The blue tide at Veltins slowly receded. The Schalke 04 players walked to the sidelines, lined up, and accepted the criticism.
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What the fans gave them instead was encouragement: they had only been a little unlucky at the end. They had come within a hair of equalizing.
Gradually, the blue tide surged once more.
"Even in the deepest mine, diamonds still shine."
"Even on the coldest rainy night, miners remain unyielding."
"No matter how far the team falls, the fans will always be the lamp that lights the miners' way home."
"Heh heh heh, Schalke 04's results are still pretty good. They only lost to Wolfsburg tonight."
Zhan Jun continued telling the story of the Ruhr Area and the Poles.
As he spoke, he brought up last year's UEFA Champions League: Turkish Super League fans had dug a tunnel with their bare hands, hoping to sneak into Veltins to watch the match. They were caught when they dug beneath the fence outside the stadium.
Coach Zhang silently studied the match statistics, preparing to give his summary.
Sané and Goretzka, Schalke 04's two young talents, gazed at Li Luo's retreating figure.
Geniuses were proud at heart. None of them accepted defeat, yet they had no choice but to admit it:
They were all eighteen. How was Li's vision so good? How were his free kicks so good?
By the sidelines.
Malanda stood before a backdrop covered in sponsor logos, being interviewed by the media.
"I completed two beautiful defensive plays with Li?"
"No. Compared to Li, my contribution to the team is a pile of shit."
"That wonderful curve? It's normal. Li practices free kicks alone every day, often until very late."
"One day, Arnold and I played in the