After scoring, before Lin Quan could even get back up from the ground, De Bruyne and the other Werder Bremen players charged over like madmen and piled onto him.
The chat barrage in the livestream room erupted as well.
"Damn, how did he do that?"
"Is this really a match I get to watch for free?"
"That was so cool! He practically took on their entire back line by himself!"
"Where are the people who said Lin Quan was just a mascot? Come out and say that again!"
"Heh, they definitely don't dare show themselves now. They told Lin Quan to try getting past one more player, and he went and dribbled past every single one of their defenders!"
"This is exactly the kind of satisfying slap in the face I love to see!"
"Heh, I think it was a tribute to Messi. Messi scored a pretty similar goal back then too!"
"It was somewhat similar, but Messi broke through the middle, while Lin Quan came down the wing.
And Messi was facing Giant Club Real Madrid, so comparatively speaking, Boss Messi's goal carried more weight!"
"It reminded me of Professor Bu's century-class assist!"
"It reminded me of Casillas spreading his hands at his teammates. It looked exactly like what Cottbus's goalkeeper was doing on the pitch right now!"
"My poor Real Madrid, getting dragged out and whipped again!"
"My condolences +1!"
"My condolences +2!"
If the livestream viewers had not known who Lin Quan was before, then from this moment on,
everyone watching this match remembered that wind-chasing young man who had stormed down the wing and torn through the entire opposing defense all by himself!
It was not just the viewers in Douyu's livestream room. The Werder Bremen fans watching the match in the stadium were also won over by Lin Quan's performance.
Quite a few spectators applauded Lin Quan and began asking each other for information about him.
The Summer Transfer Window had only just begun and would not end until late August.
The club's recruitment work was still in its early stages, so Lin Quan and the other players who had joined through transfers or loans had not been publicly introduced at Weser Stadium, nor had any welcome ceremony been held for them.
As a result, many fans did not even know who Lin Quan was. Only after asking around did they learn that he had been loaned from Barca's youth team.
"So he's a player from La Masia Youth Academy. No wonder he's so talented!"
The moment they heard that Lin Quan had come through Barca's academy, Werder Bremen's fans immediately understood.
"Hey, guys, do you think our club has any chance of buying this kid with such sharp dribbling?
He's still so young. Barca's asking price shouldn't be too high, right?"
If only such a good player belonged to Werder Bremen instead of merely being on loan!
"Probably not. With a performance like that, his value can't be less than €20 million, can it?
We don't have that much money to buy such an expensive player!"
Werder Bremen was not a Giant Club, merely an ordinary small-to-mid-sized club.
The highest transfer fee in the club's history had come in the summer of 2009, when they paid the steep price of €8.5 million to bring in Borussia Mönchengladbach's winger Marko Marin.
Under normal circumstances, their transfer budget each season was only around €15 million.
To buy Lin Quan, they would need at least €20 million. Even if they bought no one else, they still could not afford him.
Besides, Barca was not stupid.
A player this outstanding and this young was not necessarily someone Barca would sell!
Thus, Werder Bremen's fans could only fantasize about it. There was no way they could put it into action.
With their opponents celebrating in front of their own goal, the Cottbus players were left somewhat helpless.
Their goalkeeper spread his hands at his defenders, his expression filled with anger.
He was furious that the team's defense could make such a mistake.
How could they let the opponent toy with the entire back line and dribble past them one after another?!
The defenders wore dejected expressions as they stood in place with their hands on their hips, blankly staring at Lin Quan buried beneath the pile of bodies.
They could not understand why so many of them had failed to stop that little guy.
His dribbling had clearly looked completely ordinary, and he had not used any flashy moves at all.
No stepovers, no elastico, no pendulum dribbles—nothing.
Just simple touches, cuts, changes of direction, and then they had been beaten.
Yet the simpler it was, the more extraordinary it became.
The football seemed to come alive at his feet, moving as effortlessly as if it were an extension of his limbs.
Reaching that level required an incredibly strong feel for the ball.
And such elite ball control was often not something that could be trained later in life, but something one was born with.
That was talent. No amount of envy could get you that!
The match continued. Having been somewhat stunned by Lin Quan's goal, Cottbus became a little afraid to attack.
Meanwhile, after the score changed, Werder Bremen's young players completely cast off their mental burden and played better and better.
Especially Lin Quan and De Bruyne.
The two trained together regularly and had excellent chemistry.
His close coordination with De Bruyne completely shut down Cottbus's attacks down the left flank.
Not only that, because the opponents feared Lin Quan's dribbling, they deployed heavy defensive numbers on the left to contain him.
That left Cottbus's defensive line on the right extremely exposed.
After noticing this, Lin Quan did not become absorbed in putting on a dribbling show.
In the 65th minute, Werder Bremen won the ball in their own half.
After captain Fritz made the interception, he quickly passed the ball to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne sent it out wide to Lin Quan.
After receiving the ball, Lin Quan surged forward in long strides toward the opposing half.
Seeing him on the ball, two Cottbus players immediately moved in to close him down.
At the same time, their defensive midfielder and fullback took up positions, leaving him no room to break through.
Lin Quan had already observed the opponents' defensive setup when he received the ball.
So, after taking the ball past the first defender, he did not dribble too much.
After drawing the opposing players in to double-team him, Lin Quan lifted his foot and passed.
De Bruyne was a star in the making who could become a world-class midfielder in the future, with exceptional football intelligence.
He saw through the weakness in their defense, so after passing to Lin Quan, he boldly pushed forward to the edge of the opposing penalty area.
When Lin Quan saw his run, he gave him a silent thumbs-up.
With a sideways touch, he evaded one defender's challenge and slipped through a brilliant grounded pass.
De Bruyne received the ball outside the penalty area. The pass was perfectly weighted and incredibly comfortable.
It left him needing almost no adjustment after controlling it, allowing him to shoot immediately.
So, after looking up to assess the goalkeeper's position, De Bruyne decisively struck the ball.
Lin Quan had seen De Bruyne's shooting ability before, and this position was very close to where he usually practiced free kicks.
Therefore, the moment De Bruyne struck it and Lin Quan saw the ball's flight, he felt that it was in.
Sure enough, the ball traced a beautiful arc, curled past the goalkeeper's outstretched hand, and flew into the top corner of the net.
De Bruyne scored his first goal for Werder Bremen, while Lin Quan picked up his first assist for the club!
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