at an intersection. Others could guess his "profession" at a glance. Van Marwijk's tone was obviously disbelieving. If that was the case, then a student taught by a drunkard couldn't be much better.

Rheinberg sensed the contempt in Van Marwijk's tone, but he still said politely: "At the same time, he is also the goalkeeping mentor of Oliver Kahn, the main goalkeeper of the German national team."

This sentence startled Van Marwijk. He might not know who this drunkard was, but he couldn't not know Oliver Kahn. As one of the best goalkeepers in the world, he had almost single-handedly led the unfavored Germany to the final in the 2002 World Cup, and won the Yashin Award, while also becoming the first great goalkeeper in history to win the World Cup Golden Ball. His strength was beyond doubt. If this person was really Kahn's mentor, then Anke, who was also his student… He had to re-examine the young man who was loudly "communicating" with Oliver.

"Hey, old man, why are you here?" Anke shouted loudly at the stands.

"Stop talking nonsense! The match is about to start, focus your mind on the match!" If Oliver had a wine bottle in his hand now, he would definitely smash it at Anke without hesitation.

※※※

The match started again. After being scolded by Oliver, Anke calmed down instead. Having too many thoughts in his head was indeed not conducive to his performance. Besides, just because he had made one mistake, how could he be sure that the head coach was disappointed in him?

Bayern attacked again, and it was Guerrero again. Perhaps knowing that people from the first team were watching him, he was particularly active today.

After dribbling past a defender, Guerrero shot powerfully!

But this time, Anke didn't let him score again. He flew to the side and caught the ball firmly in his hands, then landed, retracted his arms, and curled up, holding the ball tightly in his arms.

Since making a mistake had given the head coach an unfavorable impression of me, then I will try to regain my image through my performance. This time, I will firmly grasp my future in my hands and never let go!

※※※

Van Marwijk thought that save was just a reaction that any qualified goalkeeper could make, and it didn't prove anything. He needed to continue watching. But in the remaining time, the surprised expression on Van Marwijk's face became more and more obvious. The goalkeeper named "Anke" seemed to be getting braver and braver. He could catch any kind of shot. After scoring the first goal, Bayern had not scored again, and this was almost entirely due to Anke!

Bayern had a long shot from outside the penalty area! The ball hit a defender's leg and changed direction, and Anke didn't block the ball. He had dove in the wrong direction! The ball bounced towards Guerrero on the other side!

Would this ball go in?

Guerrero was obviously a little unprepared. He should have directly pushed the ball into the empty net, but in a hurry, he raised his foot and stopped the ball a little too far. By the time he shot again, Anke had pounced back like lightning, flicking his fingers, and the ball went over the crossbar and landed on the net!

This ball didn't go in!

Under Guerrero's incredibly surprised gaze, Anke got up from the ground and spat out the grass clippings in his mouth - he had just fallen directly on the ground headfirst in order to save the ball, without even cushioning the fall, a real "dog eats mud" landing. "Pah! Pah! It actually made me so embarrassed, not simple, not simple!" Anke's teammates were used to this sentence. It was a legacy of watching too much Japanese anime. Anke would say anime lines all the time, whether he had something to say or not. In fact, what he said had nothing to do with what he was thinking. But this was the first time Guerrero had heard it, and coupled with the fact that he had seen Anke magically pounce back, the shock was unimaginable. He took Anke's casual words seriously!

Heavens! Is this goalkeeper still human? He went from the right to the left in almost the blink of an eye, and he still looked like he had strength to spare! Could he really, really shoot through his fingers?

And although Van Marwijk hadn't heard Anke's nonsense, his shock wasn't any less than Guerrero's. He was an observer, so he had clearly seen the whole process.

The opponent shot, and Anke dove in the correct direction. If nothing unexpected happened, he would have no problem getting the ball. But precisely at this time, a Dortmund defender stretched out his foot to block the ball, and the ball hit his shinbone and bounced to the other side. And this was where Anke had just fallen to the ground.

Guerrero stopped the ball. At this time, Anke had quickly gotten up from the ground. Just as Guerrero swung his foot, he flew towards the direction behind him. As soon as the ball arrived, he flicked it, and the ball jumped upwards, popping out of the goal.

It should be said that Guerrero's adjustment of the ball gave Anke time to pounce back. If he had shot directly, nothing would have happened. But even so, being able to make such quick and accurate movements in such a short period of time, that kind of reflex nerve and that kind of never-give-up spirit, was not something that just any goalkeeper could possess, right?

Van Marwijk was also a coach who was good at developing youth players. After observing him in the first half, he could basically confirm that this goalkeeper had the potential to become a world-class goalkeeper.

After just one half, he decided to let Anke report to the first team tomorrow and let him replace the injured Roman Weidenfeller as the starting goalkeeper.

In the second half of the match, Anke continued his brave performance and kept loudly commanding the defense. In comparison, Guerrero, who had shone once in the twenty-second minute, faded a lot. Even the assistant coach who was in charge of recording directly aimed the camera at Anke in the end. It wasn't that Guerrero didn't play well in this match, it was just that he had encountered that Chinese goalkeeper.

※※※

When the match ended, Dortmund, who had been suppressed all the time, was ultimately unable to equalize the score, but thanks to Anke's almost crazy performance, they didn't concede another goal. The score had been frozen at 0:1 since the twenty-second minute, until the end of the match.

When the match ended, Anke was called to Van Marwijk's side in the envious gazes of his teammates.

"Tomorrow, you can go directly to train with the first team, An," Van Marwijk said to Anke.

Just this one sentence almost made Anke ecstatic. He nodded frantically and said, "Okay, sir! Okay, sir! Okay, sir!"

Van Marwijk smiled and didn't say anything about Anke's gaffe. From his personality, an extroverted person was also a match-type goalkeeper. The harder the match, the stronger the opponent, the better this kind of goalkeeper would perform, with good psychological qualities. The problem of impetuosity could be reminded to him during training and matches, and at the same time, this was also a matter of experience. When he played more matches, this problem would naturally disappear.

In the next round, which was four days later on September 18, Dortmund will face their powerful enemy Bayern Munich at their home stadium, Westfalenstadion. This record of two wins, one draw, and one loss was only one draw away from Bayern's worst start in 25 years. Magath and the entire team felt the pressure. They would not be willing to draw this time when they challenged Dortmund as a guest. They urgently needed a victory to get themselves out of their current embarrassing position.

And this match was also a great opportunity to test Anke. Whether he could completely win Van Marwijk's trust and take this first step on his football path would be crucial. And this match was also selected by Germany and China for live television broadcasts. It was believed that Anke would be a household name in China. That was just what he wanted.

But if he failed, in addition to facing pressure within the team, he would also face blame, ridicule, and even pressure from his parents from Chinese fans all over the country.

The question was, facing pressure, which path would his actions lead him down between failure and instant fame?

Football had too many possibilities. Even if Anke was arrogant, he couldn't say for sure that he would succeed, right? All he could do was seize these four days to train with the first team, develop a tacit understanding with the defenders as soon as possible, and firmly grasp his happiness and future in his own hands, never letting go.

※※※

Training with the first team was going smoothly. Now that there were no goalkeepers, it was normal to temporarily transfer one from the second team. Everyone didn't care about Anke's nationality. They were all professional players, and it was normal to be from any country. As long as you had the strength, you had your own place.

But Anke was still excited. Seeing so many stars made him feel like he was in a joke: "I've admired your name for a long time, and today I finally met a living person!"

Just the day before the match, Anke had just returned to his apartment after training when his cell phone rang. It was a call from home in China. When he saw the caller ID, he was a little surprised. His family almost never took the initiative to call him. He always called home regularly to report that he was safe. Could it be that his parents knew about his dropping out of school to play football and were calling to question him? These days, many Chinese reporters had come to interview him, but the club had helped him block many interview requests under the pretext of "the war is imminent, and players should not be disturbed too much", but what couldn't the resourceful reporters find out? Maybe they would go directly to his home in Luoyang to interview him, just like they did with Zhang Jun and Li Yongle?

Answering the phone, it was indeed his father. "Hey, Anke. How are you doing lately?"

"I'm… I'm okay," Anke said stutteringly.

"Oh, how's your study going?"

"Just, just like that, the same as before…" Anke said with a guilty conscience. Could it be that his parents still didn't know about his situation?

"Really? What have you been learning? New semester, any changes with your classmates or teachers?"

How could Anke answer this? He hadn't been to school at all. How would he know what they had learned? "Uh, learned…" Anke felt his back was soaked. He had always been most afraid of his father, so much so that he would inexplicably become nervous when he heard his father's voice.

"You haven't been to school at all, have you, Anke?" His father seemed angry from the sound of his voice. "You're still lying to us now!"

Anke's heart rate suddenly accelerated. Even though they were separated by a continent, Anke's fear was as if his father was standing right in front of him, questioning him fiercely. "I, I… it's not…"

"If a reporter hadn't run to our house and said they wanted to interview you, I would have thought you were still in school! It turns out you dropped out of school on your own! You dared to use fake transcripts to fool us! You hid it from me and your mother and went to train! Did me and your mother work hard in Luoyang to earn money just so you could play football? We sent you out when it was so difficult just so you could play football? I'm telling you, if you dare to play in tomorrow's match, we won't have you as a son!"

Anke was stunned. Not play? How was that possible? Dortmund didn't have a goalkeeper other than him right now. It was impossible to let Koller, that big guy, play as a goalkeeper for ninety minutes, right?

"Dad, that's impossible! I have to play, play…"

"If you dare to play, just try!" After his father roared, he slammed the phone back. Anke held the phone, staring blankly at the dial tone.

He just wanted to give his parents a surprise, so he didn't tell them about entering the first team, but how could it have turned out like this?

※※※

The wife watched her husband slam the phone back fiercely, his face flushed with anger. "Why bother? He's still our son after all. Can't we talk things over?" After the reporter explained their intentions, his face had been off the whole time. After finally dealing with the reporter, he called Anke.

"Talk things over? That brat is taking our money to play football, but he's lying to us and saying he's still in school. How can you let me talk things over nicely? Are we working hard to earn money just so he can play football and be famous?"

"Even if Anke is wrong to deceive us, you can't talk to him like that! You're making it difficult for him, sigh! It's a waste that you're also a football fan!" The wife sighed softly.

"It's precisely because I was too obsessed with this stuff when I was young that I'm so useless now! I still have to worry about being laid off at work every day. He's doing this now, he's famous, but professional players have age restrictions. What will he do after he retires? Will his savings be enough for his family to eat for a lifetime? There are many stars who can't make a living after retirement! If he doesn't learn more knowledge now, what will he do in the future?" The father said angrily.

The wife didn't know what to say, and just sighed.

※※※

Anke sat weakly on the bed, his father's words still echoing in his mind.

"If you dare to play in tomorrow's match, we won't have you as a son!"

He couldn't understand. He had only told one lie, why was his dad so angry that he said such heartless words? Dad was also a football fan. He thought his family wouldn't support him being a professional player, but they wouldn't object either, and it was such a violent objection.

Zhang Jun, Yang Pan, and Li Yongle's families were very supportive when they became professional players. Why was it like this when it came to him?

Could it be that he really couldn't play? What a joke! He had finally reached this step. If he gave up, wouldn't all the things he had put in before and the things he had lost for it be wasted?

But if he didn't give up, then his dad… Anke understood his father. It was really possible that he would do what he said and not recognize him as his son. In that case, even if he was successful and rich, what was the point?

Just as Anke was distressed, the phone rang again. He picked it up and looked. It was still from home. Could it be his dad calling again? Oh well, let him scold me. Anke answered the phone with a wry smile. "Huh, Mom?" He was a little surprised.

"It's me." Mom lowered her voice. "Still upset about what your dad said?"

Compared to his strict father, Anke didn't have that kind of fear towards his mother. "Yeah, I can't figure it out…"

"Silly boy, don't worry about what your dad said. He was just saying it out of anger. You shouldn't have used a fake transcript to lie to your dad. He's angry because of that."

"I'm sorry, I know I was wrong…" Anke also knew that deceiving was indeed a very wrong thing to do.

"It's good that you know you're wrong. Don't hide everything from us in the future. Are you afraid we'll hold you back? Hehe! Don't think too much about it. I'll persuade your dad. You have to play well in tomorrow's match. We'll be cheering for you in front of the TV!" Mom specifically said "we" just to let Anke know that his dad would also be watching the game.

"Okay, I understand. Where's Dad?"

"He's gone to sleep. That's why I had time to call you! Anyway, don't worry about so much, just play well and don't embarrass your dad!"

"Mom, I…"

"Hehe, your dad is also doing it for your own good. No matter what, you'll always be his son, and that won't change. Play well, understand?"

"I, I understand!" Anke nodded vigorously.

"Okay, I won't say anymore. Long distance is very expensive, hehe! Goodbye, son!"

"Goodbye, Mom!"

Anke, who had hung up the phone, noticed for the first time that it was already evening outside the window. Before he knew it, it had gotten dark. It seemed that tomorrow's match was one where he could only succeed and not fail no matter what.

The pressure was much greater than before, but for Anke, no pressure was considered pressure right now. He was confident that he would play his debut well.

This time, it wasn't just for Dortmund, for Rheinberg who discovered him, for his mentor Oliver Erde, for himself. More importantly, it was for his father who made him fall in love with football, and for his mother who had always understood and supported him.