Recognition from the Team Leader
After De Bruyne scored, he ran towards the sidelines, pointing to Lin Quan, asking him to come celebrate with him.
He acknowledged that he was able to score largely due to Lin Quan's assist. If Lin Quan hadn't attracted the defenders and made that pass, De Bruyne wouldn't have had such a comfortable chance to shoot.
Lin Quan ran over, patting De Bruyne's head, and commended him, "Kevin, that goal was amazing!"
"Thanks, you made a great pass too!"
Their teammates joined in the celebration, applauding De Bruyne for his goal and Lin Quan for the assist. Captain Fritz even gave them both a warm hug to show his approval.
Lin Quan and De Bruyne's outstanding performance in this game had gained recognition from the senior players.
"Well done, lads!"
"Maintain this performance, score more goals for the team in the new season, win more matches!"
"Thank you, Captain, we'll do our best, just you wait!"
Lin Quan said confidently, and De Bruyne nodded in agreement.
The captain was pleased with their response. After the celebration, he called out to his teammates to return to their positions, reminding them not to relax just because they were leading 2-0.
Historically, teams have lost leads because of lax defense while leading, the most famous being the "Miracle of Istanbul" in the Champions League.
Both Lin Quan and De Bruyne weren't the type to get carried away after scoring a goal and quickly returned to their positions.
The game resumed.
Despite being two goals behind, Cottbus didn't give up but instead shed their fear of losing and committed more people to the attack.
However, Werder Bremen's 4-1-4-1 formation limited their attacks with five players in midfield in defense.
Both sides struggled fiercely in midfield, with Cottbus finding it difficult to maintain possession or organize an attack.
As a result, Cottbus abandoned the short-passing penetration in the middle and began using traditional long passes and high balls to deal with Werder Bremen.
This exposed Werder Bremen's weakness - the lack of protection for their flanks - and within five minutes, they gave away two opportunities to their opponents.
Fortunately, their opponents were unable to capitalize on these chances, and the score remained unchanged.
Realizing their defensive issues, Coach Schaaf called team captain Fritz to address the problem.
Upon re-entering the field, Fritz moved back to become a center-back, while the midfield line shifted backward, transitioning Werder Bremen's formation to a 5-4-1!
This change infuriated the Cottbus coach. A team in Germany's top tier, against a Bundesliga 2 team like us, resorting to defensive tactics with five defenders?
Confronted with the opposing coach's stern stare, Coach Schaaf remained calm and composed, showing no signs of embarrassment.
Such friendly matches are precisely for practicing various tactics and strategies. If we refrain from attempting due to concerns about our image, then playing these matches serves no purpose.
Additionally, a 5-4-1 formation isn't just a defensive retreat, it's another form of offensive strategy.
By playing a 5-4-1 formation, opponents will undoubtedly press our half, facilitating wide spaces for our wingers in counter-attacks, making them more threatening.
Coincidentally, we have powerful wingers in our lineup.
Therefore, for Schaaf, stepping back was to enhance their offense.
Schaaf's anticipated counter-attack unfolded soon.
In the 78th minute, Werder Bremen initiated a quick counter-attack from their own half.
Fritz, in a midfield position, noticed a huge gap in the opposing half and immediately launched a long diagonal pass into the opponent's half.
As soon as the ball was passed, Lin Quan started sprinting, keeping pace with the opposition's defenders who were unable to catch up with him, gesturing for offside as they helplessly chased after him.
The linesman ignored the defenders' offside gestures. While Lin Quan seemed to have almost been offside, he actually wasn't when the ball was passed - his quick start gave the illusion of an almost offside play.
The goalkeeper chose to rush out, but a one-on-one situation left him no chance in the small penalty area.
Before the goalkeeper could reach the ball, Lin Quan was there and slyly poked the ball under him, making it 3-0 with the ball rolling into the net.
"Lin, you ran really fast!"
Captain Fritz ran over to hug Lin Quan in excitement. Though the credit for the assist went to Fritz, had the assist gone to someone else, he might not have received the credit.
"Captain, your pass was great!"
Lin Quan cheerfully replied, but Nils felt quite upset when he heard the captain praising Lin Quan.
In fact, he had also created an opening, but Lin Quan was already in a clear scoring position, even past the goalkeeper. Naturally, Nils couldn't expect the ball to be passed to him.
Lin Quan wasn't being entirely selfless, especially since Nils hadn't celebrated when Lin Quan and De Bruyne scored earlier. This made Lin Quan have some ill feelings towards Nils.
Nils felt annoyed, after all, he was the team's main striker, and he had even been loaned from a prominent club like Bayern Munich.
For Werder Bremen, they considered this loan as a way to assist Nils. Therefore, they should be supporting and praising him.
So, once the game started, he loudly demanded the ball, especially when Lin Quan and De Bruyne had possession.
Both these loaned players have scored, and Lin Quan even scored twice coming off the bench.
As the team's main striker playing the entire game, if he didn't score, where would he keep his pride? Moreover, if they took away the ball from him, they wouldn't be able to score more.
Lin Quan didn't have good feelings towards Nils and pretended not to notice his demands.
On the other hand, De Bruyne was an honest kid - when he saw Nils demanding the ball, he passed it to him.
Unfortunately, the Cottbus players who were trailing 3-0 were already feeling extremely frustrated.
Nils didn't have the excellent passing ability of De Bruyne, nor did he have the exceptional dribbling skills of Lin Quan.
As soon as he got the ball, he was immediately double-teamed and tackled, quickly losing possession and getting fouled.
His slender body didn't stand a chance against the sturdy defenders, and it was unclear where he got the confidence to keep dribbling.
Coach Schaaf, watching Nils constantly getting knocked down, was concerned about his safety, so he substituted him early.
Also substituted at the same time was De Bruyne, who had played most of the game.
While Nils was substituted out, the fans didn't react, but when De Bruyne was substituted, they applauded him warmly.