On the Verge of Eruption

A footballer's daily training was an extremely dull affair, but Chen Anno had been living these days with incredible fulfillment.

He was like a sponge soaking up water, absorbing new knowledge every single day.

That was right—his talent was indeed formidable, and his potential was indeed very high, but after all, Chen Anno had only played professional league football for a total of three months.

From Sao Paulo to Borussia Dortmund, everything had to start over: the coach's tactics, the coordination between teammates—every bit of it had to be rebuilt.

Only now did he truly understand why Bayern Munich had refused to promise him playing time back then.

As a complete newcomer, no matter how talented he was, how could anyone promise him playing time before he had blended into the team and the system?

So Chen Anno was truly, truly grateful that Klopp was willing to make him a promise.

To repay that, and to prove himself, Chen Anno had trained extremely hard over the past few days.

His teammates saw his performance, and Klopp remembered it all the more.

"All right, guys, that's it for today's training. Everyone, come over."

Hearing that they could clock off, the players were delighted.

This Borussia Dortmund side was very young on average, and whether they were training or discussing tactics together, the atmosphere was always lively.

Once everyone had come over and lined up, Klopp swept his gaze across the group.

"Tomorrow is our first home league match of the season. The opponent isn't strong, but I hope you can bring one hundred percent of yourselves and give our fans a wonderful match!"

"Next, I'll announce the eighteen-man squad for tomorrow's game."

Chen Anno, standing in the crowd, instantly grew nervous. Although his chemistry with his teammates had been decent these past few days, he still had no confidence deep down.

Captain Sebastian Kehl, beside him, seemed to sense Chen Anno's mood and lightly leaned his shoulder against him.

When Chen Anno turned his head, Kehl winked at him, as if saying: Relax. Believe in yourself!

"Goalkeepers: Mitchell Langerak, Roman Weidenfeller."

"Defenders: Erik Durm, Neven Subotic, Kevin Grosskreutz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer."

"Midfielders: Sebastian Kehl, Marco Reus, Nuri Sahin, Sven Bender, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jonas Hofmann."

"Forwards: Marvin Ducksch, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Anno Chen."

At first, Chen Anno had not actually had much confidence about whether he could make the squad.

But as Klopp was about to finish reading the list, he still felt a sense of hollow disappointment.

Yet when the final name was read out, Chen Anno's ears suddenly buzzed. Only then did he realize that his palms were covered in sweat.

Kehl's hand clapped Chen Anno on the back. "Heh... congratulations, Anno."

"Thank you, Captain." Chen Anno immediately broke into a beaming smile.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in front of him, also turned around. "Little Anno, good luck!"

"Hey...! You Pleasant Goat, who are you calling little?" Chen Anno slapped Aubameyang on the butt.

"Hahaha..."

Laughter immediately rang out all around them.

Klopp wore a pair of black-framed glasses, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. Watching this group of young men joke and mess around, he felt as though he himself had grown quite a bit younger.

"Wir halten fest und treu zusammen, Ball-Heil-Hurra! Borussia!

Vor keinem Gegner wir verzagen, Ball-Heil-Hurra! Borussia!

Wir ziehn vergnügt und froh dahin, schwarz-gelb ist unsere Tracht..."

At Westfalenstadion, more than eighty thousand fans were singing their club anthem, "Das Vereinslied," at the top of their lungs.

Chen Anno sat on the bench. To his left was the South Stand, where some fans held yellow scarves high above their heads while others waved black-and-yellow flags.

Stunning! It was too stunning!

His heart seemed to beat in rhythm with their song.

Chen Anno had heard from his teammates before that their home ground, Westfalenstadion, was the most famous fortress in all of Europe.

Almost every Borussia Dortmund match was packed to capacity!

More than eighty thousand people!

As far as the eye could see, there were heads everywhere, and the entire stand had been dyed into a yellow ocean.

Sitting on the leather seat, Chen Anno was like a child who had never seen the world.

"Heh... Anno, how does it feel?"

Sitting beside him today was Captain Sebastian Kehl, who was not in the starting lineup.

Kehl's voice pulled Chen Anno back to reality.

"Captain, in the Bundesliga, how many teams have scenes like ours?" Chen Anno's voice was trembling a little.

It was not fear. It was excitement!

"Heh..." Kehl rolled his eyes. "The Bundesliga? In the entire Bundesliga, only us! Even Bayern Munich's home ground can't compare to ours! Even across all of Europe, there are only a handful of stadiums with this kind of intimidation!"

Hearing that, Chen Anno let out a breath of relief, and at the same time, a surge of pride rose in him. Even his back straightened a little more.

Of course, Kehl noticed the youngster's reaction too. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

This was what it meant to share in the glory! It was also the prerequisite for loyalty!

Only when players felt proud of their club, truly proud, would their loyalty grow higher!

"Good evening, football fans. Welcome to the Sports Channel. This is our live broadcast of the second round of the 2013-14 Bundesliga season, with Borussia Dortmund hosting Eintracht Braunschweig. I'm your commentator, Duan Xuan."

"Eintracht Braunschweig were the runners-up in Bundesliga 2 last season. As a newly promoted side halfway into their top-flight journey, they lost 0-1 at home to Werder Bremen in the first round. For this match away at the Westfalenstadion, I believe Eintracht Braunschweig will set their stance very low and adopt a defensive counterattacking strategy."

"Borussia Dortmund have been extremely impressive in recent seasons under head coach Klopp. Not only did they win the league title in both 10-11 and 11-12, they also eliminated Real Madrid in the Champions League last season and reached the final. Unfortunately, they narrowly lost 1-2 to Bayern Munich in the end."

"Their performances over the past few seasons have been clear for all to see. But this summer transfer window, the team's midfield core and top scorer Lewandowski both moved to Bayern. Whether they can continue their outstanding form from the previous few seasons remains to be seen."

"Of course, Borussia Dortmund also spent heavily this summer window. It can be considered the season in which they have spent the most in recent years. They brought in Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar Donetsk, Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne, and so on. Of course, there is also the former China youth player we're more familiar with, Chen Anno, who joined Borussia Dortmund from Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A side Sao Paulo this summer. Today, he has also made the matchday squad and is waiting on the bench. These signings have filled the gaps left by several departing main players in various areas. As for the actual effect, aside from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored a hat trick in the first match, the others have yet to really make their mark."

Just as Duan Xuan was still chattering on about some of Borussia Dortmund's changes this season, the coin toss on the pitch had already been completed, and Borussia Dortmund had won possession.

The battle between the two sides was about to begin!