The Divine Striker of the Football World #1-50
Author: 明巧
Date: 2025-10-27T19:18:13+00:00

Chapter 9: Bayern Munich

The German U17 league is split into three regional divisions. Each division has a relatively small number of teams; the southern division, for instance, has only fourteen. With fewer rounds in the league, there are sometimes long breaks during the season.

After the third round of the U17 league concluded on August 27th, there was a two-week break scheduled. The fourth round wouldn’t commence until September 10th.

Consequently, Hollis had announced that after the third-round match on August 27th, the team would have a three-day break. Players who wished to go home could have their parents pick them up and leave immediately after the game.

But Gadeli didn’t know how to face this body’s original parents and family. Since his transmigration, he hadn’t once taken the initiative to call home. On the two occasions his parents had called him, he had just mumbled a few noncommittal replies before hanging up.

Despite the few days off, Gadeli had no desire to return. He talked it over with Elmer, and using the excuse of staying behind for extra training, he convinced Elmer to abandon his own plans to go home for the break.

In the end, the two decided not to go home for the break, opting instead to remain at the training facility and train by themselves.

August 27, 2011. For the third round of the U17 league, Nuremberg hosted a renowned team at their own training ground: Bayern Munich.

Although it wasn’t the first team, the immense appeal and financial power of the Bundesliga giants meant that Bayern Munich’s U17 team had naturally assembled the most outstanding players in their age group from all over Germany.

However, because they were so talented, many of the sixteen and seventeen-year-olds had already been promoted to the U19 or U23 youth squads. This left the Bayern Munich U17 team with a lower average age, with many players being only around fifteen.

On the senior team, youth means more energy and drive.

But on a U17 youth team, being too young simply meant less physicality and poorer stamina.

Therefore, despite the excellent individual skill and teamwork of the young Bayern Munich U17 players, they struggled to withstand Nuremberg U17’s tactic of engaging in physical challenges at every opportunity.

Gadeli’s 186 cm height and 80 kg weight gave him a considerable advantage in the Bayern U17 penalty box as well.

In the 16th minute, Gadeli received a cross from his friend Elmer, who had also earned a starting spot for the match. After breaking through on the wing, Elmer sent an aerial ball in, and Gadeli overpowered the opposing center-back in the box to head it into the net.

It was the first time Gadeli had scored with a header since his transmigration.

Gadeli was ecstatic. Tapping his head, he rushed over to Elmer to celebrate with him.

On the sidelines, Coach Hollis and the small crowd of Nuremberg fans erupted in applause and cheers.

However, despite the goal, it was Bayern U17 who controlled possession of the ball.

Their overall technical skill was superior to Nuremberg’s, allowing them to dominate possession for most of the match.

Unfortunately, for all their possession, they couldn’t penetrate Nuremberg’s penalty area. As soon as they entered the zone within thirty meters of the goal, they were met with Nuremberg’s physically dominant defense and found it impossible to advance.

Meanwhile, Nuremberg, building on their solid defense, would occasionally win the ball and launch a counterattack.

Of course, not every counterattack posed a threat, but with enough attempts, one was bound to succeed eventually.

In the 39th minute, Gadeli’s run drew the attention of most of Bayern’s defenders. A teammate then passed the ball to the right winger, who cut in from the flank, stormed into the box, and scored with a sudden, unexpected shot.

Nuremberg took a 2-0 lead over Bayern Munich.

During halftime, Hollis was in high spirits and praised the team’s first-half performance.

However, with the exception of Gadeli, these youth players were indeed too young and too easily influenced by outside factors.

This had been the case in the last away match against Hoffenheim, and it was the case again after receiving praise from Hollis.

Hollis’s praise had made everyone a bit overexcited. When the second half began, they were still basking in the glow of their coach’s compliments.

As a result, Bayern Munich seized this opportunity to deliver a rude awakening to the jubilant young Nuremberg players.

Despite their youth and lack of physicality, the Bayern U17 players were technically superior and had better teamwork than their Nuremberg counterparts.

In the 52nd minute, Bayern Munich finally tore through Nuremberg’s defense with a series of quick one-two passes up front, sending the ball into the back of the net.

Bayern U17 pulled one back, making the score 2-1. Nuremberg U17’s lead was down to a single goal.

A one-goal lead is a dangerous thing in football; the tide could turn at any moment.

The Nuremberg U17 players were finally jolted back to reality. They tightened up their defense and weathered a wave of attacks from the reinvigorated Bayern U17 side, whose morale had soared after their goal.

After more than ten minutes of relentless attacking, the Bayern U17 players, beginning to tire, finally slowed their pace. The match entered a stalemate.

Then, both sides began making substitutions, taking off players who were clearly exhausted.

But Gadeli remained on the pitch.

Having scored in the previous two matches and adding a header in this one, Gadeli had already earned Hollis’s complete trust.

And Gadeli did not disappoint.

In the 82nd minute, Nuremberg U17 was awarded a corner kick.

After his teammate delivered the corner, Gadeli couldn’t get to the first ball, but Bayern U17 also failed to clear it from the box.

The ball dropped into the penalty area, leading to a scramble between the two teams.

Then, after an unknown touch, the ball happened to roll right in front of Gadeli inside the six-yard box.

Seeing the ball rolling toward him, before his mind could even register the thought, Gadeli’s body reacted instinctively. He threw himself into a sliding shot, stabbing the ball into the net just before an opposing defender could clear it.

The range was too close for the Bayern Munich goalkeeper to even react; he could only watch helplessly as the ball flew into the net.

Gadeli scored a brace, putting Nuremberg ahead of Bayern Munich 3-1.

Gadeli himself was stunned for a moment as he watched the ball go in.

He had actually scored a brace against the famous Bayern Munich. Even if it was just the U17s, it was still an incredible surprise.

As a result, the dazed Gadeli was a step slow getting to his feet. Before he could even sprint out of the box in wild celebration, his teammates tackled him to the ground inside the penalty area, piling on top of him in a celebratory dogpile.

Having scored in three consecutive matches, now capping it off with a brace, and getting along well with everyone in daily life due to his mature mentality, Gadeli had already won over most of his teammates.

That’s why they had all dogpiled on him to celebrate his second goal.

After the game resumed, neither team managed to score again.

In the end, the final score was 3-1. Berent Gadeli’s brace had helped Nuremberg U17 secure a 3-1 victory at home against Bayern Munich U17.

Chapter 12: Table Tennis

Under the envious gazes of the U17 youth team players, Berent Gadeli followed Ericov to the U19 training ground over a hundred meters away.

After gathering the U19 players, Ericov pointed at Gadeli and said, “This is your new teammate, Berent Gadeli. He’s just been promoted from the U17s. I hope you’ll all help him integrate into the team as quickly as possible.”

The players replied half-heartedly, their attitude toward Gadeli rather neutral.

It was understandable. They were all rivals, competing for a limited number of spots on the U23 or even the first team. It was rare for players on a youth team to become truly close friends.

However, there were exceptions.

Just as Ericov finished speaking, a voice rose from the back of the crowd. “Gadeli, the China expert! I know you. I like Chinese culture too.”

Gadeli looked up and saw a slender young man standing at the edge of the second row, waving to indicate that he was the one who had spoken.

Gadeli smiled at him in thanks.

This was genuine gratitude, not mere politeness. Because he was Chinese himself, he naturally felt a sense of goodwill toward any foreigner who liked Chinese culture.

The U17 practice match had been held in the afternoon, and Gadeli was quite tired after playing for several dozen minutes. Therefore, Ericov only brought him to the U19 training ground to meet his new teammates and didn’t have him participate in high-intensity training, instead letting him do some light exercises on his own.

Soon, practice ended. The training experience Gadeli gained today was from the U17s, not the U19s. The players then headed back to the locker room one by one to shower and change, preparing to go to the cafeteria for dinner before returning to their dorms.

Gadeli, however, had to go to the U17 locker room to get his things and then move his belongings from the U17 dorm to the U19 dorm.

Although the locker rooms and dorms were right next to each other, a distinction was still made between U17 and U19. Gadeli had to live with his U19 teammates.

After showering and changing in the U17 locker room, he said goodbye to his U17 teammates. Just as he and Elmer were about to head back to the dorm to move his personal items, the player who had said he liked Chinese culture ran up and clapped Gadeli on the shoulder.

“Gadeli, let me introduce myself. I’m August Michener. I play right midfield for the U19s. I’ll help you move your stuff.”

Gadeli shook hands with Michener, told him his position, and then introduced Elmer.

With Michener and Elmer’s help, Gadeli moved all his personal belongings to an empty bed in a U19 dorm room.

Then, the three of them went to the cafeteria for dinner together.

During the meal, Michener showed an extreme interest in Chinese culture, asking many questions about the “Chinese town” of Dietfurt. He even asked if Gadeli knew Chinese kung fu.

In fact, it was Chinese kung fu films starring Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan that had first attracted Michener to Chinese culture.

Gadeli, of course, knew no martial arts, but he answered every question about Dietfurt.

At the same time, he taught Michener and Elmer a few simple Chinese phrases like “nǐ hǎo,” “xièxie,” and “qǐng zuò,” which left the two of them deeply impressed with his language skills.

Then, Michener told Gadeli a bit about the U19 team, such as who the starters were, who the primary substitutes were, and who was on the fringe of the squad.

The U19 Southern Regional League was already four rounds in. Nuremberg had two wins, one draw, and one loss, placing them fifth out of fourteen teams in the league table—a decent record.

As for Michener himself, he was a substitute and hadn’t signed a professional contract yet.

In this regard, his situation was the same as Gadeli’s and Elmer’s.

Although Elmer had picked up a few assists in matches thanks to his recent teamwork with Gadeli, and his extra practice with Gadeli had improved his shooting a bit, earning him Coach Hollis’s approval and a spot in the main rotation, he had not yet received a recommendation from Hollis for promotion to the U19s.

And Gadeli, having just been promoted, was naturally starting as a substitute. It was still a question whether he could even adapt to the U19 level.

Just because he could score consistently in the U17s didn’t mean he could do the same in the U19s. The opponents’ defensive positioning, physical strength, speed, teamwork, and experience would all be on a much higher level.

Apart from his shooting skill of 76, Gadeli’s other, yet-to-be-unlocked skills were not high, and his overall ability was even lower.

Therefore, despite his promotion to the U19s, Gadeli could only start from the bench, sharing the same status as Michener.

All three of them faced immense competitive pressure, so when Elmer mentioned that he and Gadeli did extra training every afternoon, Michener asked to join them.

A center forward, a left winger, and a right midfielder—they covered the left, center, and right. Not only could they practice shooting, but they could also work on triangular passing and running drills.

After dinner, Elmer returned to the U17 dorm, while Gadeli and Michener went back to the U19 dorm together.

The Nuremberg Youth Academy naturally consisted of more than just training grounds; otherwise, the young players would go stir-crazy. The academy also had a library, a recreation room, and other facilities for them to read and relax in the evenings.

The recreation room had billiards, table tennis, a television, and so on. Players could also bring their own game consoles to play in their dorms.

Except for the players who lived nearby in Nuremberg and could go home at night, or those who had signed professional contracts and could afford to rent their own places, the out-of-town youth players like Gadeli relied on these recreational activities to pass the time in the evenings.

When he was with the U17s, Gadeli had mainly spent his evenings in the library reading newspapers and magazines to learn about German culture and football news. He hadn’t spent much time in the recreation room.

This time, however, Michener was insistent on dragging Gadeli to the recreation room to have some fun.

After tidying up his bed and getting to know his new roommates, Gadeli was pulled into the recreation room by Michener to play table tennis.

Michener’s love for Chinese culture extended to table tennis, the sport at which the Chinese excelled. Back in the dorm, he had asked Gadeli if he knew how to play.

Upon learning that Gadeli could indeed play, Michener couldn’t wait to drag him to the recreation room for a match.

According to him, his table tennis skills were top-notch; he was the unrivaled champion of the Nuremberg Youth Academy and now wanted to test his skills against a Chinese person.

Although Gadeli wasn’t Chinese, he was a China expert from the “Bavarian Chinese town” of Dietfurt and knew how to play table tennis, so Michener was very eager to challenge him.

And he was very confident.

Because when Michener had asked if he could play, Gadeli’s exact words had been: “I know a little bit of table tennis, but my skill level isn’t high. Plus, I haven’t played in a long time, so I’m rusty. I probably can’t beat you.”

Chapter 13: Gadeli is a Liar

Michener, like most foreigners, was unfamiliar with the Chinese way of thinking and speaking.

Even if a Chinese person was very skilled at table tennis, when first discussing the topic with someone, they would never say they were an expert. They would modestly claim that their skills were average, that they hadn’t played in a long time, or that they were a bit rusty.

However, once a real match began, foreigners would discover that the Chinese were liars. They were clearly so good, yet they wouldn’t tell the truth.

Michener didn’t know that the soul inside Gadeli’s body was Chinese and that his way of speaking and thinking was also Chinese-style.

Therefore, when Gadeli said his skills weren’t great and that he probably couldn’t beat Michener, Michener took him at his word. He grew eager, wanting to defeat Gadeli and show off his own table tennis technique.

As it happened, Gadeli himself hadn’t played table tennis in a long time. Even before his transmigration, the last time he had played was over half a year ago.

So, when Gadeli said he hadn’t played in a while and was a bit rusty, he wasn’t entirely lying.

In reality, apart from China’s utter dominance in table tennis, most other high-level players were concentrated in East and Southeast Asia. Many of them were even players who couldn’t get a chance to compete in China and had changed nationalities to play for other countries.

But there was one country in Europe with a relatively good table tennis culture: Germany.

Germany had produced a world-class table tennis master, Timo Boll, who had once defeated Wang Liqin and Kong Linghui to win the Men’s Singles World Cup. He had also reached the number one spot in the world rankings and was, for several years, the leading European figure resisting China’s dominance in the sport.

Under Boll’s influence, the grassroots table tennis scene in Germany was better than in other European countries, and quite a few people knew how to play. When Gadeli and Michener arrived at the recreation room, two of the three table tennis tables were already occupied.

Michener’s extroverted personality meant that even though he was a substitute, he got along well with people on the team. Many players, not just from the U19s but also from other youth teams, knew him.

When the two entered the recreation room, many people greeted Michener, who took the opportunity to introduce Gadeli to some new friends.

After that, Michener went to the equipment room to get a pair of paddles and a few balls. He returned and handed a paddle to Gadeli, preparing to show off his outstanding table tennis skills.

Seeing Michener get the paddles and prepare to play with Gadeli, someone laughed.

“Michener, are you bullying the new guy with table tennis again?”

“You love table tennis so much, you should just become a professional player. It’s not like you’re any good at football anyway.”

Michener, flustered, shot back, “Get lost, get lost! Gadeli is my new friend. We’re just having a friendly match.”

However, Michener soon showed Gadeli why people said he used table tennis to bully newcomers.

He proposed that just playing for fun was boring and they should add a small wager: a best-of-five series, with each game going to eleven points. The loser would have to wash the winner’s clothes for a month.

The training kits were washed daily by laundry staff, but the players had to wash their personal clothes themselves. Although there were washing machines, they still had to hang their clothes to dry and put them away.

Michener had made this bet many times and had won so often that now no one would play against him. His claim of being undefeated in the youth academy wasn’t entirely false.

But Gadeli, having received this body’s memories, knew just how much talent Germans had for table tennis.

Moreover, although he hadn’t spent much time in the recreation room during his U17 days, he would occasionally come in to watch TV and knew that very few in the youth academy could actually play table tennis. Michener’s claim of being “undefeated in the youth academy” was greatly exaggerated.

As for Gadeli himself, even though it had been a long time, he had been quite good back in school and would still play with colleagues occasionally after starting work.

He was a bit rusty, but he was sure that after playing for a bit to get his feel back, beating Michener wouldn’t be a problem.

So, Gadeli smiled and said, “Alright, I hope I don’t lose too badly!”

Michener said confidently, “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you. I won’t give you a shutout.”

Gadeli gave a faint smile, and the table tennis match with Michener began.

Once they started, Gadeli realized that Michener’s skill level wasn’t high at all. He could receive serves and occasionally do a chop or play cross-court rallies to make his opponent run back and forth miserably.

But these conventional tactics could only work against the other Germans in the youth academy; they were useless against Gadeli, who was, in fact, Chinese.

Gadeli was indeed a bit rusty in the first game and was defeated by Michener with a score of 11-7. But the victorious Michener showed no great joy. Instead, he cried out in exaggerated surprise:

“Gadeli, you liar! You’re this good, and you told me you hadn’t played in a long time, that you were rusty, and asked me to go easy on you.”

A player at the next table laughed.

“Looks like you’ve met your match, Michener!”

“Go, Gadeli! I’m betting on you! Take him down and make him wash clothes for a month too.”

Other players in the recreation room also started to heckle, cheering for Gadeli. A few of them even stopped what they were doing and came over to their table to watch.

Gadeli said to Michener, “My skill isn’t high. And I really haven’t played in a long time. Didn’t you see I just lost the first game to you?”

Michener grunted, “Yeah, keep making things up. I’d have to be crazy to believe you! Still, I’ve already won one game. I just need two more. You’re definitely washing my clothes.”

Gadeli smiled. “Then let’s go!”

The match continued.

It had to be said, Michener’s intuition was spot on.

In the second game, having regained most of his old table tennis feel, Gadeli fought an evenly matched battle with Michener, narrowly winning with a score of 11-9.

Michener was teased by everyone in the room, who said it was finally his turn to do the laundry.

Unconvinced, Michener continued. But in the third game, an even more in-form Gadeli was no longer just trading serves and returns with him. He started using loops and smashes.

This level of play was nothing special in China, but for Michener, who was a big fish in a small pond, these were unstoppable killing blows.

He was easily defeated by Gadeli 11-6 in the third game.

Finally, in the fourth game, Gadeli crushed him 11-3 in what could only be called a rout.

After losing the first game, Gadeli made a 3-1 comeback, giving Michener a taste of what it was like to lose at table tennis and have to wash clothes. The players who had previously done laundry for Michener cheered loudly, their attitude toward Gadeli becoming much warmer.

On the way back to the dorm, Michener was still complaining resentfully, “Gadeli, you liar. You tricked me into playing table tennis with you so I’d have to wash your clothes.”

Gadeli replied, “I didn’t ask you to play, you asked me. But if you really don’t want to do it, then let’s just forget it.”

Michener pursed his lips. “Forget it. A bet’s a bet. Anyway, there’s a washing machine. It’s just a matter of hanging them up to dry and collecting them.”

Chapter 14: Making the U19 League Matchday Squad

Logically, an eighteen-year-old player promoted from the U17s to the U19s would be eager to share the good news with his family.

So, although he was still a bit unsure how to face the parents of this body, Gadeli thought it over for a long time after returning to his dorm room and decided to call them to share the good news of his promotion to the U19s.

Gadeli’s parents were very happy and encouraged him to keep working hard in the U19s, hoping he would sign a professional contract soon and truly embark on the path of a professional player.

Speaking of which, Gadeli really did feel a sense of urgency.

The deadline for the system mission was short; he had to sign a contract before the end of the year, which left him with just over three months.

He had to integrate into the team as soon as possible and get opportunities to play in matches to level up.

At the same time, he also had to work hard in his own training to improve his unactivated skills. Gadeli decided to extend his extra daily training to one hour.

Fortunately, by defeating Michener in table tennis and avenging some of the U19 players who had been forced to do Michener’s laundry, the newly promoted Gadeli had earned the goodwill of some of his new teammates, making his start in the U19s less difficult.

On September 13, 2011, Gadeli began his days training with the Nuremberg U19 youth team.

The U19s wasn’t just a change in name; it was an upgrade in every aspect. The system experience gained from daily training increased from one thousand in the U17s to two thousand, and the training content was naturally more advanced as well.

The training intensity was greater than in the U17s, with higher and stricter demands.

During training matches, when Gadeli played as a center forward on the attack, the defenders’ marking ability, experience, positioning, tackling, physical challenges, teamwork, running distance, and the goalkeeper’s saving ability were all a level above what he had faced in the U17s.

If only one opponent had gotten stronger, the difference might not have been so obvious, and Gadeli could have managed.

But with the entire team operating on a higher level, and Gadeli playing for the substitute team, he found he had few options when facing the starters’ defense in training matches.

Fortunately, his high shooting skill of 76 still had some effect. After all, defenders couldn’t mark him every single second; they were bound to have lapses.

Once he got a chance to shoot, his 76 shooting could create a huge threat or even result in a goal.

He scored a goal in only his second internal training match with the U19s. This showed that his shooting ability was excellent and consistent, even at the U19 level.

If they were just taking penalty kicks, Gadeli’s 76 shooting would give him a higher conversion rate than the U19s’ starting center forward, Saniel Möri.

But a match isn’t just a shooting contest. It’s a competition involving many other aspects: dribbling, breaking through defenses, speed, physique, jumping, heading, balance, curve, teamwork, mentality, and so on.

Gadeli had only unlocked two skills so far—shooting and off-the-ball movement—and his off-the-ball movement stat was very low. His overall ability couldn’t compare to Möri’s. As a result, his performance in training matches wasn’t as good, and he was even outshone by the substitute center forward, Joseph.

Gadeli could only serve as the second substitute for now, slowly leveling up and improving his skills to earn more playing time before he could challenge Joseph and Möri.

On September 18, for the German Youth League Cup Round of 16 match where Nuremberg U19 faced Hoffenheim U19, Gadeli, who had just been promoted, didn’t even make the matchday squad, let alone get a chance to play.

Although Nuremberg U19 managed a 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim U19 and advanced to the quarterfinals.

But even if they reached the final and won the championship, there were only three matches left: the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final. And the prerequisite for Gadeli to get the mission reward for winning the German Youth Cup was to have played in the competition at least twice.

The number of German Youth Cup matches left for him was dwindling. He had to hurry up and improve his abilities to get a chance to play soon!

On Monday, September 19, Gadeli spent two skill points, raising his shooting from 76 to 77 and his off-the-ball movement from 60 to 61. He had 19 skill points remaining.

Two days later, on September 21, after training ended and he gained another two thousand training experience, Gadeli’s level experience reached Level 2, 31,000/30,000. He automatically leveled up to Level 3, 1,000/50,000.

This time, Gadeli got lucky. The skill randomly unlocked upon leveling up was “Ball Control,” with an initial stat of 62.

Although this wasn’t a direct attacking skill, a high stat in it was incredibly useful. It would allow him to properly control a pass from a teammate before making his next move.

Players with great ball control, like Ronaldinho, could effortlessly bring down a long ball hoofed up from the back, a skill that was both artistic and highly practical.

On the other hand, if a player’s ball control was poor—like the domestic players whose first touch sent the ball four or five meters away—the ball would easily be intercepted by an opponent. They couldn’t even keep possession, let alone dribble past someone and shoot.

Therefore, while this skill wasn’t as critical as shooting, it wasn’t as useless as GK Defensive Positioning either. It would definitely help improve his abilities as a center forward.

So, without hesitation, Gadeli spent one skill point to raise the initial “Ball Control” stat from 62 to 63.

The next time he could add points would be the following Monday.

After using one skill point on ball control, he had nine of the ten skill points from the level-up reward left. Adding that to his previous balance, Gadeli’s total skill points rose to 28.

It seemed he had a surplus of skill points, but only being able to add points on a weekly basis was agonizingly slow.

But there was nothing to be done. That’s how the system was designed, likely to prevent his rapid improvement from arousing suspicion. He could only level up slowly like this.

In reality, improving even a little a week was already terrifyingly fast. For other players, after reaching adulthood, improving a little bit in a month was considered rapid progress, let alone every week.

Some players even hit their technical ceiling early on and could no longer improve.

Gadeli’s rate of improvement had greatly surprised both Hollis from the U17s and Ericov from the U19s, making them believe he had potential worth nurturing.

Coupled with Gadeli’s inherent Chinese humility and politeness, as well as the extra hour of training he put in with Elmer and Michener every day, Ericov had a very good impression of him.

As a result, after missing just one German Youth Cup match, the newly promoted Gadeli found himself named to the matchday squad. On the afternoon of September 24, Ericov announced the squad for the next day’s away game, the fifth round of the U19 league, against Saarbrücken U19. Gadeli had squeezed out the substitute center forward, Joseph.

After the squad was announced, Michener and several other players who had become friends with Gadeli congratulated him.

Gadeli was also filled with anticipation for the next day’s match.

As long as he got a chance to play, even if he didn’t score or the team didn’t win, he would still get a reward for coming on as a substitute, gain experience, and speed up his leveling.

Chapter 15: Coming on as a Substitute

Saarbrücken is a city in southwest Germany, over three hundred kilometers from Nuremberg. With the next day’s match scheduled for 1:00 PM, there was no way Ericov would dare have the players set off on the morning of the game.

If anything unexpected happened on the road, they might not even make it to the match. Besides, rushing to the game on the same day would undoubtedly affect the players’ form. It was better to travel the day before and get a night’s rest.

Therefore, for this away game, after the matchday squad was announced on the afternoon of September 24th, the selected players had dinner and then boarded the club bus with Ericov to head to Saarbrücken.

Gadeli’s U19 debut began with the team on an away trip of over three hundred kilometers.

However, even though it was a long and arduous away trip—a journey that would surely be tiring and drain a lot of their energy—the Nuremberg players were still very confident.

After all, the Saarbrücken club was only a third-division team. Their youth academy couldn’t attract much talent, and their U19 team wasn’t strong.

As it turned out, perhaps the Nuremberg U19 players, coming from a Bundesliga youth academy, were too complacent against a third-division academy team. Or maybe the long journey had drained too much of their energy. Despite the match being played on the opponent’s training ground without much pressure from a hostile crowd, by the end of the first half of the match, which began at 1:00 PM on September 25th, Nuremberg was trailing 1-2.

What was even more frustrating was that Nuremberg’s goal hadn’t even been scored by one of their own players, but was an accidental own goal by a Saarbrücken player.

Although the Nuremberg U19 players were individually more skilled than their Saarbrücken counterparts, none of them were in good form. They failed to display the strength expected of a Bundesliga youth academy, playing terribly and getting constantly pressured by the home team, whose morale was sky-high.

If it weren’t for the opponent’s accidental own goal, Nuremberg would have been completely shut out.

As a result, during the halftime break, Nuremberg U19 head coach Ericov flew into a rage, tearing into every player on the field for their sleepwalking performance in the first half.

At the same time, to punish the starters for their complacency and failure to get into the game, Ericov made six changes at once, replacing more than half of the starting eleven.

Whether they were substituted or were lucky enough to remain on the pitch, all the players were cowering in silence, their heads bowed, not daring to even breathe loudly.

The six players who came on as substitutes also didn’t dare make a peep, but inwardly, their feelings were naturally very different from those who had been taken off.

The terrible performance of the starters had given them a chance to play, and they had to seize it.

If they could perform well in this match, it wasn’t impossible for them to take over a starting position.

Among them, of course, were substitute center forward Berent Gadeli and substitute right midfielder August Michener.

Both had been brought on by Ericov during the halftime shake-up.

It was a golden opportunity.

Having made the matchday squad for the first time, Gadeli had thought he wouldn’t get a chance to play. Even if he did, he expected it would be in the last fifteen or twenty minutes of the second half, just to get a feel for the U19 league atmosphere.

Who would have thought the team’s performance in the first half would be so abysmal that the head coach would make six changes, even taking off the starting center forward, Saniel Möri, and giving Gadeli a full forty-five minutes in the second half.

If he could seize this chance and put in a good performance, while it might not be enough to completely take Möri’s starting spot, it should be possible to supplant the other substitute center forward, Joseph, and secure his position as the first-choice backup.

Then, with Gadeli full of anticipation, the fifteen-minute halftime break ended, and the two teams switched sides to begin the second half.

Their morale still sky-high, Saarbrücken continued to attack in the second half, hoping to maintain their momentum from the first half and crush Nuremberg completely.

But after the halftime tongue-lashing, the five remaining starters for Nuremberg didn’t dare give anything less than their all.

Of course, the very fact they hadn’t been substituted meant their first-half performance was already better than the other six.

Now, after being fiercely criticized by Ericov, they played even better and with more aggression in the second half.

And as for Gadeli and the other five substitutes who came on at halftime, they cherished this rare opportunity to play in an official match even more and were determined to make the most of it.

Thus, Nuremberg’s fighting strength in the second half was a world apart from what it had been in the first.

However, luck plays a big part in football.

In the first half, Nuremberg had been lucky to score thanks to an opponent’s own goal, narrowly avoiding a complete shutout.

As it happened, in the 53rd minute of the second half, before the invigorated Nuremberg side could even threaten Saarbrücken’s goal, their own center-back inadvertently scored an own goal, heading the ball into his own net from an opponent’s cross from the byline.

Both teams had now scored an own goal, so on that front, they were even.

But the score on the pitch was 3-1, and the visiting Nuremberg U19 was now behind by two full goals.

It was a significant disadvantage, and being the away team, many players felt the match was already lost.

But Ericov’s halftime outburst meant no one dared to slack off. Even knowing they would most likely lose, they still had to play with all their might.

Even in defeat, they had to show fighting spirit and determination, not just raise the white flag and let the opponent trample all over them.

Otherwise, if Ericov deemed their attitude poor, blacklisted them, and denied them future opportunities to play, it would be disastrous.

Nuremberg U19 was ultimately the stronger team. Under the intimidating presence of Ericov, the players united and fought with everything they had, finally managing to steady themselves.

Although the high-spirited Saarbrücken team kept attacking, trying to completely break Nuremberg and secure a big win, Nuremberg ultimately managed to defend their goal and launch the occasional counterattack.

However, because the current lineup was a mix of starters and substitutes, their coordination was not very good.

On defense, they could use their numbers and aggressive pressing to stop Saarbrücken, but in attack, their lack of coordination often led to missed opportunities.

For example, in the 61st minute, during a team attack, Gadeli spotted a gap behind the opponent’s defensive line inside the penalty area and made a sudden run into it.

Although his off-the-ball movement attribute was only 61, and he couldn’t usually make brilliant runs, an occasional moment of inspiration, combined with a lapse from the opposition, could still create a good chance.

And this chance was a very good one.

If his teammate on the ball, the attacking midfielder Fred Ming, had passed it to him in time, Gadeli, who was in an unmarked space, could have broken the offside trap inside the opponent’s box and taken a dangerous shot, possibly scoring a goal.

But Fred Ming, unfamiliar with Gadeli and lacking the same chemistry he had with his friend Elmer, was caught unprepared by his run and couldn’t react in time.

By the time he saw Gadeli’s run and understood his intention, Gadeli was already offside when the ball was sent into the box.

Nuremberg had lost an excellent attacking opportunity.

Chapter 16: The First U19 Goal

Amid the constant back-and-forth, in the sixty-first minute, Nuremberg finally launched an attack that showcased the quality of their Bundesliga youth academy.

The attack resulted in neither a shot nor an assist from Gadeli, but his off-the-ball movement inside the opponent’s penalty area drew the attention of their defenders and goalkeeper. This created an opportunity for the left midfielder, Golding, who was cutting in from the wing, to take a shot.

Golding burst into the penalty area, received a cutback pass from the left winger, Avid, near the byline, and unleashed a powerful shot into the far corner of the goal.

The opposing goalkeeper, who had been shifting toward the near post, had no time to dive back and could only watch helplessly as the ball found the back of the net on the far side.

Nuremberg had finally scored a goal through their own efforts, bringing the score to 2-3. They were now only one goal behind.

Instantly, the morale of every Nuremberg player soared.

Of course, the Saarbrücken players were not about to accept this. They had been leading by two goals and were preparing to press their advantage, score another, and crush the visiting Nuremberg with a 4-1 victory!

Instead, Nuremberg had scored, and their lead was cut to a single goal.

This was unacceptable to them. They wanted to continue their assault, re-establish their two-goal advantage, and even entertained thoughts of a decisive three-goal victory.

Therefore, after the game restarted, both sides began to trade attacks, each determined to score and breach the other’s goal.

In this environment, the pace of attack and defense was fast, mistakes were frequent, and the defensive lines weren’t tight enough to mark every player.

Although Gadeli’s off-the-ball movement was only a 61, he could still occasionally find an opening.

In the sixty-eighth minute, Gadeli received a pass outside the right corner of the opponent’s penalty area and got a shot off. Unfortunately, under pressure from a defender, the shot went just wide of the goal, missing the frame entirely.

Though it wasn’t a goal, the shot was still a threat. On the sidelines, Ericov gave Gadeli a thumbs-up, encouraging him to keep going.

Gadeli continued to run tirelessly, searching for any possible shooting opportunity.

In the seventy-third minute, Saarbrücken also mounted a threatening attack. Their winger sent in a cross from the byline, and the center forward in the middle feinted a header. However, the ball was too high, and both he and the Nuremberg defender with him misjudged it completely.

Then, a Saarbrücken midfielder, making a late run from deep, arrived at the back of the penalty area and met the falling ball with a volley, striking it toward the goal.

At that moment, Nuremberg’s goalkeeper had been drawn to the center of the goal by the center forward’s feint and hadn’t had time to move toward the back post.

If the ball had been on target, it would have almost certainly been a goal.

However, a volley is much more difficult to execute than a shot from the ground. Although the player connected with the ball, his volley flew wide of the frame.

The ball struck the outside of the post with a thump and went out for a goal kick. It was a huge scare for all the Nuremberg players, who felt as though they had narrowly escaped disaster.

However, this near-miss gave the Saarbrücken players the mistaken impression that they could score if they just attacked a little harder. In the following minutes, not only did they fail to tighten their defense, they grew even bolder, pushing their entire line forward in an all-out assault.

In the seventy-seventh minute, just as Saarbrücken launched another wave of attack, with their center-back positioned at the halfway line, their advance just outside the penalty area was stopped by a precise slide tackle from Nuremberg’s attacking midfielder, Fred Ming.

The Saarbrücken player on the ball fell to the ground, and his teammates immediately appealed to the referee for a foul.

But the referee held his arms out horizontally, signaling for play to continue.

It was a perfectly timed tackle, a great piece of play.

The ball from Fred Ming’s tackle landed perfectly at the feet of the right midfielder, August Michener. Without a glance at the referee, he looked up, spotted Gadeli’s position, and decisively launched the ball into the opponent’s half.

Gadeli was playing on the shoulder of the last defender, right on the line with him.

Michener’s long ball wasn’t perfectly accurate; it landed closer to the opposing center-back than to Gadeli.

The last defender immediately sprinted toward the ball’s landing spot, getting himself into a favorable position.

Gadeli knew he had little chance of winning the ball, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to keep it. His ball control wasn’t good enough, and there were no teammates nearby to support him.

Therefore, he didn’t challenge for the ball. Instead, he ran straight past the defender, getting in behind him, hoping the defender would misjudge the header.

As it turned out, Gadeli’s luck was astounding. The defender really did fail to get his head on the ball—he had misjudged it completely.

The ball sailed over the center-back’s head and landed near Gadeli.

Gadeli brought the ball under control. It wasn’t a perfect first touch, but with no opponents nearby, he had time to adjust before charging toward Saarbrücken’s penalty area.

The last center-back’s gaffe had gifted Gadeli a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper.

Although the defender scrambled to his feet and, along with the other center-back, began a desperate chase to catch Gadeli and stop his one-on-one, they were too late.

Gadeli didn’t give them time.

Still outside the penalty area, Gadeli saw the Saarbrücken goalkeeper rushing out. He made a decisive choice: a chip shot.

The ball lifted into the air, sailing over the Saarbrücken keeper’s head, just evading his outstretched hand as he leaped at full stretch. It traced a perfect parabola before dropping into the net behind him.

An assist from Michener, and Gadeli had scored his first official goal since his promotion to the U19 youth team, equalizing for Nuremberg. The score was now 3-3.

Even with no fans of his own in the stands, the goal-scorer Gadeli was ecstatic. He ran to the sideline and celebrated with a passionate hug with his coach, Ericov.

Then, the two were swarmed by their equally excited Nuremberg teammates, who crowded around them to celebrate.

It was completely unexpected.

To think they had managed to equalize after being down 3-1.

Everyone’s spirits were lifted.

In contrast, Saarbrücken, who had been so full of momentum, were somewhat stunned. Many of them were thinking the same thing: “Weren’t we leading by two goals? How is it a draw now?”

After the game restarted, Nuremberg, buoyed by the equalizer, turned the tables on their hosts and began to launch an all-out offensive against Saarbrücken.

Meanwhile, the home team, who had been leading and attacking relentlessly, now seemed disorganized and unsure of what to do.

Their forwards wanted to keep attacking to regain the lead. Their defenders, however, all dropped back to protect the penalty area, terrified of another Nuremberg counter-attack.

With such a disconnected formation, Saarbrücken’s ability to compete in the midfield plummeted, allowing Nuremberg to seize firm control.

Combined with the superior quality of the Nuremberg Youth Academy, it was only a matter of time before Saarbrücken’s defense crumbled.

Chapter 17: The Incredible Comeback

Under Nuremberg’s relentless attack, Saarbrücken’s defense was finally torn apart in the 85th minute.

After Gadeli made a horizontal run across the top of the box, drawing away one of their center-backs, left winger Avid cut inside. He received a brilliant pass from attacking midfielder Fred Ming, feinted past the other center-back, and fired a low shot from eleven meters out.

The ball skimmed across the grass like a sharp arrow, heading for the bottom-left corner of the goal. Although the goalkeeper reacted, the shot was beyond his reach, and he could only watch helplessly as it flew into the net.

In the 85th minute, Nuremberg scored again. Left winger Avid netted the crucial goal that turned the game around.

Incredibly, after being down 1-3, Nuremberg had staged a great comeback, flipping the score to 4-3.

The visiting Nuremberg U19 team was now leading the home team, Saarbrücken, by a goal.

A comeback like this, scoring three unanswered goals to go from 1-3 to 4-3, was a rare sight in any level of competition.

As a result, Avid, the goalscorer, along with Gadeli and the other players on the field, erupted into a frenzy of celebration.

They tackled the celebrating Avid to the ground, piling on top of him in a massive dogpile.

Even Ericov, who had been utterly disappointed at halftime and had flown into a rage in the locker room, was now flushed with excitement. He hugged the team doctor, assistant coaches, and other staff members, celebrating wildly.

An epic away comeback like this was something the Nuremberg U19s could probably brag about for an entire season.

In stark contrast, the Saarbrücken players stood dumbfounded, unable to believe what had just unfolded before their eyes.

It was thrilling to watch a great comeback on TV when it happened to other teams, but to be on the receiving end of one was unbearable.

To have a 3-1 lead and then concede three straight goals was a massive blow to any team.

Therefore, after Nuremberg’s celebrations ended and the match resumed, Saarbrücken launched a frantic offensive, hoping to score an equalizer in the final few minutes.

But football isn’t a game where you can score just because you want to, and there was far too little time left for them.

Soon, the match entered stoppage time.

Not only did Saarbrücken fail to score, but in the 91st minute, they were nearly caught on a counter-attack by Gadeli.

Unfortunately, with a shooting skill of 77, Gadeli couldn’t be expected to score every time. Under tight pressure from a defender, his shot from outside the box went wide.

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle. Having been down 1-3, Nuremberg had scored three unanswered goals to complete an incredible 4-3 comeback.

After the match, all the Nuremberg U19 players were lost in jubilant celebration, while the home team’s players collapsed onto the pitch, looking utterly dejected.

And so, there is no such thing as “happy football,” only “winning football.” Victory is happiness.

After the match, Gadeli received 2,000 EXP for coming on as a substitute, 4,000 for one goal, and a 2,000 win bonus multiplied by a goal difference of one, for a total of 8,000 EXP. His experience increased to Level 3, 19,000/50,000.

After moving up to the U19s, the experience gained from both training and matches had doubled.

Back at the training ground, the elated Ericov gave the players a day off to relax, with training to resume the day after.

On his day off, September 26th, which was a Monday, Gadeli spent three skill points. He raised his shooting from 77 to 78, his Ball Control from 63 to 64, and his off-the-ball movement from 61 to 62, leaving him with a balance of 25 skill points.

His abilities had improved once again.

Assuming he added one point each week, Gadeli’s 78 shooting could reach the maximum value of 100 in just twenty-two more weeks.

And twenty-two weeks was less than half a year.

By then, joining either the U23 youth team or the German U19 national team should be no problem at all.

When the team resumed normal training the next day, Ericov noticed Gadeli’s progress and praised him for it.

However, despite his improvement, Gadeli’s overall ability was still no match for the starting center forward, Saniel Möri. He couldn’t yet take Möri’s starting spot.

On the bright side, he had definitely surpassed Joseph as the first-choice substitute.

As the saying goes, one outstanding skill can cover up a multitude of flaws. With a shooting stat of 78, Gadeli was in a league of his own among the U19s, which sometimes made him a potent surprise weapon.

Basically, as long as he didn’t get injured, making the matchday squad for every game was no longer an issue. Whether he would get to play as a substitute, however, depended on Ericov’s arrangements.

Sure enough, when Ericov announced the matchday squad for the sixth round of the league after training on the afternoon of September 30th, Gadeli, though not a starter, had successfully displaced Joseph to earn a spot.

At 10:00 AM on October 1st, the Nuremberg U19 team welcomed their opponents for the sixth league match at their own training ground: Fürth U19.

Riding the momentum from their incredible comeback in the previous away game, Nuremberg controlled the match from the very beginning on their home turf.

In the 9th minute, Nuremberg broke through their opponent’s defense with an attack down the wing, and center forward Saniel Möri scored with a powerful header from inside the box.

While it was great that the team was in the lead, the fact that his rival, Möri, had scored left Gadeli feeling a little dejected.

Perhaps the scolding from Ericov last game, combined with the pressure from Gadeli’s excellent performance, had spurred Möri to work harder. He was playing exceptionally well in this match.

In addition to his goal in the 9th minute, Möri got another chance in the 71st minute of the second half, converting a one-on-one opportunity on a counter-attack with a powerful shot.

Saniel Möri had scored a brace in this match, giving Nuremberg a 2-0 lead.

With Möri in such fine form, there was naturally little playing time for Gadeli.

It wasn’t until the 84th minute that Ericov subbed Gadeli on to get a feel for the game.

In the end, not only did Gadeli fail to score in the final few minutes, but he also had to watch as Fürth pulled one back, making the final score 2-1.

Fortunately, even though he only played for a few minutes as a substitute and didn’t score, he had still participated in the match and the team’s victory. He received an experience reward of 2,000 for playing as a substitute plus a 2,000 win bonus, for a total of 4,000 EXP. His experience increased to Level 3, 31,000/50,000.

After this match, the league was scheduled for a three-week break because some players were called up to the U19 national team for the 2011/2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. The league would not resume until October 23rd.

Even the earliest cup competition, the German Youth League Cup, wouldn’t start until October 16th.

Therefore, after the win against Fürth U19, Ericov gave the team a full three-day break, allowing the young players to rest properly before returning to the training ground on October 5th.

Chapter 18: On-field Conflict

Although the team was on break, Gadeli, just like last time, didn’t go home. Instead, he roped Elmer and Michener into extra training sessions with him at the facility.

When his parents called to ask, Gadeli brushed them off by saying that since he had just been promoted to the U19 team, he needed to train hard to secure his spot.

Of course, training by himself meant he was still inexperienced.

On October 3rd, the second day of the break and a Monday, Gadeli spent another three skill points, raising his shooting from 78 to 79, his Ball Control from 64 to 65, and his off-the-ball movement from 62 to 63, leaving him with a balance of 22 skill points.

Then, on October 5th, when the team resumed training, Ericov was surprised to find that Gadeli’s shooting had vaguely improved again.

It wasn’t that Ericov had eagle eyes capable of detecting a single attribute point change, but rather that Gadeli’s rate of improvement was simply too fast.

When he brought Gadeli to the U19s on September 12th, the boy’s shooting was only at 76.

Now, just over twenty days later, Gadeli had added three points. As a professional youth coach, he could naturally spot this three percent increase with ease.

Besides his shooting, Gadeli’s Ball Control and off-the-ball movement were also rapidly improving.

Because of this, Ericov held high hopes for Gadeli, thinking that this young man, who had only joined the U19s after turning eighteen, might just be starting to truly unlock his potential.

As Ericov began to observe Gadeli more closely, every single point Gadeli added and every bit of progress he made could no longer escape his notice.

Of course, for Gadeli, becoming a key player under the coach’s watch was entirely beneficial, helping him secure more opportunities to play in matches.

Another week passed. On Monday, October 10th, Gadeli spent another three skill points, raising his shooting from 79 to 80, his Ball Control from 65 to 66, and his off-the-ball movement from 63 to 64. His skill point balance dropped to 19.

Gadeli’s shooting had reached the 80-point mark.

In reality, many world-renowned super strikers had shooting attributes of only around 90. Even goal-scoring machines like Messi and Ronaldo wouldn’t exceed 95. The main strikers for powerhouse clubs in the Five Major Leagues were typically around 85.

Gadeli’s shooting attribute of 80 was already good enough for him to be a starter for a mid-to-lower-table team in the Bundesliga.

It was only because his other skills like dribbling, speed, and off-the-ball movement were too low that he couldn’t get many shooting opportunities, thus preventing him from unleashing the full power of his 80-rated shooting.

But in training, Ericov had already seen what made his shooting different and had mentally decided to focus on his development.

On the afternoon of October 14th, after another day of training, Gadeli’s experience reached 51,000/50,000 at level 3, and he automatically leveled up to level 4 with 1,000/70,000 experience.

His luck was decent. The skill randomly unlocked upon leveling up was “Jumping,” with an initial attribute of 67, which was higher than the starting attributes for his shooting, Ball Control, and off-the-ball movement.

For a center forward standing at 186cm, this was a very practical skill. A higher attribute would help him in aerial duels inside the penalty box and allow him to score with headers, giving a significant boost to his offensive capabilities.

After putting a point into “Jumping” to raise it from 67 to 68, he had 9 of his 10 bonus skill points left, bringing his total skill point balance to 28.

The day after he leveled up, on the afternoon of October 15th, Ericov announced the matchday squad for the next day’s away game against Essen in the German Youth League Cup. Both Gadeli and Michener were on the list.

Gadeli had firmly secured his position as the first-choice substitute center forward.

At 10:00 AM on October 16th, 2011, with a blow of the referee’s whistle, the 2011/2012 German Youth League Cup quarter-final match between Essen U19 and Nuremberg U19 officially began.

Perhaps because Ericov had given them a harsh scolding after the last away game against Saarbrücken, everyone got into the game quickly this time.

In the 15th minute, Nuremberg managed to turn the tables on the host. Through a series of fluid passing and movement, they worked the ball to the left side of the penalty area, where left winger Avid scored with a shot from twelve meters out.

The visiting Nuremberg led the home team Essen 1-0.

Essen, naturally, was unwilling to fall behind and launched a powerful counter-attack after the restart.

After all, this was their training ground and home field, and there were a fair number of spectators cheering them on from the sidelines.

Thus, in the 36th minute, Essen finally managed to score during a scramble following a corner kick, leveling the score at 1-1.

For the remainder of the half, neither team scored again.

After one minute of stoppage time, the referee blew the halftime whistle. The two teams headed into the break with the score tied at 1-1.

During halftime, both head coaches coincidentally made two or three substitutions, hoping to bolster their attack in the second half.

After all, this was a single-elimination cup match, not a league game. A loss meant they would not advance to the next round.

Therefore, both teams were eager to strengthen their offense and score a decisive goal.

However, Gadeli was not subbed in. Ericov likely still felt that Gadeli’s overall ability couldn’t compare to Saniel Möri’s and that his impact on the field would be less than Möri’s.

As it turned out, the second half ended without any more goals. With the score still 1-1 after ninety minutes of regular time, the match went into extra time.

Since the German Youth Cup was a single-elimination tournament, a draw after ninety minutes meant a short break before extra time commenced.

If a winner couldn’t be decided in extra time, the match would go to a penalty shootout.

During extra time, both sides had their share of attacks and defenses, but neither could break through the other’s goal.

It wasn’t until the 109th minute, in the second half of extra time, that attacking midfielder Fred Ming suddenly erupted in the attacking third. As if divinely inspired, he used a series of step-overs and a La Croqueta to break through the defense of two opposing players and burst into the penalty area.

Nuremberg’s coaches and players were instantly overjoyed, while everyone from Essen was terrified.

Then, just as Fred Ming, now inside the box, was about to shoot, an anxious Essen defender recklessly came flying in with a slide tackle from the side.

The tackle missed the ball completely and instead caught Fred Ming on the leg, sending him tumbling to the ground, crying out in pain as he clutched his foot.

Both sides were youth teams, and the tension was already high from the match going into extra time. When an incident like this occurred, the Nuremberg players couldn’t hold themselves back.

Striker Saniel Möri, who was already in the penalty area and closest to the action, rushed over to the fouling player and kicked him, shouting angrily, “What kind of tackle was that? You looking for a fight?”

Möri’s action naturally provoked retaliation. A nearby defender from the opposing team lunged forward and punched Möri in the face, sending him stumbling back in a daze.

The malicious tackle by the opposing defender and Fred Ming’s injury sparked a major conflict between the players.

There was kicking, stomping, slapping, punching, shoving, and cursing—the list went on.

The situation on the field descended into chaos.

Chapter 19: Victory by Penalty Kick

Seeing the conflict break out on the pitch, both linesmen rushed onto the field. Together with the referee, it took them a good thirty seconds to fully separate the players and temporarily de-escalate the situation.

Fred Ming was stretchered off the field for emergency treatment by the team doctor.

The Essen defender who had injured Fred Ming with the tackle received a red card and was sent off.

Möri, who had thrown the first punch, and several other players from both sides each received a yellow card, which finally brought them under control.

Then, for the foul tackle inside the penalty area, Nuremberg U19 was awarded a penalty kick.

After the massive scuffle, the match clock now read the 110th minute of extra time.

Even with stoppage time, there were only a little over ten minutes left. If they could score this penalty, it would most likely be the last-minute winner in extra time, sending Nuremberg U19 to the semi-final.

When Fred Ming was first tackled and fell to the ground injured, head coach Ericov had been incredibly agitated and furious. He had stomped his feet on the sideline, accusing the opposing defender of a malicious foul, and even exchanged a few angry words with the other team’s head coach. He only stopped after being warned by the fourth official.

At that moment, Ericov was so consumed with worrying about Fred Ming’s injury and condemning his opponent that he hadn’t even thought about a substitution.

It was only after the referee finished issuing the red and yellow cards and awarded Nuremberg U19 a penalty that it suddenly dawned on Ericov.

Gadeli’s shooting, which was head and shoulders above the rest of the U19 team, was limited by his lackluster technical skills and couldn’t be fully utilized in open play.

But for a penalty kick, he was without a doubt the one with the highest chance of scoring.

Although penalties also test one’s mental fortitude, Gadeli possessed the mind of a 28-year-old and had always appeared more mature than his teammates in training and matches.

Therefore, Ericov wasn’t worried about Gadeli’s composure.

Besides, this was just a German Youth League Cup quarter-final. It wasn’t the Bundesliga, the Champions League, or the World Cup. There were only a little over a hundred spectators. How much psychological pressure could there really be?

He believed Gadeli could handle it and fully leverage his advantage in shooting.

Thus, Ericov immediately requested a substitution from the referee and the fourth official, taking off the injured Fred Ming, who was already on the sidelines, and bringing on Gadeli as a substitute.

Furthermore, Ericov shouted to Saniel Möri, who was already holding the ball and preparing to take the kick, “Möri, let Gadeli take this penalty!”

Hearing the coach’s words, Möri’s expression changed.

He was the team’s designated first-choice penalty taker. He had taken every penalty in previous matches, unless he wasn’t on the pitch.

He never expected that now, even with him on the field, Ericov would bring Gadeli on at the last minute and take away his right to the kick.

But he couldn’t defy Ericov.

On the first team, a player might be able to pressure the head coach by threatening to strike, transfer, or speak to the media—or even by going directly to the club’s upper management. Some teams had star players who were virtual dressing room tyrants, whom even the head coach couldn’t afford to offend.

But on a youth team, before a player had proven their unique and irreplaceable value, the head coach was heaven, he was God.

If you disobeyed the head coach and he decided to bench you, you might never get a chance to play again, let alone get promoted to the U23s or the first team.

Therefore, Möri could only resentfully throw the ball to the ground, mentally cursing Berent Gadeli, hoping Gadeli would miss the penalty.

Whether the team won or lost didn’t matter; what mattered most was that Gadeli couldn’t show he was more capable than him and end up taking his starting position.

This was a nightmare for Möri, but for Gadeli, it was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

He hadn’t been subbed on even as the game went into extra time, so Gadeli had thought he wouldn’t get a chance to play in this match at all.

To his surprise, Nuremberg won a penalty in the second half of extra time, and Ericov had even taken the kick away from Saniel Möri, sending him on and personally designating him to take it.

Clearly, Ericov had high hopes for Gadeli’s shooting ability.

After getting permission from the fourth official and the referee to enter the field, Gadeli jogged into the Essen team’s penalty area, picked up the ball from the ground, placed it on the penalty spot, and took a few steps back to prepare.

At that moment, his friend August Michener, who was standing outside the D-arc, shouted to him, “Gadeli, you got this!”

Gadeli turned and gave Michener a nod of thanks.

Then he turned back and began to observe the opposing goalkeeper’s position, readying himself to take the penalty.

Taking a penalty for the first time in a match, and one that could be the last-minute winner to decide the outcome—the importance of this kick was undeniable. Gadeli was, in fact, a little nervous.

But his 27-year-old mind knew what to do.

Before the referee blew the whistle, he started taking continuous deep breaths while watching the keeper, using the long, slow breaths to ease the pressure in his heart.

Finally, when the referee saw that the players and goalkeeper were ready and blew the whistle to signal the kick could be taken, Gadeli’s heart was much calmer than when he had first stepped onto the pitch.

Taking one more deep breath and exhaling, Gadeli began his run-up.

On the pitch and on the sidelines, the coaches, players, and goalkeepers of both teams stared intently at Gadeli, wondering if he would score.

Gadeli had, of course, specifically practiced penalties during regular training and his own extra sessions.

After a short run-up, Gadeli planted his left foot diagonally behind and to the left of the ball, swung his right foot, and struck the ball with a powerful drive.

Although he hadn’t activated any skills for physique or shot power, Gadeli’s natural physical attributes were quite good; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to play as a center forward.

Therefore, the power behind Gadeli’s driven penalty shot was considerable.

In addition, his shooting attribute of 80 ensured that the penalty was on target and well-angled.

While it wasn’t an unstoppable shot into the corner, it streaked across the grass toward the bottom right of the goal, no more than a meter from the post.

A world-class keeper like Casillas, Buffon, or Cech might have been able to save Gadeli’s penalty, which hadn’t been hit perfectly into the corner.

But the goalkeeper for Essen’s U19 team clearly didn’t have that ability.

Although he guessed the right direction, he was a step too slow and couldn’t get a touch on the ball. The ball shot past his outstretched hand and nestled into the back of the net.

Chapter 20: The Attacking Core

Seeing the ball evade the goalkeeper’s grasp and hit the back of the net, Gadeli, having taken the penalty, stood on the spot, clenched his fists, and let out a long roar, venting his elation.

Then, his teammates, rushing into the penalty area, swarmed him, celebrating a goal that could very well be the last-minute winner in extra time.

Of course, Saniel Möri was not among them.

In the 110th minute of extra time, Gadeli scored a penalty kick for Nuremberg U19, putting them ahead 2-1 against the home team, Essen U19.

After the match restarted, Essen launched a fierce counter-attack, attempting to score an equalizer.

But there was too little time left for them, and with everyone’s stamina waning this late in the game, the precision of their passing and movement suffered, leading to many errors.

Furthermore, Ericov used his final substitution, taking the opportunity to run down the clock a little.

In the 122nd minute, after two minutes of stoppage time in extra time, the referee blew the final whistle.

Thanks to Gadeli’s winning penalty kick in the 110th minute of extra time, Nuremberg U19 defeated Essen U19 2-1 in the quarter-final, advancing to the semi-finals of the 2011/2012 German Youth League Cup.

The experience points gained from the League Cup were the same as in the league.

Thus, the experience Gadeli earned after the match was 2,000 for coming on as a substitute + 2,000 for one goal + 2,000 for the win = 6,000. His experience increased to Level 4, 9,000/70,000.

The match was on a Sunday. After returning to the training ground, a pleased Ericov gave the U19 team a day off.

The next day, Monday, October 17th, Gadeli spent four skill points. He raised his shooting from 80 to 81, Ball Control from 66 to 67, Jumping from 68 to 69, and off-the-ball movement from 64 to 65. He had 24 skill points remaining.

Gadeli’s shooting was getting stronger and stronger.

Ericov, who had already been keeping a close eye on Gadeli, was shocked by his rate of improvement.

He had a tactical idea forming in his mind but couldn’t quite commit to it. He decided to observe a little longer; if Gadeli could truly meet his expectations, he would implement his plan.

Although Gadeli didn’t know what the coach was thinking, he knew that as long as he seized every opportunity on the pitch and performed well, his efforts would eventually pay off.

He had to cherish every moment, whether in training or in matches.

He was prepared and wanted to continue his excellent performance in the next match.

However, in the seventh league match on October 23rd, an away game against Frankfurt U19, the home team played too well. The visiting Nuremberg team could barely put up a fight.

During halftime, Ericov brought Gadeli on, hoping he could work his magic again as a substitute and score.

Gadeli was indeed very diligent after coming on, constantly making runs and moving through the defense to create shooting opportunities.

But this time, his luck ran out.

For one, Frankfurt’s attack was too powerful, pinning Nuremberg’s formation deep in their own half. They were simply unable to provide Gadeli with many passes.

For another, his shooting skill wasn’t quite strong enough yet.

A shooting skill of 81 was better than his youth team teammates, but it wasn’t yet at a point where he was infallibly accurate.

The margin for error was even greater, especially when he was under pressure from defenders.

Gadeli actually managed three shots in the entire second half, but two of them went wide of the goal. The one that was on target was hit straight at the goalkeeper, who caught it easily.

In the end, neither Gadeli nor the rest of the team scored a single goal. Nuremberg U19 suffered a heavy defeat away from home, beaten 3-0 by Frankfurt U19.

Still, Gadeli received 2,000 experience points for his substitute appearance, slightly offsetting the frustration of the heavy loss.

The three-goal defeat left Ericov equally displeased. Consequently, the day off after the match was canceled, and the team had to continue training. No one dared to complain.

On Monday, October 24th, Gadeli spent another four skill points. He raised his shooting from 81 to 82, Ball Control from 67 to 68, Jumping from 69 to 70, and off-the-ball movement from 65 to 66. He had 20 skill points left.

With his shooting now at 82, Gadeli’s advantage over the goalkeepers’ saving ability became even more pronounced, and he performed better in training.

In a 60-minute training match on October 26th, Gadeli even scored a brace.

Although the defensive intensity in a training match couldn’t compare to an official game, it was enough to showcase Gadeli’s ability and his rate of improvement.

So, Ericov decided to try out the idea he had been considering.

On the morning of October 28th, Ericov organized another 45-minute training match for the U19s. Saniel Möri was still on the starters’ team, and Gadeli was on the substitutes’ team.

But Ericov gave special instructions: all the players on the substitutes’ team had to play with Gadeli as the attacking core. Gadeli was given an unlimited license to shoot; whenever the situation allowed, they had to get the ball to him to take the shot.

He wanted to give Gadeli maximum freedom to shoot and see what kind of performance he would deliver.

Ericov’s orders made Gadeli ecstatic and also put immense pressure on Saniel Möri.

He could only try his best in the training match, hoping to outperform Gadeli.

But things didn’t go his way. He didn’t have the full support of the starters’ team like Gadeli did.

Although the starters’ team was stronger than the substitutes’ team, once all the substitutes’ attacking opportunities were channeled to Gadeli alone, his shooting skill of 82, against a U19-level goalkeeper and defense, produced an effect that astonished Ericov and everyone else.

Gadeli went even further than in the last training match, scoring a hat-trick within the 45-minute game.

Moreover, he scored these three goals with only six shots.

Six shots, four on target, resulting in three goals.

Such a performance was truly stunning to everyone.

Although Gadeli’s three goals were the only ones scored by the substitutes’ team, which lost 3-5 to the starters, his performance had won Ericov over.

Ericov decided to give Gadeli a chance to start and to try out a tactic centered around him as the attacking core in an official match.

Thus, after training that afternoon, when Ericov announced the matchday squad for the next day’s eighth league match—Nuremberg at home against Stuttgart—Berent Gadeli’s name appeared in the starting lineup for a U19 league game for the very first time.

He had displaced the starting center forward, Saniel Möri, to become the starter for this match.

While it might only be a temporary adjustment and experiment for one match, to Gadeli, it was incredible news.

For the other players, however, it was a shock.

After all, Gadeli had just been called up from the U17s a little over a month ago! And now, just over a month later, he was already getting a chance to start.

His rate of progress was simply terrifying.

What was even more astounding was Ericov’s announcement that in tomorrow’s match, the team would play with Gadeli as the attacking core. When possible, everyone was to try and get the ball to Gadeli to shoot, just as they had done in the training match that morning.

This was a level of treatment that not even Saniel Möri had ever received.

Everyone could already sense that if Gadeli delivered an outstanding performance in this match, justifying Ericov’s experiment and faith in him, then Saniel Möri’s position as the starting center forward would be in jeopardy.

Chapter 21: Opening the Score

After training, while showering and changing in the locker room, Michener asked Gadeli, “Gadeli, it’s your first start tomorrow, and it’s a Saturday. Are your parents free? You could let them know, so they can come see your first start for the U19s.”

Gadeli froze. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Hearing Michener’s words, Gadeli realized that, logically, one would normally share such happy news with their family and invite them to witness it in person.

But Gadeli didn’t want to.

He wasn’t the original Berent Gadeli at all. He had no idea how to face his family!

Thus, after a moment of consideration, Gadeli said, “I think I’ll pass. What if I play poorly? Wouldn’t that just be embarrassing for my parents too?”

“Uh,” Michener grunted. He shook his head, assuming Gadeli had a poor relationship with his family, so he didn’t press the matter further.

Gadeli breathed a sigh of relief.

The next day, at 12:00 PM on October 29, 2011, with a blow of the referee’s whistle, the Nuremberg vs. Stuttgart match for the eighth round of the 2011/2012 German U19 Youth League Southern Division officially began at the Nuremberg U19 training ground.

More than two hundred spectators had gathered by the side of the pitch. Most were the players’ friends and family, a smaller portion were die-hard fans concerned with the development of Nuremberg’s youth academy, and there were also a few scouts from Bundesliga clubs.

After the match began, some fans who hadn’t attended a game in a while and weren’t familiar with Gadeli noticed that Nuremberg’s starting center forward wasn’t number 9, Saniel Möri, but number 32, Berent Gadeli.

“Who’s this number 32? I don’t think I’ve seen him at the start of the season.”

“How did he push Möri to the bench? Or is Möri injured?”

“I see Möri on the bench. He doesn’t look injured.”

At this point, a fan who had been following the U19s’ recent matches chimed in with an answer:

“This Gadeli was promoted from the U17s in mid-September.”

“He’s already come on as a substitute in four matches and scored two goals. He’s been playing pretty well.”

“Maybe Ericov wants to see how he performs as a starter!”

While some fans found it incomprehensible that Gadeli had replaced Möri, others were indifferent, curious to see what Gadeli could do.

The few scouts hidden among the fans, however, didn’t find it strange at all.

No club could afford to have a large number of scouts. They had to assess players in the 2. Bundesliga, 3. Liga, and even the regional leagues, as well as keep an eye on promising talents in the various youth teams of professional clubs. Some even had to monitor players from foreign teams. How could they have the time to fixate on a single team’s youth academy like Nuremberg’s?

Therefore, this was the first Nuremberg U19 match these scouts had attended this season, and it was also the first time they had seen Gadeli. He had made no impression on them.

As it turned out, not long after the match started, before the regular fans had noticed anything different, the scouts had already sensed it: Gadeli was somehow the attacking core of the Nuremberg U19 team.

Whenever Gadeli was near the penalty area, his Nuremberg teammates would try to get the ball to him, letting him attempt a shot.

Only when there was absolutely no shooting opportunity would Gadeli pass the ball back out.

Just four minutes into the game, Gadeli got a chance to shoot, but he was a little too far out, and the ball flew past the post and out of bounds.

Although it didn’t go in, the shot was quite threatening.

Just three minutes later, in the seventh minute of the match, Nuremberg was on the attack again, and the ball ended up at the feet of Gadeli, who had his back to the goal inside the penalty area.

Even with his back to the goal and bracketed by two defenders, Gadeli didn’t pass back to a teammate. After a few feints, he forced a turn and got a shot off. The ball was blocked by a defender’s outstretched leg and then cleared out of the area.

Within a short seven minutes, Gadeli had already gotten two shooting opportunities. Even though he hadn’t scored, his position as the attacking core was undeniable.

This kind of treatment… Could he be a talent they had previously missed or overlooked?

The scouts all perked up.

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, in the eleventh minute, Nuremberg once again sent the ball to Gadeli’s feet during an attack.

This time, however, perhaps due to a lapse in concentration from the Stuttgart defenders, or perhaps because Gadeli’s own off-the-ball movement, now rated at 66, had paid off, he actually found an unmarked space inside the penalty area.

The teammate with the ball, right winger Johannes, delivered a perfectly timed, brilliant pass into the box, right in front of Gadeli.

The Stuttgart defenders and goalkeeper were horrified.

The nearest defender, number 6, charged toward Gadeli from the side, trying to block his shot. The goalkeeper shifted his position slightly to what he judged was the best spot to make a save, ready to pounce.

However, Gadeli, who looked poised to shoot, didn’t. Instead, he controlled the pass from Johannes, his first touch nudging the ball to the right. It was just enough to evade the outstretched leg of the lunging number 6 defender.

If he had shot first-time without controlling the ball, there was a real chance it would have been blocked by the defender’s leg.

But Gadeli’s fluid control and touch allowed the number 6 defender, who couldn’t stop his momentum, to slide right past him, opening up a clear space.

Then, before another defender could close him down, Gadeli immediately struck a powerful shot, sending the ball toward the bottom left corner of the goal.

When Gadeli had controlled the ball and nudged it to his right, the Stuttgart goalkeeper had unconsciously taken a step to his right.

He never expected Gadeli to shoot back across his body into the bottom left corner.

The distance was too great. The goalkeeper didn’t even have time to make a diving motion before he watched helplessly as the ball rolled toward the far post.

He prayed that Gadeli’s shot would miss the frame and roll past the end line.

But the result disappointed him. The ball didn’t go wide of the post; it rolled into the goal, rippling the side netting inside.

Just eleven minutes into the match, Gadeli had scored, opening the scoring for Nuremberg U19 and giving them the lead.

His teammates rushed over to surround him in celebration, and on the sideline, Ericov pumped his fist.

He was satisfied with Gadeli’s performance.

As for the scouts, their eyes lit up.

From just three shots, it was hard to tell how good Gadeli’s shooting was. One goal from three attempts wasn’t enough to sway them.

But the maturity and composure Gadeli displayed in that goal-scoring sequence were exceptionally rare, far calmer than the average U19 player.

A typical U19 forward might have rushed the shot, not daring to take a touch to settle the ball, and would have likely been blocked by the number 6 defender.

But in that split second, Gadeli had remained calm enough to take a touch, nudging the ball just enough to evade the onrushing defender and create a better shooting angle for himself.

Moreover, that first touch had deceived the goalkeeper, causing him to instinctively shift a step to the right. Then, Gadeli cleverly shot back across to the far corner, leaving the keeper rooted to the spot, able to do nothing but watch the ball roll in.

From his initial movement to find space, to his control and touch to evade the defender, and finally to the angle of his shot, every part of the play demonstrated a mental fortitude uncommon in a young player. The scouts felt as if they had discovered a hidden gem.

They all fixed their gazes on Gadeli, eager to see what else he would do and whether he truly deserved to be treated as the team’s attacking core.

Chapter 22: The Back-Heel Pass

However, after three shots and one goal, Stuttgart had already figured out Nuremberg’s strategy: Gadeli was their attacking core.

For the rest of the match, Gadeli found himself under tight marking from the opposition. Whenever a Nuremberg player had the ball, there was always someone shadowing Gadeli, man-marking him closely.

Aside from his impressive shooting stat of 82 and a physique that was passable for the youth team, Gadeli’s other skills—dribbling, ball control, breaking through, speed, and so on—were not on the same level.

Once Stuttgart tightened their marking, Gadeli could no longer find any good opportunities to shoot.

But his teammates faithfully followed Ericov’s instructions, sending the ball to Gadeli whenever they had the chance.

After failing several times to receive the ball, turn, and shoot, Gadeli—whose mental age was ten years beyond his physical one—noticed that Stuttgart’s focus on him was creating openings in their defense against his teammates. He began to pay close attention to their runs.

He wasn’t so rigid as to insist on shooting himself every time, treating Ericov’s “license to shoot” as some sacred command.

That would not only squander scoring opportunities but also risk creating resentment among his teammates. They would wonder, “I was in a better position to score, why didn’t you pass?”

As a center forward who hadn’t yet developed his dribbling and breakthrough abilities, he relied on his teammates for passes. He couldn’t afford to be selfish.

Although the head coach hadn’t instructed him to, he decided to adapt based on his observations. After all, assists and a larger goal difference also provided experience points, which was better than squandering the opportunities himself.

Then, in the 38th minute, Gadeli once again received a pass from a teammate on the right side of the penalty area. With his back to the goal, he held off a defender.

Gadeli feinted left and right, pretending to look for an opportunity to turn and shoot, all while watching his teammates’ runs out of the corner of his eye.

He saw his teammate, Fred Ming, surge from outside the penalty area, about to cross the arc and enter the box completely unmarked.

The defenders inside the penalty area were all focused on marking Gadeli. He had taken nearly all the shots so far, so they were treating him as the clear attacking core and finisher.

This time was no different. Their ingrained thinking led them to believe Gadeli would try to force a turn and shoot. Two defenders were pressed up against him, another was positioned to block any potential shot, and the goalkeeper’s eyes were locked on him. Consequently, the other defenders had relaxed their coverage on the other Nuremberg players.

They were all ready to see Gadeli either attempt a shot or lose possession.

Relying on his decent physique, Gadeli shielded the ball from the two pressing Stuttgart defenders. As he caught sight of Fred Ming jogging into the box out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly turned to his right and swung his foot, feigning a shot.

One of the defenders was pinned at Gadeli’s side, but the other immediately lifted his leg to block the ball.

Simultaneously, another defender in the six-yard box, directly in the line of fire, turned to block the shot. The goalkeeper’s eyes widened, poised to react to the ball’s path the moment Gadeli struck it.

But to everyone’s surprise, as Gadeli brought his right foot down from his shooting motion, it didn’t strike the ball. Instead, his heel flicked it toward the center of the penalty area, nudging it near the penalty spot.

Right there, Nuremberg U19’s attacking midfielder, Fred Ming, was jogging into the box, his run perfectly timed to meet the path of Gadeli’s pass.

The Stuttgart defenders were dumbfounded, their faces paling in shock. Why wasn’t Gadeli following the script?

Aren’t you their attacking core? Their finisher?

You went through the entire motion of turning to shoot, but instead of shooting, you back-heeled it to someone else?

A shot fake into a pass is deceptive enough, but you add a back-heel on top of that? How is anyone supposed to stop that?

Gadeli’s back-heel had indeed caught every Stuttgart defender off guard. They could only watch, frozen, as the ball rolled towards the penalty spot. No one moved to intercept it, and no one blocked the clear path to the goal.

On the sidelines, the few scouts who had started to feel disappointed, thinking Gadeli wasn’t skilled enough to be an attacking core, now stared with wide, astonished eyes. Gadeli’s handling of the ball had been utterly unexpected and incredibly intelligent.

A typical young player, upon receiving the ball in the penalty area and with a license to shoot from the head coach, would have been completely focused on scoring themselves to take all the glory.

But clearly, Gadeli wasn’t like that. He had once again demonstrated his intelligence and maturity. He took advantage of drawing the defense’s attention to himself, then executed a brilliant shot-fake and an unexpected back-heel pass into the open space in the center.

Whether his teammate managed to score or not, that pass alone showcased Gadeli’s exceptional maturity and adaptability—his football IQ.

Gadeli’s stock in the eyes of the scouts instantly shot up a notch.

In truth, Fred Ming, who was making the run, was also startled by Gadeli’s unexpected pass.

He hadn’t jogged into the box expecting a pass; he was merely positioning himself for a potential rebound if Gadeli’s shot was saved.

If Gadeli’s shot was on target and the goalkeeper parried it back into the penalty area, he might have had a chance for a follow-up.

He never expected that as he was making his run, Gadeli, poised to shoot, would instead use his back-heel to deliver a completely unexpected pass right into his path.

Fortunately, Fred Ming was jogging, not sprinting, so his pace was controlled enough for him to react in time.

Furthermore, Gadeli’s pass was perfectly weighted and directed—both the speed and the path of the ball were just right.

Thus, Fred Ming, now fully aware, met the incoming pass and, without taking a touch, slotted it into the bottom far-left corner with the inside of his foot.

The Stuttgart goalkeeper, who had positioned himself slightly to the right of center based on Gadeli’s location, was already wrong-footed by the feint, making his reaction a fraction too slow.

Furthermore, Fred Ming’s shot was aimed perfectly for the bottom corner, a spot simply too far for him to reach.

He only managed to take a single step before abandoning the save, standing rooted to the goal line as he watched the ball nestle into the net just inside the far post.

In the 38th minute, Gadeli faked a shot inside the penalty area and delivered an incredibly creative back-heel pass, setting up Fred Ming for an easy finish into the far corner.

Nuremberg took a 2-0 lead over Stuttgart.

Chapter 23: A Beyond Perfect Performance

After making the backheel pass, Gadeli turned just in time to see Fred Ming side-foot the ball into an unstoppable corner of Stuttgart’s goal. He immediately rushed over to celebrate, embracing Fred Ming joyfully.

This was his first Assist since his Transmigration to Germany and getting the system!

So, even though it didn’t award as much experience as a goal, he was still very happy.

Fred Ming excitedly hugged Gadeli back, shouting in his ear, “Gadeli, that backheel was brilliant! I almost didn’t react in time.”

Gadeli laughed. “But you did react, and you put it in!”

The other teammates rushed over, surrounding the two to celebrate, all heaping praise on Gadeli’s backheel pass.

It wasn’t just because the pass was exquisite, but also because it showed Gadeli’s Football IQ—his ability to see the bigger picture and not be selfish. That was what everyone liked most.

If Gadeli had truly used the license to shoot granted by the head coach to take wild shots instead of passing to his teammates, even if no one said anything, they would have certainly harbored some resentment.

But that was no longer an issue.

Gadeli’s brilliant pass and Fred Ming’s easy tap-in had proven Gadeli’s character.

He was the type of teammate everyone liked.

On the sidelines, Ericov also pumped his fist in celebration.

Gadeli’s performance had exceeded his expectations.

Although he had given Gadeli a license to shoot in this match, he had really only wanted to see how far Gadeli’s shooting could go with the whole team’s support. It didn’t mean Gadeli would always have that freedom.

Today was just an experiment.

Gadeli’s first goal meant the experiment was a success; with the team’s backing, he had the ability to convert his teammates’ efforts into goals.

If he could score another, it would be perfect.

But he hadn’t expected this. He didn’t get a second goal from Gadeli, but rather a backheel assist.

And the surprise this assist brought him was even greater than if Gadeli had scored another goal himself.

Just like the scouts on the sidelines saw, the significance of this assist was that it proved Gadeli was a mature, team-oriented player who saw the big picture, didn’t play selfishly, had team spirit, and played with his head.

This kind of performance was simply beyond his expectations.

He also knew that among the spectators, there were definitely scouts from other clubs watching like hawks, ready to lure away and poach talented young players from Nuremberg.

If Gadeli had only scored one goal in this match, perhaps he could have waited. But with this flash of genius for an assist, he was certain Gadeli would attract the interest of those professional scouts.

Therefore, Ericov had already decided: after this match, he would go to the club’s management and get Gadeli a professional contract.

On the pitch, the game continued.

However, it was already quite late in the half when Gadeli assisted Fred Ming’s goal.

Just a few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle for halftime. The two teams went into the break with a score of 2-0, the home side Nuremberg U19 holding a two-goal lead.

During halftime, Ericov praised Gadeli’s first-half performance and told the team to continue playing with Gadeli as the Attacking core and Finisher in the second half.

But if Gadeli didn’t have a good shooting opportunity himself, he could pass the ball to a teammate in a better position, just as he had done.

After a fifteen-minute break, the teams switched sides and the match resumed.

Two goals down, Stuttgart made three substitutions and strengthened their attack in the second half.

As another Bundesliga club’s youth academy, Stuttgart’s U19 team was quite strong.

After bringing on three fresh players in the second half, Stuttgart managed to break through Nuremberg U19’s defense with a team play in the 68th minute, scoring a goal to make it 2-1. They were now only one goal behind.

However, with the support of his teammates, Gadeli was truly unleashing his full potential today.

Although Stuttgart had realized from the first half that Gadeli was Nuremberg’s Attacking core and had started marking him more tightly, the football pitch was a large place. What team could truly shut down a single opponent completely?

Even the Italians, renowned for their defensive expertise, couldn’t do it, let alone a German U19 youth team.

Even if Gadeli couldn’t score with every shot, when the number of shots piled up, his shooting skill, which was clearly a cut above the youth team level, made it relatively easy for him to find the back of the net.

Not long after Stuttgart pulled one back, in the 76th minute, Nuremberg won the ball and launched a high-quality team counter-attack.

Since the ball was turned over during a Stuttgart attack, Nuremberg had four players charging forward on the counter. Stuttgart’s defensive line was stretched thin, forced to chase the ball.

In the end, an unmarked Gadeli dashed into the penalty area. He received a low cross from his good friend August Michener and, from about eleven meters out, hit a first-time shot toward the far corner.

A Stuttgart defender chasing him from behind threw his whole body into a slide but still couldn’t get a touch on the ball, forced to watch as it rolled towards the unstoppable corner.

The goalkeeper dived, but Gadeli’s shot—powered by his 82 shooting skill and an exceptional performance—was placed at an impossibly tight angle. The keeper’s fully outstretched hand couldn’t reach the ball.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone on and off the pitch, the ball Gadeli struck evaded the goalkeeper’s grasp. It rolled determinedly in off the far post of the Stuttgart goal, rustling the side netting.

Gadeli had scored again, securing his first Brace in the U19 league.

An exhilarated Gadeli sprinted to the substitutes’ bench and embraced Head Coach Ericov.

The two were then swarmed by the rest of the team, all celebrating Gadeli’s goal and their 3-1 lead.

For Ericov, Gadeli’s performance was beyond perfect.

By his estimation, one goal from Gadeli would have been a pass, and two goals would have been perfect.

But Gadeli not only completed a Brace, he also provided a genius backheel assist.

Of Nuremberg’s three goals, Gadeli had scored two and assisted the other. He had directly created all three of them.

Ericov’s decision to make Gadeli the Attacking core and give him a license to shoot had yielded magnificent results.

He was both happy for Gadeli’s performance and proud of his own brilliant decision.

There was nothing left to consider. He had to sign Gadeli to a professional contract.

He couldn’t let outsiders take advantage and allow Gadeli to be poached by scouts from other teams.

Chapter 24: Pressure from the Scouts

Gadeli’s stamina wasn’t great to begin with, and after being given the crucial role of attacking core, the prolonged physical battles with the strong central defenders and defensive midfielders in the opponent’s penalty area had almost completely drained him.

Therefore, not two minutes after Gadeli completed his brace, Ericov substituted him off the pitch.

As Gadeli walked off, Ericov hugged him again and took the opportunity to whisper in his ear:

“Gadeli, I’m going to recommend to the club that you be signed to a professional contract. You shouldn’t have any issues with that, right?”

The purpose of this question was to check if any scouts had already privately contacted Gadeli, to avoid any embarrassing mix-ups later on.

But in reality, none had.

Before today, Gadeli’s age and performance could only be described as decent but unremarkable, not yet at a level that would make other clubs risk souring their relationship with Nuremberg to poach him.

Furthermore, Gadeli lived in the dorms, not renting a place on his own, so it wasn’t convenient for anyone to approach him even if they wanted to.

Thus, before today, no one from any other club had actually contacted him.

On top of that, the system’s mission stipulated that he could only sign a professional contract with Nuremberg. If he signed with another club, the system would disappear—a loss Gadeli absolutely could not accept.

So, hearing that Ericov was going to recommend him for a professional contract, Gadeli was quite happy.

But his mental age was far older than he appeared. Despite being ecstatic about completing Mission 2, his expression remained rather calm as he said, “Thanks, Coach. I don’t have any major problems with it. As long as the terms are reasonable, I’m willing to stay at Nuremberg.”

It wasn’t that Gadeli had other options; he just wanted to try and negotiate for better terms.

Even though the system required him to sign a professional contract with Nuremberg, if he could fight for a higher annual salary, bonuses, a signing bonus, and other conditions, he was going to try.

After all, outsiders didn’t know he had a system, nor did they know the system restricted him to signing only with Nuremberg.

As expected, Gadeli’s ambiguous words made Ericov’s heart sink.

In the past, when he told other youth team players this kind of good news, they would jump for joy, looking like they couldn’t wait to tell their parents and all their friends and relatives.

But Gadeli’s reaction was so placid, and his words left a lot of room for interpretation.

What did he mean by “no major problems”? Did that mean there were minor ones?

And, “as long as the terms are reasonable, I’m willing to stay at Nuremberg.” Did that mean if the terms weren’t good, he wouldn’t stay?

Gadeli’s reaction and words were completely unconventional, totally different from how other youth players behaved!

If he had the final say, based on Gadeli’s performance today, he would sign him no matter what.

But unfortunately, this involved a professional player’s contract, something only the club’s management had the authority to decide. He could only do his best to fight for Gadeli.

Therefore, Ericov felt compelled to say, “I will do my best to get you a better contract. But before the club makes a decision, please, no matter what, don’t agree to any terms from other clubs’ scouts, okay?”

Gadeli nodded. “Okay, thanks, Coach!”

For the rest of the match, neither Nuremberg nor Stuttgart scored again.

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle. Thanks to Gadeli’s two goals and one assist, Nuremberg U19 defeated the visiting Stuttgart 3-1 at home, securing a victory in the eighth round of the league.

With his outstanding performance in the match, Gadeli earned eighteen thousand experience points: four thousand for starting, eight thousand for two goals, two thousand for one assist, and a four-thousand-point win bonus. His total experience increased to Level 4, forty-nine thousand/seventy thousand.

Just as the match ended and Gadeli was walking off the pitch, a middle-aged man in his forties stopped him at the sideline:

“Hello, Berent Gadeli. I’m Idi Golden, a scout from Werder Bremen. Here’s my business card.”

He handed a business card to Gadeli.

Then, as Gadeli looked at the card, Idi Golden continued, “I was wondering if we could find a café and talk privately?”

Gadeli was about to speak when two more men walked up, scrambling to hand him their business cards. One was a scout from Schalke 04, the other from Borussia Dortmund.

Evidently, Gadeli’s performance of two goals and one assist had completely won over the scouts from these three powerful Bundesliga clubs. They couldn’t even wait to investigate his contact information or past performances, rushing over to poach him right on the spot, not even afraid of getting dealt with by Nuremberg’s training ground security.

At that moment, seeing that things were getting out of hand, Ericov strode over, slung an arm around Gadeli, and, like a protective parent, said to the three scouts from their Bundesliga rivals:

“Gadeli has already signed a professional contract with Nuremberg. If you wish to acquire him, please contact the club’s transfer department through official channels.”

Without waiting for a reply, he ignored the three scouts and guided Gadeli toward the locker room.

Watching Gadeli and Ericov’s retreating backs, the three scouts looked at each other. Idi Golden sighed. “It makes sense, I suppose. How could such a talented player not have a professional contract yet? It’s not like Nuremberg is stupid.”

Although he had successfully thwarted the three scouts’ attempts to entice Gadeli, Ericov’s sense of crisis immediately intensified.

In the locker room, Ericov once again reiterated to Gadeli how much he valued him, hoping that before the club made a decision, Gadeli wouldn’t rashly contact scouts from other clubs, let alone agree to any of their terms.

As the parent club that had nurtured Gadeli, Nuremberg valued him highly and would definitely provide him with a stage to display his talents.

Of course, this was all just official platitudes. If Gadeli hadn’t delivered such a valuable performance, no one would have given him a second thought. They’d be merciful not to just cut him from the team.

But Gadeli agreed nonetheless. Since he couldn’t sign with any team other than Nuremberg, he especially couldn’t afford to offend Ericov. He had to show him respect and act obediently in his presence.

Of course, whether Ericov believed him or not was another matter entirely.

For Ericov, signing Gadeli to a professional contract was no longer about rewarding a youth player. It had become a necessity for the club’s own interests.

After playing a high-intensity league match at noon, there was naturally no training in the afternoon. The players were free to do as they pleased.

Ericov, on the other hand, hurried to the club’s administrative building to find the general manager and the head of youth development to discuss signing Gadeli to a professional contract.

Chapter 25: The Football Agent

When they heard that Berent Gadeli had scored a brace and provided a brilliant backheel assist in today’s U19 league match against Stuttgart, both the general manager and the head of youth development were visibly shocked.

The general manager didn’t know Gadeli, but the head of youth development, who was in charge of the various youth teams, did. He asked, puzzled:

“I know Berent Gadeli. Wasn’t he still in the U17s at the start of the season? His talent wasn’t anything special; he was likely to be released at the end of the season. How did he get promoted to the U19s and perform so well?”

Ericov smiled wryly. “I don’t know either. Perhaps we’ve found a late bloomer, a genius who is only now starting to unlock his potential?”

“In any case, from what I know, Gadeli scored in every one of the first four matches of the U17 league season, totaling five goals—an average of more than one goal per game. That’s why Hollis recommended him to me, and I promoted him to the U19s.”

“Since joining the U19s, Gadeli’s progress has remained incredibly fast. His improvement is tangible almost every week.”

“To date, Gadeli has made five appearances for the U19s—one as a starter today, and the other four as a substitute. That’s four league matches and one German Youth Cup quarter-final.”

“In those five matches, Gadeli’s stats are four goals and one assist.”

“While numbers like these in the youth team don’t necessarily scream ‘genius,’ the key is that his development has exploded since the start of this season. His rate of improvement is remarkably fast.”

“When Hollis and I talked, he also felt that Gadeli might be a late-blooming super talent, someone who was improving week by week.”

“Also, after today’s match, three scouts from other clubs had already approached Gadeli. I bluffed them by saying Gadeli had already signed a professional contract with the club.”

“But I don’t know what Gadeli is thinking.”

“If we can’t sign him to a professional contract soon, and on reasonable terms, I suspect Gadeli could be lured away by other clubs. Even if we get a small youth training compensation fee, it would be a drop in the bucket and certainly wouldn’t offset the loss of Gadeli.”

After hearing Ericov’s report, the general manager and the head of youth development knew they had to sign Gadeli.

Otherwise, a player they had developed themselves could be poached by a rival.

The three of them then began to discuss the kind of contract they should offer Gadeli.

What they didn’t know was that while they were busy discussing Gadeli’s contract, Gadeli himself had gone to find the team’s starting attacking midfielder, Fred Ming.

In his time with the U19 team, besides Michener, Gadeli had made a few other friends, including Fred Ming, who had already signed a professional contract.

Moreover, Fred Ming had his own exclusive agent; he didn’t negotiate with the club himself, nor did he use a family member as his agent.

So, Gadeli told Fred Ming about Ericov’s plan to recommend him for a professional contract. He asked Fred Ming to call his agent and have him help negotiate the contract, offering a commission based on its value.

This was an easy favor that would help Gadeli get a good contract and allow the agent, Bart Dor, to earn some extra money. Fred Ming had no reason to refuse and agreed immediately, giving his agent, Bart, a call to explain Gadeli’s situation.

Bart Dor was a junior employee at a mid-tier German agency. He lacked seniority and status, so he never got to handle the big-name Bundesliga stars the company represented. Fred Ming was the most promising young player on his roster; his other clients were young players in the 2. Bundesliga, 3. Liga, or even on amateur youth teams.

The contracts, transfers, and signing bonuses for these players were pitifully small. Any share of advertising endorsement revenue was a joke; there wasn’t a single cent to be had.

This so-called football agent, Bart, lived a life not much different from a regular office worker, a far cry from the glamorous, high-profile super-agents seen on TV, who moved freely in and out of top clubs and pulled the strings in the transfer market.

When Bart heard that Fred Ming was offering him a chance to make some extra money, and that Berent Gadeli didn’t have an exclusive agent, he was instantly energized. He agreed without hesitation and immediately set off from his company’s office in Munich to meet with Gadeli in person and discuss the specific terms of the contract.

He not only wanted to help Gadeli negotiate this contract and earn a quick commission, but he also hoped to become Gadeli’s exclusive agent, which would allow him to get a cut of all future renewals, transfers, and more.

That evening, Bart Dor arrived in Nuremberg and met with Gadeli and Fred Ming at a local Western-style restaurant.

Knowing he had the system to back him up and that his skills would improve rapidly, Gadeli’s request was that he didn’t mind a lower salary for now, but the contract had to leave plenty of room for raises and bonuses.

Since Gadeli wasn’t looking to make an exorbitant demand and get rich overnight, the negotiation became much simpler. It was like a salesperson’s job with a low base salary, where earnings depend on performance.

Gadeli’s intention was the same: he wasn’t demanding a high base salary but insisted on clauses that would trigger pay raises for meeting various conditions.

This model of low base pay plus conditional raises and bonuses was actually beneficial for the club as well.

If Gadeli’s skills improved, it was only natural to give him a raise and bonuses. If not, the club wouldn’t be on the hook for a large base salary.

Therefore, based on Bart Dor’s advice and with input from Fred Ming, the three of them worked out a set of preliminary contract terms and decided to wait for the club’s offer.

Bart told Gadeli that with the conditions he had proposed, the contract negotiation should go smoothly. The only question was whether Gadeli himself had the ability to meet the conditions for the raises and bonuses.

These clauses could either be a source of generous rewards or turn out to be illusory—like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water, beautiful but unattainable.

But Gadeli was full of confidence, for he had the system as his foundation.

After discussing the current contract, Bart Dor brought up the matter of signing an agency contract. Gadeli didn’t refuse outright, saying they should talk about it after this negotiation was complete.

The implication was clear: it would all depend on Bart Dor’s performance in the upcoming negotiation.

This was a reasonable stance. Bart Dor didn’t give up; instead, he became even more determined, meticulously planning how to secure the best possible terms for Gadeli’s first professional contract. He wanted to win Gadeli’s approval and ultimately sign him as an exclusive client.

Ericov and the club’s senior management had no idea that Gadeli had already gone and found himself a professional agent. After finishing their own discussion, they planned to approach Gadeli to discuss a contract first thing on Monday.

Chapter 26: Signing the Contract

Match day was October 29th. Ericov gave the players a day off on October 30th, and training resumed on October 31st.

However, October 31st was a Monday, so after waking up, Gadeli first spent four skill points. He upgraded his shooting from 82 to 83, Ball Control from 68 to 69, Jumping from 70 to 71, and off-the-ball movement from 66 to 67, leaving him with a balance of sixteen skill points.

But before Gadeli, who had just improved his abilities again, could head to the training grounds to show everyone his progress, he received a call from Ericov. “Gadeli, don’t go to the training ground today. Come to the club’s office building. I’ll be waiting for you downstairs. I’ll take you to the Athletic Department to discuss your contract.”

Gadeli, however, replied, “Hang on a moment, boss. I need to call my agent.”

Ericov, on the other end of the line, was a bit surprised. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “Alright, call me when you get to the office building.”

“Okay!” Gadeli answered.

After hanging up, Gadeli immediately called Bart Dor. Bart had been staying in a hotel in Nuremberg for the past two days and came over right away when Gadeli called.

The two met up at the club’s office building and then called Ericov.

Ericov came out to meet them. Seeing Bart Dor, he asked in surprise, “Bart? Aren’t you Fred Ming’s agent? When did you become Gadeli’s agent?”

Bart smiled. “Not his exclusive agent. I’m just helping him with his first professional contract, giving him some advice.”

Ericov shrugged. “Alright, follow me.”

Led by Ericov, the three of them went to the Athletic Department and met with the head of the department, the lawyer from the Legal Department, and others who were already waiting in the conference room. Then, they began to discuss the terms of the contract.

Of course, to maintain a good relationship between the club and the player, the main negotiations were a verbal sparring match between Bart Dor and the Legal Department’s lawyer, while Gadeli, Ericov, and the head of the Athletic Department chatted casually on the side.

After all, both sides had already discussed their terms and bottom lines in private. Now, they just had to lay everything out on the table and find an agreement.

Speaking of which, the salary gap in the Bundesliga was massive, not just for a U19 youth team player like Gadeli, but even within the first teams.

Among the eighteen Bundesliga teams, the wealthiest was undoubtedly the world-class powerhouse Bayern Munich. Their first team was almost entirely composed of superstars, with an average annual salary exceeding three million euros. The highest earner, Ribéry, made ten million a year.

In second place was Bayern’s arch-rival, Borussia Dortmund, whose average annual salary also surpassed two million.

Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04, and Wolfsburg followed close behind. Naturally, the stronger the team, the higher the salaries they could offer their players.

The annual salaries for players on mid-to-lower-table teams were progressively lower. For Freiburg, the second-to-last team, the average annual salary was already less than four hundred thousand euros.

And in last place was Gadeli’s very own Nuremberg. With little fame, few revenue streams, and low advertising and sponsorship fees, the average annual salary they offered their first-team players was only around three hundred thousand euros.

And that was just the average annual salary. Everyone knew how misleading “average wage” figures could be.

Rumor had it that there was a Bundesliga substitute whose salary was even lower than that of the Bayern Munich team bus driver.

However, that player wasn’t from Nuremberg.

Even so, it was still damn ridiculous. The wealth gap was appalling; even among professional players in the Five Major Leagues, not everyone was a star or a millionaire.

With the first team’s salaries being so low, one couldn’t expect Nuremberg to offer a high salary to a youth team player.

Fortunately, Gadeli wasn’t demanding a contract with a high base salary right off the bat. What he wanted was room for future raises.

Since Gadeli was asking for a low base salary, negotiating the other terms was much easier. No matter how many raise and bonus clauses were included, Gadeli would have to meet the conditions to earn them.

And if Gadeli did meet those conditions, it would prove his increasing skill, which would lead to a higher transfer fee if he eventually left. In the end, the club would still be the one making a profit.

Thus, in less than two hours, Bart Dor and the staff from the club’s Legal Department had ironed out all the details. After the parties involved confirmed everything in private, the contents of Gadeli’s contract were essentially settled.

Then, it was time to call in the general manager to sign it.

A little after 11 AM on October 31st, 2011, Gadeli signed the first professional contract of his career with Nuremberg.

The contract, made in duplicate, officially came into effect after being signed by both Berent Gadeli and the club’s general manager.

According to the terms, Gadeli signed a five-year contract with Nuremberg for a basic monthly salary of just two thousand euros, which amounted to an annual salary of twenty-four thousand euros.

For a professional football player, this was indeed a very low salary—perhaps less than half of what the Bayern Munich team bus driver made. Naturally, the club was more than happy with it.

However, the reason Gadeli accepted such a low monthly salary was, of course, because he had Bart negotiate for numerous raise and bonus clauses.

For example, upon promotion from the U19 to the U23 team, his basic monthly salary would increase by one thousand. If he was then promoted to the first team, it would increase by another thousand.

If he could make it to the first team, Gadeli’s basic monthly salary could rise to four thousand euros.

In addition, there were salary bonuses for being selected for the German U19 youth team, the German U23 Olympic team, and the German national team, as well as for qualifying for European competitions.

There were also different bonus clauses for goals and assists in the U19 and U23 leagues and cups, championship bonuses, appearance fees, goal bonuses, and assist bonuses for the first team, qualifying for the Europa League or Champions League, scoring in those competitions, and even helping the team win a title.

It even listed clauses for revenue sharing from the club’s use of Gadeli’s image rights and buyout clauses under various conditions.

The club felt that the clauses Gadeli had included for Europa League qualification, Champions League qualification, and even winning titles were just daydreams. Nuremberg would be lucky just to stay in the Bundesliga and avoid relegation. European competition? Winning a championship?

But signing such a contract was no loss for the club. In the off chance he actually met the conditions, giving Gadeli a bonus would be an absolute bargain.

Therefore, both sides signed the contract after just one morning of discussion, unlike other player contract negotiations that could drag on for days, a week, or even a month or two.

In addition to the monthly salary and bonuses, Bart had also managed to secure a twenty-thousand-euro signing bonus for Gadeli.

That was equivalent to ten months of Gadeli’s base salary—a pleasant surprise.

So, after signing the contract, Gadeli immediately gave ten thousand euros of the signing bonus to Bart Dor as payment for his help with the contract.

Ten thousand euros was roughly equivalent to more than two months of Bart’s income, so it was a rather nice windfall for him.

However, when he brought up signing an exclusive agent contract, Gadeli politely turned him down.

He was still too low-level. For Gadeli, who possessed a system-like cheat, Bart’s abilities and connections weren’t sufficient for him to become his exclusive agent.

He wanted to wait until he was promoted to the first team and made a name for himself, then attract one of the super-agents who dominated the world of football and form a powerful partnership.

Of course, for Gadeli, the most important thing was completing “Task 2: Sign a professional contract,” which rewarded him with ten skill points, bringing his total balance to twenty-six.

Chapter 27: Consecutive Starts

Signing the first professional contract of his life and completing Mission 2 was naturally a joyous occasion. Not only did he have to thank Fred Ming and Bart Dor for their help, but he also had to celebrate with his friends.

His teammates all knew Gadeli was from the Chinese town of Dietfurt and was a China expert, but in reality, he hadn’t had a single Chinese meal since his transmigration to Germany.

The pressure of the system’s missions was the main reason. Gadeli, Elmer, and Michener were putting in extra training every day. Furthermore, he didn’t want to let his culinary desires affect his physical condition. So, even though the nutritional meals at the academy’s canteen were terrible, he ate there every day instead of going out to find a Chinese restaurant for a better meal.

Now that he had signed his first professional contract, he could finally reward himself with a Chinese meal and let his friends have a taste as well.

That evening, Gadeli found a Chinese restaurant in the city from memory and treated Elmer, Michener, Fred Ming, Bart Dor, and the others to a delicious Chinese dinner.

Elmer, Michener, and the others couldn’t stop praising the deliciousness of the food. The restaurant owner was stunned by Gadeli’s fluent Chinese and his proficient use of chopsticks.

Gadeli even specifically requested a bottle of Lao Gan Ma to go with the meal. Elmer and the others tried it and all said it was delicious; the group ate the entire bottle clean.

After the celebration, the restaurant owner even asked to take a photo with Gadeli. As it turned out, after Gadeli became famous, this photo became the restaurant’s ultimate signboard, attracting wave after wave of Gadeli’s fans to visit and sample the Chinese cuisine.

After dinner, he returned to his dorm room, where his U19 teammates showered him with congratulations.

After thanking his teammates, Gadeli thought for a moment and, for the first time, took the initiative to call this body’s parents to share the good news.

Whether he was used to it or not, since he had transmigrated into someone else’s body, using it to realize his own football dreams and even gaining a system, it was only right for him to fulfill the duty of honoring his new parents.

Signing his first professional contract was a huge event. Not having his parents present for the signing was one thing, but not telling them about it afterward would be inexcusable. It was wrong in every sense, both emotionally and logically, even if Gadeli was legally an adult.

Berent Gadeli’s father, Markus, was a physical education teacher at a local elementary school in Dietfurt. He was also a football fan and was the one who had nurtured Gadeli’s love for the sport as a child.

His mother, Isabella, ran a stationery and sporting goods store on the street outside the school, catering to students.

In fact, Markus and Isabella had been quite distraught these past few months since the new season began.

During this time, Gadeli never called home on his own initiative. Even when they called him, he would only say a few words before hanging up. This behavior worried them immensely.

If it weren’t for the German Football Association’s official website, which had match reports for the U17 and U19 leagues, letting them know their son was still playing for the Nuremberg Youth Academy and performing well, the two of them might have thought their son had gotten into some trouble and fled from justice.

This evening, just as they were watching TV after dinner, anxiously discussing their son’s changes, he unexpectedly called home for the first time in months, and with good news at that: because of his outstanding performance in the U19s, their son had signed a professional contract with Nuremberg.

The couple was overjoyed, so much so that they completely forgot to scold their son for not inviting them to the contract signing.

The fact that their son had taken the initiative to call home with good news was already a wonderful surprise for them.

Although their son still wasn’t very talkative this time—aside from telling them about the professional contract, it was mostly them asking questions and him answering—it was still a change from the past two months.

After hanging up, the couple discussed it for a while and guessed that perhaps their son was growing up, developing his own ideas. Coupled with being away from his parents for so long and living on his own at the club, his bond with them might have weakened.

Therefore, the two decided that if their son was a starter in the next home game, they would go to the stadium to watch him play.

On one hand, the family of three hadn’t seen each other in a long time and needed to get together. On the other hand, they wanted to watch their son’s match in person.

After all, they hadn’t seen him play live since he was promoted to the U19 team.

As for Gadeli, after completing the signing, he returned to normal training on November 1st. With his shooting skill now at 83, his improvement during training once again impressed Ericov, further solidifying the coach’s resolve to keep him as the attacking core.

On November 6th, the ninth round of the U19 league, Nuremberg faced Mainz in an away match. Gadeli was once again a starter and served as the team’s attacking core.

With Gadeli’s shooting ability, it would be a waste not to make him the finisher with a license to shoot.

Even though it was an away game, Gadeli did not disappoint Ericov.

In the 14th minute of the match, Gadeli won an aerial duel inside the opponent’s penalty area, meeting an aerial cross from a teammate on the wing and heading the ball into Mainz’s goal.

Nuremberg took a 1-0 lead away from home.

In the 37th minute, Mainz equalized through a tactical free kick, bringing the score to 1-1.

After a 15-minute halftime, the two teams switched sides and resumed the match.

Although Mainz was now paying close attention to marking Gadeli, in the 62nd minute, he finally found another perfect shooting opportunity.

He found an open space at the edge of the penalty area, received a low cross from a teammate, and fired a first-time powerful shot, sending the ball into Mainz’s goal.

Gadeli had scored a brace once again, helping Nuremberg take a 2-1 lead away from home.

After his brace, Mainz’s marking on Gadeli became even tighter, preventing him from scoring any more goals for the remainder of the match.

But with Gadeli being heavily marked by Mainz, the other Nuremberg players got plenty of opportunities.

In the 77th minute, Gadeli’s lateral run inside the penalty area drew the attention of the Mainz defenders. His friend, August Michener, cut in from the wing and into the box, received a pass from his teammate Johannes, and smashed a powerful shot past the Mainz keeper.

Michener’s extra training with Gadeli had paid off. His shooting had improved, and he had finally scored in a competitive match.

Having scored, Michener sprinted ecstatically across the field, until Gadeli caught up, tackled him to the ground, and they celebrated in a heap.

Now two goals down, the home team, Mainz, could no longer remain composed.

Therefore, after the game restarted, Mainz pushed forward aggressively, launching a full-blown assault on Nuremberg.

But there was too little time left for them.

Although Mainz managed to score a goal in the 89th minute, making the score 2-3, they ultimately failed to find an equalizer.

Chapter 28: A Reporter’s Interview

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.

Thanks to a brace from Gadeli and a goal from Michener, Nuremberg U19 defeated Mainz U19 3-2 away from home, securing a hard-fought victory on the road.

Starting and scoring a brace in two consecutive matches—Gadeli’s performance was more than just satisfying for Ericov; it was a delightful surprise.

After all, Gadeli wasn’t one of the youth academy’s “prodigies.” He was only promoted to the U19 team after turning eighteen, having already aged out of the U17s.

Yet, in just six matches, he had delivered six goals and one assist, even scoring a brace in each of his last two games.

Even though it was a youth league match, where the defensive prowess and intensity of the challenges couldn’t compare to the first team’s games, the support from his own teammates was similarly limited!

Gadeli’s performance proved that Nuremberg had truly struck gold, and signing him had been a very timely decision.

Besides Ericov, the U19 teammates were also thoroughly impressed.

His brace and assist in the last match had been surprising enough, but to score another brace in this game left everyone even more stunned and convinced of his ability.

The friends of the original starting center forward, Saniel Möri, felt deep sympathy for him.

Under normal circumstances, if the U23 team were to promote a center forward from the U19s, Saniel Möri would have been the first in line.

Who would have thought that in just over a month, the tides would turn so completely, with Gadeli taking over as the U19 starting center forward?

Moreover, Gadeli had started two consecutive games and scored a brace in both, cementing his place in the starting lineup without a hint of resistance. Saniel Möri had virtually no chance of a comeback.

All anyone could do was sympathize with Möri, feeling he had been a victim of misfortune, running into a freak of nature like Gadeli, whose progress was terrifyingly fast.

In addition to the surprise and admiration from his coach and teammates, Gadeli was also interviewed after the match by a reporter from the German Football Association’s official website, a man named Grollov.

Normally, as a reporter covering the U19 league for the German FA’s official website, Grollov was busy enough just verifying and recording the matchday squads, starting lineups, substitution times, red and yellow cards, scores, and so on.

The youth league didn’t attract much attention, so no in-depth reporting was necessary. A faithful, brief record of the match uploaded to the FA’s website was usually sufficient. Unlike in the Bundesliga, post-match interviews with coaches or players were rare—there was simply no need.

But today, Grollov made an exception. He interviewed Gadeli after the game.

For one thing, Gadeli scoring a brace in two consecutive matches was an outstanding performance with some news value.

For another, he had heard that Gadeli had just signed a professional contract with Nuremberg.

These two factors combined led Grollov to his decision to interview Gadeli. If the material he gathered was useful, he would include it in his post-match report.

Gadeli was certainly surprised when the reporter, wearing a press pass from the German FA’s official website, stopped him for an interview.

He knew there were reporters from the official website at every match recording the events, but he had never actually seen one interview a player.

He never expected to be the one interviewed today.

But it was a good thing, and Gadeli naturally wouldn’t refuse.

Once Gadeli agreed, Grollov began asking questions while taking notes in his notebook.

He asked about everything, from where Gadeli was from and when he joined the Nuremberg Youth Academy, to his promotion to the U19s, his feelings about training and matches, and finally, his recent consecutive starts, his two braces, and his firm hold on the starting position. Grollov’s questions were numerous and detailed.

Of course, he couldn’t possibly include everything from the interview in his news report, but the more material he had, the more he had to choose from. That much was certain.

During the interview, aside from Gadeli’s performance and the match itself, what surprised Grollov the most was Gadeli’s hometown: Dietfurt.

He had never heard of this so-called “Bavarian China Town.” Hearing about it for the first time today, he was intrigued and astonished.

He even had Gadeli say a few words in Chinese. Although he couldn’t understand them, he was amazed by how unhesitatingly and fluently Gadeli spoke.

The image of a young player came to life: a late bloomer, promoted to the U19s only after turning eighteen, improving at a phenomenal rate, scoring six goals in six matches, with two consecutive braces, newly signed as a professional, hailing from “China Town,” and able to speak Chinese.

Grollov was very satisfied.

He was confident that today’s report would attract plenty of eyeballs and clicks.

Gadeli was also quite satisfied with his performance today.

Not only was he interviewed by a reporter, but he had also gained a lot of experience points and leveled up.

In this match, he started and scored two goals, and the team won. His total experience points gained were: 4,000 for starting + 8,000 for two goals + 2,000 win bonus = 14,000.

Adding that to his existing experience, Gadeli’s total rose to Level 4: 73,000/70,000, automatically leveling him up to Level 5: 3,000/100,000.

After leveling up, Gadeli randomly acquired a new skill.

This time, however, his luck was poor. The new skill he obtained was a defensive one, “Tackle,” with an initial attribute of 32.

For a center forward like Gadeli, this skill was of little use for the time being.

If he ever maxed out all his other offensive skills and had skill points to spare, it might not be a bad idea to add points to “Tackle” for pressing high up the pitch.

But now was not the time to spend skill points on a defensive skill like this. Therefore, Gadeli didn’t add any points to “Tackle,” leaving it at its initial attribute of 32.

As a result, he didn’t use any of the 10 skill points he gained from leveling up, adding them all to his balance. Gadeli’s total number of available skill points rose to 36.

That evening, in the report on the German FA’s U19 league sub-page for the Mainz vs. Nuremberg match, there was not only a recap of the game but also excerpts from Grollov’s interview with Gadeli, bringing him to the attention of quite a few people.

An eighteen-year-old with six goals and one assist in six youth league matches was decent, but it hardly screamed “prodigy.”

Defending in youth league games wasn’t very strict, so talented players could often post good numbers.

The youth academies of Europe’s major clubs were teeming with prodigies. A goal per game was good, but not shocking.

After all, Europe had prodigies who maintained a scoring rate of three goals per game in the youth academy.

Gadeli’s rate of six goals in six U19 games, one goal per game, could only be considered adequate.

But if you narrowed the timeframe to the last two matches, Gadeli’s four goals and one assist made for much more impressive reading.

A three-goal-per-game average was incredible, but those weren’t German players.

Among German youth players, it was extremely rare to find someone who could average two goals per game in the academy, let alone three. Although Gadeli’s stats were only from two matches, they already showed the “potential” of a prodigy.

If he could keep it up, Gadeli’s future was boundless!

When combined with his stats and rate of improvement in both the U17 and U19 teams this season, his profile became even more eye-catching.

This article made many Bundesliga clubs take notice of Gadeli. Even scouts from Premier League and La Liga clubs, lurking on the German FA’s official website, saw the report.

Unfortunately for them, the article also mentioned that Gadeli had already signed a professional contract with Nuremberg. They had missed their chance to snatch him up for free. All they could do was continue to monitor him and, once his contract’s protection period ended, decide whether to try and buy him based on his performance.

Chapter 29: Parents Arrive in Person

Besides the attention from other club scouts, Grollov’s feature article on Gadeli on the Football Association’s official website also caught the eye of fans, the German U19 national team, the German U23 national team, the Nuremberg U23 youth team, the Nuremberg first team, and others.

Of course, it was only attention.

As mentioned before, Gadeli had only just been promoted to the U19 team and had only played a few matches. While an average of one goal per game was good, it was hardly stunning.

Professional football was full of examples of players who averaged one or two goals per game in the youth teams but then faded into obscurity after reaching the first team.

Therefore, Gadeli still needed more match experience and had to maintain his current form to impress teams at a higher level.

Regardless, Gadeli had entered the public eye because of Grollov’s report and was no longer the unknown player he once was.

From now on, his performance in every match would be watched by interested parties.

The players’ dormitory where Gadeli lived didn’t have a computer, so he had no idea how Grollov had reported on him.

However, he knew that as long as he continued to improve his skills step by step, getting into the U23 team, being selected for the German U19 national team, and so on would all happen naturally.

Since the next match was two weeks away, Ericov gave everyone a three-day break after the away game against Mainz.

As usual, Gadeli didn’t go home, choosing to stay at the training ground for extra practice with Elmer, Michener, and the others.

On November 7th, a Monday, Gadeli spent four skill points, raising his Shooting from 83 to 84, Ball Control from 69 to 70, Jumping from 71 to 72, and off-the-ball movement from 67 to 68. He had 32 skill points remaining.

To Gadeli’s surprise, his weight had increased by 1 kg, from 80 kg to 81 kg.

It seemed the results of consistently eating nutritious meals at the cafeteria and training hard with extra practice were finally showing.

Even without unlocking the physique skill and being unable to use skill points to boost that attribute, Gadeli had still managed to increase his weight and his physical strength through his own self-discipline.

Three days later, when the team resumed training, Ericov discovered that Gadeli’s abilities had improved yet again, further convincing him that Gadeli was a late-blooming genius.

On November 14th, another Monday, Gadeli once again spent four skill points, adding one point each to Shooting, Ball Control, Jumping, and off-the-ball movement. He now had 28 skill points left.

After this allocation of points, Gadeli’s attributes became:

Host: Berent Gadeli

Nationality: German

Date of Birth: September 6, 1993

Height: 186cm

Weight: 81kg

Level: 5

Experience points: 11,000/100,000

Skill Points: 28

Shooting: 85

Ball Control: 71

Jumping: 73

Tackle: 32

Off-the-ball Movement: 69

GK Defensive Positioning: 6

Perfect Skills: None

Based on his Shooting skill of 85 alone, he could be a starter not just for Nuremberg’s U19 youth team, but even for the top clubs in the Five Major Leagues.

Unfortunately, Gadeli’s other skills, such as Dribbling, speed, Breaking through, and physique, were limited, preventing him from fully unleashing the power of his shooting.

Otherwise, it would be possible for him to score not just one, but two or even three goals per game.

But that was just Gadeli’s own thinking. To the players and coaches of the Nuremberg U19 youth team, his rate of improvement was already staggering.

This was especially true in a sixty-minute internal training match on November 17th, where Gadeli, with the support of his teammates on the main squad, scored three goals to complete a hat-trick, firmly securing his position as the main center forward.

The former starting center forward, Saniel Möri, could only tragically continue as Gadeli’s substitute.

Naturally, after training on the afternoon of November 19th, when Ericov announced the matchday squad for the next day’s league Matchday 10 game of Nuremberg vs. Mannheim, Gadeli was once again in the starting lineup. Furthermore, he would continue to be the attacking core with a license to shoot.

Gadeli wasn’t too concerned about the next day’s match. As long as he played normally, with his Shooting attribute of 85, he was confident that scoring a goal wouldn’t be a problem if he got a few chances to shoot.

However, that evening, Gadeli’s father, Markus, called. After confirming that his son would be starting the next day, Markus announced that he and Isabella would be traveling to Nuremberg to watch the match in person. Gadeli was stunned.

What?

His parents were coming to watch him play in person?

Why?

After the initial shock, Gadeli’s thoughts turned, and he realized it was because he hadn’t called or gone home in a long time, which had made Markus and Isabella miss their son.

Since he wouldn’t go home, the old couple had no choice but to come to Nuremberg to see him.

Gadeli tried to object, saying he was doing fine in Nuremberg and that they didn’t need to visit, but it was no use.

Markus was merely informing Gadeli of their decision, not asking for his opinion.

That night, Gadeli had trouble sleeping, unsure of how to face the parents of this body the next day.

No matter what Gadeli thought, time continued to pass.

On November 19th, Nuremberg U19 hosted Mannheim U19 at home.

The match was set to kick off at 1:30 PM, but by not even 12:00 PM, an eager Markus and Isabella had already arrived in Nuremberg more than an hour early. After finding a restaurant for lunch, they made their way to Nuremberg’s training ground.

Following the gatekeeper’s directions, they found the U19 training pitch, only to see a few groundskeepers inspecting the goalposts, corner flag posts, seats on the substitute bench, and so on. There wasn’t a single player or spectator in sight.

This wasn’t a first team match, which would draw tens of thousands of people, with many die-hard fans arriving very early.

For a youth team match, even with players’ families, fans, scouts, and reporters, the crowd usually only numbered one or two hundred. So, there was no fear of being late and not getting in.

The two of them had simply arrived too early.

Isabella wanted to call her son, but Markus stopped her. “Berent is probably having lunch or taking a nap right now. Let’s not disturb him. We’ll see him later anyway.”

So, the two could only wander around the training ground to pass the time.

Of course, weekends were typically match days for youth teams of all levels, which was why the facility was open, allowing fans and players’ families to stroll around. From Monday to Friday, it was closed to the public, as some of the team’s training sessions needed to be kept confidential.

Soon, it was 12:40 PM, and the Nuremberg U19 players were already in the locker room changing into their match kits.

The thought of meeting the parents of this body soon made Gadeli feel both flustered and awkward.

But there was no way around it; he had to face them. He couldn’t escape.

After all, he was the one who had possessed Berent Gadeli’s body, taking over someone else’s life.

Chapter 30: Beating the Offside Trap

Half an hour before kickoff, around 1:00 PM, both teams started to appear on the training ground for their pre-match warm-ups.

Before he even reached the entrance to the training ground, Gadeli saw the parents of this body, people from his memories: Markus and Isabella.

A group of Nuremberg U19 players was walking from the direction of the locker rooms toward the pitch, and naturally, Markus and Isabella spotted them.

Having not seen her son for several months, Isabella, like the other players’ families around her, excitedly waved at Gadeli, calling out, “Bernd! Bernd!”

The pitches for youth team matches weren’t like the official stadiums of the first team, where the stands are elevated from the field, sometimes even separated by a chain-link fence.

The training ground, of course, had no seats. Spectators stood on the sidelines to watch, and players could chat briefly with their families before and after the match.

So, upon seeing his parents and hearing his mother’s excited shouts, Gadeli could only suppress the awkwardness in his heart and slowly walk over.

But as he got closer, the words ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ came out surprisingly smoothly, without any hesitation. It startled Gadeli, and only a moment later did he realize it was probably this body’s conditioned reflex.

He hadn’t had to face them before, but now that they were in front of him, the words came out naturally.

Hearing Gadeli call them Mom and Dad, Isabella excitedly pulled him into a hug. “Bernd, why haven’t you been home for so long? You have no idea how much Mom has missed you!”

Now that he had called them ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’, Gadeli’s sense of awkwardness lessened considerably. Perhaps also due to the body’s muscle memory, he didn’t feel much resistance to his mother Isabella’s embrace.

He first comforted his mother, then hugged his father, and the family of three exchanged a few words.

However, Markus soon took the initiative, saying, “You should go warm up and prepare for the match. We’ll talk more after it’s over.”

Seeing her son in person and watching him display skills during the warm-up that were far superior to when he was in the U17s, especially his shooting, Isabella felt it was all a bit surreal.

She said to her husband, “I can’t believe it. We haven’t seen him for a few months, and not only has Bernd been promoted from the U17s to the U19s, but he’s also a starter and has scored a brace in two consecutive matches. It’s just incredible.”

Markus nodded and added, “I know! I didn’t expect it either. I was still wondering if, should Nuremberg let him go, I should take him to find a lower-league team or just have him switch careers and find a different job. I never thought he would quietly get promoted to the U19s, sign a professional contract, and be able to support himself.”

As the two of them murmured to each other, the crowd of spectators grew, and the match was about to begin.

At 1:30 PM on November 19th, with a blow of the referee’s whistle, the 10th-round match of the 2011/2012 German U19 Southern Regional League between Nuremberg and Mannheim officially began.

Thanks to Grollov’s interview and report, combined with the undeniable statistics on the U19 league’s official website, the already renowned Gadeli was heavily marked by Mannheim from the very start of the match.

The presence of his parents also added to Gadeli’s pressure, and he hadn’t slept well the night before. His form was poor in this match, and despite getting a few shooting opportunities throughout the first half, he failed to score a single goal.

In the 32nd minute, Gadeli even had a golden opportunity to shoot from the edge of the six-yard box, but under pressure from an opposing defender, he scuffed the shot, sending the ball flying over the crossbar.

On the sidelines, Markus and Isabella, who had been ready to celebrate, had the same reaction as Gadeli on the pitch: hands on their heads in disbelief.

It was his teammate, Avid, who came over to comfort him. “Gadeli, don’t worry about it. Everyone skies a shot now and then. Just be more careful next time.”

There was a reason Avid wasn’t too critical of Gadeli’s miss. Although Gadeli hadn’t scored, he had drawn most of Mannheim’s defensive attention, creating numerous opportunities for the other Nuremberg players, including Avid himself.

Throughout the first half, Nuremberg U19 scored two goals, taking a 2-0 lead by halftime, and one of those goals was scored by Avid.

With the team having scored two goals, one of them his own, and holding a two-goal lead, Avid was in a calm enough state of mind to console Gadeli.

Otherwise, if the team had been trailing, Gadeli would have only received blame for that miss, not comfort from Avid.

But even though his teammates didn’t blame him, Gadeli himself felt terrible.

Before his parents arrived, he hadn’t known how he would face them or what to call them.

However, once he saw them, his body’s natural reaction showed that it still held an affection for his parents. The names came without hesitation, and a strong desire to perform well at his home ground and let his parents see him score surged within him.

But after half a match, he hadn’t scored a single goal and had even blazed a surefire chance over the bar.

During halftime, Gadeli reviewed his mentality from the first half, reflecting on it through deep breaths and closed-eye introspection.

Although it was only for the brief fifteen minutes of halftime, Gadeli was, after all, mentally ten years older. His self-adjustment proved to be effective.

In the second half, Mannheim, who were two goals down, brought on fresh legs to strengthen their attack, which in turn gave Nuremberg some good counter-attacking opportunities.

Finally, after wasting two more chances, Gadeli seized his third opportunity of the second half in the 70th minute.

This chance arose precisely because Mannheim was pushing forward aggressively, allowing Nuremberg to win the ball back and launch a counter-attack.

Although Gadeli wasn’t as fast as a winger, he was the center forward positioned furthest up the pitch, closest to the opponent’s defensive line.

And on this counter-attack in the 70th minute—perhaps because Mannheim was growing frustrated with the two-goal deficit and was pushing higher up the pitch as time went on—when they lost possession, Gadeli used his 69-rated off-the-ball movement to create an excellent chance by beating the offside trap.

A 69 rating for off-the-ball movement isn’t outstanding for the first team, but in the youth league, where opponents lacked the defensive experience of first team players, Gadeli’s repeated attempts finally paid off, and he seized the opportunity.

At the very moment Gadeli was about to break the offside trap, Fred Ming, who had the ball, played a through pass.

Then, Gadeli successfully beat the trap, and the ball rolled perfectly through the gap between the two center-backs.

Having successfully beaten the offside trap and received Fred Ming’s through ball, Gadeli found himself in a prime one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Although opposing players were desperately tracking back behind him and speed wasn’t his strong suit, he still managed to dribble the ball to the arc of the penalty area.

Facing the goalkeeper who had rushed out into the penalty area, and while being jostled by a retreating center-back, Gadeli shielded the ball from his opponent and executed a chip shot from outside the box.

Chapter 31: Continuing to Score

The moment Fred Ming sent the through pass and Gadeli beat the offside trap, Markus and Isabella’s eyes widened. They clenched their fists, cheering for their son in their hearts.

Then, Gadeli received the ball and surged forward. An opposing center-back caught up, tugging at him from the side and behind. The sight made Markus and Isabella extremely nervous, and they repeatedly screamed in their minds, “Shoot, shoot!”

They were terrified the center-back would tackle the ball away from their son.

Fortunately, their son’s physical strength was decent. He wasn’t pulled down, nor did he lose control of the ball. Then, just outside the penalty area, he shielded the ball from the defender and executed a chip shot.

Under Markus and Isabella’s tense gaze, the ball soared into the air, flying over the Mannheim goalkeeper who leaped with all his might but couldn’t get a touch. It traced a perfect arc through the sky, descending toward the goal.

The Mannheim defender who had just been tussling with Gadeli let him go, sprinting past him and the goalkeeper like the wind, racing toward the goal line in a desperate attempt to clear it.

But in the end, he was no match for the speed of the ball.

Before he could even reach the six-yard box line, the ball had already nestled into the back of the net.

In the 70th minute of the second half, Gadeli finally scored his first goal of the match—a goal of great significance.

Because this goal was scored right before his parents’ eyes, and it was the first time they had witnessed him score in a U19 league match in person.

Therefore, upon seeing the ball hit the net and confirming the goal, Gadeli, his mental block now completely gone, naturally ran to the sidelines and embraced his parents, who were nearly crying with joy. The other Nuremberg fans nearby also applauded him.

This goal turned out to be Nuremberg’s last of the match. Although Gadeli tried his best to score another, luck was not on his side, and he failed to find the net again before the final whistle.

Of course, Mannheim failed to score as well.

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to end the match. Nuremberg U19 had defeated the visitors, Mannheim, 3-0 at home in the 10th round of the league, securing a convincing three-goal victory.

Although he only scored one goal, Gadeli still gained a considerable amount of experience points thanks to the team’s resounding 3-0 win.

Being a starter (4,000), scoring one goal (4,000), and the win bonus (6,000) earned Gadeli a total of 14,000 experience points.

While Gadeli and his teammates were in the locker room showering and changing, Ericov chatted with Gadeli’s parents for a while. He lavished praise on Gadeli’s rate of improvement and asserted that he had a boundless future ahead of him.

At his current pace, it wouldn’t be long before he could be promoted to the U23s or even selected for the various German youth national teams.

The praise from the coach made Markus and his wife very happy.

Once Gadeli and his teammates had showered and changed, the family of three said their goodbyes to the team, left the training grounds, and went to explore the city of Nuremberg.

The family drove Markus’s old, beat-up car and spent the day sightseeing in Nuremberg. In the afternoon, they had dinner at the same Chinese restaurant Gadeli had visited before. Afterward, Markus and his wife returned to Dietfurt, while Gadeli went back to his dorm to continue his youth career.

Markus asked about the details of his son’s contract, and was relieved to find there were no hidden pitfalls.

On November 21st, another Monday, Gadeli spent four more skill points. He raised his shooting from 85 to 86, Ball Control from 71 to 72, Jumping from 73 to 74, and off-the-ball movement from 69 to 70. This left him with a balance of 24 skill points.

Gadeli’s continuous and significant improvement each week left everyone at Nuremberg both shocked and ecstatic.

Although Gadeli had only scored one goal in the previous match, he had firmly secured his position as the starting center forward.

After all, he was at least averaging one goal a game, something Saniel Möri couldn’t even manage.

Moreover, Gadeli’s progress in training was almost tangible, leaving Ericov with no choice but to focus on his development.

Therefore, it was only natural that for the 11th round of the U19 league on November 27th, an away match against Munich 1860, Gadeli was once again a starter, with Möri on the substitute’s bench.

This was an away game, and as time went on, opponents were marking Gadeli more and more tightly, treating him as Nuremberg U19’s number one threat.

Who could have imagined this when Gadeli was first promoted to the U19s?

But even though Munich 1860 paid immense attention to Gadeli, with someone marking him at nearly all times, they ultimately failed to contain him. Gadeli still found his chance to score.

After all, is there truly such a thing as an impenetrable defense in football?

In the 37th minute of the first half, Nuremberg launched a team attack.

Thanks to the runs and movement of his teammates pulling defenders away, Gadeli found himself inside the penalty area with his back partially to the goal, holding off an opposing defender and creating a good opportunity.

Seeing the chance, the left midfielder, Golding, who had the ball, immediately passed it to Gadeli’s feet.

However, Gadeli was facing the left flank. A direct shot would have to be with his left foot, and a nearby Munich player, spotting the danger, immediately rushed in to block a shot.

If Gadeli took a one-touch shot, it would likely be blocked by the player diving in.

At this moment, Gadeli’s mental fortitude again served him well.

Under pressure from the defender behind him, Gadeli didn’t shoot directly. Instead, he shielded the ball, letting it roll across to his right side.

This sudden move caught both the defender he was holding off and the player diving in to block the shot completely off guard. It allowed Gadeli to let the ball run to his right, creating a much better shooting angle.

Then, before they could react, Gadeli, who had just let the ball cross his body, used the defender he was leaning on to pivot. Now facing the right flank, he swept the ball with his right foot, getting the shot off toward the goal just before the shooting lane could be closed down.

It sounds slow in the telling, but Gadeli’s move to let the ball run and his quick turn-and-shoot was incredibly fast. Although the angle wasn’t exceptionally difficult, the Munich 1860 goalkeeper still couldn’t save it and could only watch helplessly as the ball found the net.

Gadeli had started again and scored again.

In addition to that goal, in the 62nd minute of the second half, Gadeli acted as a target man with his back to the goal inside the penalty area. He provided an assist for a teammate, setting up the right winger, Johannes, who made a run into the box from the side and slotted the ball home.

In the end, Nuremberg U19 defeated Munich 1860 3-1 in an away match.

Winning by two goals away from home was quite an achievement.

Gadeli’s contribution was significant. Although he only scored one goal, he also provided an assist.

Furthermore, his very presence drew significant attention from the opponent’s defensive line, which created space for his teammates to score the other goals, ultimately securing a 3-1 away victory.

This match earned Gadeli a reward of starter (4,000) + 1 goal (4,000) + 1 assist (2,000) + win bonus (4,000) = 14,000 experience points, which was quite good.

Chapter 32: Explosive Form

After defeating Munich 1860 3-1 in an away game, Ericov gave everyone a day off.

On that day off, a Monday, November 28, Gadeli once again spent four skill points. He increased his shooting from 86 to 87, ball control from 72 to 73, jumping from 74 to 75, and off-the-ball movement from 70 to 71, leaving him with a balance of 20 skill points.

Aside from his standout shooting, Gadeli’s ball control, jumping, and off-the-ball movement had all surpassed 70 points, which were considered excellent attributes for the youth team.

It wasn’t that there weren’t players of his age with better stats in these areas, but those players had generally already been promoted to the first team.

Gadeli was still slowly improving on the youth team because his other, more mediocre skills held him back, making his abilities somewhat lopsided.

If judged solely on these few attributes, Gadeli was already considered a top-tier player in the youth team.

This was also the reason he had been scoring in every match recently.

Not only had Gadeli’s own improvement earned him a starting position and a key role, leading to his scoring streak, but Elmer and Michener, who had been doing extra training with him every afternoon, had also seen considerable improvement.

Michener was getting more and more playing time for the U19 team and even started occasionally.

As for Elmer in the U17s, his shooting had become increasingly sharp with Gadeli as his training partner. He had been scoring more and more goals and had already secured a regular starting position.

It wouldn’t be long, one imagined, before Elmer might also be promoted to the U19 team.

Another week passed. On December 4, for the 12th round of the U19 league, Nuremberg played at home against Unterhaching, with Gadeli once again starting as the attacking core.

After the match began, both teams, using a 4-3-3 attacking formation common in youth football, engaged in an offensive showdown.

Of course, as Nuremberg’s attacking core who had scored six goals and provided two assists in the last four matches, Berent Gadeli was specifically marked by Unterhaching. They did their best to deny him any easy shooting opportunities.

But today’s match was a home game for Nuremberg, and both Gadeli and his teammates were in good form.

Crucially, Gadeli was improving every week, and after so many matches as the starting attacking core, his coordination with his teammates had become increasingly fluid.

As a result, Gadeli exploded into a state of unprecedented form in this match.

Just three minutes after kick-off, while the players of the visiting Unterhaching team might not have even settled into the game, Nuremberg executed a brilliant team play. It ended with left winger Avid carrying the ball to the byline and sending in a cross.

The ball soared high, arcing through the air toward Unterhaching’s penalty area.

At the near post, on the edge of the six-yard box, Gadeli used his already impressive 75-point jumping attribute and solid physique to out-jump a center-back who was man-marking him. Leaping high, he headed Avid’s cross toward the goal.

Although the header wasn’t aimed at a difficult angle, it was so close to the goal that even though the goalkeeper instinctively waved his hand and managed to touch the ball, he couldn’t keep it out.

The ball merely glanced off his hand and bounced, flying determinedly into the Unterhaching goal.

Nuremberg 1-0 Unterhaching.

Only three minutes into the game, Nuremberg had taken a 1-0 lead.

Such a dream start sent the Nuremberg U19 players’ morale soaring and left the visiting Unterhaching team shaken and dispirited.

For the next ten-plus minutes, Nuremberg kept Unterhaching pinned down, but a bit of bad luck prevented them from capitalizing on their momentum and scoring again.

Unterhaching, however, didn’t have it any better. They were completely overwhelmed by Nuremberg during this period and couldn’t even muster a counter-attack.

It wasn’t until the 25th minute that Unterhaching managed to create their first shooting opportunity from a counter-attack, but it was a ridiculously wild shot.

Though it was a wild shot, it at least signaled that they were emerging from the shadow of conceding in the third minute. They were starting to fight back instead of just passively taking a beating.

That shot sounded the horn for Unterhaching’s counter-attack.

They rallied their spirits, trying to boost their morale through attacks and goals, and put up a proper fight against Nuremberg.

However, just a few minutes after they began showing signs of a comeback, in the 33rd minute, Gadeli scored again.

It was precisely because Unterhaching had pushed their formation forward that Gadeli found the chance to run into open space.

During this attack in the 33rd minute, Gadeli found space inside Unterhaching’s penalty area, and his teammate Fred Ming sent a timely pass into the box.

The pass was perfect. Gadeli didn’t even need to control it or adjust; he shot directly, leaving the Unterhaching defenders who were rushing over to block the shot no time to react.

With a shooting attribute as high as 87, and facing the much lower defensive pressure and goalkeeping ability of a youth team match, Gadeli easily found a difficult angle.

The goalkeeper was too far away to reach it and could only watch helplessly as the ball found the net.

Before the first half was even over, Gadeli had already scored a brace.

Not just the spectators on the sidelines, but even Gadeli himself was so excited he could hardly contain himself. For a rare moment in a youth team match, he celebrated a goal by running to the sideline and doing a dive-bomber celebration.

His teammates then rushed over and dogpiled on top of him.

When they all finally picked themselves up off the ground, Gadeli’s hair and clothes were full of grass clippings.

But he didn’t care, simply brushing them off with his hands.

Just as Gadeli was about to walk back to his own half to let Unterhaching kick off, Fred Ming, who had assisted his goal, slung an arm around his shoulder.

“Gadeli, you’re on fire today!”

“It’s only the 33rd minute of the first half, and you’ve already got a brace.”

“There are still a good sixty minutes left in the match. I think you should go for it today. Score three goals, try for a hat-trick.”

Hearing the words “hat-trick,” a surge of excitement went through Gadeli.

He had never scored a hat-trick, not in the U17s or the U19s.

In fact, if you traced the youth career of this body back to the U15s, U13s, and U11s, Berent Gadeli had never once scored a hat-trick.

Like Elmer, he had been a fringe player who had barely scraped through promotions from one youth team level to the next, only to continue as a substitute.

Neither his individual skill nor his playing time had ever given him the stage to even dream of a hat-trick.

If not for his transmigration and the system, Berent Gadeli would most likely have been cut from the team at the end of this season.

Now, his shooting attribute was as high as 87, enough to be a star striker for a major club.

And in this match, he had already scored two goals by the 33rd minute, completing a brace.

In the remaining sixty minutes, why couldn’t he, as Fred Ming had said, fight for one more goal and complete the first hat-trick of his football career?

Chapter 33: Hat-trick

The match continued, but Gadeli, who had already scored a brace, was now being tightly marked by Unterhaching.

His opponents had actually assigned a center-back specifically to man-mark him in a youth team match.

Whenever he got near the penalty area, the defender stuck to him, preventing him from easily finding open space, let alone getting the ball to take a shot.

If Gadeli were faster or had a higher off-the-ball movement attribute, he might have been able to shake off his marker.

But he wasn’t particularly fast, and his off-the-ball movement wasn’t good enough to overwhelm his opponent, so he was successfully shadowed most of the time.

Even when Gadeli did get the ball, he often had his back to the goal or found his path blocked.

His dribbling and ability to break through defenders weren’t strong either, so he couldn’t beat his marker and then shoot.

Therefore, Gadeli didn’t score again for the rest of the first half.

However, with Unterhaching so focused on shutting down Gadeli, Nuremberg’s other players got plenty of opportunities.

In the 44th minute, just before halftime, Gadeli’s run into the penalty area drew two defenders. The left midfielder Golding, attacking midfielder Fred Ming, and left winger Avid executed a series of triangular passes, sending the ball into the box. Avid finished the play, slotting the ball into the far corner from inside the penalty area.

Before the first half was even over, Nuremberg U19 had already taken a commanding 3-0 lead over the visiting Unterhaching.

No one had expected this turn of events.

People might have anticipated a home victory, and maybe even a 3-0 win, but nobody expected them to be leading 3-0 at halftime.

The lead was so significant that the match was practically over.

Soon after, the referee blew the halftime whistle. The teams went into the break with a score of 3-0, the home team Nuremberg leading by three goals thanks to a brace from Gadeli and a goal from Avid.

During halftime, the trailing Unterhaching made a whopping four substitutions, preparing for a desperate fight in the second half.

After the 15-minute break, the teams switched sides for the second half. Unterhaching immediately went on an all-out attack, trying to get on the scoreboard.

Their do-or-die attack paid off. In the 52nd minute, they scored a goal, changing the score to 1-3, now only two goals behind.

The goal was a huge morale boost for Unterhaching. They pressed forward even more relentlessly, hoping to capitalize on their momentum and score two more goals to level the score.

But as they mounted their fierce attack and pushed their formation high up the field, vast open spaces naturally appeared in their defense.

It wasn’t that they were unaware of the danger, but they were trailing and had no other choice. They had to prioritize their attack, leaving them unable to worry about the gaps in their defense.

And so, under these circumstances, Gadeli—who had been desperately seeking his third goal and his first-ever hat-trick—finally got a golden counter-attacking opportunity.

In the 68th minute, Unterhaching’s right winger sent a cross in from the byline. However, their center forward couldn’t get to it first. Instead, a Nuremberg center-back won the header, clearing the ball out of the penalty area.

Players from both sides scrambled for the ball, but a Nuremberg player won the second ball.

And it was Fred Ming who got to it.

Facing his own goal, Fred Ming held off an Unterhaching player behind him. As the ball dropped, he flicked it over his own head and that of the opponent.

The opponent, expecting him to control the ball, was caught completely off-guard by the flick-over.

By the time he reacted, it was too late.

After the flick-over, Fred Ming spun around the defender and, without letting the ball touch the ground, played a low through pass into Unterhaching’s half.

Several nearby opponents who rushed towards Fred Ming were left grasping at air.

At that moment, due to Unterhaching’s full-on assault, only Gadeli and the opposing number 4 center-back marking him remained near the center circle.

Fred Ming’s through pass was perfectly weighted. The opposing number 4 center-back lunged to intercept it but missed by a hair’s breadth. The ball rolled just past the tip of his cleat and into Unterhaching’s half.

At that moment, Gadeli had already run past him, receiving Fred Ming’s through pass in the space behind.

Gadeli had beaten the offside trap and was through on goal.

However, Gadeli was still quite a way from the penalty area when he received the ball, and his dribbling speed wasn’t great. Consequently, with over ten meters still to the edge of the box, another recovering center-back caught up to him. The defender started jostling and shoving him, trying to make him lose control of the ball.

But at 186 cm and 81 kg, Gadeli had a strong physical frame for a center forward. He successfully withstood the defender’s pulling and shoving, maintaining control of the ball as the two of them battled their way towards the penalty area.

The Unterhaching goalkeeper had already come off his line, rushing out inside the penalty area to face Gadeli’s one-on-one.

But Gadeli didn’t give him the chance to make the save inside the penalty area.

With his shooting attribute as high as 87, even with a defender breathing down his neck, Gadeli calmly chose to attempt a chip shot from outside the arc of the penalty area, lobbing the ball towards the Unterhaching goal.

The ball sailed into the air.

Seeing Gadeli attempt a chip from outside the box, the goalkeeper, who was well into his penalty area, instantly knew he couldn’t reach it. He immediately spun around and scrambled back toward his line, hoping to make a save.

But a chip shot from a player with an 87 shooting attribute had height, speed, and precision.

The ball didn’t fly straight over the goalkeeper’s head; it arced diagonally toward the far corner.

Although the keeper made a decisive dash back, he ultimately couldn’t match the speed of the ball.

He had just made it back to his six-yard box when the ball dipped under the crossbar and into the goal.

Hat-trick!

In the 68th minute, Gadeli scored on a counter-attack. He beat the offside trap to receive a through pass from Fred Ming, went one-on-one with the keeper, and scored with a chip from outside the penalty area. He had scored his third goal of the match, completing the first hat-trick of his life and extending Nuremberg’s lead to 4-1.

Ecstatic, Gadeli sprinted all the way to the bench to celebrate with his coach, Ericov.

But Gadeli’s momentum was too great for Ericov to handle. The two of them crashed to the ground, and their teammates immediately swarmed them, creating a celebratory dogpile.

A hat-trick!

This was an accomplishment many forwards go their entire careers without achieving. To score one is a career-defining moment.

In his autobiography, Pelé dedicated an entire chapter to boasting about his classic hat-trick in the 1958 World Cup semi-final that eliminated France. The chapter was simply titled “Hat-trick.”

This just goes to show that even for a football legend like Pelé, a hat-trick was a momentous occasion worth celebrating extravagantly.

Of course, the stakes were different; this was just a U19 youth team match for Gadeli.

But for Gadeli—both before and after his transmigration, and even for the body of Berent Gadeli he now inhabited—this was the first hat-trick in an official match, making it well worth a massive celebration.

In football, winning a match by three goals is a big deal, let alone one person scoring three goals.

It was no wonder, then, that Gadeli was overcome with emotion, and that his teammates and coaches joined him in the wild celebration.

An achievement like this deserved such a response.

Chapter 34: The First Team Head Coach’s Attention

Nuremberg’s celebration lasted for nearly a full minute before the referee intervened, and the match resumed.

In the 73rd minute, Gadeli, who had scored a hat-trick, was substituted by Ericov for Mori.

His stamina was still not enough to last a full match.

As he walked off the pitch, Gadeli was beaming, a huge smile on his face as if he were blooming with joy.

Presumably, anyone scoring their first-ever hat-trick would be just as ecstatic.

Neither side scored again for the remainder of the match.

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle. Nuremberg U19 had defeated the visiting Unterhaching U19 4-1 at home, thanks to Gadeli’s hat-trick and a goal from Avid, securing a resounding victory.

This huge win and his first-ever hat-trick earned Gadeli a total of 22,000 experience points: 4,000 for starting, 12,000 for the three goals, and 6,000 for the win bonus. His total experience soared to 95,000/100,000 at level 5, leaving him just 5,000 experience points away from leveling up again.

After the match, Gadeli asked for the match ball to keep as a memento.

It was a day he would always remember.

For Gadeli, this match was one to remember for a lifetime. But for many others, it was a huge surprise.

At that time, the Bundesliga had just completed its 15th matchday. The Nuremberg first team had only managed to win four of their first fifteen matches and were currently fourth from the bottom in the league table, just one point above the relegation zone. The situation was extremely precarious.

Over the course of fifteen matches, the Nuremberg first team had scored only fourteen goals, for an average of less than one goal per game, ranking them third to last in goals scored.

While you couldn’t blame the first team’s poor performance this season entirely on the lackluster front line, the strikers’ low scoring rate was undoubtedly a major cause.

Therefore, outside the transfer window, Nuremberg’s only option to strengthen their attack was to promote from their own youth academy.

The strikers in the U23 youth team weren’t up to the first team’s standards. In contrast, Berent Gadeli from the U19s had caught the eye of the Nuremberg first team’s head coach, Dieter Hecking, after his last interview with Grollov.

Although Gadeli’s other skills were relatively weak, his outstanding shooting ability had certainly earned Dieter Hecking’s favor.

Of course, limited by his other skills, Gadeli was not yet ready for the demands of a Bundesliga match. But with his high-level shooting, he had great potential once his other technical attributes improved.

Plus, he had heard from Ericov and Hollis that Gadeli’s rate of improvement was incredibly fast, and it was only a matter of time before he could join the U23 youth team.

So, he specifically asked his assistant coach, Reuthershahn, and the U23 head coach, Wiesinger, to keep a close eye on Berent Gadeli, monitoring his performances in the U19s, especially his attacking contributions.

In the previous two matches, Gadeli had only scored one goal in each, which wasn’t particularly remarkable for a youth league game. Therefore, neither Reuthershahn nor U23 head coach Wiesinger had reported on Gadeli’s recent performance to Dieter Hecking.

But after Gadeli’s hat-trick on December 4th, Reuthershahn and Wiesinger were overjoyed. That very evening, they went to see Dieter Hecking, bringing the match recording with them.

Gadeli’s record of nine goals and two assists in his last five matches, capped by this hat-trick, convinced both Reuthershahn and Wiesinger that he should be moved up to the U23 team to be tested at a higher level.

The U19 youth league was no longer challenging enough for Gadeli’s development.

It was important to note that the U19 league was a true youth league, whereas the German Southern Regional League, where Nuremberg’s U23 team played, was a fourth-tier league. While it included other U23 youth teams like Nuremberg’s, it also featured some fourth-division professional clubs.

The first teams of these professional clubs weren’t restricted to players under 23. Some of their players were in their mid-twenties, at the peak of their physical and technical abilities, while others were in their thirties with a wealth of professional experience.

Although their skill level was lower than that of Bundesliga players, the intensity and tactical sophistication of the matches were several notches above the U19 level. The developmental benefit for a player was far greater than what the U19 league could offer.

If the first team wasn’t short on players, Dieter Hecking probably wouldn’t concern himself with youth team matters.

But now, the first team was struggling and desperately needed a good striker. As a result, Dieter Hecking needed the youth academy to provide him with promising attacking talent.

Since Dieter Hecking had a need, it was natural for his assistant coach, Reuthershahn, and the U23 coach, Wiesinger, to find a way to meet his requirements.

Gadeli’s performance naturally became their primary focus.

After watching the recording of the Nuremberg U19 vs. Unterhaching U19 match, Dieter Hecking’s face was lit up with pleasant surprise.

He said to Reuthershahn and Wiesinger:

“Gadeli’s shooting is superb. Forget Nuremberg, even at Bayern Munich, he could compete for a starting striker position.”

“However, his speed, dribbling, and so on are relatively poor, which limits his ability to use that shooting skill.”

“But his ball control, jumping, and off-the-ball movement are decent, which helps compensate.”

“And from what you’ve told me, his rate of improvement is incredibly fast; he seems to get better every week.”

“Therefore, I believe the U19 level can no longer bring out the best in him. I want you both to go and watch his next U19 match in person. If he can maintain this current form, promote him to the U23s after the winter break to play in the regional league.”

“Nine goals and two assists in five matches between U17 and U19… that rate of improvement is insane. We might have really struck gold here, a late-blooming super talent.”

“I hope he can adapt to the regional league quickly and make it to the first team before the end of the season. He could be another asset in our fight for survival.”

Reuthershahn and Wiesinger nodded in understanding.

Gadeli, of course, had no idea that his hat-trick today had attracted the attention of the first team and the U23s, and that a promotion to the U23 youth team was on the horizon.

But he did know that as long as he continued to level up and improve his abilities step by step, promotion to the U23s and then the first team was only a matter of time.

That evening, his teammates dragged the hat-trick hero out to treat them to another meal at the Chinese restaurant.

This time, more teammates went along than after his previous contract signing.

Everyone could see that Gadeli’s rate of improvement was just too incredible. The U19s were clearly not his final stop. They figured it wouldn’t be long before he was promoted to the U23s, then the first team, the National team—playing in the Bundesliga, the Champions League, and the World Cup.

They weren’t really competing on the same level anymore, so there was no need for envy or resentment. Building a good relationship was what mattered. If Gadeli really made it big one day and became a star, then as his former teammates at Nuremberg U19, they would at least have a great story to tell.

In the end, football is all about ability. Strength on the pitch earns respect.

Chapter 35: The Final Match of the Year

After securing a big win, Ericov gave the players another day off.

On December fifth, another Monday, Gadeli once again spent four skill points. He raised his Shooting from 87 to 88, Ball Control from 73 to 74, Jumping from 75 to 76, and off-the-ball movement from 71 to 72. His remaining balance of skill points was now sixteen.

Just as the coach and his teammates felt, Gadeli’s strength seemed to increase by one percent every week. His rate of improvement was simply monstrous.

His Shooting was already at 88, nearing the 90 mark.

On December sixth, the team resumed training.

After three days of training that yielded two thousand experience points daily, Gadeli’s total experience points rose to 101,000 out of 100,000 for level five by the end of practice on the afternoon of December eighth. He automatically leveled up to level six with 1,000 out of 200,000 experience points.

This time, Gadeli was very lucky. The new skill he randomly obtained upon leveling up was the very practical “Dribbling.”

As a forward, if he couldn’t dribble or break through defenses, the power of his shooting, no matter how high the attribute, would be greatly diminished.

While Dribbling wasn’t the same as Breaking through, it helped keep the ball at his feet and prevented opponents from easily tackling him, making it a great asset.

Perhaps because his feel for the ball had improved along with his shooting, the initial attribute for “Dribbling” started at 66. Although it hadn’t reached the 70 mark, it was still quite good.

He first spent one skill point to raise the initial Dribbling attribute from 66 to 67. With the ten skill points he gained from leveling up, he was left with nine. Adding that to his previous balance, Gadeli’s skill points increased to twenty-five.

The next level-up required two hundred thousand experience points, which was quite a lot. He had no idea how long it would take.

The day after he leveled up, on the afternoon of December ninth, Ericov announced the matchday squad for Nuremberg U19’s away game against Kaiserslautern U19 the following day, December tenth.

This was Nuremberg U19’s last match of 2011, and also the final match of the first half of the 2011/2012 season.

After this game, there would be a few more days of training before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The next match wouldn’t be until the new year.

In other words, tomorrow’s game was Nuremberg U19’s final showdown of 2011.

Fortunately, Gadeli’s position as a starter was unshakable. And this time, not only was Gadeli a starter, but his good friend August Michener had also secured a starting position.

The effects of the extra training Gadeli had been doing with Elmer and Michener were showing.

After announcing the squad, everyone was waiting for Ericov to dismiss them, but to their surprise, he remained silent.

After a few seconds, Ericov looked up again and said with a serious expression:

“I wasn’t going to tell you this, but tomorrow’s match is the last one before the winter break. I’m worried you’ll lose focus and not play seriously, so I’ve decided to let you know.”

“For tomorrow’s match, first team assistant coach Reuthershahn and U23 youth team head coach Wiesinger will be there in person to watch your performance.”

The moment he finished speaking, his words caused an uproar.

The players burst into fervent discussion.

Michener excitedly whispered to Gadeli, “Gadeli, Reuthershahn and Wiesinger must be here to see you. You have to seize this opportunity!”

Gadeli felt a flicker of excitement as well, but adhering to the humble nature of Chinese people, he replied, “How can you be so sure? Everyone has a chance. You should play well too. Maybe you’ll be the one promoted to the U23s first.”

Michener shook his head. “After your hat-trick last game, it’d be crazy if they weren’t here to see you.”

The other players, in their own excitement, also gradually realized that Reuthershahn and Wiesinger were most likely there to scout Gadeli.

He had scored a hat-trick in the last match and had a total of nine goals and two assists in the past five games.

It was perfectly normal for such a performance to attract the attention and scouting of the U23 and first teams, especially when the first team was underperforming and their forwards were struggling.

After letting the players talk for a moment, Ericov continued, “Just as you’re all discussing, Reuthershahn and Wiesinger are indeed primarily here to scout Berent Gadeli. But that doesn’t mean the rest of you can afford to slack off.”

“If you put on a performance that impresses Reuthershahn and Wiesinger, who’s to say you don’t have a chance to be promoted to the U23 team?”

“So, in tomorrow’s match, it’s not just Gadeli. I expect every single one of you to perform well. Strive to put on a good show for Reuthershahn and Wiesinger.”

“At the same time, I want to emphasize that you must focus on teamwork during the match. Don’t just play for yourselves because Reuthershahn and Wiesinger are there, hogging the ball and never passing it.”

“Remember this: football is a team sport. Reuthershahn and Wiesinger won’t be impressed by your individual skills if you neglect the team. They’ll also be assessing your team spirit.”

“If your selfish play hinders the team’s attack or even causes us to lose, you’ll likely fail to catch their eye, even if you can dribble past three players.”

“Conversely, if you can play decisively and fluidly, making the team run faster and the attack more threatening, they will see you in a different light.”

“In short, you’re not little kids anymore. I hope you understand the fundamentals of a football match. Don’t sacrifice the greater good for a minor gain. Play well tomorrow, and let’s strive to end our 2011 with a victory.”

“Alright, dismissed.”

…

After showering, changing, and returning to their dorm rooms, the players excitedly discussed the next day’s match.

As Coach Ericov had said, they weren’t kids anymore. If they were to only showboat their skills in tomorrow’s game and cause the team’s attack to stall, it would be useless even if they could dribble past three opponents.

The scouts, Reuthershahn and Wiesinger, would see them as lacking team spirit, players whose presence hindered the team’s offense, and they wouldn’t be interested.

On the other hand, if the team’s attack was fluid and they won by a large margin, even though Gadeli, with his exquisite shooting, would likely get most of the credit, other players who made key passes or even assists would also be seen as having put on an excellent performance.

Therefore, the players discussed and debated in their dorm rooms, finally reaching a consensus: in tomorrow’s match, they must focus on teamwork and absolutely avoid selfish play.

It was already an away game. If they didn’t pay attention to teamwork, Nuremberg would likely suffer a loss, which would tarnish everyone’s impression in the eyes of Reuthershahn and Wiesinger.

Thus, they all agreed to strive for fluid teamwork, ultimately getting the ball to Gadeli, who had the best shooting, to take the final shot.

As long as they scored enough goals, though Gadeli would take the main credit, others would rack up stats like assists and key passes, also giving them a chance to shine in front of Reuthershahn and Wiesinger.

Even if they weren’t selected this time, a good impression could lead to a chance next time.

There was no room for error in tomorrow’s match.

This was true for Gadeli, and for everyone else.

Chapter 36: A Brilliant Pass for an Assist

On December 10th, match day, at noon, during the pre-match warm-up, Gadeli and the others saw Nuremberg’s first team assistant coach, Reuthershahn, and the U23 youth team’s head coach, Wiesinger, by the side of the pitch, just as expected.

Everyone was very excited, and Gadeli was no exception.

Ericov had already made it clear the day before that Reuthershahn and Wiesinger were here to scout him.

If he passed, he could be promoted to the U23 youth team, bringing him one step closer to the first team.

Therefore, Gadeli was full of fighting spirit and desire for today’s match.

After the warm-up, at 1:00 PM, with the referee’s whistle, the 13th round match of the 2011/2012 German U19 Youth Southern Regional League between Kaiserslautern and Nuremberg officially began at the Kaiserslautern U19 youth team’s training ground.

Riding on the fame of the past “Kaiserslautern Miracle,” Kaiserslautern’s reputation was much greater than Nuremberg’s. Their youth academy was far more attractive to young players, and they were a very strong team.

Although the Nuremberg players’ morale was high with the first team’s assistant coach and the U23 head coach present in person, and they focused on teamwork without being too individualistic, the home team, Kaiserslautern, still scored the first goal.

After all, the presence of Reuthershahn and Wiesinger made the players a bit inhibited. They were afraid of being seen as too individualistic by the two coaches, but they were also afraid of wasting opportunities. As a result, their overall performance in the opening stages was somewhat poor.

This was true in both attack and defense.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, Kaiserslautern opened the scoring from a corner kick. Kaiserslautern was now leading Nuremberg 1-0.

After conceding the goal, the entire Nuremberg team actually calmed down.

On one hand, after more than twenty minutes of intense play, everyone had focused most of their attention on the match and was no longer thinking about the presence of Reuthershahn and Wiesinger.

On the other hand, they all rationally understood that no matter who Reuthershahn and Wiesinger were there to scout, they had to win.

If the team lost, it would be very difficult for anyone to make a good impression on Reuthershahn and Wiesinger.

Therefore, as the attacking core, center forward Gadeli wanted to score, while support players like Fred Ming and Michener were also eager to get assists or make more key passes.

The defenders were also fighting hard, absolutely not daring to concede another goal.

With everyone defending in a united effort, Nuremberg stabilized their backline and then began to counter-attack.

In a head-to-head battle with both teams using a 4-3-3 attacking formation, the forwards on both sides actually had plenty of opportunities.

It was just that, in the past, no forward had possessed shooting skills as formidable as Gadeli’s, so many chances had been wasted.

Anyone with shooting skills at Gadeli’s level would have been promoted to the first team long ago, or to the U23s at the very least. Gadeli was still stuck in the U19 youth team only because of his severely lopsided skills.

Therefore, strictly speaking, Gadeli’s current shooting ability was in a league of its own; he was playing in the U19 youth regional league with the shooting prowess of a star striker from a major club.

As Gadeli’s ball control and off-the-ball movement crossed the 70-point mark, he started getting more and more shooting opportunities inside the opponent’s penalty area.

And with his shooting skill as high as 88, his ability to seize opportunities was greatly enhanced, even in intense matches, putting him far above other U19 players.

Even when opponents marked him tightly, it was useless.

Because Gadeli wasn’t a statue; he could run. And with his off-the-ball movement at 72, his runs were occasionally quite inspired.

As the attacking core and with the support of the entire team, it was impossible for Gadeli to go through a whole match without getting a single shooting opportunity.

And once he got a chance to shoot, he could almost always pose a threat to the opponent’s goal.

Less than ten minutes after Kaiserslautern scored, in the 30th minute, Gadeli used his off-the-ball movement to find space for a shot inside the penalty area. He received a pass from a teammate and took a strike at goal.

Unfortunately, just as Gadeli was shooting, an opposing defender arrived in time and gave him a push.

Although he didn’t touch the ball, he interfered with Gadeli’s shooting motion. His shot was on target but lacked any angle, and it was saved by the opposing goalkeeper.

Although the shot didn’t result in a goal, it successfully fired up Gadeli and his teammates.

Because this was Nuremberg’s first threatening shot on target in the first thirty minutes, both Gadeli and his teammates seemed to have found their rhythm from that attempt.

Soon, before the first half ended, Nuremberg came back for more in the 39th minute. Gadeli once again received a pass from a teammate inside the penalty area.

However, this time his back was to the goal, and an opposing defender was marking him tightly from behind. Although he received the ball, it wouldn’t be easy to turn.

Just as the Kaiserslautern defenders were wondering if Gadeli would force a turn to shoot, and a defender from the side was about to rush over to double-team him, Gadeli, who had just received the ball, had already passed it away.

Although he hadn’t activated his “Passing” skill, under the influence of his 88-rated shooting, his passing technique itself wasn’t too bad.

With this pass, Gadeli delivered a brilliant one. He not only found the open space on the right side of Kaiserslautern’s penalty area, but the speed and trajectory of the ball were also perfect. It managed to evade the outstretched legs of two Kaiserslautern players in the crowded box, delivering the ball exactly where he intended.

Then, right midfielder August Michener made an unnoticed run. Without waiting for the Kaiserslautern players to block the passing lane, he hit a first-time powerful shot, sending the ball from Gadeli into the bottom right corner of the net.

Gadeli’s pass wasn’t entirely surprising, as his back was to the goal. Passing it off when unable to shoot was a normal thing to do.

But the fact that he didn’t pass to Fred Ming at the arc of the penalty area, and instead passed it wide to the open space on the right wing of the box, made it an exceptionally brilliant pass.

There were Kaiserslautern players in the direction of Michener’s run, so who would have guessed that Gadeli, like a passing master, would deliver such an exquisite pass? It perfectly avoided the interception of two defenders to send the ball right to Michener’s feet.

As for Michener, after a recent period of extra training with Gadeli, his shooting had improved thanks to some of Gadeli’s pointers and inspiration.

This time, with his sudden run into the box and powerful shot, he performed exceptionally well, successfully getting the ball on target and with a good angle.

Although the Kaiserslautern goalkeeper had already started moving to his right when Gadeli passed the ball to Michener, he still couldn’t get to Michener’s direct, one-touch shot in time.

The diving goalkeeper ultimately failed to touch the ball, watching helplessly as it flew past his outstretched hand and into the net.

In the 39th minute, Nuremberg U19 finally leveled the score at 1-1 thanks to a goal from August Michener. The player who provided the assist was Berent Gadeli.

Chapter 37: Stoppage Time

For the goal in the 39th minute, Berent Gadeli wasn’t the scorer, but he played the role of a target man.

He used his status as the attacking core to pin himself in the penalty area, drawing the most attention from the Kaiserslautern backline. He then passed the ball to Michener, allowing him to cut in from the wing unopposed, drive into the penalty area, and score.

Gadeli didn’t use his license to shoot to force a turnaround shot with his back to the goal and in no position to shoot, which would have wasted an attacking opportunity. Instead, he chose to assist a teammate, helping the team equalize.

This performance earned a simultaneous nod from both Reuthershahn and Wiesinger on the sidelines.

“Gadeli has good Football IQ.”

That was their shared assessment of him.

This evaluation alone added a lot of points in his favor.

Not long after the equalizer, the first half came to an end.

After a fifteen-minute break, the two sides switched ends for the second half. The home side, Kaiserslautern, were not content with a draw. They brought on two fresh legs right at the start of the second half and launched a powerful offensive against Nuremberg.

Perhaps due to the home-field advantage, the Kaiserslautern players were in excellent form. In the 63rd minute, they scored again from a cross from the byline, changing the score to 2-1 and retaking the lead.

After the game restarted, Kaiserslautern, despite being ahead, did not retreat into a defensive shell but continued to attack.

After all, this was just a youth team match, and the focus on winning at all costs wasn’t as intense. The game was played more openly, and ultra-defensive tactics like “parking the bus” were rare.

At the very least, Kaiserslautern did not resort to such a defensive strategy in this match, trying to hold on to their 2-1 lead until the final whistle.

This gave Nuremberg an opportunity to score.

In the continuous end-to-end action, Gadeli received the ball a few times, but his Dribbling, Breaking through, reactions, and other skills limited the effectiveness of his shooting. Under the opponent’s tight marking, he rarely managed to get a shot off.

However, Kaiserslautern’s tight marking on Gadeli, in turn, created opportunities for other Nuremberg players.

In the 75th minute, Nuremberg won the ball and launched a quick counter-attack. Gadeli’s run down the middle drew the attention of the opponent’s last two center-backs. This allowed the right winger, Johannes, to sprint down the wing with the ball, cut inside, and drive into the penalty area to score, leveling the score at 2-2.

At this point, the stamina of the players on both teams was reaching its limit, but neither side was willing to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Consequently, both head coaches began to make substitutions, bringing on fresh legs to continue their all-out attack, both aiming for a last-minute winner.

On Nuremberg’s side, even though Gadeli looked like he could barely run, Ericov did not substitute him.

One reason was that Reuthershahn and Wiesinger had come specifically to scout him, and it would be inappropriate to take Gadeli off early in this match.

Another reason was Gadeli’s shooting. As long as he could find an opening to shoot, he still had a chance to score, as his finishing didn’t overly rely on stamina for long runs or breakthroughs.

As a center forward with a shooting stat as high as 88, as long as Gadeli could stay up front, his threat remained top-tier, even in the final minute of the match, provided he could get an open look at goal.

Gadeli knew that Ericov leaving him on the pitch was a chance, and he cherished it.

With only one assist, and the team not yet winning, he wasn’t sure if he could impress the first team assistant coach and the U23 head coach who had come to watch.

If he could score in the last ten-plus minutes, securing a 3-2 last-minute winner for the team and finishing with a goal and an assist, Gadeli believed he could win over the two coaches.

Therefore, in the final ten-plus minutes, Gadeli worked extremely hard. Even though he was tired and gasping for breath, he kept making runs, hoping to find the perfect open space and praying that his teammates would pass him the ball.

As time ticked away, mistakes from the players on both sides became more frequent.

Although Kaiserslautern had also made substitutions, they only had six substitution slots, and most of them were used for midfield and forward players. Relatively fewer changes were made at the back.

Therefore, as the match entered its final stages, the Kaiserslautern defenders were also nearly exhausted and prone to making errors.

In the 83rd minute, an opponent’s defender made a passing error while passing the ball around at the back, mishitting it. Unfortunately, the nearest Nuremberg player didn’t react quickly enough to press, and the opponent managed to clear the ball first, averting the crisis caused by the misplaced pass.

Although they failed to capitalize on the mistake this time, it was a clear sign: the closer the game got to the end, the worse everyone’s stamina became, and the more likely they were to make mistakes.

Of course, both teams were making a similar number of errors; Nuremberg’s defense also had numerous lapses. It was just a matter of which side could seize upon an opponent’s mistake and turn it into a goal first.

In this situation, Gadeli’s shooting stat of 88 gave him a significant advantage in terms of accuracy compared to his opponents. Now, all that was left was to convert that statistical advantage into a tangible goal.

As time wore on, neither team was content with a draw, and both played more openly. The number of mistakes increased, but neither side could capitalize.

Finally, the clock hit the 91st minute, and the match entered stoppage time. Kaiserslautern made an error on the right side of midfield; a pass was under-hit and August Michener intercepted it with a sliding tackle.

Although the Kaiserslautern players immediately swarmed to win the ball back, Michener wasted no time. While still on the ground, he swept the ball to Fred Ming in the center.

Nuremberg immediately launched a counter-attack.

Gadeli made a forward run through the middle, but with a center-back marking him, Fred Ming passed to the left winger instead.

Then, the left winger, the left midfielder, and Fred Ming advanced with a series of triangle passes and quick movements, soon bringing the ball to the edge of the penalty area.

The attack had started with Kaiserslautern losing possession, and the pass-and-move combination of Fred Ming and the other two forced Kaiserslautern’s full-backs and center-backs to shift towards the left, weakening the central defense covering Gadeli.

Then, with his 72 rating in off-the-ball movement, Gadeli ran into an open space near the edge of the penalty area.

As Nuremberg U19’s main attacking midfielder and a good friend of Gadeli, Fred Ming’s on-field understanding with him had grown increasingly telepathic.

Gadeli had started his run precisely because he saw Fred Ming was about to receive the ball, allowing him to shake off the center-back who was man-marking him and find space.

Fred Ming understood perfectly. Without even taking a touch, he played a first-time pass, redirecting the cut-back from the left winger and pushing it to the right side of the penalty area, right into Gadeli’s path.

Chapter 38: Promoted to the U23 Youth Team

The moment Fred Ming passed the ball, the opposing center-back, who had just been shaken off by Gadeli, reacted and immediately turned to cover.

He knew he couldn’t get to the ball, so he launched into a sliding tackle, attempting to block a shot with his body and stop Gadeli’s attempt.

But even with such a great opportunity in stoppage time, Gadeli didn’t rush into a wild shot. Instead, he calmly feinted with the ball, which was just enough to let the sliding center-back fly harmlessly past him.

Then, before another defender could block his path, Gadeli pushed a shot towards the far corner of the goal.

Because it was a push shot from a stationary position after the feint, Gadeli’s shot didn’t have much power, and the ball wasn’t traveling fast.

The goalkeeper, positioned at the near post, took a step towards the far post before diving for it.

However, Gadeli’s shooting stat of 88 meant the angle of his shot was incredibly precise. To someone with a poor line of sight, it might have even looked like it was going to slide wide of the goal.

The goalkeeper’s save was a hair’s breadth away; the ball rolled just past his fingertips, then gently clipped the far post and bounced into the net as he watched in despair.

Goal!

In the 91st minute of stoppage time, Gadeli scored, finally helping Nuremberg U19 turn the score around to take a 3-2 lead.

A goal at this point in the game was almost certainly the last-minute winner, barring some catastrophic luck.

Scoring the winner in stoppage time, putting his team ahead, and having contributed both a goal and an assist, Gadeli had a strong feeling that he would earn the favor of Reuthershahn and Wiesinger and be promoted to the U23 youth team.

Therefore, after seeing the ball hit the post and go in, Gadeli pumped his fist fiercely and let out a roar, releasing his pent-up excitement.

He was then swarmed by his rushing teammates, including Fred Ming, who all celebrated with him.

On the sideline, standing in the crowd, Reuthershahn and Wiesinger clapped while discussing in low voices.

Reuthershahn: “That was a beautiful goal.”

Wiesinger: “Yes, especially that feint before the shot. He perfectly dodged the defender who was trying to block a shot. So calm, that’s rare.”

Reuthershahn: “And the angle of the shot, a perfect nestler off the post into the net—an unstoppable shot. His shooting is superb. If it were just this one goal, we couldn’t be certain, but looking at his goal-scoring record in the past few games, it’s clear his shooting is outstanding.”

Wiesinger: “Leaving a player with such shooting ability in the U19s is a waste of talent. While he might have some other technical flaws, for a forward, this strength is enough. I’ve decided not to wait until after the winter break. I’m moving him up to the U23s now to start training with the team.”

Reuthershahn: “I agree. He’s a talented forward; we’ve found a real gem. The sooner he moves to the U23s, the sooner he can build chemistry with his teammates and adapt to the regional league, which means he can be called up to the first team sooner to help the team fight for survival.”

Both men were extremely satisfied with Gadeli’s performance in the match. In just a few words, they had decided his fate.

Back on the pitch, after Gadeli and his teammates finished celebrating and the match resumed, Kaiserslautern launched a desperate, all-out attack, practically abandoning their defensive line.

The goalkeeper had even ventured outside the penalty area, looking eager to rush forward and join the attack.

But Gadeli had scored in the 91st minute, and by the time the celebrations were over, it was already the 92nd. There was simply too little time left for them.

After four minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle. With Gadeli’s 91st-minute goal, Nuremberg U19 had secured a 3-2 comeback victory in their away game against Kaiserslautern in the 13th round of the league, winning their final league match of 2011.

After the match, Gadeli was awarded 4,000 for starting + 2,000 for one assist + 4,000 for one goal + 2,000 win bonus = 12,000 experience points. His total experience increased to Level 6, 15,000/200,000.

When the match ended, Reuthershahn and Wiesinger were already walking towards the substitute bench, where they stood with Ericov.

As Gadeli came off the pitch, Ericov called him over and introduced him to Reuthershahn and Wiesinger.

Then, Reuthershahn said to Gadeli, “Your performance in the U19s has caught the attention of the first team head coach, Dieter Hecking. That’s why he asked me and Wiesinger to come and watch you play today. You didn’t disappoint us. Therefore, we’ve decided to promote you to the U23 youth team immediately. You’ll train with the team and participate in the German Southern Regional League after the winter break. That league doesn’t just have youth teams; there are professional adult teams, too, with very experienced players. We hope you adapt to real professional matches quickly and get to the first team to contribute to our fight for survival.”

U23 head coach Wiesinger then added, “Welcome to the Nuremberg U23 youth team.”

Gadeli was overjoyed. He thanked Reuthershahn and Wiesinger for their trust and also thanked Ericov for his guidance.

And just like that, it was settled.

Afterward, Wiesinger gave him some instructions about reporting for duty, and then he and Reuthershahn left on their own.

The two of them had driven there themselves, while Gadeli, the other players, and Ericov took the team bus back to the training ground.

After Wiesinger confirmed Gadeli’s promotion to the U23 youth team, Gadeli also completed Mission 3: Get Promoted to the U23 Youth Team. He received a reward of ten skill points, bringing his skill point balance to thirty-five.

Having completed the old mission and been promoted to the U23s, he naturally received new missions:

System Mission 7: Get Promoted to the Nuremberg First Team

Mission Details: The host is to perform well and get promoted to the Nuremberg first team before June 30, 2012.

Success Reward: 10 skill points

Failure Penalty: None

The reward for this promotion was a bit higher, at ten skill points.

In addition to the mission to get promoted to the first team, there was also a mission to win the German Southern Regional League championship:

System Mission 8: Regional League Champions

Mission Details: The host is to help the Nuremberg U23 youth team win the 2011/2012 German Southern Regional League championship. To be considered a valid contributor to the title win, the host must make at least five appearances.

Success Reward: 10 skill points

Failure Penalty: None

Seeing the mission for the regional league title, Gadeli, now a U23 player, made a point to ask about the U19 league championship mission. It was still active.

Because Gadeli had already made five appearances for the U19s, if the Nuremberg U19 team managed to win the title in the second half of the season, the championship would be credited to him as well, and the mission would be considered complete.

However, even when Gadeli was on the team, Nuremberg U19 hadn’t been in first place in the league.

Without Gadeli, it would be nearly impossible for the Nuremberg U19 team to win the championship in the second half of the season.

As for the youth league cup championship mission, it was immediately declared a failure.

Because Gadeli had been promoted to the U23 youth team, he had only played in one German Youth Cup match, failing to meet the prerequisite of participating in at least two matches.

From now on, whether Nuremberg U19 won the German Youth Cup or not had nothing to do with Gadeli.

Mission 5, for the German Youth Cup championship, had been directly marked as failed by the system. Fortunately, there was no penalty for this mission; it was just a shame to miss out on the ten-skill-point reward.

Chapter 39: A Wealth of Experience

After returning to Nuremberg, Gadeli, having been promoted to the U23 youth team, naturally had to treat everyone. He invited Elmer, Michener, Fred Ming, and over ten other teammates he was close with to a delicious Chinese meal.

That Chinese restaurant in Nuremberg had pretty much become Gadeli’s go-to spot for treating people.

Elmer was deeply envious of the speed of Gadeli’s promotion.

After all, he and Gadeli had been at the same level not long ago, with the same status—both were substitute players for the U17s.

Unexpectedly, just three or four months later, Gadeli had already skyrocketed to the U23 youth team.

Meanwhile, he was still in the U17s, waiting for his chance to be promoted to the U19s.

However, the extra training he had been doing with Gadeli and Michener was paying off. He had already secured his spot as the starting winger for the U17s, and his chances of being promoted to the U19s were high.

Gadeli could only say to his friend, “Keep it up. I look forward to the day we fight side-by-side on the first team.”

After dinner, back in his dorm room, Gadeli called his parents to tell them about his promotion to the U23 youth team.

Markus and Isabella were also overjoyed and pleasantly surprised. Over the phone, they encouraged their son to adapt to the U23s as quickly as possible, saying they looked forward to the day Gadeli would make his debut in the Bundesliga.

The next morning, Gadeli moved his personal belongings to the U23 youth team area and met a few of his new U23 teammates who lived in the dorms.

However, as players moved up through the youth teams, most of those who reached the U23 level had signed professional contracts. Even if their families weren’t from Nuremberg, they had enough money to rent a place, so fewer and fewer players were living in the dorms.

At 2:00 PM, for the 21st round of the German Southern Regional League, which was the Nuremberg U23 youth team’s final match of the year, the Nuremberg youth team faced a semi-professional team called Großaspach. Gadeli watched the entire match from the sidelines.

Back when he was just a fan, it didn’t feel like much. But now that he was a player, watching a German Southern Regional League match from the sidelines, he felt immense pressure.

The German Southern Regional League sits between the professional and amateur levels. The league features U23 youth teams from higher-division clubs like Nuremberg, Frankfurt, and Bayern Munich.

There are also some actual lower-division professional teams or top-tier amateur teams.

The players on those professional and amateur teams, in particular, weren’t like the U23 youth teams from clubs like Nuremberg. Their squads included veterans in their prime, twenty-five, twenty-six, or even twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

Although still grinding it out in the regional league at that age meant their natural talent wasn’t high, their wealth of lower-league experience and physical strength were on a completely different level compared to the U17 and U19 leagues.

Some prodigies could play in the U19 league at fifteen or sixteen, but playing for the U23s at that age was truly difficult.

The level of competition they faced was in a completely different class.

Only a very, very small number of top-tier talents could possibly play in the U23 league, or even the first team league, at the age of fifteen or sixteen.

The German Southern Regional League was already halfway into the truly professional leagues, fundamentally different from the U17 and U19 levels.

Although the difficulty seemed much higher, Gadeli was filled with anticipation.

Because more difficult matches meant more experience points, which would allow him to level up faster.

Otherwise, with only the experience from U19 training and matches, the amount needed to level up would keep increasing, and his progress would slow down.

Now that he had been promoted to the U23s, it might be difficult at first, but as long as he adapted—and with the system as his cheat—he would only feel more and more in his element.

In the end, the Nuremberg youth team defeated the visiting Großaspach 3-1, winning their final match of the year.

On December 12th, the U23 youth team had a day off.

On that same day, a Monday, Gadeli once again spent five skill points, increasing his Shooting from 88 to 89, Ball Control from 74 to 75, Jumping from 76 to 77, Dribbling from 67 to 68, and off-the-ball movement from 72 to 73. His remaining balance of skill points was 30.

His shooting was now approaching the 90-point mark.

As his abilities improved, the relative advantage of his shooting against goalkeepers would grow, and Gadeli would become an ever-increasing threat to the goal.

Gadeli believed that even on the U23 youth team, he wouldn’t stay quiet for long before getting a chance to stand out.

On December 13th, the Nuremberg U23 youth team resumed training.

Before practice began, U23 head coach Wiesinger formally introduced Berent Gadeli to all the members of the team.

In truth, everyone had already heard of Gadeli. They knew a super genius who scored goals for fun had emerged from the U19s and had even been interviewed and reported on by a journalist on the German Football Association’s official website.

Because of this, some of the midfielders and defenders had long been filled with curiosity and anticipation about Gadeli’s promotion.

A few of the forwards, however, felt immense pressure at Gadeli’s arrival.

After all, Gadeli’s arrival could pose a threat to their positions.

Everyone knew the first team wasn’t doing well and the strikers were underperforming, so it was possible a forward would be promoted from the youth team. Therefore, everyone was already rolling up their sleeves, vowing to perform well and earn a promotion to the first team.

The competition was already fierce enough. Gadeli’s arrival made the competition among the U23 youth team’s forwards even more intense.

There was no way they were going to welcome Gadeli.

Gadeli didn’t pay them much mind, though.

He had the system as his cheat. Whether it was his teammates or opponents at Nuremberg, from the youth team to the first team, they would all eventually become mere scenery on his path to conquering the world of football.

Because of the first team head coach’s attention, Wiesinger also took great pains in developing Gadeli, arranging shooting drills on his very first day of training.

This was to let Gadeli demonstrate his specialty to his new teammates and win over some of their approval.

Gadeli did not disappoint. Although he still had many shortcomings, when it came to shooting alone, he was already world-class.

Therefore, in the twenty sets of shooting drills, Gadeli naturally led by a wide margin in both on-target accuracy and scoring rate, placing him in a league of his own.

His teammates now understood Gadeli’s specialty and the reason why Wiesinger had brought the eighteen-year-old into the U23 youth team.

Of course, shooting drills in practice had significant limitations and couldn’t be compared to a real match, especially one in the semi-professional Southern Regional League.

Only after being tested in a real match would Gadeli gain the true acceptance and support of his teammates.

Besides demonstrating his specialty to his new U23 teammates through the shooting drills, Gadeli also earned a full five thousand training experience points after his first day of practice—a whole two and a half times the experience he gained in the U19s.

Just training alone gave him five thousand experience points, which made Gadeli look forward to actual matches even more.

Unfortunately, all the matches for the year were over. The next one wouldn’t be until next year. For now, Gadeli could only gain experience through training.

Chapter 40: Rapid Progress

From then on, Gadeli began his days training with the Nuremberg youth team.

After joining the U23s, most of the players were adults, so the team focused more on technical and tactical training, with less emphasis on physical fitness and strength.

In the training matches, Gadeli could feel that his U23 teammates were more experienced and coordinated in defense. It would be impossible for him to score goals for fun like he did in the U19s, at least not in a short period.

In his first 60-minute intra-squad training match with the U23s, Gadeli only scored a single goal.

Even so, Wiesinger was quite satisfied with Gadeli’s shooting and began to treat him as a key player to develop.

On December 19th, another Monday, Gadeli spent another five skill points, raising his Shooting from 89 to 90, Ball Control from 75 to 76, Jumping from 77 to 78, Dribbling from 68 to 69, and off-the-ball movement from 73 to 74. He had 25 skill points remaining.

With that, Gadeli’s Shooting attribute reached the 90-point mark. In terms of shooting alone, Gadeli had already joined the ranks of the world’s top strikers.

Among active players, besides Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there were few strikers whose shooting attribute was higher than Gadeli’s.

Of course, Gadeli wouldn’t stop allocating points; he would continue until he reached the maximum value of 100.

After his Shooting reached 90, Gadeli’s performance in training improved even more. Wiesinger finally witnessed for himself what Ericov and Hollis had described as “Gadeli’s freakishly fast progress.”

On December 23rd, the last training session for the Nuremberg youth team in 2011, all the players and coaches from the youth academy’s teams gathered in the base’s cafeteria for one last dinner before the holiday break.

The first team was not among them. Their dinner was held at a hotel, and their treatment was, naturally, on a completely different level from the youth team’s.

The next morning, a Saturday, after receiving a call from his father, Gadeli and Elmer said goodbye to their coaches and teammates. They met Markus outside the base, who then drove Elmer home before father and son returned to Dietfurt.

When they arrived in the county town of Neumarkt, Gadeli and Markus were invited to stay by Elmer’s family. Gadeli had lunch with them before they set off again for Dietfurt.

As they got closer to the town, the Chinese elements on the various signs along the road became more and more frequent, piquing Gadeli’s interest. Although the memories of everything in the town existed in this body, Gadeli was still full of interest and curiosity.

Markus assumed his son was just feeling a fond familiarity with his hometown after being away for a few months, so he didn’t suspect anything.

Back home, Isabella was naturally overjoyed to see her son.

Over the next period, Gadeli wandered all over town, searching for every element related to China.

Whether it was Christmas or New Year’s Day, Gadeli didn’t feel overly excited. Instead, it was the celebrations with Chinese elements that made him feel a strong sense of participation.

After all, the soul inside his body was that of a Chinese person.

The town’s residents also knew that Gadeli had signed a professional contract and become a professional player, and they all congratulated him.

His childhood playmates in the town even invited Gadeli to play football and give them some pointers.

As a result, Gadeli, a professional player, demonstrated a crushing advantage against his amateur friends.

Within the team, his other skills limited the effectiveness of his shooting. But on the amateur field, even his other, more average skills gave him an advantage, allowing him to get many opportunities to shoot. He then used his 90-rated Shooting to convert those chances into goals.

In one 90-minute amateur match, Gadeli scored more than ten goals with both his feet and his head, showing the residents of Dietfurt what a true professional player was capable of. It also made everyone exceptionally concerned about Gadeli’s future; many felt that Dietfurt might be about to produce a major football star.

Of course, during the winter break, neither his personal training nor the amateur matches with his friends awarded him any experience points.

During the holiday, Gadeli allocated points three times, raising his Shooting from 90 to 93, Ball Control from 76 to 79, Jumping from 78 to 81, Dribbling from 69 to 72, and off-the-ball movement from 74 to 77. He had 10 skill points remaining.

His Shooting was now as high as 93, and his Jumping had also crossed the 80-point mark.

On January 10th, 2012, the Nuremberg first team and all levels of the youth academy ended their winter holidays and returned to the base to begin winter training, preparing for the matches after the winter break.

Upon returning to training, Wiesinger was shocked to discover that not only had Gadeli’s shooting not regressed during the holiday, but it had actually improved significantly. The last time they met, it was 90; now it was 93. In the eyes of a professional coach like Wiesinger, this was naturally a huge change.

At the same time, Gadeli’s Ball Control, Dribbling, Jumping, off-the-ball movement, and so on had all improved immensely, making Wiesinger feel as if he had stumbled upon a peerless genius.

After training on the afternoon of January 14th, Gadeli’s total experience points rose to 200,000/200,000 for Level 6, and he automatically leveled up to Level 7 with 0/300,000 experience points.

This time, with the random skill unlocked by leveling up, Gadeli got lucky and received the breakthrough skill, La Croqueta.

This was a very practical skill for breaking through defenses.

As the saying goes, “one trick is all you need.” Like Barcelona’s Iniesta, who honed La Croqueta to perfection, it was a fantastic move for getting past opponents. Even when opponents knew Iniesta would use it, his mastery of the technique rendered their knowledge useless, and they would still be beaten by him.

As Gadeli’s Shooting improved, his feel for the ball also got much better, so the initial attribute for La Croqueta was a respectable 70 points.

Gadeli first spent 1 skill point to raise La Croqueta from 70 to 71. He had 9 of the 10 skill points from leveling up remaining, and adding his previous balance, his total skill points rose to 19.

Two days later, on January 16th, another Monday, Gadeli spent another six skill points, raising his Shooting from 93 to 94, Ball Control from 79 to 80, Jumping from 81 to 82, Dribbling from 72 to 73, off-the-ball movement from 77 to 78, and La Croqueta from 71 to 72. He had 13 skill points remaining.

With a Shooting attribute of 94, he was basically standing at the pinnacle of the football world, on the same level as top strikers like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldo Nazário.

Then, in a 60-minute intra-squad training match on January 18th, Gadeli scored a brace and also provided an assist, which showed Wiesinger the speed of his progress and made him look forward to Gadeli’s future with even greater anticipation.

In light of Gadeli’s rapid progress in training and his two goals and one assist in the training match, Wiesinger approved the two days of leave Gadeli had requested for January 22nd and 23rd.

This was because January 22nd and 23rd were the Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve and Spring Festival, and Gadeli wanted to go back to Dietfurt to celebrate.

Chapter 41: Bavaria’s Chinese Carnival

In Dietfurt, the “Bavarian Chinese Carnival,” held annually on the first day of the Lunar New Year, is the town’s most celebrated festival of the year, even more festive than Christmas or New Year’s Day.

As a genuine Chinese person, Gadeli couldn’t return to China for the Spring Festival, so it was only natural for him to come back to Dietfurt for the celebration.

On January 22nd, Chinese New Year’s Eve, the other Germans in Dietfurt would follow the Chinese custom of having a reunion dinner, which often involved making and eating dumplings.

However, Markus and Isabella had never known what Chinese people put inside their dumplings, but Gadeli certainly did!

Although he was from southern China and didn’t typically eat dumplings, that didn’t stop him from showcasing his culinary skills in Dietfurt.

So, after returning home on January 21st, Gadeli began preparing the dumplings and the New Year’s Eve dinner early on the morning of the 22nd.

He went to the supermarket and bought minced meat, chives, scallions, and so on, along with a few jars of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. Then he went home to make the filling and wrap the dumplings with the wrappers Isabella had already prepared.

For lunch, Gadeli’s family ate the dumplings. It even attracted a few neighboring families, who each came over to try some. They unanimously declared Gadeli’s dumplings delicious and vowed to learn how to make them next year.

After lunch, it was time to prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner. Gadeli once again showcased his culinary skills, preparing a sumptuous table of Chinese delicacies. Markus and Isabella feasted heartily, and a few close neighbors joined them, devouring every last bite of the food Gadeli had made.

Although the people of Dietfurt proclaimed themselves to be Chinese and celebrated Chinese New Year’s Eve and the Spring Festival every year, there were many genuine Chinese customs they didn’t understand.

For instance, they were unaware of the custom of setting off firecrackers on New Year’s Eve.

But this year, with Gadeli’s encouragement, many of his friends’ families bought fireworks. After midnight on New Year’s Eve, they set them off just outside of town, causing quite a stir.

Many people leaned on their windowsills to watch the display, remarking that they would buy fireworks to set off next year too.

As for how Gadeli knew so much, he made an excuse, saying he had learned it all from the Chinese owner of that restaurant in Nuremberg.

Of course, only his family, a few neighbors, and his close friends were aware of these changes in Gadeli. In a town of six thousand people, the scope of his influence was limited.

Everyone was still looking forward to the main carnival on the first day of the new year.

The sun always rose late in winter.

However, early the next morning, on the first day of the new year, Gadeli was woken by the sound of gongs and drums before it was even seven o’clock.

He got up, pulled back the curtains, and looked outside. Many children, dressed in Tang suits and Han-style jackets, were already excitedly beating gongs and drums in the street, shouting as they went:

“It’s festival time!”

“Today, we’re all Chinese people!”

“Get up and join the carnival!”

Gadeli got out of bed, had breakfast with his parents, and then the whole family changed into traditional Chinese attire and went out to join the festivities.

Nearly all the shops in town had posted Chinese characters like ‘Fortune,’ ‘Prosperity,’ ‘Longevity,’ and ‘Happiness.’ Many displayed Chinese items like fans, lanterns, erhus, and straw hats. Gadeli couldn’t help but wonder where they had sourced them all.

Aside from the complexion of the people around him, Gadeli felt as if he were back in his home country.

Here, he could speak Mandarin openly. While people were surprised by his fluency, they didn’t treat him like an oddity; instead, they were filled with admiration.

The streets were bustling with dragon dances, stilt-walking performances, and Chinese musical recitals organized by the town government.

In the afternoon, an “emperor” elected by the local residents appeared, dressed in a yellow robe and riding in a three-tiered sedan chair carried by more than a dozen bearers.

He was surrounded by guards, an empress, and concubines. Wherever he passed, the crowd would shout in broken Chinese, “Long live Emperor Fugao!” creating quite a spectacle.

Emperor Fugao had “ascended the throne” in the year 2000. In reality, he was an employee at the town hospital who only took on his grand imperial role for the Spring Festival.

During this time, he was the most powerful person in town; even the mayor had to follow his commands.

Although he had memories of this event, Gadeli still found it thrilling and eagerly followed the procession behind Emperor Fugao.

Seeing such a “Chinese town” and “Chinese carnival” in Germany filled him with immense joy.

Surrounded by the crowd, Emperor Fugao ascended a high altar and read a “Proclamation to My Subjects.” The gist of it was a prayer to the heavens for favorable weather and for the peace and prosperity of the nation.

The mock-ritual, while comical in some parts, was performed with a great deal of effort and looked quite convincing.

Afterward, Emperor Fugao led everyone in a rousing rendition of their self-penned “Bavarian Chinese National Anthem.”

However, what Gadeli heard was an “anthem” composed of cobbled-together, imaginary Chinese words. Not only was it incomprehensible to the Germans, but even Gadeli couldn’t make any sense of it.

Only a few simple words seemed to carry a celebratory meaning.

After the ceremony, the crowd dispersed to continue their own celebrations.

On the streets, dragon dances and stilt-walking performances continued. Someone played the erhu; though the melody was unrecognizable, he played with convincing flair.

Someone had even dressed as a Beijing Opera character to perform for the crowd.

On this day, all the town’s residents reveled in every way they had seen, heard of, or simply imagined Chinese people celebrating the Spring Festival.

Besides the locals, Dietfurt’s Chinese Carnival also attracted visitors from neighboring towns, and even a few from the state capital.

Still, their numbers were small, and Gadeli didn’t spot a single other Chinese person.

Perhaps the town’s reputation just wasn’t big enough yet.

As he wandered through the festivities, Gadeli began to formulate a plan in his mind. Perhaps one day, when he became famous, he could act as a promotional ambassador for Dietfurt. He could help the town develop its cultural tourism by focusing on its unique Chinese characteristics. Under the guise of attracting Chinese tourists and boosting tourism revenue, he could promote China’s soft power.

Due to the way it was portrayed in Western media, he knew many Germans had a somewhat demonized impression of China; they didn’t know the real country.

Therefore, Gadeli felt it was his responsibility to assist, in a non-political way, with China’s cultural outreach.

And since he was a player born in Dietfurt, no one would question his motives for building a bridge between the town and China.

The first day’s carnival lasted late into the night before the residents, reluctant to see it end, finally concluded their celebrations and returned home.

The next carnival was a whole year away.

Gadeli, however, couldn’t stay until the very end. He had to get back for training the next day.

That evening, Markus drove Gadeli back to the training facility in Nuremberg.

He didn’t return empty-handed. Gadeli brought back many snacks and small gifts with a distinct Chinese cultural flavor, ready to share them with his teammates and coaches in a subtle effort to change their impressions of China.

Chapter 42: Perfect Shooting: Hitting Wherever He Aims

In fact, on the first day of the Spring Festival, which was a Monday, Gadeli spent another six skill points, adding one point to all of his skills. This left him with seven skill points remaining.

After that, Gadeli’s performance in training became even more outstanding.

Watching Gadeli’s rate of improvement week after week, Wiesinger was truly stunned.

He had originally thought Gadeli would need a longer period of training to integrate into the team and get playing time. But seeing his freakishly fast progress, he suspected Gadeli would be ready to play right away when the first official match kicked off in March.

That was right. Due to the youth national team’s schedule, the first German Southern Regional League match after the winter break wouldn’t start until March 4th.

With so much time, if Gadeli maintained this pace of improvement, Wiesinger couldn’t even imagine how much his shooting would advance.

Gadeli was unaware of his head coach’s thoughts. He had only unlocked a few skills so far. Besides the skills that could be upgraded with skill points, others still required improvement through training.

In addition to team practice, he continued to do extra training with Elmer and Michener.

On January 30th, another Monday, it was time to allocate skill points again.

However, he only had seven skill points left, and his experience was only at Level 7, with 75,000 out of 300,000 experience points. He was still a long way from leveling up.

Therefore, after some consideration, Gadeli only raised his Shooting from 95 to 96, Dribbling from 74 to 75, and Off-the-Ball Movement from 79 to 80. This cost him three skill points, leaving four remaining.

Gadeli planned to put all four remaining skill points into Shooting. He wanted to see what would happen when his Shooting reached the maximum value of 100.

Over the next three weeks, Gadeli added one skill point to his Shooting every Monday, bringing the attribute to 99.

Then, on February 27th, 2012, another Monday, a slightly excited Gadeli opened the system interface the moment he woke up, before even getting out of bed. Looking at his 99 Shooting and his final skill point, he mentally clicked the “+” next to the attribute.

In the next instant, the system interface erupted with a firework-like ‘BOOM’, and the system’s electronic voice sounded in Gadeli’s ears:

“Ding! Congratulations, Host. Your Shooting skill attribute has reached its maximum value of 100 and has become a Perfect Skill.”

Gadeli looked at Shooting again. It had moved to the ‘Perfect Skills’ section and no longer displayed a numerical value. Clearly, this meant it was a maxed-out, perfect skill and no longer needed a number.

After using his last skill point to acquire his first Perfect Skill, Gadeli’s system attributes changed to:

Host: Berent Gadeli

Nationality: German

Birthday: September 6, 1993

Height: 186cm

Weight: 82kg

Level: 7

Experience: 185,000/300,000

Skill Points: 0

Ball Control: 81

Jumping: 83

Dribbling: 75

Tackle: 32

Off-the-Ball Movement: 80

La Croqueta: 73

GK Defensive Positioning: 6

Perfect Skills: Shooting

Not only had he gained his first Perfect Skill, but Gadeli had also gained 1kg during the winter training, reaching 82kg, which strengthened his ability to contest for the ball inside the opponent’s penalty area.

As for what standard qualified it as ‘perfect,’ the system provided an explanation: when taking a penalty kick, as long as the Host didn’t fall over, the penalty spot wasn’t pitted, he wasn’t disturbed by the goalkeeper’s psychological games, and he felt no pressure, the Host could hit whatever he aimed at, with 100% accuracy.

He could even deliberately hit the post without issue; he could take ten penalties and have all ten ricochet off the inside of the post and into the net.

This level of shooting was simply terrifying. In the entire history of world football, no one had ever reached this level, let alone come close.

Even legends like Pelé, Maradona, Ronaldo, Messi, and C. Ronaldo had all missed penalties. Who among them would dare claim they could hit any spot they aimed for when taking one?

In other words, for the rest of his career, whenever Gadeli had a penalty, as long as he carefully checked the area around the penalty spot for any treacherous pits, didn’t slip during his run-up, and wasn’t psychologically thrown off by the goalkeeper’s flamboyant antics, he could guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that he would send the ball into either a top corner.

By the same token, if he had pinpoint accuracy on penalties, his shot-on-target rate in open play—even with interference from opponents and from varying distances and angles—would also be much higher than any other forward’s.

This shooting skill was so exceptional it was basically a bug.

On March 1st, the Nuremberg youth team held a 60-minute internal training match.

And in that training match, Gadeli, playing for the substitute team, scored a stunning four goals.

Keep in mind, Gadeli didn’t play the full 60 minutes; he was substituted off in the 45th minute.

Therefore, Gadeli had actually scored his four goals in just 45 minutes of playing time.

In those 45 minutes, all five of Gadeli’s shots were on target. Only one, which was shot from a slightly-too-central angle due to interference from an opposing defender, was saved by the goalkeeper.

The other four shots all resulted in goals.

Forget his teammates—even head coach Wiesinger, who had been secretly observing Gadeli and was aware of his freakishly fast progress, was left dumbfounded.

This was the terrifying power of a Perfect Shooting skill, a level no one in world football had ever reached.

With this kind of shooting and goal-scoring rate, Gadeli was bound to score plenty of goals, even in official matches with their higher intensity and faster pace.

After all, official matches weren’t 60 minutes but 90, which meant more playing time for Gadeli.

Four goals in a 45-minute training match… he might not score four in a 90-minute official match, but one or two per game should be no problem, right?

This was the thought that popped into Wiesinger’s head after his long period of observation.

Wiesinger, who had originally planned to have Gadeli start as a substitute on the U23 youth team and gradually work his way up to a starting position, now had the idea of making him a starter right away.

On March 2nd, Wiesinger deliberately ran a shooting drill for the team, specifically to verify Gadeli’s shooting ability once more.

The results were as expected. In a drill of 20 unopposed shots, all 20 of Gadeli’s attempts were on target, and every single one was aimed at an incredibly difficult angle.

Aside from one save the goalkeeper managed to make with a full-stretch dive, Gadeli scored a whopping 19 goals out of 20 shots.

With a 100% shot-on-target rate and a 95% conversion rate, even Nuremberg U23’s original starting center forward could only silently admit defeat, completely convinced.

Then, after training on the afternoon of March 3rd, when Wiesinger announced the matchday squad for the first game after the winter break on March 4th—Round 22 of the 2011/2012 German Southern Regional League, an away game for the Nuremberg youth team against the Freiburg youth team—Gadeli was, as a matter of course, named directly in the starting lineup.

After being promoted to the U23 youth team, Gadeli had skipped the substitute phase entirely, directly displacing the original starting center forward to claim a starting spot in the German Southern Regional League.

This rate of progress was something unprecedented in the history of the Nuremberg Youth Academy.

Chapter 43: U23 Debut

As one of Europe’s Five Major Leagues, the Bundesliga has a highly developed football industry.

Although the German regional leagues are the fourth tier, below the Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, and 3. Liga, their matches are not held on training grounds like those for the U19 and U17 teams, but in proper, professional first-team stadiums.

The league schedules for the youth teams and the first teams are carefully planned to avoid clashes, so youth team matches can also be held in Bundesliga stadiums.

Otherwise, what would it look like if you played an away game at a professional Southern Regional League team’s first-team stadium, but they had to play at your youth team’s training ground when they came to visit?

Therefore, when the Nuremberg youth team plays a home game, it will be held at the Grundig Stadion, which can hold over forty thousand people.

This was the fundamental difference between the Southern Regional League and the U19 league.

Of course, the match on March 4th was an away game, so it wasn’t yet time for Gadeli to set foot on the pitch at Grundig Stadion.

Besides the vastly different stadiums, Southern Regional League matches were also televised.

Naturally, major networks like the German state television wouldn’t be broadcasting them. The broadcasts were usually handled by less popular local TV channels and online streams. Aside from the true die-hard fans, not many people watched.

But it was still much better than the youth league games, which were practically ignored by everyone except for the one or two hundred friends and family members in attendance. Whether it was three thousand or five thousand viewers, at least some of the team’s fans would be tuning in.

This was especially meaningful for families like Gadeli’s, who lived far away. Since his parents didn’t have many opportunities to watch him play in person, they could watch the match on a live broadcast.

After confirming he was in the starting lineup, Gadeli called home that evening to tell his parents the good news that he would be starting in the next day’s match, and for them to get ready to watch the live broadcast.

Hearing this wonderful news, Markus and Isabella were overjoyed. They immediately informed all their relatives, friends, and neighbors, spreading the news far and wide and encouraging everyone to watch the live broadcast the next day to cheer for Gadeli.

Gadeli wasn’t the only professional player from Dietfurt, but he was the only active professional.

The previous professional player from Dietfurt had retired several years ago.

Therefore, everyone was very interested in the fact that Gadeli had signed a professional contract with Nuremberg and earned a starting spot in the Southern Regional League. Many people said they would watch the live broadcast the next day.

In truth, the viewership for the Southern Regional League was largely propped up by the families, neighbors, and friends of the players.

Gadeli was also filled with anticipation for his U23 youth team debut in the Southern Regional League, which would also be his first televised match.

He wondered just how powerful his perfect, 100-point shooting skill would be in an official match.

The next day at noon, when Gadeli stepped onto the pitch of Freiburg’s home ground, the Schwarzwald-Stadion, with his teammates for the pre-match warm-up, he was captivated by the stadium’s unique roof.

After a teammate explained, Gadeli learned that Freiburg was known as the “Solar City,” specializing in the development and use of solar energy.

The Schwarzwald-Stadion used solar photovoltaic panels to power the stadium, making it the first professional football stadium in Germany to run on solar energy.

After all, this was only a fourth-tier regional league match between two youth teams, so there weren’t many spectators. As Gadeli and the others entered the stadium to warm up, the Schwarzwald-Stadion, with a capacity of twenty-four thousand, held only a few hundred people, making it feel quite empty.

However, as both teams warmed up, more fans gradually trickled in. The vast majority were Freiburg supporters; the few dozen Nuremberg fans were likely mostly friends and family of the players.

It wasn’t worth it for Nuremberg fans who weren’t related to the players to drive several hundred kilometers to cheer for a youth team in an away game.

By the time the match began, there were an estimated four to five thousand fans in the stands.

For a fourth-tier league match between two U23 youth teams, this was a very respectable attendance, proving that the Germans’ passion for football was genuine. The football atmosphere was far better than back home.

After the warm-up, they returned to the locker room, where Wiesinger gave his final instructions:

“This is our first match after the winter break. The weather is great today, so I hope you all perform well.”

“Gadeli is new to the U23s. The opponents haven’t studied him much, so he’ll certainly be an unknown quantity to them.”

“And even if they know about his goal-scoring record in the U17 and U19 leagues, they won’t know how quickly he’s improved over the past two-plus months during winter training.”

“Even we were shocked by the speed of Gadeli’s progress, let alone our opponents. Neither the coach nor the players of the Freiburg youth team could possibly imagine that Gadeli’s shooting is at such a high level.”

“Therefore, in the first half of this match, we will play with Gadeli as our attacking core. Everyone, do your best to create shooting opportunities for Gadeli. Give him the final shot, and let him be the one to finish.”

“Gadeli has a license to shoot in the first half.”

“As for our second-half tactics, let’s see how the first half goes. We’ll decide during halftime.”

Finishing his speech, Wiesinger looked at Berent Gadeli and said to him specifically:

“Gadeli, don’t hold onto the ball too much in the first half. Use the fact that the opponent is unfamiliar with you and focus on your off-the-ball movement. Once you get a shooting opportunity, take a sudden, unexpected shot. I’m sure it will catch them completely off guard.”

“I expect you to bring your training performance into this match and help us win the first game of 2012, getting the new year off to a good start.”

Gadeli nodded to show he understood.

His first U23 match, his Southern Regional League debut, a televised game, being entrusted with the important role of a surprise weapon and trump card—Gadeli himself was already brimming with eagerness for the match to start.

Then came the procession onto the field, the team photos, the exchange of pennants, the coin toss, and so on. After the formalities were over, at 2:00 PM on March 4, 2012, with a blow of the referee’s whistle, the 22nd-round match of the 2011/2012 Southern Regional League season between the Freiburg youth team and the Nuremberg youth team officially began at Freiburg’s home ground, the Schwarzwald-Stadion.

In the broadcast studio of Bavaria Television Channel 7, commentator Lancelot’s voice carried a hint of passion:

“Ladies and gentlemen, the referee has blown the opening whistle, and the match has officially begun.”

“This is Bavaria Television Channel 7. I’m your commentator, Lancelot, and next to me is our guest commentator for today’s match, Hans.”

Hans waved at the camera for the viewers at home. “Hello everyone, I’m Hans.”

Lancelot then continued:

“You are now watching the 22nd-round match of the 2011/2012 Southern Regional League season between the Freiburg youth team and the Nuremberg youth team.”

“And now for the starting lineups and substitute lists for both teams…”

Chapter 44: A Lightning Goal

After introducing the starting lineup, the commentator Lancelot made a special point of mentioning the Nuremberg youth team’s starting center forward, Berent Gadeli:

“Berent Gadeli is a new player who was just promoted to the U23 youth team from the Nuremberg U19 youth team in December of last year.”

“And he wasn’t with the U19s for long either. He was only promoted to the U19s last September, and after just three months, he was promoted again to the U23 youth team.”

“In his three months with the U19s, Gadeli made a total of ten appearances in the league and cup, four as a substitute and six as a starter, scoring twelve goals and providing three assists—a very impressive record. So, it’s not surprising that he was able to move up to the U23 youth team so quickly.”

“However, the regional league is the fourth tier of the German football league system. It features not only youth players from various clubs but also some professional teams. We still don’t know if the eighteen-year-old Gadeli can adapt to the pace and intensity of the Southern Regional League.”

“He hasn’t even had the chance to accumulate experience points as a substitute. For the Nuremberg youth team’s head coach, Wiesinger, to put Gadeli in the starting lineup right away… personally, I think it’s a bit of a risk. What do you think, Hans?”

Lancelot turned to the guest commentator, Hans.

Hans nodded and said, “Indeed, I agree. I think Wiesinger is being too aggressive. Even if the Nuremberg first team is performing poorly and their forwards are lackluster, there’s no need to rush a young player’s development like this…”

Neither of them had anything against Gadeli personally; their opinions were based on the player data they had gathered from the matchday squad.

But they were not optimistic about Gadeli getting a starting spot in his very first match after just being promoted to the U23s.

After all, Nuremberg is in the state of Bavaria, while Freiburg is in Baden-Württemberg. As commentators for a Bavarian television station, it was only natural for them to be biased toward Nuremberg.

In their hearts, they wanted Nuremberg to achieve good results, and they hoped that players from the youth academy like Gadeli could develop in a healthy environment.

However, neither of them expected that while Lancelot was still finishing the lineup introductions and they were commenting on Berent Gadeli, the Nuremberg youth team on the pitch had already intercepted a Freiburg attack and launched a high-speed counter-attack.

On the field, the home team, the Freiburg youth team, had the kickoff, but their attack was stopped before it could even reach Nuremberg’s penalty area. Nuremberg’s number 5 center-back, Billy March, closed down the attacker and won the ball.

Then, Nuremberg immediately launched a swift counter-attack.

The two midfielders and three forwards shot forward like arrows into the Freiburg youth team’s half, cutting toward Freiburg’s penalty area with quick passes and movements.

Just as Wiesinger had said in the locker room before the match, Gadeli, who had only just been promoted to the Nuremberg U23 youth team during the winter break, was a complete unknown to Freiburg.

Even though Gadeli’s stats in the U19 youth team were impressive, the Freiburg players didn’t pay him much mind.

They didn’t believe that Gadeli, who was still playing for the U17s last season, could put on a stellar performance so soon after being promoted to the U23s.

Therefore, Freiburg’s backline focused their attention on Nuremberg’s attacking midfielder and two wingers. Only one center-back was marking Gadeli, and even he was distracted, his eyes mostly following the ball.

Of course, another reason was that this was a rapid counter-attack launched immediately after winning the ball back from the opponent. Freiburg’s defensive line was short-handed and couldn’t cover all bases, so they had to prioritize marking the Nuremberg players involved in the passing play.

Nuremberg’s attacking players also heeded Wiesinger’s pre-match instructions. They avoided passing the ball to Gadeli until he had found an open shooting lane, so as not to draw the opposition’s defensive attention to him.

As a result, with the opponents underestimating him, Gadeli found a huge, unmarked space on the left side of the penalty area during a counter-attack just three minutes into the game.

In the heat of the counter-attack, with his off-the-ball movement now at 80, neither Freiburg’s goalkeeper nor their defenders noticed when he found this opening.

Then, the number 7 right winger, Brewer, who had cut in from the wing and received a pass from the attacking midfielder, feigned a shot. This drew the two defenders who had tracked back into the box, as well as the goalkeeper, to all move to block him.

But Brewer had only made a feint. It was a shot-fake pass. Instead of shooting, his descending foot played a square pass, sending the ball into the open space on the left side of the penalty area.

The Freiburg players and fans followed the rolling ball with their eyes, only to discover with astonishment that Nuremberg’s number 50 center forward, Berent Gadeli, was in an unmarked position, already poised for a one-touch shot.

The thousands of Freiburg fans in the stands immediately erupted in jeers, hoping to distract Gadeli.

The nearest defender on the edge of the six-yard box immediately charged to his left, attempting a diving block. If Gadeli had taken a touch before shooting, he might have had a chance to block it.

The goalkeeper also scrambled frantically from the right side of the goal to the left, trying to save Gadeli’s shot.

However, it was all too late.

Amidst the jeers of the entire stadium’s Freiburg supporters and under the astonished gazes of commentator Lancelot and his guest Hans, Gadeli, now about eleven meters from the goal on the left side, didn’t take a touch to control the ball. Instead, he met Brewer’s rolling pass with a first-time, side-footed shot, guiding the ball toward the bottom left corner.

He was only about eleven meters from the goal, it was a ground ball, and he was completely unmarked.

Even though it was an away game, and even though countless home fans in the stands were booing loudly, Gadeli’s perfect, max-level shooting skill allowed him to execute the exact shot he wanted.

The ball rolled past the Freiburg defender who was diving in to block it and, before the desperately lunging Freiburg goalkeeper could reach it, it snuck in just inside the left post and into the Freiburg youth team’s goal.

Just three minutes into the match, with his very first touch in his first official game after being promoted to the Nuremberg U23 youth team, Berent Gadeli received a brilliant shot-fake pass from his teammate Brewer and, with his perfect shooting ability, placed an unstoppable shot into the corner. He opened the scoring for Nuremberg, giving them a 1-0 lead in their away game.

Lancelot, the commentator who had just been discussing Gadeli and saying that Wiesinger shouldn’t have started him so soon and should have let him slowly accumulate experience points as a substitute, shouted excitedly:

“Toooooooooooooooooooooor…”

“My heavens, it’s a goal!”

“Berent Gadeli has scored a fantastic lightning goal!”

“The match has just begun, and after only three minutes, the Nuremberg youth team has taken a 1-0 lead away from home.”

“A dream start!”

“Hans and I were just talking about how starting Gadeli in the Southern Regional League right after his promotion from the U19s might be rushing his development, and then the next moment, he scores.”

“I have to admit, I got that one wrong.”

“Gadeli scored with a beautifully placed shot into the corner, leaving the opposing goalkeeper with no chance.”

Hans chimed in from the side:

“That’s right! We both misjudged him.”

“Gadeli was incredibly calm, and his shooting technique was exquisite.”

“Even though this is his first match with the U23s, and an away game at that, he didn’t seem nervous at all. He calmly sent the ball into the corner of the Freiburg youth team’s net with a one-touch shot.”

“I have to say, Gadeli has a very bright future ahead of him.”

Chapter 45: The Commentator is Full of It

To say Gadeli wasn’t nervous was wishful thinking on Hans’ part.

It was his first official match after being promoted to the U23s, an away game no less, with thousands of the home fans in the stands constantly booing. It was also his first touch of the ball and his first shot since the game began. It would have been strange if Gadeli wasn’t nervous.

Fortunately, his perfect shooting stat, maxed out at 100, had him preparing for the shot on pure instinct, striking the ball one-touch with a placed shot into the bottom corner.

He was only eleven meters from the goal. Combined with Brewer’s shot-fake pass, the opponents underestimating him, and no one there to interfere, his maxed-out shooting stat ensured he made no mistake, keeping the ball on target and scoring the goal.

When he saw the ball hug the post and actually slip into the net, the blood rushed to Gadeli’s head and his mind went blank. He let out a wild, almost subconscious shout, then turned and charged toward the stand with the most fans, capping it off with a diving slide celebration.

But he had forgotten—this was an away game. The fans in the stands weren’t Nuremberg supporters, but fans of their opponent, Freiburg.

Seeing Gadeli score and then run over to their stand to celebrate so brazenly, the Freiburg fans in the stands erupted with even louder boos and curses.

Gadeli finally came to his senses. Right, these fans were the enemy. Dashing over to their stand for a sliding celebration was a bit provocative. No wonder they were reacting so strongly; some of them looked like they were ready to jump down and eat him alive.

Still, so what if he’d made a mistake?

What are you going to do about it?

If Gadeli were truly eighteen, he might have been affected by these fans.

But Gadeli’s mental age was a full ten years older than his physical one, so he didn’t show the slightest sign of being flustered.

However, before he could even get up, he was pinned to the ground by his teammates who had rushed over, celebrating in a massive dogpile.

The Southern Regional League was a huge step up from the U19 league. Scoring a goal, especially a lightning goal just three minutes into the game, had his teammates ecstatic as they all rushed over to celebrate with him.

While Gadeli and his teammates were celebrating his first U23 goal, hundreds of kilometers away in Dietfurt, Isabella had closed her stationery shop and was at home with her husband, Markus, watching their son’s first U23 match.

The moment Gadeli appeared on the broadcast, Isabella and Markus were thrilled.

When the commentator finished reading the starting lineup and the guest pundit sagely analyzed how the head coach shouldn’t be rushing his development, that Gadeli should have started on the bench to slowly adapt to the Southern Regional League, both Isabella and Markus nodded along, thinking the commentators were very professional and made a lot of sense.

Who would have known that while the commentator and pundit were still talking about Gadeli, Nuremberg would launch a successful counter-attack? The ball was passed to their son’s feet, and with a single side-foot shot, Gadeli sent it into the opponent’s goal.

The goal came so fast, and it was their son who scored it. Having just listened to the commentators’ analysis, Isabella and Markus had lowered their expectations for their son’s performance and were completely unprepared. They were stunned speechless.

Fortunately, they still recognized that it was their son who had scored.

After a second or two of stunned silence, Isabella excitedly threw herself into Markus’s arms. With one arm around her husband, she pointed at the television.

“Ahhh!!!”

“A goal!”

“Bernd scored a goal!”

“Our son scored!”

“Oh my god!”

“The game just started!”

Markus’s face was also flushed red with excitement, his voice trembling as he spoke.

“I can’t believe it, I really can’t! Bernd has adapted to the U23 youth team so quickly. Not only did he get a spot in the starting lineup, but he scored a lightning goal three minutes in. Everything that commentator just said was crap! Bernd is a genius.”

Isabella nodded furiously.

“That’s right, my son is a genius!”

“All that talk about ‘adapting slowly’ is crap!”

“I bet Bernd won’t just start and score, he’ll probably score more than one!”

Markus nodded in agreement. “I think so too!”

Besides Markus and Isabella, many other families in the town of Dietfurt were also watching the live broadcast, all of them surprised and excited by Gadeli’s lightning goal just three minutes into the match.

Nuremberg fans elsewhere who followed the youth team’s games were also filled with goodwill and high hopes for this young player who had just been promoted to the U23s and had scored a lightning goal three minutes into his very first match.

Back at the stadium, Gadeli and his teammates celebrated for a good half-minute before the referee intervened and they returned to their own half, waiting for Freiburg to take the center-circle kick-off.

Freiburg kicked off, and the match resumed. Humiliated by conceding a goal just three minutes in at their home stadium, Freiburg became furious, launching an all-out attack with almost reckless abandon right from the kick-off.

They managed to push the attack into the final thirty meters, culminating in a shot from their winger at the left corner of the penalty area, who tried to curl it into the far corner.

Unfortunately, his shooting was leagues below Gadeli’s.

Under pressure from a Nuremberg defender, the shot sailed wide of the post and went out over the byline. The Nuremberg goalkeeper had already judged that the ball wouldn’t be on target and didn’t even make a move to save it, calmly turning his head to watch it go out of play.

Having secured a dream start three minutes in, the morale of the Nuremberg youth team players was sky-high. After the goal kick, they met Freiburg head-on in an attacking duel.

A fierce battle for possession unfolded in the midfield.

However, having scored, Gadeli was now being taken seriously by the opponents. He could no longer find an unguarded opening as easily as he had for his goal three minutes into the game.

The individual ability of the U23 players and the team’s overall defensive coordination were on a much higher level than in the U19 league.

Even when Gadeli occasionally found an open space, if a teammate’s pass was mistimed or misplaced, the opportunity would be wasted.

The tempo of the Southern Regional League was indeed much faster than the U19s. Gadeli needed more subtle positioning and quicker movements.

As this was his first game in the Southern Regional League, Gadeli was still struggling to adapt. The goal three minutes in had simply been a case of exploiting the opponent’s lack of intelligence on him and catching them off guard.

After Gadeli scored and became a focus for the opposition’s backline, shooting opportunities became much harder to come by.

Although both teams were eager to score, they were evenly matched in strength. The game was intense, but neither side could find the back of the net.

The score remained 0-1 when the first half ended, with the away team, Nuremberg’s youth team, in the lead.

Chapter 46: Lack of Stamina

Other than the goal in the first three minutes, Gadeli only managed two more shooting opportunities for the rest of the first half.

Although his excellent shooting technique ensured both shots were on target, his opponents had started man-marking him after the first goal. Both attempts were under close pressure from their defenders, forcing his shots to be too straight, and they were ultimately saved by the goalkeeper.

Despite this, as they left the pitch at halftime, Wiesinger still gave Gadeli a hug and a pat on the back, showing his satisfaction.

How could he not be satisfied!

Even though the next two shots were saved by the opposing goalkeeper, the fact that they were on target and created a threat was proof enough of Gadeli’s shooting skill and mental fortitude.

Besides, there was a goal on the scoreboard, giving Nuremberg a 1-0 lead in their away game.

For an eighteen-year-old who had just been promoted to the U23s and was playing in his first Southern Regional League match, Wiesinger couldn’t ask for more from Gadeli.

Therefore, during the halftime break in the locker room, Wiesinger told the players:

“You’ve all seen Gadeli’s shooting. Three shots in the first half, all on target, and one goal.”

“So, in the second half, we’ll continue to use Gadeli as the core of our attack and our finisher. When you get the chance, give the ball to him to shoot.”

“I’m confident that if we give Gadeli enough shooting opportunities, Freiburg’s goalkeeper can’t possibly save every single one of them.”

The players nodded, indicating they understood.

Brewer, who had assisted Gadeli in the first half, was particularly pleased with earning an assist.

The others had the same thought; with Gadeli’s shooting ability, they would surely rack up a lot of assists in the future.

After a fifteen-minute break, the two sides switched ends for the second half.

The second half began with both teams continuing their end-to-end action, battling fiercely in the midfield. The tempo of attack and defense was just as fast as in the first half.

In the fifty-seventh minute, left midfielder Joseph Green played a one-two pass with a teammate before crossing from the byline, lofting the ball into the air.

Gadeli made a run down the middle, charging into the penalty area. With his Jumping attribute at 83, he leaped high on the edge of the six-yard box, out-jumping the opposing number 2 center-back to get to the ball and head it towards the goal.

Unfortunately, his heading technique was a bit lacking, and he couldn’t get the desired result. The header, from very close range, wasn’t on target, sailing just over the crossbar.

If he had managed to get it on target, the goalkeeper would have had almost no chance to react and make a save from that distance, unless it went straight into his arms.

What a pity.

But for Freiburg, even though the headed shot from the edge of the six-yard box missed, it still sent a cold sweat down the spines of their players and fans.

The Freiburg youth team began to mark Gadeli even more tightly.

As time went on, Gadeli felt his stamina draining fast.

The pace and intensity of the Southern Regional League were vastly different from the U19 league, and it drained energy much more quickly.

Although Gadeli’s physical condition was decent, he had only ever played in the U19 league, and his body hadn’t yet adapted to the demands of the Southern Regional League.

Furthermore, as a center forward, he was in a constant battle against the physically imposing opposing center-backs, and their strength also accelerated his fatigue.

As a result, by just over sixty minutes, Gadeli’s legs felt as if they were filled with lead, and he felt like he could barely run.

But as long as the head coach hadn’t substituted him, Gadeli wouldn’t waste any opportunity he had on the pitch.

He wasn’t a winger or an attacking midfielder who relied heavily on speed, long runs, or breaking through defenses. As a center forward, all he had to do was stay up front and use his off-the-ball movement to find open space. If his teammates could get the ball to him, he could potentially score.

Gadeli was still jogging on leaden legs, searching for a shooting opening.

Wiesinger noticed Gadeli’s lack of stamina. He glanced at his watch, then instructed the former starting center forward for the Nuremberg youth team, number 9 Felix, who was on the bench, to warm up and prepare to substitute for Gadeli.

The Southern Regional League didn’t have six substitution slots; like the Bundesliga, there were only three.

But when a player’s stamina is gone, there’s no choice but to make a change.

Wiesinger was already satisfied with Gadeli’s performance in his first match.

On the pitch, Gadeli saw Wiesinger tell Felix to warm up and knew he was about to be subbed off by the coach.

He cherished his final few minutes of opportunity, using his off-the-ball movement attribute of 80 to continue searching for a shooting opening up front.

Gadeli’s efforts were not in vain.

In the sixty-ninth minute, after winning the ball back in a midfield battle, Nuremberg put together a series of team plays, advancing the attack into the area thirty meters from the Freiburg youth team’s goal.

It wasn’t a quick counter-attack after a turnover, so almost all of Freiburg’s midfielders and defenders had retreated to defend.

But Nuremberg’s attack was also formidable, forcing Freiburg to spread out their defense. There was still only one center-back man-marking Gadeli.

Just as attacking midfielder Claude received the ball just outside the right corner of the penalty area and began to break through, Gadeli used his body to hold off the opposing center-back on the penalty spot, pinning him behind.

With Gadeli’s 186cm height and 82kg weight, once he had established his position, it wasn’t easy for the defender to get around him.

However, he needed his teammate to pass quickly, or the opponent could still get around him by taking a wider route.

As Nuremberg U23’s number 10 starting attacking midfielder, Claude’s vision and playmaking abilities were excellent, and Gadeli wasn’t far from him.

So, Claude saw Gadeli’s position and situation in the penalty area. He had initially intended to break past the defender in front of him and shoot, but he made a decisive move. He performed a step-over and a feint, creating an opening, and immediately sent a push pass into the penalty area in front of Gadeli.

Seeing Claude pass the ball into the box, the Freiburg number 4 center-back behind Gadeli suddenly exerted more force, pushing and pulling at Gadeli while trying to stick a leg out from the side to poke the ball away.

Another player rushed in from the side, trying to block Gadeli’s shot.

But Gadeli, using his considerable strength, leaned against the number 4 center-back, neither being pushed away nor allowing the defender to get a foot to the ball.

At the same time, Gadeli didn’t waste time controlling the ball. He met Claude’s pass with a sideways sweep shot, sending the ball towards the bottom-left corner of the goal. The Freiburg player who had rushed over to block the shot lunged in vain, blocking nothing but air.

Chapter 47: Brace

Gadeli’s perfect, maxed-out shooting skill was truly overpowered.

The moment Claude passed the ball into the penalty area, the Freiburg goalkeeper had already fixed his eyes on Gadeli’s feet, preparing to make a save.

Moreover, before Gadeli’s right foot made contact with the ball for the sweeping shot, the keeper had predicted the angle and concluded there was a high probability Gadeli would aim for the bottom left corner. Therefore, he took a step to his left in advance.

Then, the instant Gadeli struck the ball and it rolled towards the bottom left, the goalkeeper immediately lunged, stretching his arms with all his might, desperate to save the shot.

Having accurately predicted the shot and dived in time, the goalkeeper thought he would be able to get to the ball.

He never expected that, even with a one-touch sweeping shot in the blink of an eye, and despite the constant pushing and pulling from the Freiburg number 4 defender behind him, Gadeli’s perfect shooting skill would still produce a shot aimed straight for the corner.

The shot was executed too perfectly, the angle too precise. It left the Freiburg goalkeeper, who had reacted with lightning speed and even shifted his position in anticipation, diving in vain.

The ball rolled past, practically grazing his fingertips, then hugged the left post as it went into the goal and hit the side netting inside.

In the 69th minute of the second half, Gadeli scored again from a pass by attacking midfielder Claude, completing his brace and giving the Nuremberg youth team a 2-0 lead in their away game.

In his first official match after being promoted to the U23 youth team, the very first match of the German Southern Regional League, Gadeli completed a brace, giving the Nuremberg youth team a two-goal advantage away from home.

Everyone knew how rare an achievement this was.

Thus, upon seeing the ball evade the goalkeeper’s grasp and enter the net, the commentator for Bavarian State Television, Lancelot, excitedly shot up from his seat in the commentary booth, raising his arms and shouting:

“Tooooooooooooooooooooooooor……”

“It’s a goal!”

“My God, it’s a goal!”

“Gadeli has scored again!”

“He’s completed a brace!”

“Berent Gadeli, everyone, remember this name.”

“In his very first official match for the Nuremberg U23 youth team, he was a starter and completed a brace, scoring the only two goals of the match so far.”

“How brilliant, how incredible!”

“We are witnessing the birth of a genius!”

The guest commentator, Hans, also exclaimed excitedly:

“A genius indeed!”

“Eighteen years old, his first Southern Regional League match, and he scores a brace, continuing the form he showed in the U17s and U19s.”

“The speed of his progress is simply astounding.”

“I have a feeling that before long, he’ll be promoted to the first team or selected for the youth national team.”

Lancelot nodded repeatedly. “That’s right. I’m certain that with his shooting skill, he has a bright future ahead. The first team, the National team—neither is very far off.”

Back home in Dietfurt, Markus and Isabella also hugged each other excitedly, celebrating wildly.

On the field, Gadeli sprinted all the way to the substitute’s bench and threw his arms around head coach Wiesinger to celebrate, thanking him for his high regard.

Although he had the system’s cheat on his side and it was only a matter of time before he made his mark, Wiesinger’s trust in making him a starter, the attacking core, and giving him a license to shoot in his very first match had undoubtedly accelerated the speed of Gadeli’s leveling up.

Therefore, his gratitude was sincere.

Wiesinger, for his part, couldn’t have been more satisfied with Gadeli’s brace in his first match.

A performance like this would be considered a phenomenal talent even at powerhouse clubs like Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund.

Wiesinger felt that Nuremberg might have just discovered the biggest super-diamond in the club’s history.

As long as they improved Gadeli’s physique, stamina, dribbling, breaking through, and other skills, he couldn’t even imagine what kind of massive waves Gadeli, with his shooting ability, would make in the Bundesliga, or even on the European stage.

He had already decided that as long as Gadeli wasn’t injured, he would be an undisputed starter in every match from now on. He would train him hard and send him to the first team as quickly as possible to help the team avoid relegation and to strive for better results next season.

Afterward, the two were swarmed by the other players, who joined in the celebration.

In football, a two-goal lead essentially secures the match.

Teams that can come back from a two-goal deficit to win are extremely rare; otherwise, comebacks wouldn’t be so thrilling.

A few minutes after his goal, Gadeli was substituted off by Wiesinger for Felix.

After all, his stamina was completely depleted, and he couldn’t run anymore if he stayed on the pitch.

With Gadeli off the field, a relieved Freiburg youth team, spurred on by the cheers of several thousand home fans, pushed their formation far up the pitch and launched an all-out, do-or-die attack.

Unfortunately, their forwards’ shooting was no match for Gadeli’s.

Forget a perfect score of one hundred; their shooting skill probably wasn’t even at seventy-five.

Therefore, despite their aggressive offensive, Freiburg only managed three or four shooting opportunities in the final twenty minutes and failed to score a single goal.

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle.

Thanks to Gadeli’s brace, with one goal in each half, the Nuremberg youth team secured a 2-0 victory over the Freiburg youth team away from home. It was a win in the 22nd round of the Southern Regional League and the team’s first victory of 2012, a flying start to the new year.

The experience for starting in the German Southern Regional League was ten thousand, ten thousand for a goal, and the win bonus was five thousand times the goal difference.

Thus, after the match, the experience Gadeli earned was ten thousand for starting + twenty thousand for two goals + a win bonus of five thousand times two = forty thousand. His total experience rose to Level 7, two hundred fifty-five thousand / three hundred thousand, not far from leveling up.

After the match, Gadeli called his parents. Markus and Isabella were thrilled and incredibly proud of Gadeli’s performance.

Unfortunately, the Nuremberg youth team’s next league match was not on the weekend but on a Tuesday. Markus had to work and wouldn’t be able to come to the stadium to watch Gadeli play, so he would have to find another opportunity.

Besides his parents, many of his good friends from the U17 and U19 teams, like Elmer, Michener, and Fred Ming, as well as some relatives and friends from Dietfurt, called to congratulate him, proving they had all watched the live broadcast and seen his performance.

Elmer also shared some good news over the phone: through his recent period of hard training and excellent performance in matches, he had earned the recognition of U19 coach Ericov and would be reporting to the U19 youth team tomorrow.

This was indeed great news. Gadeli congratulated his friend and said they should continue their extra training every day, striving to get Elmer promoted to the first team soon so they could fight side by side again.

Gadeli’s perfect, maxed-out shooting skill now served as a powerful guide and example for Elmer and Michener, and both of their shooting skills were improving very quickly.

The prospect of the three of them playing together on the first team in the future was not entirely hopeless.

Chapter 48: An Astonishing Debut

Gadeli’s performance, scoring a brace in his U23 debut, astonished many people.

The first was first-team assistant coach Reuthershahn, who had been keeping an eye on him under head coach Hecking’s orders. Before Wiesinger could even report back, Reuthershahn had already seen the updated post-match score and goalscorers on the football association’s official website.

He was a little surprised to see the Nuremberg youth team win the away game 2-0. When he saw that the name of the goalscorer for both goals was number 50, Berent Gadeli, Reuthershahn was shocked.

He knew Gadeli had performed well during the winter training camp and had made the starting lineup for this match, but he never expected Gadeli to score a brace in his very first game.

Although he knew more than the commentator Lanstelo and the guest commentator Hans and didn’t think Wiesinger was rushing someone’s development, he still hadn’t expected Gadeli to deliver such a performance.

He had assumed Gadeli would need some time to adapt. Not being nervous and avoiding rookie mistakes in his first game would have been considered a pass. Scoring a single goal would have been an exceptional performance.

He never imagined Gadeli would score two, helping the Nuremberg youth team secure a 2-0 away victory.

This was far beyond Reuthershahn’s expectations.

Just like Wiesinger, the thought “Nuremberg has struck gold” popped into his mind.

Reuthershahn immediately reported this to head coach Dieter Hecking, which also gave Hecking a start.

After the winter break, the Nuremberg first team was doing well in the Bundesliga. They had escaped the relegation zone and climbed to mid-table, sitting in 9th place.

As a result, he was less frustrated with the first team’s current lineup and form than he had been in the first half of the season. He wasn’t in a hurry to call up anyone from the youth team and hadn’t been paying much attention to them. He truly had no idea about Gadeli’s situation.

Upon hearing from Reuthershahn that Gadeli had scored a brace in his U23 youth team debut to help the team win an away game 2-0, Hecking was also greatly shocked. He immediately summoned all the first-team coaches to his office, pulled up the recording of the match, and had them all watch and analyze it together to prepare a collective evaluation of Gadeli.

After seeing Gadeli substituted for Felix in the 72nd minute and knowing the final score remained 2-0, Hecking paused the recording and asked everyone to give their assessment of Gadeli’s performance in the match.

A lively discussion broke out.

“His shooting is just too good. I’ve never seen shooting like Berent Gadeli’s in my life.”

“Yeah! He only played for 72 minutes, but all four of his shots in both halves were on target, and he scored two goals. That level of shooting is truly incredible, possibly on par with some of the world-class super strikers.”

“What holds him back are his other skills like speed, physique, dribbling, breaking through, and his movement to get into scoring positions. In terms of shooting alone, Gadeli should already be at a world-class level.”

“We’ve struck gold!”

“Well, it’s too early to draw conclusions from one match. It could just be a one-off performance. There are too many players who have one good game. Never mind a brace—it’s not uncommon for a striker to score four or even five goals in a single match and then perform mediocrely or suffer a long goal drought at other times.”

Dieter Hecking finally concluded, “Indeed. Based on this match alone, Berent Gadeli’s performance was phenomenal. But we need to observe him more to see if he can maintain this level and if he’s qualified to be called up to the first team.”

Then, Hecking instructed assistant coach Reuthershahn, “From now on, watch a live broadcast of every youth team match and make a comprehensive assessment of Gadeli’s overall performance.”

After a pause, Hecking thought for a few seconds and added, “Also, the television broadcast has its limitations. Tell the scout, Malcolm, to wrap up his assessments of other players and come back to specifically track Berent Gadeli for me. Not just his matches, but his regular training as well. When the two of you reach a consensus and think Gadeli is ready for the first team, let me know. I’ll go watch one of his games in person before making a final decision.”

Reuthershahn nodded and agreed.

Afterward, the coaches returned to their work, still discussing Gadeli.

Unbeknownst to Gadeli, he had already appeared on the radar of every coach on the first team.

In addition to the attention from the first team, several sports newspapers mentioned Gadeli in their roundup reports of the latest round of the Southern Regional League.

Although it was just a general report on the Southern Regional League in a minor section, not a dedicated feature on the Freiburg youth team vs. Nuremberg youth team match, almost every paper mentioned Gadeli’s name.

After all, he had scored both goals in the match, and it was his U23 youth team debut.

One newspaper wrote the following in the German Regional Leagues section on its fifth page:

“On March 4th, six matches were played in the German Southern Regional League.”

“Among them, in the Nuremberg youth team’s 2-0 away victory over the Freiburg youth team, Nuremberg’s 18-year-old starlet Berent Gadeli scored all the goals of the match, securing a brace.”

“This was Gadeli’s first official match after being promoted from the U19s to the U23 youth team, and his brace was a huge surprise.”

“Furthermore, all four of Gadeli’s shots in the match were on target, giving him a 100% shot-on-target rate and a 50% conversion rate. Gadeli’s exquisite shooting is astounding, and his future is one we should look forward to.”

“Perhaps, alongside Mario Götze, we are witnessing the birth of another super talent in German football.”

In Nuremberg’s own local newspaper, the editors heaped even more praise on Gadeli, placing the news of his brace that helped the youth team to a 2-0 away victory on the prominent second page.

Nuremberg isn’t a powerhouse in German football; their results aren’t great, they struggle to attract young players, and they rarely produce any famous stars or talents.

Therefore, Gadeli’s stunning performance—scoring a brace in his U23 debut—was like rain after a long drought for the newspaper. It’s no wonder they gave him such prominent coverage and hype.

The citizens and fans in Nuremberg who read the paper also learned that a super talent who could score a brace in his very first match had emerged in the Nuremberg youth team.

Everyone was curious about Gadeli, and many resolved to attend the youth team’s next home game to see for themselves if he was really the unprecedented super talent the newspaper claimed he was.

Chapter 57: The Incredible Long-Range Goal

The distance was so great that Gadeli had to use nearly every last ounce of his strength for the kick, and he wasn’t sure if it would clear the goalkeeper’s head.

If he didn’t put enough power behind it and the ball dropped early, the keeper might still catch it.

As Gadeli shot from the halfway line, the ball soared into the air, flying past the feet of a defender who dived in to block it, arcing high toward the FSV Frankfurt goal.

When he first saw Gadeli shoot, the FSV Frankfurt goalkeeper didn’t react much, merely backpedaling slowly. He must have subconsciously thought it was impossible for Gadeli to get a shot on target from that far out.

But as the ball flew higher and higher, and its trajectory showed it was genuinely heading for the goal, the goalkeeper’s face fell. He spun around and scrambled back toward his line.

However, it was too late.

He had been positioned too far forward to begin with, which was why Gadeli had opted for the long-range shot in the first place.

Furthermore, his reaction to retreat was a beat too slow, costing him any chance of making a save.

Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the stadium and those watching on television, the ball Gadeli had struck traced a perfect parabola through the air, dropping into the FSV Frankfurt net just before the keeper could get there.

In the 72nd minute, with the Nuremberg youth team down to ten men and being pinned down by FSV Frankfurt, Gadeli executed a stunning long-range shot from over 50 meters out at the halfway line, precisely sending the ball into the FSV Frankfurt goal.

The commentator for this match from Bavarian State Television was not Lancelot, who had another assignment. Today’s match was called by another commentator, Barohert.

Although he hadn’t commentated Gadeli’s last two matches, he was well aware of his goal-scoring statistics.

Gadeli had already scored five goals in the previous two games, and another one in the 58th minute of this match.

Scoring in three consecutive games and bringing his total to six goals, Barohert had already thought Gadeli’s performance was outstanding.

Later, as Nuremberg tightened their backline and were dominated by FSV Frankfurt, he thought that would be it for the game. For Nuremberg to hold onto their 2-1 lead until the final whistle while playing a man down would be a victory in itself.

He never expected that in the 72nd minute, Gadeli would suddenly unleash an incredible long-range shot from over 50 meters out on the halfway line, sending it on target, lobbing it over the goalkeeper’s head, and finding the back of the net.

The moment Gadeli shot, he had already raised his voice and stood up:

“A shot!!!”

“Gadeli has shot from the halfway line!”

Then, as the ball successfully sailed over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net, Barohert became ecstatic, roaring at the top of his lungs:

“Tooooooooooooooooooooooooor……”

“It’s a goal!”

“A long shot!”

“A shot from midfield!”

“Berent Gadeli!”

“He’s scored a stunning goal from over fifty meters out!”

“That’s astounding!”

“Incredible!”

“Unbelievable!”

“On a Southern Regional League pitch, Gadeli has just scored such a stunning long-range goal.”

“If a goal like this were scored in the Bundesliga, it would definitely make it into the top ten goals of the season.”

“On top of that, Gadeli has scored a brace!”

“This is his seventh goal in three official matches since being promoted to the U23 youth team.”

“An average of over two goals per game!”

“A genius!”

“A divine striker!”

“An unparalleled performance!”

“The Southern Regional League is definitely not Gadeli’s final destination!”

“I think Nuremberg’s head coach, Dieter Hecking, should start considering calling Gadeli up to the first team!”

“Gadeli is just bullying the opposition in the youth team; it’s meaningless for him to stay here!”

Indeed, after seeing Gadeli accurately send the ball into the net from over 50 meters away and amass a record of seven goals in three matches, both scout Malcolm and first-team assistant coach Reuthershahn simultaneously decided that they had to report to Dieter Hecking. It was time to call Gadeli up to the first team.

Gadeli’s performance had far surpassed the level of the Southern Regional League.

On the pitch, Gadeli, having scored this stunning long-range goal to complete his brace, celebrated enthusiastically with his teammates.

Nuremberg’s celebration lasted for over thirty seconds before they returned to their own half, allowing the FSV Frankfurt players to take the kick-off.

After the match resumed, FSV Frankfurt launched an even fiercer offensive.

They had no choice but to attack relentlessly.

They were already two goals behind.

However, despite having an extra man, FSV Frankfurt lacked a forward with Gadeli’s exquisite shooting skill.

Even on the rare occasions they got a shot off, they struggled to hit the target and create a real threat.

In the 77th minute, Wiesinger substituted Gadeli, bringing on the substitute center forward, Felix.

Neither side scored again in the final ten-plus minutes.

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle. The Nuremberg youth team, thanks to Gadeli’s brace and a goal from Mark Billy, defeated the FSV Frankfurt youth team 3-1 in their away game, securing a victory in the 24th round of the league.

His brace in this match earned Gadeli 10,000 experience points for starting, 20,000 for the two goals, and a 10,000 win bonus, for a total of 40,000 experience points.

After the match, Gadeli once again received some coverage and attention in the Nuremberg and Bavarian media, sparking the interest of even more Nuremberg fans.

Seven goals in the first three games after his promotion to the U23 team—such a terrifying efficiency was unheard of in the history of the Nuremberg U23 youth team, as far as anyone could remember.

Perhaps Nuremberg was truly about to witness the rise of a super talent.

After reading the media reports, many people secretly decided to go to the next match to see Gadeli play in person.

The first team’s performance was what it was; they might as well get excited about a super talent emerging from the youth team.

Besides the many fans who decided to go see the newly-minted super talent in person, Nuremberg’s first team head coach, Dieter Hecking, also decided to go and watch.

Nuremberg had just suffered two consecutive losses without scoring a single goal, and the problem of their toothless attack remained unsolved.

Assistant coach Reuthershahn, scout Malcolm, and U23 youth team head coach Wiesinger had all jointly reported to him that Gadeli had scored seven goals in three league games. Moreover, starting from the 8th round of the U19 league on October 29th of last year, Gadeli had scored in every single one of his nine matches, from the U19s to the U23s, without missing a game.

In a total of nine matches across the U19 league and the Southern Regional League, Gadeli had scored seventeen goals and provided three assists, directly contributing to twenty goals.

Such consistency and incredible efficiency were exactly what the first team desperately needed.

Although everyone knew that the tactical level and intensity of both the U19 league and the Southern Regional League were a far cry from the Bundesliga, and there was no telling if Gadeli could adapt.

But they had to give it a try.

Judging by his statistics, the Southern Regional League was clearly no longer challenging enough for Gadeli’s development.

Dieter Hecking prepared to personally attend the next match to see Gadeli’s performance for himself. If Gadeli was truly as consistent and efficient as his numbers suggested, then he would call him up to the first team to play in the Bundesliga.

Chapter 58: Star Treatment

After the match against FSV Frankfurt, on March 19th, Wiesinger gave everyone a day off.

It was a Monday. After waking up, Gadeli spent another two skill points, raising his Dribbling from 76 to 77 and his La Croqueta from 74 to 75. He had six skill points remaining.

In the following days of training, Gadeli continued to show rapid improvement in his dribbling and breakthrough abilities, which made Wiesinger and Malcolm even more satisfied with him. They were also confident that he would catch Dieter Hecking’s eye.

March 24th, match day. It was a Saturday, a day off from work.

Therefore, Markus and Isabella drove to Nuremberg, preparing to cheer for their son Gadeli at the stadium.

They were not citizens of Nuremberg and therefore not fans of the team.

The most famous team in Bavaria is Bayern Munich. If they liked football, Markus and Isabella would naturally be fans of Bayern Munich.

However, as a child, Gadeli had not been noticed by the scouts from Bayern Munich or Munich 1860. Nuremberg had picked up what the others had missed, and he joined their youth academy.

Aside from following their son’s youth team matches, Markus and Isabella paid little attention to Nuremberg and rarely attended games in person.

Apart from a fleeting glimpse on a broadcast, they had no idea how much attention the Nuremberg youth team’s games were attracting, or how much anticipation Gadeli’s performance was generating among the citizens of Nuremberg.

After Gadeli was promoted to the Nuremberg U23 youth team, his first match was an away game, the second was not on a weekend, and the third was another away game.

Therefore, it wasn’t until today, his fourth match, which happened to fall on a weekend when Markus didn’t have to work, that the couple came to watch a game in person for the first time.

In their minds, for a Southern Regional League match between two U23 youth teams, an attendance of two or three thousand would be considered good.

But to their surprise, from the moment they entered the parking lot and found a spot, they saw a continuous stream of new fans arriving by car or on foot.

After parking, as they walked towards the stadium, they constantly overheard other fans talking, and on many occasions, they heard discussions about their son, Gadeli:

“Hey, Anthony, long time no see! What made you decide to come watch a youth team game today? You usually only watch the first team’s Bundesliga matches, don’t you?”

“Haha, I was drawn in by all the media hype about Berent Gadeli. They say he scored seven goals in three matches. He sounds like a real genius!”

“Then you’ve come to the right place. At the last home game, Gadeli scored a hat-trick.”

“That was the last match. It’s not guaranteed for this one. I hope he doesn’t disappoint me!”

“I think you’ll find it’s a worthwhile trip. A newspaper reported that ever since Gadeli got a starting spot in the eighth round of the U19 league, he has scored in every single match he’s played, right up to the last one. I don’t think today will be an exception.”

“Then I’m really looking forward to it. It would be amazing if our team produced a superstar like Messi or C. Ronaldo! Even if he eventually gets a transfer and leaves, he would have been developed by us.”

“Exactly, I was thinking the same thing. With Gadeli’s current form, he might be promoted to the first team soon. The chances to see him play in the Southern Regional League are numbered. Even if it’s just bullying the opposition, seeing goals is pure happiness.”

“What’s your seat number? Let’s sit together later.”

“Don’t worry about the seat numbers. For a match at this level, it definitely won’t be full. We can just sit together.”

…

Markus and Isabella overheard many similar conversations. A lot of people had come with the specific purpose of watching Berent Gadeli play.

Otherwise, a regional league match for a youth team would never attract so many spectators!

Gadeli was already showing signs of becoming a star player.

Of course, the feat of scoring seven goals in three matches deserved this kind of attention and expectation from the fans.

Markus and Isabella were both proud and apprehensive. They were proud because Gadeli was their son, but they were apprehensive because the fans’ expectations seemed too high. Everyone had come with the great hope that Gadeli would definitely score and lead the team to victory.

If their son failed to score and the team lost, they were afraid the fans would vent their anger on him.

But no matter what, pride still outweighed apprehension. After all, their son’s performance in the previous matches had already proven that not only could he adapt to the youth team’s Southern Regional League, but he was thriving in it, scoring goals for fun.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, their son should be able to score in this match as well.

When the couple bought their tickets at the box office and entered the stadium, they were stunned by the number of people, even though they had been mentally prepared.

They had arrived at the stadium quite early, with about forty minutes to spare.

But there were already about four or five thousand people inside, a higher attendance than most Southern Regional League matches.

And with more than half an hour until the game, the crowd would only continue to grow.

After finding their seats, Isabella exclaimed in amazement, “I never expected so many people to come watch a youth team’s Southern Regional League match. Won’t there be over ten thousand people by the time the game starts?”

Markus stood up, looked around, and nodded. “It’ll definitely be over ten thousand. This is so unexpected.”

Just then, a male fan in his thirties sitting next to them smiled and said, “You weren’t at the last home game, were you?”

Markus nodded. “No, we weren’t.”

The fan laughed. “That’s a real shame. Gadeli scored a hat-trick in the last match, leading the youth team to a 4-0 thrashing of their opponents. It was an absolutely exhilarating victory! The crowd for that match was over ten thousand, and I reckon today’s will be over twenty thousand.”

Markus’s jaw dropped in surprise. “No way, right? No matter how good he is, it’s still just a regional league. How could it attract over twenty thousand fans to watch in person?”

The fan chuckled and said, “That’s where you’re wrong. The last home game was on a Tuesday, not even a weekend, and still over ten thousand fans showed up. Now that Gadeli has scored seven goals in three matches, I think he’s a super-genius, the likes of which Nuremberg has never seen before, with the potential to become a superstar. Plus, today is Saturday, so many fans don’t have to work and have more time to come watch. You just wait and see, it’ll definitely be over twenty thousand. More than half the stadium will be filled.”

At this point, the fan suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, where are you from? Are you a player’s family?”

Isabella said proudly, “We’re from Dietfurt. Berent Gadeli is my son.”

The fan gasped in shock, shouting, “Wow, so Berent Gadeli is your son? Oh my god, I’m sitting with Gadeli’s parents! I’m so lucky!”

Then, he quickly extended his arms and gave Markus a hug to express his joy and admiration.

The surrounding fans who had overheard their conversation also expressed their adoration for Gadeli with pleasant surprise, showing great respect to Markus and Isabella. For a moment, the couple got to experience what it was like to be the parents of a star. It felt truly proud and wonderful.

Chapter 59: Facing Frankfurt

Just as Markus and his companion were enthusiastically chatting with the surrounding fans, the two teams for today’s match began to enter the stadium for their pre-game warm-up.

When Gadeli appeared, many fans started shouting his name and cheering. Gadeli waved to the stands and bowed in thanks, which drew even louder cheers.

This was a phenomenon that hadn’t occurred in the last match.

At the previous home game, the fans only started chanting his name after he scored.

This time, it was proof that Gadeli had already become the center of attention, the number one star.

Of course, not everyone in the stadium had become a Gadeli fan, but the Nuremberg team was a bit special.

Located in the same state of Bavaria and under the shadow of Bayern Munich, Nuremberg didn’t have much of a presence. Any outstanding young players would join Bayern Munich; no one could refuse an invitation from the Star of the South.

Nuremberg had not produced many superstars famous throughout the football world in its history. The team itself was a Bundesliga yo-yo club, unstable, bouncing between the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga.

Therefore, when Gadeli emerged with the potential of a prodigious superstar, many local fans and citizens came to the stadium simply out of curiosity to see him in person.

But even so, Gadeli felt surprised and moved.

Markus and Isabella were also in the stands, waving and shouting for their son, but there were too many people. Although Gadeli knew his parents were coming today, he didn’t know if they had entered yet or where they were sitting.

So, after a quick scan of the crowd failed to reveal them, he focused on his warm-up.

After all, with a match to play, he couldn’t afford to waste time searching for two people in the vast stands.

During the warm-up drills, besides passing, juggling, and dribbling, Gadeli took a few shots on goal to get a feel for it. As it turned out, he converted every cross from his teammates on the flank into a goal.

Although not every shot was an unstoppable strike into the corners, and the goalkeeper wasn’t making serious saves, the fact that all his warm-up shots found the net was incredibly exciting for the fans in the stands. They felt that today would be a worthwhile trip and that they would likely witness Gadeli score in an official match.

Markus and Isabella were a little disappointed that their son hadn’t seen them, but they were delighted by his performance in the shooting warm-up.

The surrounding fans also lavished praise on Gadeli, making the couple even prouder.

Just as the players were finishing their warm-up and preparing to head back to the locker room, the fan who had greeted them earlier suddenly said:

“Markus, you should send a text to Gadeli right now and tell him your location. He might check his phone when he gets back to the locker room, and then he’ll know where you are. If he scores, he can come over to our section of the stands to celebrate and interact with us.”

Isabella was overjoyed and quickly had Markus send a text to Gadeli, telling him the location of their seats.

Markus’s timing was perfect.

Normally, Gadeli wouldn’t look at his phone upon returning to the locker room, as he needed to listen to the head coach’s instructions and tactical briefing.

But just as he and his teammates entered the locker room, he heard his phone’s message alert.

Knowing his parents were coming to watch him play today, Gadeli guessed the text might be from them, so he took it out to have a look.

Sure enough, it was from his father, Markus, specifically telling him where he and Isabella were sitting.

Gadeli sent a message back to acknowledge he had received it, then put his phone away and began listening to head coach Wiesinger’s pre-match pep talk and final tactical instructions.

On the other side, Markus received his son’s reply and told his wife and the surrounding fans. Everyone’s anticipation for the match instantly grew.

After all, Gadeli now knew where his parents were. If he did score, he would surely come over to their section of the stands to celebrate.

Besides Gadeli’s parents, another important figure was present at the stadium: Nuremberg’s first team head coach, Dieter Hecking. He was seated in the VIP box with the club’s head of youth development, ready to personally evaluate Gadeli’s level and determine if he was truly ready to be promoted to the first team.

Although Gadeli’s goal-scoring statistics were brilliant, he had been on the U17 youth team just six months ago!

In half a year, he had skyrocketed from the U17s to the U19s, then the U23s, and was now even being considered for the first team. No matter how impressive Gadeli’s stats were, Dieter Hecking had never seen him play in person.

Video footage has its limitations. When the ball wasn’t at Gadeli’s feet, his off-the-ball movement was invisible.

Therefore, Hecking had to come and watch Gadeli’s match in person to see if he was truly worthy of such a quick promotion to the first team to play in the German Bundesliga, one of the Five Major Leagues.

Never mind the German regional league; even the 2. Bundesliga and the Bundesliga were two different worlds. Therefore, caution was necessary. This shouldn’t become a case of rushing someone’s development and ruining a promising young talent with a great future.

As kick-off approached, more and more fans poured into the stadium. Just as the fan had guessed earlier, the total number of spectators exceeded twenty thousand.

Sometimes, even first-team matches didn’t draw such a crowd after a string of losses.

This demonstrated the high level of attention this match was receiving and proved Berent Gadeli’s appeal to the local fans and citizens of Nuremberg.

The sudden emergence of a super-talent had indeed piqued the curiosity and interest of many.

Soon, after the entrance ceremony, team photos, and coin toss, at 2:00 PM on March 24, 2012, with a blow of the referee’s whistle, the 25th round match of the 2011/2012 German Southern Regional League season between the Nuremberg youth team and the Frankfurt youth team officially began at Nuremberg’s home ground, the Grundig Stadion.

They had just played FSV Frankfurt in the last match, and now they were facing Frankfurt again. It was as if they were locked in a battle with the city of Frankfurt these past two games.

Although Frankfurt’s first team was currently playing in the 2. Bundesliga, seemingly a level below Bundesliga side Nuremberg, their history was far more glorious.

In addition to domestic titles like the Bundesliga and the German Cup, Frankfurt’s crowning achievement was winning the UEFA Cup in 1980.

Back then, the UEFA Cup held much more prestige than the current Europa League. Apart from the league champions who played in the Champions League, the runners-up and other top teams all competed in the UEFA Cup, making it an extremely prestigious tournament.

Nowadays, the top four teams from the Five Major Leagues all play in the Champions League, while the teams in the Europa League are those who finish fifth, sixth, or lower, drastically reducing its prestige compared to the past.

Winning the UEFA Cup in 1980 was a testament to Frankfurt’s strength at the time.

Furthermore, in the 1959/1960 season, Frankfurt reached the Champions League final, only to lose to a dominant Real Madrid side that was in the midst of winning five consecutive titles.

This historical record absolutely dwarfed Nuremberg’s.

Their current spell in the 2. Bundesliga was merely an anomaly. Based on their standing in the 2. Bundesliga table this season, their promotion back to the Bundesliga at the end of the season was a sure thing. Next season, both would be Bundesliga teams.

Additionally, for Gadeli himself, Frankfurt held a different significance compared to FSV Frankfurt.

Chinese player Yang Chen’s performance at Frankfurt back in the day was arguably one of the peak achievements for Chinese players playing abroad. Perhaps only Sun Jihai at Manchester City could be mentioned in the same breath; other Chinese players abroad couldn’t compare.

Therefore, Gadeli, whose soul was Chinese, felt a considerable fondness for the Frankfurt team.

Of course, this fondness was for the club itself; it didn’t mean he would show any mercy in the match.

Though he didn’t know that the first-team head coach was in attendance, he knew that as long as he maintained his efficiency of scoring in every match, he would get into the first team faster.

The experience points required for him to level up were increasing, and his progress was slowing down.

Only by getting into the first team and leaping several tiers from the Southern Regional League to the Bundesliga could he get back on the fast track to leveling up.

Otherwise, just playing in the Southern Regional League, even scoring a hat-trick every game, would result in very slow progress.

Based on how the experience points doubled when he was promoted from the U17s to the U19s, the experience from the 3. Liga would be double that of the Southern Regional League, the 2. Bundesliga double that of the 3. Liga, and the Bundesliga double that of the 2. Bundesliga.

If he could play in the Bundesliga, both his training and match experience should increase by at least eightfold.

His leveling speed would be much faster.

To level up as quickly as possible, he naturally had to consistently deliver brilliant results and stats. And as a forward, his value was demonstrated by, of course, goals!

So, although Gadeli had a favorable impression of Frankfurt because of Yang Chen, he would not hold back in the match.

He thought it, and he did it.

From the very first minute, Gadeli used his off-the-ball movement, which had already reached a rating of 80, to constantly probe for weaknesses in the opponent’s defense.

While an 80 in off-the-ball movement wasn’t exceptional in a top league, in the Southern Regional League, it was an absolute dimensional reduction assault.

Therefore, even though the Frankfurt youth team was aware of Gadeli’s threat and defended him tightly, they couldn’t withstand his impact.

Of course, a more significant factor was perhaps the presence of over twenty thousand fans, which put Gadeli in top form while piling immense pressure on the Frankfurt players.

Just four minutes into the game, Gadeli found an open space on the left side of the attack, just outside the penalty area. He received a square pass from his teammate Brewer and unleashed a dangerous long shot.

Unfortunately, Gadeli’s shot lacked power, and the ball wasn’t traveling fast enough, giving the goalkeeper ample time to react.

The Frankfurt youth team’s goalkeeper, Mendelssohn, took two steps toward the ball’s trajectory, then made a sprawling dive to his side, narrowly pushing Gadeli’s shot past the post and out for a corner.

Frankfurt had survived a close call.

Chapter 60: The Details the First Team’s Head Coach Valued More

Gadeli’s first shot of the match was saved by Mendelssohn, allowing Frankfurt to escape an early disaster.

But as the saying goes, you can run, but you can’t hide.

Although Gadeli didn’t know the first team’s head coach was in the stands, the presence of his parents and the cheers from over twenty thousand home fans were a tremendous boost for both him and his teammates.

This was the advantage of playing at home.

And so, in the ninth minute, while Frankfurt was preoccupied with marking Gadeli, the other Nuremberg youth team players executed a perfect series of give-and-go passes, sending the ball into the penalty area. The right midfielder, Charlie Kelvin, then cut inside and took the final shot.

As the attack reached this stage, all eyes were naturally drawn to the shooter, Charlie Kelvin.

Then, everyone followed the trajectory of Kelvin’s shot toward the goal to see if the keeper, Mendelssohn, could make the save.

What Frankfurt’s defenders failed to notice was that Gadeli, who had been under tight marking just moments before, slipped into the six-yard box from the other side while everyone’s attention was on Kelvin’s shot.

It wasn’t that Gadeli could predict the future, but his impressive off-the-ball movement instinctively guided him into open spaces where a rebound shot might occur.

He couldn’t guarantee he’d be in the right place every time, but he always had to proactively seek out such opportunities.

The path he chose for his run was one of the possible directions the ball might roll if the keeper managed to save it but couldn’t hold on.

He was only one person and couldn’t cover every possibility. He could only choose the position that was closest, most discreet, and offered a relatively high chance for a follow-up shot.

And as it turned out, Gadeli had run to exactly the right spot.

Kelvin had cut in from the right flank to take his shot, aiming for the far corner—the left side of the goal. But his shooting wasn’t on Gadeli’s level, so he didn’t dare aim for too tight an angle for fear of sending it past the byline. As a result, the shot wasn’t particularly difficult to handle.

Mendelssohn successfully saved the poorly angled shot.

But just as Gadeli had hoped, Mendelssohn’s save didn’t allow him to smother the ball. He only managed to prevent Kelvin’s shot from going directly into the net.

The ball parried by Mendelssohn went neither out of the penalty area nor past the byline. Instead, it landed inside the six-yard box, right in the path of Gadeli’s run.

The nearby Frankfurt players wanted to clear the ball, but before they could even get close, Gadeli launched into a flying sliding shot, sending the rebound into the back of the net.

In the ninth minute of the game, Berent Gadeli scored on the follow-up, putting Nuremberg ahead 1-0.

Although it was just a follow-up shot that didn’t seem to require much technical skill, achieving a dream start with a goal just nine minutes in was incredibly exciting for Gadeli. He immediately scrambled to his feet and ran toward the stands where Markus and Isabella were seated. Standing below them, he opened his arms in a gesture of embrace.

The fans in the stands applauded excitedly while congratulating Markus and Isabella, who were so overjoyed they were nearly in tears.

“Scoring so quickly, Gadeli is truly amazing.”

“Your son is fantastic!”

“Gadeli is a rare super-talent for Nuremberg.”

“You’ve raised an incredible son!”

Then, led by the stadium announcer Ken Harry, the more than twenty thousand fans chanted Gadeli’s name over and over, idolizing him and making Markus and Isabella swell with even more pride.

In his private box, first team head coach Dieter Hecking nodded repeatedly in approval.

Many ordinary fans, especially those watching on TV, could only see Kelvin shoot, Mendelssohn make the save, and then the ball luckily landing at Gadeli’s feet for him to score with a sliding follow-up shot. This was due to the focus of the broadcast cameras.

But they couldn’t see the finer details.

Hecking could.

Before Kelvin had even feigned his shot, Gadeli had already shaken off his marker and was darting into an open space in the penalty area.

The final rebound shot wasn’t luck; it was Gadeli using his off-the-ball movement to proactively seek out the opportunity, which he then seized.

This was a detail that was sometimes hard to spot when watching a live broadcast or a recording.

After all, in a ninety-minute match, even a hat-trick only consists of a few dozen seconds for each goal. The majority of the time, player performance off the ball must be assessed in person.

And Gadeli’s performance leading up to the rebound goal showed Dieter Hecking that his goal was no accident.

Of course, this was a close-range follow-up shot, so it didn’t showcase a high level of shooting skill. His more critical shooting attribute would require further observation.

Soon, after Gadeli finished interacting with his parents and celebrating with his teammates, the Frankfurt youth team kicked off from the center circle, and the match resumed.

Trailing by a goal, Frankfurt wanted to equalize the score as quickly as possible, but they simply lacked the strength of the Nuremberg youth team. Moreover, their form couldn’t compare to the Nuremberg players, who were playing at home, cheered on by over twenty thousand fans.

More importantly, none of them possessed shooting skills on par with Gadeli’s—not even close.

For players in the German Southern Regional League, besides Gadeli, a top striker would be considered good if their shooting attribute reached 70.

If they were any better, they would have already been promoted to the first team to play in the Bundesliga, or at the very least, transferred to other teams in the 2. Bundesliga or 3. Liga, rather than stay mired in the Southern Regional League.

Therefore, Frankfurt’s attacks were all sizzle and no steak. Even when they occasionally broke through to the edge of Nuremberg’s penalty area and got a shot off, it rarely threatened the goal.

On the other hand, every attack or counter-attack from Nuremberg sent Frankfurt’s backline into a state of tension and disarray.

The key was that Nuremberg had Gadeli, whose shooting was almost divine.

Gadeli had already scored seven goals in the previous three matches, and he had gotten a dream start in this one with a goal in the ninth minute. How could Frankfurt possibly dare to give him a chance to shoot?

But by deploying heavy numbers to man-mark Gadeli, they inevitably had to ease the pressure on other Nuremberg players, giving them opportunities to shoot.

Consequently, whenever Nuremberg launched an attack or counter-attack, Frankfurt’s backline was thrown into chaos.

Even if not every attack was a direct threat, the mental pressure on the Frankfurt players was immense.

In the seventeenth minute, Gadeli received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and feigned a shot, instantly drawing three defenders who threw themselves in to block it. The keeper, Mendelssohn, also tensed up, ready to make a save.

But instead, Gadeli executed a shot-fake pass. As his foot came down, he didn’t shoot but instead flicked his ankle, tapping the ball horizontally to his teammate Mark Billy on the left side of the box.

Unfortunately, Mark Billy’s shot went wide of the post, and he failed to score.

Although the goal was missed, it revealed how nervous Frankfurt’s backline was about Gadeli. The moment he got the ball, he could draw two or three defenders, which naturally opened up too much space elsewhere, giving other Nuremberg players shooting opportunities.

Of course, Gadeli’s shot-fake pass in this situation—using himself to draw fire and create an opportunity for a teammate—also earned a firm nod from first team head coach Dieter Hecking in the private box.

This proved that Gadeli wasn’t a selfish player. He was a team player who could see the bigger picture and cooperate with others.

This was a quality Dieter Hecking valued highly.

German football has always emphasized the collective, unlike South American football, which tends to encourage individual heroism.

Of course, a player like Gadeli, who possessed both team spirit and outstanding individual ability, would become a hot commodity for any team and coach.

Even after watching for just over ten minutes, Hecking was already quite satisfied with Gadeli.

However, the match was far from over. Dieter Hecking would continue to observe, curious to see what other surprises Gadeli had in store for him.

The game continued.

After Gadeli used his gravity to create a shooting chance for a teammate in the seventeenth minute, Frankfurt had no choice but to step up their marking on the other players as well.

As a result, they were short on numbers in their backline and had to pull players back from the front. Frankfurt’s formation grew more and more defensive until, thirty minutes into the match, they were forced into a full defensive retreat, pinned in their own half by the home side, the Nuremberg youth team.

Amidst the roaring cheers of over twenty thousand home fans, the Nuremberg youth team’s attacks came in wave after wave. Even with their entire team defending, Frankfurt was stretched thin.

If they focused all their efforts on marking Gadeli, the mentally mature and tactically astute player would simply create chances for his teammates.

If they tried to plug holes elsewhere, Nuremberg’s players would just pass the ball to Gadeli for him to take the shot.

And Gadeli’s shooting almost never missed its mark. Whenever he took a shot, it was almost guaranteed to pose a significant threat.

So far in the first half, Gadeli had taken three shots, all of them on target, and had scored one goal.

His other two shots, though taken under close interference from defenders, didn’t find the corner of the net and were saved by the keeper.

But to still be able to produce threatening shots on target while being pressured by opponents was already a testament to Gadeli’s shooting ability.

Besides Gadeli, other Nuremberg players also had several shots, each one causing turmoil in Frankfurt’s defense.

Under this continuous, high-pressure offense, Frankfurt’s defensive line finally broke again in the thirty-eighth minute of the first half.

This time, it was another team effort from Nuremberg. Gadeli didn’t participate in the initial passing sequence; he simply used his off-the-ball movement to create space and provide support for his teammates.

It was precisely because Gadeli hadn’t touched the ball, combined with the immense pressure that the other Nuremberg players’ passing and movement put on Frankfurt’s defense, that the defender who was supposed to be man-marking Gadeli was out of position for a split second, failing to stick close to him.

And in that fleeting moment, Gadeli and his teammates seized the opportunity.

Chapter 61: Another Hat-trick

In this home game, with over twenty thousand fans cheering them on, both Gadeli and his teammates were in excellent form. Their coordination was superb and precise, and it felt like they could play however they wanted and everything would just click.

The combination between Claude and Gadeli in the thirty-eighth minute was a perfect example of this feeling.

In the brief moment the defender man-marking Gadeli lost concentration, Gadeli shook him off and charged into the right half-space of the penalty area.

Claude, the attacking midfielder with the ball outside the arc of the penalty area, saw Gadeli’s run and instantly understood. He timed his pass perfectly, sending the ball into the penalty area, right into the open space ahead of Gadeli.

By the time everyone followed the trajectory of Claude’s pass, they saw that Gadeli had already left his marker behind and was rushing into the open space in the right side of the penalty area where the ball was headed.

The nearest Frankfurt defender, his face pale with shock, immediately sprinted over, attempting to block the shot with his body. The goalkeeper, Mendelssohn, also lunged from the center of the goal toward the bottom right corner, trying to block Gadeli’s near-post shot.

But it was all too late.

The link-up play between Gadeli and Claude was too fast, too perfect.

Before either the goalkeeper or the defender trying to block the shot could get into position, Gadeli had reached the open space. Without taking a touch, he lashed the ball sent by Claude first-time, driving it into the bottom right corner of the Frankfurt youth team’s goal.

Mendelssohn was a step too slow, and could only watch helplessly as the ball flew through the gap between him and the post and into the net.

In the thirty-eighth minute, Gadeli scored again, completing his brace and extending the Nuremberg youth team’s lead to 2-0 at home.

The twenty thousand-plus fans in the stadium erupted in an earth-shattering roar of applause and cheers, celebrating Gadeli’s goal with wild excitement.

As for Markus and Isabella, they were overcome with emotion, hugging each other tightly as they accepted the cheers and congratulations of the fans around them.

Even Dieter Hecking in the private box stood up with the head of youth development, applauding Gadeli’s brace and brilliant performance.

A brace before the first half was even over. Dieter Hecking had made his decision: after the match, he would promote Gadeli to the first team to bolster the strength of Nuremberg’s front line.

Although Gadeli’s brace infuriated the Frankfurt players, and they tried to launch an attack to pull a goal back after the restart, their efforts were futile.

The vast difference in skill and on-field form meant their attacks never truly materialized.

In the forty-third minute, they managed to push the attack to the edge of Nuremberg’s penalty area and fire off a long-range shot, but it sailed high over the bar, drawing a round of laughter from the home fans behind the goal.

After one minute of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half. The teams went into halftime with the score at 2-0, the home side Nuremberg youth team leading by two goals thanks to Berent Gadeli’s brace in the ninth and thirty-eighth minutes.

During halftime, the Frankfurt youth team brought on some fresh legs, hoping to launch a counter-offensive in the second half and score.

At only two goals down, they still wanted to give it a shot.

After a fifteen-minute break, the two sides switched ends for the second half.

As expected, Frankfurt launched a powerful offensive right from the whistle, hoping to catch the Nuremberg players off guard before they had settled back into the game and score with a few quick attacks.

But they had miscalculated. Not only did Nuremberg’s players show no signs of sluggishness, but they also had the exact same idea as Frankfurt: to use the start of the second half to score another goal.

If the score became 3-0, the match would essentially be over.

With both teams thinking along the same lines, the start of the second half became incredibly intense, with the pace of attack and defense transitions extremely fast.

In the end, it was the home team, the Nuremberg youth team, that proved to be a cut above, their ability to seize opportunities being stronger.

Of course, the most crucial factor was that Nuremberg had Gadeli.

In the fifty-fourth minute, Frankfurt’s attack was intercepted in midfield, and Nuremberg launched a swift counter-attack.

This counter-attack was primarily advanced down the wing. Gadeli didn’t touch the ball during the buildup, merely making a supporting run through the middle.

And his patience paid off.

On the right flank, Claude, Charlie Kelvin, and Brewer executed a series of quick passes, movements, and dribbles, advancing the attack to the byline. Finally, the right winger, Brewer, successfully delivered a cross from about seven or eight meters from the byline.

The ball carved an arc through the air, dropping into the penalty area.

Gadeli, who had followed the play down the middle, timed his jump perfectly. With his Jumping attribute as high as 83, he towered over the opposing center-back, met the ball with his head, and powered it towards the goal.

Brewer’s cross already had considerable power behind it.

Gadeli’s running leap and powerful header added even more force and speed to the attempt.

Although Gadeli hadn’t activated any heading skills and his heading technique was not considered his strong suit, nor had he scored many headers, he was still 186cm tall and weighed 82kg, with a Jumping attribute of 83. Scoring one occasionally was nothing strange.

This time, Gadeli had a stroke of luck. Not only did he direct the cross on target, but he also managed to angle it slightly.

From such a close distance, with so much power and speed, and that bit of angle, the goalkeeper Mendelssohn didn’t even have time to make a saving motion. He just instinctively waved his hands and saw the ball become a blur, flying into the net over two meters to his right.

In the fifty-fourth minute of the second half, Gadeli connected with a cross from the byline by his teammate Brewer, scoring with a header. It was his third goal of the match, completing his hat-trick.

With that, Gadeli had now scored a hat-trick in both of his first two home games at Grundig Stadion.

This time, the goal was more significant and spectacular than his first two, both in terms of completing the hat-trick and the quality of the finish.

Therefore, the moment the ball hit the back of the net, the commentator for the match, Lancelot, leaped up from his seat, grabbed the microphone, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

“Toooooooooooooooooooooooooooor……”

“Hat-trick!!!”

“Another hat-trick!!!”

“Berent Gadeli, in a match at Grundig Stadion, has once again scored a hat-trick!”

“A genius! A superstar!”

“Not only is his shooting out of this world, but Gadeli also has a strong physique and excellent jumping ability, which allowed him to seize this opportunity and head his teammate’s cross into Frankfurt’s goal.”

“I strongly recommend that the Nuremberg first team call Gadeli up to play in the Bundesliga.”

“Gadeli’s attacking prowess is definitely superior to Nuremberg’s current first-team strikers.”

“The Southern Regional League is not Gadeli’s stage, the Bundesliga is.”

“Gadeli should be in the Bundesliga, on the grandest stage, competing against powerhouse teams like Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Werder Bremen.”

“The Southern Regional League is child’s play for Gadeli!”

Indeed, upon seeing Gadeli leap high in the penalty area, overpowering the opposing center-back to head Brewer’s cross into the net, Dieter Hecking in the private box shot to his feet, clapping and shouting, “What a goal!”

Afterward, Hecking continued to applaud as he said to the head of youth development beside him, “I’ve decided. I’m moving Gadeli to the first team after this match. Look at his performance today—not only is his shooting superb, but he has a great Football IQ and a sense of teamwork. And now he’s shown such excellent physical condition and jumping ability, allowing him to score with his head. He absolutely has the makings of a world-class center forward. If we develop him properly, Nuremberg might just produce a world-renowned superstar striker!”

“When that time comes, whether we keep him to play for us or transfer him, Nuremberg will absolutely make a huge profit.”

The head of youth development was also beaming, feeling as if he’d just won the lottery.

As the head of youth development, he had known about Gadeli back in the U15 and U17 days, but had only considered him an ordinary player who might get cut. He never expected Gadeli to suddenly explode this season, setting an unprecedented club record for both speed of improvement and promotion.

And now, for the U23 youth team, he had delivered a stat line of ten goals in four matches.

Such a conversion rate was a feat few players in the entire history of German football had achieved at the youth level.

With a prodigy like Gadeli emerging, he, as the head of youth development, naturally shared in the credit.

The greater Gadeli’s achievements in the future, the greater his own contribution would be seen.

The thought that the youth academy he managed could produce a world-class striker was thrilling.

He nodded enthusiastically at Dieter Hecking’s monologue, wishing Gadeli could be tearing it up on a Bundesliga pitch in the very next match, proving just how incredible the talent from his youth academy was.

On the field, Gadeli and his teammates, naturally, engaged in a fervent celebration for the hat-trick.

In the stands, the fans, led by stadium announcer Ken Harry, chanted Gadeli’s name over and over, idolizing him from the bottom of their hearts.

Many Nuremberg fans and residents who had come to the game out of curiosity felt it was a worthwhile trip.

To have witnessed Gadeli scoring a hat-trick with both his feet and his head was more than they could have asked for.

In the section where Markus and Isabella were sitting, the surrounding fans applauded and cheered for Gadeli’s hat-trick while also offering their congratulations to the couple.

After Gadeli and his teammates finished celebrating and the match restarted, the Nuremberg fans in the stands were still singing the club anthem over and over, expressing the pure joy in their hearts.

Chapter 62: Promotion to the First Team

After the match restarted, the Frankfurt players, who had been engaged in end-to-end action with Nuremberg, were now dejected and their morale was low. They could no longer play with the same attacking verve as before.

Clearly, the 0-3 deficit and Gadeli’s terrifying hat-trick had all but shattered the morale of the visiting Frankfurt team.

Even if a few players tried to rally and continue attacking in an attempt to score, they couldn’t get the unified support of the whole team.

They could only fall back into a defensive formation in their own half, just as they had in the latter part of the first half, allowing the Nuremberg youth team to unleash a relentless bombardment.

However, with a 3-0 lead, the Nuremberg youth team players, while still on the offensive, were not attacking with the same ferocity as before.

After all, no one knew if continuing their fierce assault would cause their opponents to fly into a rage from shame and resort to injury-inducing tactics.

With a huge lead and the opponent having all but given up on counter-attacking, it would be unwise to press them relentlessly and provoke a nasty response.

So, after Gadeli scored his third goal to complete his hat-trick, Nuremberg’s attack cooled down considerably, and the battling on the field was no longer as intense as before.

In the 67th minute, Wiesinger substituted off Gadeli, who had just completed his hat-trick.

As he left the pitch, Gadeli received a unanimous standing ovation from the over twenty thousand fans in attendance.

Gadeli simply waved to the stands, drawing a wave of cheers and screams from the entire crowd, looking every bit the star player.

For the remainder of the match, although Nuremberg had slowed their attack, Frankfurt’s morale was even lower.

Furthermore, the substitute, number 9 center forward Felix, was eager to prove his worth and was tirelessly searching for a chance to shoot.

Finally, in the 88th minute, just as the match was about to end, Felix seized a shooting opportunity.

He found an open space inside the penalty area just as a teammate passed the ball to him. Felix scored with a powerful shot, sealing the final score at 4-0.

After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle. Thanks to Gadeli’s hat-trick and Felix’s goal as the icing on the cake, the Nuremberg youth team thrashed Frankfurt 4-0 at home in the 25th round of the Southern Regional League, securing another massive home victory.

The hat-trick, combined with the team’s four-goal victory, earned Gadeli a total of sixty thousand experience points for this match: ten thousand for starting, thirty thousand for three goals, and twenty thousand for the win bonus. His total experience increased to Level 8, with 166,000 out of 500,000.

After the match, Gadeli and his teammates linked hands and walked over to the stands to interact with and thank the fans.

Markus and Isabella were finally able to make their way to the front row of the stands and embrace Gadeli over the barrier, drawing cheers and applause from the surrounding fans.

Just as Gadeli finished hugging Markus and Isabella, a teenage fan, about seventeen or eighteen years old, excitedly asked, “Gadeli, could you please give me an autograph?”

Gadeli’s heart skipped a beat. This was the first time anyone had ever asked him for an autograph!

He wasn’t a big star from the first team; no matter how many goals he scored, he was still just a youth team player. He never expected to start receiving the star treatment already.

Gadeli happily agreed, signing not only his German name in his first-ever fan’s notebook but also his Chinese name: Chu Zeheng.

Seeing Gadeli’s Chinese signature, the surrounding fans were very curious. Those who couldn’t read it asked what the characters meant.

Gadeli told everyone that his hometown was Dietfurt, a “China Town” with a rich Chinese culture, and welcomed them to visit.

And what he had just signed was the Chinese name he had chosen for himself.

When they heard that Gadeli was from the “China Town” of Bavaria and had given himself a Chinese name, they were no longer surprised.

In fact, many of them were genuinely interested in the “China Town” and Gadeli’s Chinese name. Some of the older fans, who had been a bit too embarrassed to ask the young star for an autograph, now used the excuse of wanting a Chinese signature to get autographs and photos with him.

Gadeli signed over thirty autographs and posed for photos before he was finally pulled away by Coach Wiesinger. Otherwise, with more and more fans gathering around wanting his signature and photo, he would have signed until his hand went numb and still not been able to satisfy everyone’s requests.

Having been a star for a moment felt great to Gadeli.

What felt even better was that, after being pulled back to the locker room by Wiesinger, Gadeli came face-to-face with Nuremberg’s first team head coach, Dieter Hecking.

Dieter Hecking told Gadeli that he had watched the entire match from the stands and was very satisfied with his performance.

He also said that U23 head coach Wiesinger, scout Malcolm, and first team assistant coach Reuthershahn were all in agreement: there was no need for Gadeli to continue bullying the opposition in the Southern Regional League. He should join the first team for training and play in the Bundesliga.

Dieter Hecking formally notified Gadeli of the decision to promote him to the first team.

Since the first team had a match tomorrow and a day off the day after, Gadeli was told to report to the first team on Tuesday to join their training sessions.

As for whether he would actually get to play in the Bundesliga, that would depend on his performance in training.

After all, the Bundesliga was a full four tiers above the German Southern Regional League—the difference was enormous.

He might score goals for fun in the Southern Regional League, with ten goals in four matches, but in the Bundesliga, even getting on the field as a substitute was uncertain.

The world of football is full of examples of players who scored goals for fun in the youth teams but couldn’t even make it as a substitute in the first team.

This is because the gap between the levels of competition is too high; an outstanding performance in the youth team does not guarantee an outstanding performance in the first team.

In fact, players who can carry their youth team form into the senior level are a minority.

Furthermore, as one of the Five Major Leagues, the Bundesliga attracts players from all over the world. The competition is fierce, and establishing oneself in the first team is incredibly difficult.

But that was what Dieter Hecking, Wiesinger, and the others thought.

For Gadeli himself, his football career was a path of only moving forward, with no retreat.

If nothing else, the experience points gained just from training with the first team would be enough for him to level up and improve his abilities gradually.

And once he got the chance to play in the Bundesliga, the massive experience points from the league would allow him to level up and improve his abilities even faster.

There was no way he would be cut from the first team. His strength would only grow, and he would eventually become Nuremberg’s star player.

Of course, that had to be taken one step at a time.

Right now, he had to tell his parents the good news. They hadn’t left yet, so he could invite them, his coaches, and his teammates out for a celebratory Chinese meal.

He called his parents, and sure enough, Markus and Isabella hadn’t left. They were still in the stands, surrounded by fans who were asking them to share interesting stories about Gadeli’s childhood and past.

The two of them were extremely proud of their son’s performance and were already taking on the role of a star player’s parents, starting to craft a likable public persona for Gadeli.

From their stories, the surrounding fans learned that Berent Gadeli had loved football since he was a child and was extremely hardworking. Although he hadn’t performed well at levels below U17, he had persevered without giving up, finally reaching a point this season of steady accumulation leading to a sudden breakthrough, a classic late bloomer.

The fans around them were very impressed.

It was one thing to show talent from a young age, but a youth player like Gadeli, who hadn’t been particularly gifted before and had almost been cut, yet persevered to finally achieve success as a late bloomer, earned everyone’s heartfelt admiration. Naturally, it also made them like Gadeli even more.

Many fans told Markus and Isabella that they had become Gadeli’s fans and would come to cheer for him at every home game from now on.

Just then, Markus received a call from Gadeli, who told him that the first team head coach had personally informed him to report to the first team in two days.

In other words, after playing just four league matches for the U23 youth team, Gadeli had been promoted to Nuremberg’s first team.

Markus, Isabella, and the surrounding fans who heard the news all erupted in fervent cheers.

In truth, after seeing Gadeli score ten goals in four matches and complete another hat-trick in this game, everyone had a feeling that the day he left the youth team to report to the first team was not far off.

But even Markus and Isabella hadn’t expected their son to get the call-up to the first team after just four matches with the U23 youth team.

It was an incredible surprise.

The other Nuremberg fans were now even more convinced that Gadeli was surely the most talented genius in the club’s history.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been promoted so quickly.

As a professional coach, Dieter Hecking’s judgment was certainly better than theirs. The fact that he promoted Gadeli to the first team after just four matches in the Southern Regional League proved that Gadeli’s ability was already sufficient to hold his own on the first team.

Otherwise, Hecking wouldn’t have done it.

Everyone felt lucky to have been there to witness Berent Gadeli’s final youth team match.

It would be impossible to see Gadeli play in the Southern Regional League again.

These two home game hat-tricks were the legacy Gadeli left behind for the Nuremberg U23 youth team.

The fans who had gotten Gadeli’s autograph and photo earlier treasured them like precious jewels. Years later, when they were taken out again, they would have become priceless items in the world of fan memorabilia.

This was because by that time, Gadeli would have become a world-class superstar, and the autographs and photos from today were the very first of his professional career, making them extremely valuable for collection and commemoration.

Chapter 63: Celebration

After seeing off Dieter Hecking, showering, and changing his clothes, Gadeli called all the U23 coaches and teammates to meet up with his parents and go to their regular Chinese restaurant in the city for a celebratory dinner.

It wasn’t just the U23 coaches and teammates; along the way, Gadeli also called up all the U17 and U19 coaches and teammates who were at home.

After all, having been summoned by Dieter Hecking, Gadeli was now officially saying goodbye to the youth academy.

Although they had been in different youth teams before, the training grounds weren’t actually far from each other. They usually lived in the dorms and ate in the canteen, so they could still see each other often.

But upon entering the first team, it was a completely different world.

The training ground was separate and enclosed, the dining hall was separate, the gym was separate, the medical room was separate, and the locker room was separate.

Everything was sectioned off from the youth academy.

After all, the first team played in the Bundesliga; the players were already considered stars. Naturally, their treatment differed from that of the youth academy players, whose highest level of competition was the Southern Regional League.

From now on, it wouldn’t be so easy for everyone to see Gadeli.

So Gadeli wanted to take this opportunity to treat everyone to a meal.

This was a major characteristic of Chinese people; foreigners didn’t have such a strong celebratory atmosphere. They usually just celebrated with their families.

Therefore, for this celebratory dinner organized by Gadeli in the name of his promotion to the first team, everyone who could come, came.

One reason was the novelty of such a gathering, another was their curiosity about Chinese cuisine, and the final reason was that Gadeli was clearly about to take off. Having a meal with him and building a good relationship could prove to be an important connection in the future.

In total, thirty or forty people attended the gathering. The Chinese restaurant didn’t have enough tables and chairs, and had to borrow space from the Western restaurant next door to accommodate Gadeli, his parents, coaches, and teammates.

As the man of the hour, Gadeli also had a little alcohol to celebrate.

Of course, he didn’t drink much.

They were all professional players and knew the damage alcohol could do to athletic performance, so no one would pressure him to drink, let alone force him.

Everyone was very satisfied with the celebratory banquet. Many players who had never had Chinese food before developed a keen interest in it.

This was also part of Gadeli’s goal. Without touching on sensitive topics, he wanted to subtly influence his teammates, coaches, and fans with things like Chinese food and folk culture, sparking their interest in China.

He didn’t demand their support for China, but his aim was that when the European media smeared China, these people, through their interactions with him, would be able to see the facts clearly and not be brainwashed or led astray by the narrative of the anti-China media.

He couldn’t participate in high-level affairs, nor did he want to, but it was still a good thing to be able to do something beneficial for his motherland in small ways.

After saying goodbye to his teammates, Gadeli and his parents checked into a hotel.

Markus and his wife, who had originally planned to return to Dietfurt right after the match, couldn’t leave just yet. Gadeli had been promoted to the first team, and the first team did not provide arranged dormitories.

They were all Bundesliga stars, not short on money. They either rented apartments or bought houses outright; in any case, they wouldn’t be living in the youth team dorms anymore.

It wouldn’t be appropriate.

Gadeli was no exception. Wiesinger had already reminded him about this, telling him to sort out his housing arrangements during the next two days before the first team started training.

The house could be rented or bought, near or far; there were no strict requirements, as long as he wasn’t late for training.

The Germans’ management of discipline was much stricter than in other countries.

If Gadeli couldn’t drive, Wiesinger had suggested finding a place closer to avoid wasting too much time on the road or incurring high taxi costs.

Gadeli’s new body had just reached adulthood and he hadn’t gotten a driver’s license, nor did he know how to drive.

But Gadeli, being Chinese in spirit, did know how to drive.

Moreover, the driver’s seat in German cars was on the left, and they drove on the right, just like in China. Gadeli decided to find some time to get a German driver’s license.

Then, all he would need to do was buy a car, familiarize himself with the performance of German vehicles and traffic rules, and he could drive home himself instead of having Markus come pick him up.

Even if he only had one day off, he could still go back for a visit.

After all, Nuremberg was less than 200 kilometers from Dietfurt. With no speed limits on the German autobahn, he could be home in an hour or so at most.

He could go back in the morning and return at night.

That night, lying in his hotel bed, Gadeli began to check his system attributes and missions.

Because he had received a clear promotion notice from the first team’s head coach, Dieter Hecking, his mission to get promoted to the Nuremberg first team (Mission 7) was considered complete.

This earned him a reward of twenty skill points, raising his skill point balance to twenty-six.

At the same time, he had only participated in four games in the Southern Regional League.

Although he had scored a whopping ten goals, he hadn’t met the mission’s minimum requirement of five appearances.

Therefore, with Gadeli already promoted to the first team, regardless of whether the Nuremberg youth team could win the German Southern Regional League championship, Gadeli could not complete Mission 8 for the regional league title due to his insufficient number of appearances.

So, the moment Dieter Hecking announced his promotion to the first team, that mission was declared a failure and disappeared.

Fortunately, there was no penalty for failing the mission, so it didn’t matter.

In addition to completing Mission 7 and the failure of Mission 8, after his promotion to the first team, Gadeli naturally received new missions concerning his Bundesliga debut and his first goal.

These were missions that didn’t exist in the youth team.

It seemed that even in the eyes of the system, the Bundesliga, one of the Five Major Leagues, was indeed different from the youth leagues.

The new missions Gadeli received were:

Mission 9: Bundesliga Debut

Mission Details: Host, please perform well and get an opportunity to play in the Bundesliga before the end of this season.

Success Reward: 10 skill points

Failure Penalty: None

…

Mission 10: First Bundesliga Goal

Mission Details: Host, please perform well and score your first Bundesliga goal before the end of this season.

Success Reward: 10 skill points

Failure Penalty: None

…

Getting skill point rewards for both his Bundesliga debut and his first goal was quite nice.

As for why there wasn’t a mission about winning the Bundesliga title?

He figured it was because even if Nuremberg won all their remaining league games, it was impossible for them to win the championship, so the system simply didn’t issue any related missions or rewards for the Bundesliga title this season.

After a night’s rest at the hotel, the next day, while the Nuremberg first team was heading to their away game against Stuttgart, Gadeli and his parents were looking for a house near the first-team training base.

Although Gadeli hadn’t yet appeared for the first team, he was already a little famous among the fans in Nuremberg.

After all, just yesterday, he had scored a hat-trick at the Grundig Stadion, helping the Nuremberg youth team thrash the visiting Frankfurt youth team 4-0 in front of more than twenty thousand fans.

Many more fans had watched the game on television.

Therefore, during his house search, Gadeli was naturally recognized by fans. When they heard that he needed to rent a house near the first-team training base for training and matches, these fans eagerly volunteered to help him make inquiries and connections.

With the help of these local fans, it only took Gadeli half a day to find a suitable house, and the landlord was also a Nuremberg fan.

Seeing Gadeli, a talented player from Nuremberg’s own youth academy, looking to rent, the fan landlord only charged a symbolic amount of rent before happily leasing a two-bedroom apartment to him.

Not only did they help him find a place, but several enthusiastic fans also drove with the three of them back to the youth academy to help Gadeli move, carrying all his luggage to the rental apartment.

Then they took Gadeli and his parents for a tour of the neighborhood, showing them the locations of the supermarket, bank, and restaurants to make it easier for Gadeli to live on his own.

While Gadeli and his family were renting a house and moving with the help of fans, Nuremberg was defeated 1-0 by Stuttgart in their away game, suffering another match without a single goal.

Dieter Hecking was utterly disappointed with the first team’s forwards, making him even more resolute in his decision to promote Gadeli and more eager for Gadeli to adapt to first-team training as soon as possible.

After helping their son get settled, Markus and Isabella returned to Dietfurt that evening, as they had to work the next day.

The next day, Monday, March 26th, the first team had the day off. In his rental apartment, Gadeli spent five skill points to raise Ball Control from 81 to 82, Jumping from 83 to 84, Dribbling from 77 to 78, off-the-ball movement from 80 to 81, and La Croqueta from 75 to 76. His skill point balance was now twenty-one.

With extra skill points, Gadeli naturally had to upgrade several useful skills. The competition in the first team would surely be much tougher than in the youth team.

He couldn’t do anything about the skills he hadn’t unlocked yet, but for the ones he had, Gadeli had to improve them as much as possible.

On March 27th, Gadeli woke up very early, too excited to sleep.

More than half a year after his transmigration to Germany, he had finally been promoted to the Nuremberg first team. Today, he would participate in his first training session with them, and soon he could play in the Bundesliga.

Gadeli couldn’t help but be thrilled. No matter how mature his mental age was, he was still Chinese at heart. For Chinese football, the Bundesliga was one of the Five Major Leagues. Any player who could make it there to play was an object of national media and fan attention.

Although Gadeli was now in the body of a German and wouldn’t receive that attention from his home country, it didn’t diminish his excitement.

After making and eating breakfast at home according to the diet plan provided by the club nutritionist, Gadeli greeted his new neighbors on his way out, then headed downstairs and started jogging towards the first team’s training base.

Nuremberg first team, I, Berent Gadeli, am here!

Chapter 64: A World of Difference Between the First Team and the Youth Academy

Although the first-team training ground was adjacent to the youth academy, it had a separate entrance and was surrounded by a wall. The youth academy side could not see the first team’s training sessions, nor could they enter the first-team facility.

This was, of course, to protect the first-team players’ privacy and the secrecy of their tactical training.

Only during the occasional open training sessions could media and fans enter the first-team grounds to watch; ordinarily, it was off-limits.

During his day off yesterday, assistant coach Reuthershahn had called Gadeli over. He took him to register with the gate guard, then gave him a tour of the first-team training facility, showing him the locker room, gym, first-team dining hall, nap room, recreation room, medical room, and so on.

Therefore, when Gadeli arrived at the entrance today, the guard didn’t stop him. Instead, the guard even called out, “Keep it up, Gadeli!”

Overly excited, Gadeli was the first to arrive at the locker room; even the equipment manager hadn’t come to unlock the door yet.

Gadeli stood at the entrance and waited for a while before the equipment manager arrived with the keys. Only then was Gadeli able to enter the locker room, find the locker with his name on it, change into his training gear, and head to the training pitch for a warm-up jog.

Then, about half an hour later, his teammates and coaches began to arrive one by one. Seeing Gadeli already jogging laps around the pitch, they all shared knowing smiles.

It was a common sight for a young player, thrilled about his first promotion to the first team, to arrive early with nothing to do but run laps around the field. No one found it strange.

Germans are quite particular about discipline, and Nuremberg had no big-name stars who could ignore the coach and the team’s rules.

Soon, when it was time for training to officially begin, all the players had changed into their training kits and were lined up on the pitch. Gadeli, of course, instinctively took a spot at the edge of the second row.

Head coach Dieter Hecking first introduced Gadeli to everyone. As for the other players, Gadeli would have to get to know them himself over time.

Then, the head coach reviewed the away game against Stuttgart from the day before yesterday. He praised the backline’s performance for conceding only one goal in an away game, but also expressed his dissatisfaction with the toothless attack, which had failed to score a single goal in three consecutive matches. He announced that they would be focusing on strengthening their attack and shooting training in the coming days.

If they couldn’t win the next match, it would be a four-game losing streak.

This was the training curriculum Gadeli wanted to see most, as only shooting drills would allow him to earn the trust of his coach and teammates as quickly as possible.

And indeed, on his very first day of training with the first team, although many of Gadeli’s technical skills were not outstanding, his advantage in shooting alone was enough to make the coaching staff and his teammates look at him in a new light.

Even though they had heard that a striking prodigy who could score goals for fun had come up from the youth team, many players had been dismissive, thinking it was just due to the lower quality of the regional league. But now, seeing Gadeli’s performance in the shooting drills, they all realized just how good his shooting was.

Dieter Hecking was even more surprised. He had thought that Gadeli, having just joined the first team, would need some time to adapt no matter what. He never expected Gadeli to perform so well on his first day, with his shooting as steady and superb as it had been with the youth team.

At the same time, several of Gadeli’s other skills, such as Ball Control, Jumping, Dribbling, and off-the-ball movement, were also quite good. While they were far from being in a class of their own like his shooting, they were still better than those of the first team’s original center forwards, Eigler and Pekhart.

Of course, Gadeli’s stamina, physique, ability in physical contests, speed, passing and receiving, vision, experience, and so on were still very weak.

Moreover, because he had been in the youth academy, where the match intensity was far below that of the Bundesliga, Gadeli’s reaction speed for actions like shooting or dribbling and breaking through was not as fast as the first-team players.

In an official Bundesliga match, this was a major flaw. Opponents in the Bundesliga wouldn’t give you time to slowly execute your moves.

To put it into perspective: the average distance covered per player in a German Southern Regional League match is only around six kilometers, around eight kilometers in the 3. Liga, around ten in the 2. Bundesliga, and around twelve in the Bundesliga.

The average distance covered by a Bundesliga player was a full two times that of a player in the Southern Regional League.

This wasn’t just reflected in the fact that Bundesliga players had better stamina and could run more than the opponents Gadeli had faced in the Southern Regional League. It also meant that their reaction speeds in everything from their pass and move to their attacking and defensive actions were much faster than in the Southern Regional League.

Otherwise, for players of the same age, why would a regional league player have an annual salary of a few tens of thousands of euros, while Bundesliga players command hundreds of thousands, or even millions?

Players in the top leagues weren’t just technically skilled; their reaction speeds on the pitch were also world-class.

With the habits Gadeli had developed playing in the Southern Regional League, he might not even be able to get a single successful shot off during an entire Bundesliga match.

This was because the defenders would react faster than he could shoot. The ball might be poked away by an opponent before he could even complete his shooting motion.

Therefore, for Gadeli, who had just been playing in the fourth-tier German Southern Regional League, there was still a long road ahead before he could play in the Bundesliga, one of the Five Major Leagues.

After training that day, Gadeli was stunned by the experience points the system awarded him. It was a whopping fifty thousand, which instantly boosted his level experience to two hundred ten thousand out of five hundred thousand at level eight.

He remembered that his training experience with the U23 youth team was only five thousand. This was a sudden tenfold increase, reaching fifty thousand in a single day’s training. It was terrifying.

Of course, Gadeli liked this kind of shock. The more, the better.

Based on his previous observations of the relationship between daily training experience and match experience, a starting appearance in the Bundesliga would grant a full one hundred thousand experience points, and each goal would also be worth one hundred thousand.

That was just incredible.

Gadeli wished he could get a chance to start in the very next match.

But an intra-squad training match held the next day left Gadeli dumbfounded.

During the sixty-minute training match, Gadeli was subbed on by the coach in the second half, playing for thirty minutes on the substitute team’s side.

In those entire thirty minutes, Gadeli got only one shot off, and even then, he was pushed by a defender at the very moment he shot, causing the ball to fly wide of the frame.

It wasn’t that the substitute team wasn’t passing to him; it was genuinely that his reaction speed was too slow.

Sometimes, in just an instant—perhaps not even half a second—the ball would be taken away by an opponent.

Some people might not understand the importance of this reaction speed.

Let’s put it this way: a top sprinter running one hundred meters in ten seconds can cover ten meters in one second.

A football player isn’t that fast, so let’s say eight meters per second. In half a second, they can still cover four meters.

Would a top-league defender let you run into a space four meters away to receive a pass?

It happens, but rarely.

So, if Gadeli hesitated even slightly when handling the ball, even for just half a second, the ball could be stolen, or an opponent could close him down to disrupt and ruin his shot.

It was true that his shooting was maxed out and perfect, but if the opponent didn’t give him a comfortable chance to take a shot, there was nothing Gadeli could do.

The gap between the U23s and the first team wasn’t just one level; it was a world of difference.

Gadeli finally understood why many prodigies who looked like the successors to the king of football in the youth academy would fade into obscurity after reaching the first team, or even fail to secure a spot at all, forced into transfers or loans to lower-league clubs to gain experience.

Even the U23-level Olympic football tournament wasn’t classified as a senior international A-level match.

The reason was that the difference between the first team and the youth academy was simply too vast.

If Gadeli wanted to get a chance to play in the Bundesliga, he still needed time.

On March 30th, when Dieter Hecking announced the matchday squad for the next day’s Bundesliga game, Gadeli, as expected, was not included.

Gadeli wasn’t surprised.

After the past few days of training, he knew he probably hadn’t met the coach’s requirements for playing time.

While the team’s existing center forwards didn’t have shooting skills as good as his, at least they could get the ball off their feet. If Gadeli were to play, he might not even be able to get a shot away at all, so what use was great shooting then?

Therefore, it was no surprise that he didn’t make the matchday squad.

But for the match the next day, Gadeli, along with several other players who hadn’t been selected, still went to the stadium to watch.

This was both a perk the club offered its first-team players and a requirement from the coaching staff.

Even if they couldn’t sit on the substitute bench, they had to sit in the stands to observe and analyze the game.

At 14:30 on March 31, 2012, the 2011/2012 Bundesliga season’s 28th matchday fixture between Nuremberg and Bayern Munich kicked off at Nuremberg’s home ground, the Grundig Stadion.

This was the most prestigious derby in Bavaria. Bayern Munich versus Munich 1860 was the Munich derby, but the Bavarian derby was Bayern Munich versus Nuremberg.

Therefore, even though Nuremberg was currently in the lower half of the league table, facing the Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich at home, they were still ready for a fight, daring to go head-to-head.

They wanted to defeat Bayern Munich to prove that they too were a top team in Bavaria, a team worthy of the prestigious Bavarian derby title.

Similarly, although Bayern Munich didn’t pay much mind to Nuremberg, they had to maintain their status as the top dog in Bavaria and let everyone know that Bayern Munich’s position was not to be challenged.

Moreover, Bayern was currently trailing their rivals Borussia Dortmund in the league standings, sitting in second place. Thus, the王者 (literally “kingly”) Bayern’s fighting spirit was also high, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle.

Nuremberg’s backline was as solid as ever and didn’t make too many mistakes. They mostly held firm against the relentless bombardment from a host of world-class superstars like Robben, Ribéry, Müller, Gomez, and Kroos. Over the entire match, they conceded only one goal, scored by the Flying Dutchman, Arjen Robben.

Facing Bayern Munich, facing an attacking line with the likes of Robben, Ribéry, and Müller, conceding only one goal was by no means a disgrace. In fact, it could be considered an outstanding defensive performance.

The problem was, while Nuremberg’s defense held off Bayern’s attack, their own forward line failed to breach Bayern Munich’s defense, ultimately resulting in a regrettable 0-1 defeat at home.

This handed Nuremberg a four-game losing streak, and they had failed to score a single goal in all four matches.

Forget the media and the fans; Dieter Hecking himself wanted to curse.

Rebuilding Nuremberg’s forward line was now a matter of extreme urgency. Otherwise, Nuremberg, though not yet in the relegation zone, could very well be relegated at the end of the season.

After the loss to Bayern Munich, Nuremberg was now only three points—a single game’s difference—away from the third-to-last spot, the relegation zone.

If they weren’t careful, Nuremberg would be in the 2. Bundesliga next season, becoming a yo-yo club once again for a few more years.

“We have to rebuild the attack. There’s no other choice!” Dieter Hecking muttered to himself after the match.

Chapter 65: Freiburg Again

While watching this top Bavarian derby from the stands, Gadeli had his own takeaways.

He used to watch matches as a regular fan, and like many fans, he would often wonder why players on the pitch made such basic mistakes or why they seemed to react so slowly to certain opportunities, thinking about what could have happened if they had just acted a little faster.

But now that he was a member of the Nuremberg first team, he couldn’t help but put himself in the players’ shoes. When he combined this perspective with his old playing habits, he realized something: if he didn’t change the way he played, he likely wouldn’t get a single decent shooting opportunity all game against Bayern Munich’s defensive line.

Bayern’s backline consisted of players like Neuer, Boateng, Contento, Lahm, and Gustavo. These were players with multi-million-euro annual salaries whose individual skills, mental fortitude, match experience, and teamwork were all world-class. They were incredibly fast and decisive when handling the ball.

Against them, Gadeli wouldn’t have time to hesitate or think; he would have to deal with the ball at top speed, or it would be taken from him in an instant.

And trying to handle the ball faster would increase his margin for error. A well-prepared shot and a rushed shot would naturally have vastly different shot-on-target rates.

Besides, he wasn’t even guaranteed to get a chance to shoot against them.

Therefore, he had to get even faster at handling the ball.

After a day off on April 1st, training resumed on April 2nd.

It was a Monday, so Gadeli spent another five skill points, raising his Ball Control from 82 to 83, Jumping from 84 to 85, Dribbling from 78 to 79, off-the-ball movement from 81 to 82, and La Croqueta from 76 to 77, leaving him with a balance of 16 skill points.

Although many of his skills were still locked or very weak, the improvement in the ones he had already unlocked allowed Dieter Hecking to see Gadeli’s strengths and the speed of his progress. The head coach’s expectations for him were growing higher and higher.

After training on April 4th, Gadeli’s total experience points reached 510,000/500,000 for Level 8, automatically leveling him up to Level 9 with 10,000/700,000 experience points.

This time, Gadeli’s luck was through the roof. The random skill he received upon leveling up was Physique.

This was one of the most crucial skills for him as a center forward. By improving this skill, even when tightly marked by opponents in their penalty area, he could use his physical advantage to hold them off, receive the ball, and shoot.

Gadeli’s own height and weight already gave him a decent base Physique attribute, which started at 74. If he could raise it above 90, he could become a Drogba-like monster in the box, a ruler of the penalty area.

It was a perfect complement to his shooting ability.

After spending one skill point to increase Physique from 74 to 75, he had nine of the ten skill points from leveling up remaining. Added to his previous balance, his skill points now totaled 25.

On April 5th, Dieter Hecking held another intra-squad training match.

Having had some time to adapt to first-team training, Gadeli finally managed to get a few shots off in the training match and even scored a goal.

This was enough to make Dieter Hecking consider adding Gadeli to the matchday squad for the next game.

The final decision was made for him on April 6th, when the substitute center forward, number 8 Eigler, pulled a muscle in training and was forced to sit out the next match.

Currently, the Nuremberg first team only had three out-and-out center forwards. Although other players could play the position, the height, weight, and playing styles of the three natural center forwards were much better suited for the role.

Therefore, with the substitute center forward Eigler injured and unavailable for the next matchday squad, Dieter Hecking had little to hesitate about and had to put Gadeli on the list.

Of course, each team can only bring 18 players to a match—11 starters and seven substitutes.

One of the substitutes had to be a goalkeeper, but there was no rule stating that the remaining six had to include a center forward. So, until Dieter Hecking officially announced the squad, Gadeli couldn’t be sure he would make the cut.

Therefore, when the squad for the next day’s match was announced on the afternoon of Eigler’s injury, Gadeli was still quite on edge.

Fortunately, it turned out as everyone expected. After the starting lineup was read out, Gadeli’s name appeared on the list of substitutes.

Although Eigler’s injury was a factor, the advantages and rapid improvement Gadeli had shown in his shooting, off-the-ball movement, jumping, and ball control during training had earned him his first-ever inclusion in Nuremberg’s 18-man Bundesliga matchday squad.

That evening, Gadeli called home to tell his parents the good news.

Even though it was uncertain if he would get any playing time, Markus and Isabella could still watch the live broadcast.

What if Gadeli got a chance to come on as a substitute?

Therefore, Markus and Isabella were very excited, planning to be glued to the television the next day so they wouldn’t miss a single moment of their son’s potential debut.

On April 7, 2012, at 2:30 PM, the referee’s whistle blew, officially starting the Matchday 29 game of the 2011/2012 Bundesliga season between Freiburg and Nuremberg at Freiburg’s home ground, the Schwarzwald-Stadion.

Gadeli felt he had a peculiar connection with Freiburg.

His first U17 match after his transmigration was Nuremberg U17’s home game against the Freiburg U17 youth team. Nuremberg U17 won that match 3-1, and Gadeli scored a goal.

Then, his first match after being promoted to the U23s was also against the Freiburg U23 youth team, and it was played at this very Schwarzwald-Stadion.

That was Gadeli’s first German Southern regional league match, and he scored a brace—the only two goals of the entire game—helping the Nuremberg youth team secure an easy 2-0 away victory over Freiburg. It was his first win in an official match after his promotion to the U23 youth team.

And now, after his promotion to the Nuremberg first team, his first time in the 18-man squad was, yet again, against Freiburg, and yet again, at the Schwarzwald-Stadion.

Sitting on the substitute’s bench, a thought uncontrollably popped into Gadeli’s head:

“I scored in my last two games against Freiburg and helped the team win. Could the head coach see that as a good omen and put me on as a substitute to try and score later?”

As Gadeli’s mind wandered, full of anticipation, in the 8th minute, Nuremberg’s number 20 attacking midfielder, Didavi, played a one-two pass with a teammate in the attacking third to create space. He decisively unleashed a long shot from about 20 meters outside the penalty area.

The ball flew like an arrow through the box and into the net just before the diving goalkeeper’s hand could reach it.

Nuremberg had scored just eight minutes into the away game.

Everyone, from the scorer Didavi on the pitch to the coach Dieter Hecking and the substitutes on the bench, erupted in fervent celebration.

It was because Nuremberg hadn’t scored a single goal in four matches. They had been waiting for this for far too long.

Now that the team’s goal drought was finally broken, it was no wonder the entire team celebrated so wildly.

The Nuremberg players celebrated for a good half-minute before the referee, prompted by protests from the Freiburg players, intervened and sent them back to their own half.

After the game restarted, Freiburg, now trailing at home, launched a furious offensive, trying to score and equalize.

But that’s the nature of football; goals are much harder to come by than in basketball.

As the first half drew to a close, Freiburg had still failed to score an equalizer.

Just when everyone thought the first half would end 0-1, the referee added two minutes of stoppage time.

Then, in the 46th minute, more than a minute into stoppage time, Nuremberg launched an attack down the left wing. The number 14 left midfielder, Robert Mak, played a one-two with Didavi before sending an aerial cross into the box.

Nuremberg’s number 9 center forward, the 194cm-tall Pekhart, charged into the penalty area, beat Freiburg’s number 28 center-back Matthias to the ball, and powered a strong header into the back of Freiburg’s net.

After failing to score in four matches, Nuremberg suddenly couldn’t stop. They had scored two goals in the first half of this game.

And the second goal was scored by the starting center forward, Pekhart, with whom Dieter Hecking had been dissatisfied all season.

Perhaps Hecking’s decision to bring Gadeli up to the first team had put pressure on him.

In any case, after four consecutive losses and a four-game goal drought, Nuremberg had somehow scored twice in the first half of this away game against Freiburg, with the second goal being a header from Gadeli’s rival, Pekhart.

Pekhart also knew of the head coach’s dissatisfaction with him, so he was ecstatic after scoring and celebrated wildly, venting the emotional release of breaking his goal drought.

Not long after Pekhart’s goal, the referee blew the whistle for halftime. The two teams went into the break with the score at 0-2, with the away team, Nuremberg, leading by two goals.

During halftime, Freiburg made a substitution, and they strengthened their attack after the second half began.

Everyone had assumed that Nuremberg, having scored two goals in the first half, would go on to win the match.

Who would have known that the tides would turn dramatically after the second half began? First, in the 53rd minute, Nuremberg defender Nilsson committed a foul inside the penalty area, giving away a penalty kick. The opponent converted it, making the score 1-2.

Later, in the 79th minute, Freiburg mounted an attack down the wing, cut inside from the byline, and made a cutback pass. Their midfielder, Makiadi, made a late run from deep and placed a shot from the edge of the box into the far corner, leveling the score at 2-2.

After being down 0-2 at halftime, Freiburg had stunningly scored two unanswered goals in the second half to tie the game at 2-2.

The entire Schwarzwald-Stadion erupted in the thunderous cheers of the Freiburg fans.

Chapter 66: Bundesliga Debut

In contrast, having gone from a two-goal lead to a draw, turning three points almost in hand into just one, everyone at Nuremberg was thoroughly dejected.

On a four-game losing streak, they had finally managed to take a 2-0 lead in an away game, with a victory seemingly within their grasp.

Unexpectedly, their opponents clawed back two goals to equalize the score.

From the coach to the players, even the team doctor and kit manager, everyone looked utterly frustrated and unwilling to accept the result.

Dieter Hecking was also extremely displeased.

It wasn’t just the frustration of the score being leveled, but also the shooting performance of the players on the field.

Nuremberg had been in excellent form for this match, not only securing a two-goal advantage in the first half but also creating numerous shooting opportunities. However, many of those chances were squandered.

If they had won the game, Hecking’s dissatisfaction wouldn’t have been so great. After all, a win is a win.

But now that the score was tied, Hecking felt that if they had just converted one more of those earlier chances, the opponent’s two goals would not have been enough to equalize, and Nuremberg would still be winning.

Therefore, as the Freiburg players and fans celebrated leveling the score, Dieter Hecking waved over Gadeli, who had long since been sent to the sidelines to warm up. “Gadeli, come here!”

Hecking wasn’t unhappy with center forward Pekhart, who had, after all, scored a goal.

He was unhappy with the entire team’s shooting. That’s why he needed to bring on Gadeli, with his superb shooting skills, to try and take shots, score a goal, and secure a last-minute winner.

He could have accepted a 0-0 draw for the whole match.

But to have a two-goal lead and then be pegged back by the opponent—that was simply too hard to swallow. Thus, he was preparing to substitute Gadeli on, hoping to use the final ten minutes to see if they could snatch a winner.

To the Freiburg players, Gadeli was an absolute newcomer. Even if they had heard about his performance in the youth team, they subconsciously wouldn’t attach much importance to him.

If Gadeli could just get a shooting opportunity, his perfect shooting technique could very well result in a goal.

As for Gadeli himself, he had been sent to the warm-up area by assistant coach Reuthershahn after the 70th minute, doing routine exercises with the other substitutes. He hadn’t expected that he would actually get a chance to play in his very first appearance in the matchday squad.

To his surprise, his moment had arrived.

Hearing the head coach’s call, Gadeli jogged over to Dieter Hecking’s side, under the envious gazes of his fellow substitutes.

Dieter Hecking first notified the fourth official of the planned substitution, then put an arm around Gadeli’s shoulder and whispered in his ear:

“Gadeli, you’ll be replacing Pekhart to play as the center forward. Don’t hold onto the ball too much, and don’t let the opponents focus their defense on you. Make a lot of off-the-ball runs, try to find open space, then take a direct shot when you get a pass from a teammate. Understand?”

Gadeli nodded, barely able to contain his excitement as he prepared to enter the pitch.

Then, in the 81st minute, Nuremberg made a substitution: number 9, Pekhart, came off, and number 50, Berent Gadeli, came on.

Pekhart was in a decent mood as he left the field. He had scored, and it wasn’t his fault the team had let the lead slip.

Therefore, even though Gadeli was a rival for his position, he was magnanimous, giving Gadeli a hug and a high-five before walking off. Dieter Hecking also high-fived him, acknowledging that he had finally gotten a goal in this match.

In Dietfurt, Markus and Isabella, watching on television, jumped into each other’s arms and cheered when they saw their son being substituted on. Then, they stared wide-eyed and motionless at the screen, afraid of missing the moment their son scored.

In the commentary box, the lead commentator for Bavarian State Television Channel 1, Frederik, who was covering the match, spoke with a hint of excitement in his voice:

“Dieter Hecking is making a change, bringing on the 18-year-old talent Berent Gadeli, who has just been promoted to the first team.”

“Many fans may not have heard of Gadeli, but he is the most efficient goal-scorer and the fastest-progressing talent in the history of the Nuremberg Youth Academy.”

“At the start of this season, Gadeli was still with the U17s. In September, he was promoted to the U19s, in December to the U23s, and just last week, he was moved up to the first team.”

“In the U19 and U23 youth teams, Gadeli scored in his last ten consecutive games, netting a total of 17 goals and providing 3 assists, directly contributing to 20 goals. That’s an average of two goals per game—an astonishing rate of efficiency.”

“Gadeli carries the high hopes of many in the media and the fanbase, who wish for him to become a home-grown superstar for Nuremberg.”

“Now, Dieter Hecking has brought Gadeli onto the field. Gadeli has finally stepped onto the battlefield of the Bundesliga, making his professional league debut. Let’s wait and see what kind of performance he can deliver.”

This match wasn’t considered a major showdown for the week, so it wasn’t broadcast on German National Television. Therefore, it fell to Bavarian State Television to air it live.

But as it was a Bundesliga match, the state television station gave it due importance, broadcasting it on their main channel and assigning their top football commentator, Frederik, to cover it.

Although Frederik hadn’t commentated on Southern Regional League games before, he had done his homework before the match and was familiar with every player in Nuremberg’s eighteen-man squad.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be called the lead commentator. It was his professionalism and dedication that had secured his position.

So, even though he hadn’t personally commentated on Gadeli’s games before, when Gadeli was brought on as a substitute, he could clearly and concisely relate Gadeli’s basic information and youth team record to the audience, sparking the interest of the Nuremberg fans watching at home.

No matter how talented a Nuremberg player was, it was impossible to capture everyone’s attention. Many fans typically focus more on the Bundesliga, Champions League, and Europa League, not even bothering with the 2. Bundesliga or 3. Liga, let alone youth team matches.

So, even though Gadeli scored goals for fun in the youth teams, only a few tens of thousands of fans knew of him.

Even so, that was enough to be considered the top star of the youth team, but it was a very small percentage of Nuremberg’s entire fanbase.

Now, after hearing Frederik’s introduction, many fans who were hearing Gadeli’s name for the first time realized that the Nuremberg Youth Academy had produced such a talent, and they were suddenly filled with anticipation for his appearance.

The sentiment was universal: being pegged back after a two-goal lead was incredibly frustrating. If Gadeli could come on as a substitute and score to give Nuremberg a last-minute winner, he would become famous with a single goal and win the hearts of all Nuremberg supporters.

It was amidst these high expectations that Gadeli stepped onto the pitch of the German Bundesliga, one of Europe’s Five Major Leagues.

Once on the field, Gadeli first relayed head coach Dieter Hecking’s instructions to his midfield and forward teammates like Didavi and Robert Mak, telling them not to pass to him rashly, but only when he had run into an open space where he could shoot.

The rest of the time, he would focus on off-the-ball movement to lull the opposition.

As an 18-year-old rookie making his Bundesliga debut, Gadeli’s entry onto the pitch certainly didn’t draw much attention from the Freiburg players.

They were focusing more on their attack.

After all, they had already scored two goals to equalize and their morale was at its peak.

If they could capitalize on their momentum and score another goal to complete a super comeback from 2-0 down, it would be a game they could talk about for a year.

The combination of factors—Gadeli being a rookie, his teammates not passing to him readily, Freiburg being more offensively than defensively minded, and Freiburg’s defensive line not being particularly strong—gave Gadeli a very relaxed playing environment in his first Bundesliga match.

In the previous match against Bayern Munich, if Gadeli had played, world-class stars like Neuer, Boateng, Contento, and Lahm might have completely shut him down.

But now, with a few more days of training under his belt, facing a weaker opponent in Freiburg, and with the game’s circumstances in his favor, Gadeli was afforded a low-pressure environment in which to adapt.

For the first few minutes after coming on, Gadeli really didn’t do much. He was like an invisible man, not touching the ball and rarely appearing in the broadcast camera’s frame, which somewhat disappointed his parents and the many fans who had been filled with expectation after the commentator’s introduction.

But Gadeli, on the field, wasn’t disappointed. On the contrary, he was growing more and more pleased.

Making his Bundesliga debut, he had been a bit overexcited in the first few minutes. If a teammate had passed him the ball, he might have lost it.

But after a few minutes of running and warming up, getting used to the positioning, speed, and coordination of the opponent’s backline, Gadeli felt that he would likely get a chance to shoot today.

Because Freiburg wasn’t paying him any mind, and his teammates consistently refrained from passing to him, Gadeli was finding open space with increasing frequency.

Of course, sometimes he was too far from the goal. Other times, the teammate in possession was not in a good position to make a pass, so Gadeli still hadn’t had a shooting opportunity.

He continued to lead the line, using his 82-rated off-the-ball movement to search for a potential scoring chance.

As time wore on, Freiburg, the home team, pushed their formation higher and higher up the pitch. They, too, wanted to score a third goal and snatch a winner against Nuremberg.

The two sides engaged in fierce battling in the midfield, both desperate to win the ball, launch another attack, and score.

Soon, the clock reached the 90th minute. The fourth official held up the electronic timing board showing three minutes of stoppage time.

At this point, Gadeli, who had been on the pitch for nine minutes, had only touched the ball once—a first-time pass back to a teammate without even controlling it.

That was Gadeli’s only touch in his nine minutes on the field.

Such a performance left many Nuremberg fans in front of their TVs feeling disappointed. It also made the Freiburg defenders pay even less attention to Gadeli, assuming he was just a youth academy kid that Dieter Hecking had brought on to experience the Bundesliga atmosphere.

Chapter 67: Stoppage-Time Volleyed Winner

Amidst the constant battling between both sides, in the 91st minute of stoppage time, a Freiburg attack was broken up in midfield, and Nuremberg regained possession to launch a counter-attack.

Nuremberg was playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. The right midfielder, Feulner, carried the ball at high speed along the sideline. In the center, attacking midfielder Didavi and center forward Gadeli surged towards Freiburg’s penalty area, following the retreating Freiburg backline.

However, of Freiburg’s two center-backs, one was marking Didavi tightly, while the other, although seemingly running with Gadeli, was not actually paying any attention to him.

His focus was on Nuremberg’s main attacking midfielder, Didavi. The moment Didavi got the ball, he would charge over with his teammate to double-team him.

As for Gadeli?

After being on the pitch for so long with only a single touch of the ball, he was practically invisible. The defender had subconsciously dismissed Gadeli, not considering him a threat.

On the wing, the number 7 right midfielder, Feulner, reached about 30 meters from the byline before being intercepted by Freiburg’s number 24 full-back, Musa.

Feulner paused slightly, feinting a pass to Didavi who was moving up in the center, which momentarily threw Musa off balance.

The next second, Feulner pushed the ball to the outside, knocked it forward, and burst past Musa on the flank using his sheer speed.

Musa immediately turned to chase, and although he was half a step behind Feulner, he managed to hold the inside position, preventing Feulner from cutting inside.

But Feulner made no attempt to cut inside. He continued to drive the ball down the wing at high speed, heading for the byline, not even giving the pursuing Musa a chance to make a tackle.

By the time Feulner had carried the ball to about 10 meters from the byline, Musa still hadn’t managed to win it back.

Then, at that exact moment, Feulner decisively whipped in a cross.

The ball lifted into the air, flying past Musa’s outstretched leg and soaring towards Freiburg’s penalty area.

Didavi, who had continued his run through the center, was the first to charge towards the near post, looking certain to get to the ball. As a result, both of Freiburg’s center-backs had their attention fixed on him. One challenged him for the aerial duel, while the other positioned himself in the middle, ready to control the second ball and clear it.

As for Gadeli at the far post, he had been completely ignored.

Under close pressure from the opposing center-back, Didavi managed to win the first ball but couldn’t get enough power on it to direct it toward the goal.

Therefore, instead of going for goal himself, Didavi used his head to flick the ball on towards the far post with a knockdown header.

The ball glanced off the top of Didavi’s head, sailed over the central defender Ginter, and dropped towards the far post—right where Gadeli was positioned.

Seeing Didavi win the first ball but play a knockdown header to the number 50, Gadeli, at the far post instead of shooting, Freiburg’s goalkeeper, Baumann, who was covering the near post, turned pale with shock and immediately scrambled towards the back of the goal.

In the center, Ginter’s expression also changed drastically. He spun around, following the flight of the ball, and sprinted towards Gadeli at the far post, trying to cover the space and block his shot.

In reality, the distance between Ginter and Gadeli wasn’t great; Gadeli was only five or six meters behind him, about 11 meters from the goal.

If Gadeli didn’t go for a direct header and took a touch to control the ball, Ginter could have charged in and thrown himself in front of the shot. It was still possible he could have blocked it.

However, Gadeli gave him no such opportunity.

As the ball dropped over Ginter’s head, it was at an awkward height for a header; it had to be taken with his foot.

But there wasn’t enough time.

Gadeli could already see Ginter turning and lunging towards him. If he tried to control the ball and adjust, he might miss the golden opportunity.

Whether from his usual training or from watching the last home game against Bayern Munich, Gadeli had gained a profound understanding of just how quickly Bundesliga players react and deal with the ball.

Therefore, Gadeli abandoned any thought of taking the ball down before shooting. Instead, he swung his right leg back and prepared to strike it on the volley.

Even without activating his ‘Volley’ skill, it didn’t mean Gadeli couldn’t execute one. A skill rated as flawless at its maximum level was just as formidable when applied to a volley.

Thus, although Freiburg’s center-back Ginter reacted quickly, turning to charge at Gadeli the moment Didavi headed the ball on…

And though goalkeeper Baumann’s reflexes were also sharp, scrambling to the far left post as fast as he could…

They still couldn’t match the speed of Gadeli’s shot.

At the far post of the penalty area, about 11 meters from the goal, Gadeli planted his left foot, swung his right, and, with his eyes fixed on the ball knocked down by his teammate Didavi, struck it with a clean volley to complete the shot.

The ball instantly flew off Gadeli’s foot, rocketing like an arrow towards the left side of Freiburg’s goal.

Since Gadeli hadn’t activated his ‘Volley’ skill, his positioning for an aerial ball wasn’t as precise as for one on the ground. Therefore, the fact that this volleyed shot didn’t have a particularly tricky angle, wasn’t mishit, and was on target was a stroke of immense luck.

But for that very reason, Gadeli’s shot wasn’t intercepted by any defenders.

Ginter, who charged over from the center of the box, throwing himself into a desperate block, couldn’t get a touch on it. Goalkeeper Baumann, diving from the right side of the goal, couldn’t reach it either.

The ball covered the 11 meters in an instant, whistling past goalkeeper Baumann’s fingertips and into the net.

In the 91st minute of stoppage time, from about 11 meters out, Gadeli received a knockdown header from his teammate Didavi and, with a decisive volleyed shot, sent the ball into Freiburg’s goal, changing the score to 3-2 and putting Nuremberg back in the lead.

And now, already in the 91st minute, there were no more than two minutes left in the match.

In other words, Gadeli’s goal was a last-minute winner. As long as Freiburg couldn’t equalize in the next two minutes, Nuremberg would claim a 3-2 victory.

Considering the timing of the goal, the significance of retaking the lead, and the spectacular manner of the volley, this goal had all the elements of a classic.

What’s more, this was Gadeli’s first Bundesliga match, his first Bundesliga goal.

Therefore, the instant he saw Gadeli’s volley fly into the Freiburg net, commentator Frederik in the commentary box roared at the top of his lungs:

“Toooooooooooooooooooooooooor……”

“GOAL!!!”

“WHAT A GOAL!!!”

“A WINNER!”

“A LAST-MINUTE WINNER IN STOPPAGE TIME!”

“FROM NUREMBERG’S EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD YOUNGSTER, BERENT GADELI!”

“IN THE 91ST MINUTE, GADELI SCORES A VOLLEYED WINNER TO PUT NUREMBERG BACK IN THE LEAD, 3-2!”

“THAT’S HIS SECOND TOUCH OF THE BALL SINCE COMING ON AS A SUBSTITUTE, AND IT’S A GOAL!”

“BRILLIANT! BEAUTIFUL!”

“AND THIS IS GADELI’S VERY FIRST BUNDESLIGA MATCH! TO SCORE SUCH A STUNNING VOLLEY ON HIS BUNDESLIGA DEBUT!”

“HE’S BECOME FAMOUS WITH A SINGLE GOAL!”

“THIS IS A GOAL THAT WILL MAKE HIS NAME!”

Indeed, Gadeli had truly become famous with a single goal.

First, the timing of the goal was crucial—the 91st minute of stoppage time. With Gadeli’s goal making it 3-2, Freiburg’s chances of equalizing were minuscule. Therefore, the goal was almost certainly a last-minute winner.

Second, it was a beautiful goal—a powerful, thunderous volley, thrilling to watch.

Third, it was Gadeli’s first Bundesliga match and his first goal, making it highly significant. Moreover, after coming on, Gadeli had only touched the ball once in several minutes, remaining largely outside the camera’s focus. For him to suddenly unleash a volley and score was absolutely unforgettable. It would be hard for anyone not to remember him after that.

And so, many Nuremberg fans watching on television, in the midst of their celebrations, instantly committed the name “Berent Gadeli” and his jersey number, “50,” to memory.

As for Markus and Isabella at home, they were moved to tears of joy.

They had never imagined that their son, in his first time making the matchday squad, would not only get to come on as a substitute but would even score a goal—and such an important, spectacular volley at that.

They simply couldn’t help but feel excited, thrilled, and immensely proud.

The Nuremberg fans at the stadium felt the same heartfelt excitement and elation.

The first team is different from the youth teams; youth teams don’t have fans that travel for away games, but the first team always has some.

Although this was an away game, and although Nuremberg was on a four-game losing streak, more than one thousand Nuremberg fans had still made the long journey to Freiburg.

After four consecutive losses, most of them hadn’t held out much hope for this match. They were there out of the habit and sense of duty that came with being one of the team’s die-hard fans, simply to cheer on the players.

They hadn’t expected the team to take a 2-0 lead in the first half, which made them ecstatic.

Nor had they expected the team to concede two goals in the second half, squandering their excellent lead and leaving everyone utterly frustrated.

This rollercoaster of a match had, in the 91st minute of stoppage time, sent them to heaven, all thanks to Gadeli’s last-minute volley.

Seeing the substitute Gadeli score with a volley to make it 3-2 for Nuremberg, the more than one thousand Nuremberg fans, clustered in one corner of the stadium, leaped to their feet. A storm of applause, cheers, and screams erupted, louder than the jeers from the over twenty thousand Freiburg fans.

A goal at this time, in this fashion—it was impossible not to be excited!

By the same token, after watching the ball fly into the net, Gadeli himself sprinted along the byline to the corner flag, leaped up, and kicked it before celebrating with a triumphant fist pump.

He was soon joined by Didavi, Robert Mak, Feulner, and others, who ran over to celebrate with him, congratulating him on scoring his first Bundesliga goal on his debut.

On the sidelines, coach Dieter Hecking was also extremely satisfied. He applauded while deciding on a substitution.

It wasn’t to take Gadeli off, nor did it have any other tactical meaning. It was purely a time-wasting substitution, intended to run down the remaining minutes and give Freiburg no chance to equalize.

Chapter 68: Famous With a Single Goal

Gadeli and his teammates had celebrated for less than half a minute before the head referee, prompted by the continuous protests from the Freiburg players, called a halt to it. They returned to their own half to allow Freiburg to take the center-circle kick-off.

Once the match resumed, Freiburg used the kick-off to launch an all-out, do-or-die attack.

It was truly a do-or-die attack; even their two center-backs had charged into the attacking third. Apart from the goalkeeper, Freiburg’s half of the pitch was completely empty.

However, Freiburg’s attack never materialized. The ball was tackled out for a throw-in by a Nuremberg full-back on the wing.

Just as Freiburg was about to take a quick throw-in, the head referee stopped the game because Nuremberg was making a substitution.

Amidst the boos of over twenty thousand Freiburg fans, the Nuremberg player being substituted dawdled and wasted a good amount of time before the change was finally completed.

Gadeli’s goal had already been scored in the 91st minute. By the time he and his teammates finished celebrating and the match restarted, it was already the 92nd minute.

Freiburg launched an attack, the ball went out of bounds, and Nuremberg used the substitution to waste another dozen or so seconds.

The result was that even though the referee added a little extra time, Freiburg couldn’t even manage to get a shot off in the end.

After about three and a half minutes of stoppage time, the head referee finally blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.

With Berent Gadeli’s 91st-minute volleyed shot, Nuremberg secured a 3-2 last-minute winner against Freiburg in the 29th round of the league. They finally snapped their four-game losing streak and claimed a victory.

And it was an away game, no less.

Therefore, when the final whistle blew, even though it was the opponent’s home ground, the Nuremberg players and coaches on the pitch, as well as the more than one thousand Nuremberg fans in the stands, erupted in fervent cheers.

As for the over twenty thousand Freiburg home fans, they left the stadium one by one in indignation, having no desire to watch the Nuremberg players and fans celebrate.

While celebrating wildly with his teammates, Gadeli was also reaping the huge rewards from the system.

First, in terms of experience points, it was just as Gadeli had predicted. First team training yielded fifty thousand experience points per day, a substitute appearance in the Bundesliga was worth fifty thousand, a goal was worth one hundred thousand, and the win bonus was fifty thousand for each goal in the goal difference.

Thus, from this match alone, Gadeli gained fifty thousand for his substitute appearance + one hundred thousand for his goal + fifty thousand for the win bonus = two hundred thousand experience points. It was an absolutely massive haul.

Besides the match experience, Gadeli had also completed Mission 9: Bundesliga Debut, earning a reward of 10 skill points. By scoring, he had also completed Mission 10: First Bundesliga Goal, which gave him another 10 skill points.

As a result, Gadeli’s skill point balance shot up to 45. It was like striking it rich.

After completing the old missions, Gadeli received new ones:

Mission 11: Be selected for the Germany U21 youth national team

Mission Details: Host must be selected for the Germany U21 national team before the age of 21.

Success Reward: 20 skill points

Failure Penalty: None

…

Mission 12: Be selected for the Germany U23 Olympic team

Mission Details: Host must be selected for the Germany U23 Olympic team before the age of 23.

Success Reward: 30 skill points

Failure Penalty: None

…

Mission 13: Be selected for the Germany National team

Mission Details: Host must be selected for the Germany senior national team within two years.

Success Reward: 50 skill points

Failure Penalty: None

…

These three missions only appeared after Gadeli had made his Bundesliga debut and scored his first goal, proving that these three levels of the German national team would certainly not be selecting players from the Southern Regional League like the U19 team did.

Only by playing and scoring for the first team could he possibly be selected for these three national squads.

Moreover, the rewards were substantial, making Gadeli very eager. Unfortunately, it was something beyond his control.

He hadn’t even completed the mission to be selected for the Germany U19 youth national team yet. For now, he could only work hard to perform and score goals in the league to impress the coaches of the various national teams.

After reviewing the system’s new missions, Gadeli joined his teammates in their celebration, paying respects to the more than one thousand Nuremberg fans who had traveled to the away game.

Afterward, a reporter from German National Television, who had come onto the pitch for interviews, found Gadeli and began to interview him.

Reporter: “Berent Gadeli, first of all, congratulations on scoring a goal in your very first appearance on the Bundesliga stage.”

Gadeli: “Thank you!”

Reporter: “Did you ever think you would get the chance to come on as a substitute and score today?”

Gadeli: “No! I was only just promoted to the first team, so I was already thrilled to be in the eighteen-man matchday squad for today’s game. I really didn’t expect the head coach to give me the opportunity to play as a substitute, let alone score a goal.”

Reporter: “That last-minute winner was a beautiful goal. How did you decide in such a short amount of time to take a volleyed shot and put the ball in? Weren’t you nervous?”

Gadeli: “Of course I was nervous, but I knew the opposing defenders wouldn’t give me much time to control the ball and adjust, so I decided to take a one-touch, volleyed shot. Fortunately, I was lucky, and it ended up on target.”

Reporter: “Do you think you can establish yourself in the Bundesliga?”

Gadeli: “Definitely. I have no doubt about my abilities. It just takes time.”

Reporter: “Who is your idol?”

Gadeli: “Ronaldo, of course—the Great Ronaldo. I think he is the most powerful center forward in the history of world football. If it weren’t for his injuries, I believe there would be no question of him becoming the third king of football after Pelé and Maradona.”

Reporter: “Do you think you have a chance to become a top-tier center forward and a global superstar like Ronaldo?”

Gadeli: “No one knows that, but I will definitely work hard in that direction.”

Reporter: “Alright, I wish you success.”

Gadeli: “Thank you!”

After the match, from the city of Nuremberg to the state of Bavaria, and then across all of Germany, many sports media outlets like German Football and Kicker reported on Nuremberg’s 3-2 last-minute win away at Freiburg, which ended their four-game losing streak. Many outlets also mentioned Gadeli.

Because of Gadeli’s age, his background, the timing of his goal, the way he scored it, and its significance, his story was extremely newsworthy. Readers loved it, so the media was happy to hype it up.

“Nuremberg Edge Freiburg 3-2 Away to End Four-Game Skid, 18-Year-Old Starlet Scores Stoppage-Time Winner!”

“Nuremberg Youth Player Berent Gadeli Becomes Famous With a Single Goal, Scoring a Stoppage-Time Winner on His Bundesliga Debut!”

“Nuremberg End Four-Game Losing Streak with 3-2 Stoppage-Time Winner, Berent Gadeli Scores First Bundesliga Goal with a Volley!”

“18-Year-Old Super Genius Bursts onto the Scene, Securing an Away Victory for Nuremberg with a Stoppage-Time Winner on His Bundesliga Debut!”

Among them, Kicker, a famous European football magazine whose headquarters was located right in Nuremberg, gave special treatment to Gadeli, this prodigious talent cultivated by the Nuremberg Youth Academy.

Kicker is a renowned international football magazine that primarily covers the Five Major Leagues, the Champions League, the Europa League, national teams, the European Championship, the World Cup, and other major international events. Previously, when Gadeli was playing in the Southern Regional League for the U19s, he had never received any coverage from Kicker, not even a small blurb.

But that didn’t mean that Kicker’s reporters and editors were unaware of Gadeli’s existence.

Although they mainly reported on top-tier competitions and international football, their headquarters was, after all, in Nuremberg. Many of their reporters and editors were from Nuremberg themselves. They had actually been following Berent Gadeli, this homegrown youth talent, for quite some time.

It was just that before, Gadeli was playing in the Southern Regional League, a level even lower than the 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga, so there was naturally no news value in reporting on him.

But now, Gadeli had been promoted to the first team, made his Bundesliga debut, and scored a beautiful volleyed shot on that very debut—a stoppage-time winner, no less—which helped Nuremberg end a four-game losing streak and secure a crucial away victory.

This had more than enough news value.

Coupled with the fact that Kicker’s headquarters was in Nuremberg and many of its staff were locals, it was only natural for them to show some partiality toward a talented new star produced by their local club.

Therefore, in their latest issue, Kicker dedicated a full two-page spread to Gadeli, providing extensive and glowing coverage, complete with a photo of him striking the volley.

For an international magazine like this to dedicate so much space to an 18-year-old rookie making his Bundesliga debut was definitely special treatment.

“In the 29th round of the Bundesliga on April 7th, Nuremberg challenged Freiburg away from home.”

“Prior to this, Nuremberg had suffered a dismal four-game losing streak, failing to score a single goal.”

“Nuremberg’s substitute center forward Eigler was out with an injury for this match, which allowed 18-year-old starlet Berent Gadeli, who had just been promoted to the first team, to make the eighteen-man matchday squad.”

“Gadeli is a young player developed by the Nuremberg Youth Academy. At the start of this season, he was still on the U17 youth team, but he exploded onto the scene and progressed at a divine speed, quickly rising from the U17s to the U19s, U23s, and finally the first team.”

“In the U19 and U23 youth teams, Gadeli’s conversion rate was nearly two goals per game—he was scoring goals for fun—which led to his promotion to the first team and his inclusion in the eighteen-man matchday squad for this match.”

“After the game began, Nuremberg swept away the gloom of their four-game losing streak, taking a two-goal lead in the first half.”

“But after the second half started, Freiburg scored two in succession to level the score at 2-2.”

“Then, in the 81st minute, Nuremberg made a substitution, bringing on number 50, Berent Gadeli, for number 9, Pekhart.”

“In the minutes after coming on, Gadeli was almost invisible, with only one touch of the ball.”

“Analyzing it in hindsight, this was likely a tactic from Nuremberg, deliberately keeping the ball away from Gadeli to make Freiburg’s backline neglect to mark him.”

“Then, in the 91st minute, Gadeli got his opportunity for a shot while completely unmarked.”

“At the far post of the penalty area, he received a knockdown header from Didavi at the near post and struck a volley, sending the ball into Freiburg’s goal.”

“It was a powerful volleyed shot, and it was a stoppage-time winner.”

“Gadeli’s goal gave Nuremberg a 3-2 away win over Freiburg, finally ending their four-game losing streak and securing a precious away victory.”

“At the same time, this also marks the achievement of Gadeli scoring his First Bundesliga Goal while making his Bundesliga Debut.”

Both the live broadcast during the match and the concentrated media coverage after it made Gadeli the most watched young rookie in all of Germany for the next few days. He had truly become famous with a single goal, his name known throughout the nation.

Especially in Nuremberg, Gadeli had already become the talk of the town. Many had decided that for the next home game, they had to go to the stadium to see for themselves if this homegrown youth player, Gadeli, was really as talented as the media claimed.

UNTITLED

1. Chapter 9: Bayern Munich
2. Chapter 12: Table Tennis
3. Chapter 13: Gadeli is a Liar

4. Chapter 14: Making the U19 League Matchday Squad

5. Chapter 15: Coming on as a Substitute
6. Chapter 16: The First U19 Goal
7. Chapter 17: The Incredible Comeback
8. Chapter 18: On-field Conflict
9. Chapter 19: Victory by Penalty Kick
10. Chapter 20: The Attacking Core
11. Chapter 21: Opening the Score
12. Chapter 22: The Back-Heel Pass
13. Chapter 23: A Beyond Perfect Performance
14. Chapter 24: Pressure from the Scouts
15. Chapter 25: The Football Agent
16. Chapter 26: Signing the Contract
17. Chapter 27: Consecutive Starts
18. Chapter 28: A Reporter’s Interview
19. Chapter 29: Parents Arrive in Person
20. Chapter 30: Beating the Offside Trap
21. Chapter 31: Continuing to Score
22. Chapter 32: Explosive Form
23. Chapter 33: Hat-trick

24. Chapter 34: The First Team Head Coach’s Attention

25. Chapter 35: The Final Match of the Year

26. Chapter 36: A Brilliant Pass for an Assist

27. Chapter 37: Stoppage Time

28. Chapter 38: Promoted to the U23 Youth Team

29. Chapter 39: A Wealth of Experience
30. Chapter 40: Rapid Progress
31. Chapter 41: Bavaria’s Chinese Carnival

32. Chapter 42: Perfect Shooting: Hitting Wherever He Aims

33. Chapter 43: U23 Debut
34. Chapter 44: A Lightning Goal
35. Chapter 45: The Commentator is Full of It
36. Chapter 46: Lack of Stamina
37. Chapter 47: Brace
38. Chapter 48: An Astonishing Debut

39. Chapter 57: The Incredible Long-Range Goal

40. Chapter 58: Star Treatment

41. Chapter 59: Facing Frankfurt

42. Chapter 60: The Details the First Team’s Head Coach Valued More

43. Chapter 61: Another Hat-trick
44. Chapter 62: Promotion to the First Team
45. Chapter 63: Celebration

46. Chapter 64: A World of Difference Between the First Team and the Youth Academy

47. Chapter 65: Freiburg Again
48. Chapter 66: Bundesliga Debut
49. Chapter 67: Stoppage-Time Volleyed Winner
50. Chapter 68: Famous With a Single Goal