Chapter 51: Exchanging Jerseys

The players of Borussia Dortmund were very disappointed. They had given their all, pushed themselves to their limits, yet still lost the game. They watched helplessly as their opponents claimed the championship. The sense of loss and frustration overwhelmed many of the young players, bringing tears to their eyes.

At this moment, the players of Werder Bremen showed great sportsmanship. Amidst their celebration, they didn't forget to run over and console their opponents.

Borussia Dortmund's performance in this match was outstanding. Even as opponents, it had to be acknowledged that their fiery spirit and ability to turn the tide in adversity were intimidating.

To be honest, Borussia Dortmund's strength is definitely stronger than Werder Bremen's. They lost partly because they didn't expect their opponents to use such a surprise tactic, catching them off guard. Additionally, their team's mentality wasn't stable enough; they couldn't recover their form after conceding a goal in the first half, wasting a lot of time.

Once they completely overcome these issues, they will likely become even stronger in the new season.

"The next time we meet them, we might not be able to win!"

Fritz stood next to Lin Quan, feeling a bit nostalgic.

Borussia Dortmund's lineup is very young, and their players are still in their prime.

With a team like this, as long as there are no major injuries, no player exodus, and they don't sell their captain every year like Arsenal, their competitiveness in the Bundesliga will probably last for a long time.

"I'm afraid they will hold a grudge and play us to death next time!"

Hearing Lin Quan's words, Fritz couldn't help but chuckle:

It's strange if opponents don't hold a grudge after snatching the championship at their home ground!

At this moment, the players of Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund had already begun exchanging jerseys.

In this match, both sides acknowledged each other's strengths.

Lin Quan thought that no one would want to exchange jerseys with him because of his young age.

As a result, he didn't expect Reus and Götze to come together and voluntarily ask to exchange jerseys with him.

Götze had a sudden eye problem before the game, so he sat on the bench for the entire match and did not play.

His absence was one of the reasons Borussia Dortmund lost.

Although he didn't play, Götze felt that he was the core of Borussia Dortmund's midfield, while Reus was just a newcomer to the team.

Therefore, Götze thought that Lin Quan would probably exchange jerseys with him, the more famous one.

But to his surprise, Lin Quan chose Reus instead.

Lin Quan admired Reus's character. In the era of commercial football, there are too few players like him who are loyal to one club.

Compared to the one-club player Reus, Lin Quan didn't quite like Götze.

It's hard to say how much of the blame Götze bears for Borussia Dortmund's loss in the 12-13 season Champions League final, but contacting the final opponent privately before the big match and then transferring to them, this kind of thing definitely dealt a considerable blow to the team's morale.

Even if Götze contacted Bayern after losing in the Champions League, he wouldn't have received as much criticism.

The former seems more like Bayern plotting before the final, using poaching the opponent's midfield core to undermine the opponent's morale.

The latter can at most be considered Götze's ambition, unable to beat them, so join them.

And in football, there are many cases of joining when you can't beat them. Arsenal alone has seen three: Henry, Van Persie, and Fabregas all did such things.

Reus was somewhat surprised that Lin Quan would exchange jerseys with him. So after receiving the opponent's green number 10 jersey, he took the initiative to give his opponent a hug.

"You played really well in this match. Keep it up, continue playing like this, and I look forward to seeing you make a name for yourself in the Bundesliga!"

Lin Quan was also surprised to receive Reus's affirmation and blessing.

So he spoke up: "Thank you, Marco. Next time we have a match in Bremen, I'll treat you to dinner!"

Reus nodded in agreement, "It's a deal, but I can't treat you to dinner today, sorry!"

Lin Quan smiled, indicating his understanding. Even if Reus offered to treat him to dinner out of courtesy at this moment, he would still refuse. If the Dortmund fans saw it, Reus might not be able to stay here anymore.

Shallow talk is a big taboo. Although Lin Quan wanted to advise Reus to rest more and reduce the risk of injury, it would be very abrupt to say such things now since they had just met. Reus probably wouldn't listen. So he could only wait until they became more familiar in the future and then advise him as a friend.

Hopefully, before that, his days at Borussia Dortmund would be smoother, and he wouldn't suffer so many injuries!

...

Because they feared angering the eighty thousand home fans and causing accidents, Werder Bremen didn't stay too long at the Westfalen Stadium.

After receiving the awards, they quickly boarded the bus and left.

The next day at noon, after resting for a whole night, the refreshed members of Werder Bremen took the ICE InterCity Express back to Bremen.

The distance from Dortmund to Bremen wasn't too far, and Germany's high-speed rail network was well-developed, so the team arrived in just an hour.

Upon returning to the club, club manager Allofs arrived with a briefcase in hand to greet the team.

"Welcome back, our champions!"

He greeted each player with enthusiasm, including the substitute players, with warm hugs.

Then, in front of the players, he opened the briefcase.

"This is the prize money for winning the Telekom Cup, totaling 300,000 euros, received from the Football Association and sponsors!"

Seeing the cash in the briefcase, the players seemed to realize something. They stopped what they were doing and stared at Allofs.

Werder Bremen isn't a wealthy club, and the players' salaries aren't high. After losing key players like Pizarro and Diego, the team's average salary this season has dropped to the level of the lower ranks of the Bundesliga. The highest-paid player in the team is captain Clemens Fritz, with an annual salary of only 2.2 million euros.

Players like Felix Kroos, who come from the youth team, have even lower salaries, with estimated weekly wages of only around 3,000 euros and annual salaries not exceeding 200,000 euros.

So for the players, this prize money of 300,000 euros is quite attractive.

"The club will distribute the bonus based on each player's contribution in the matches. If you have no objections, you can queue up here to sign and receive it!"

After saying that, Allofs had the staff register on-site and directly distribute the bonuses.

Although Werder Bremen is a bit tight on money, the club doesn't intend to touch this money. After all, they didn't expect to win the cup, so this money is considered unexpected income. It's better to reward the players to motivate them to continue performing well on the field and achieve good results in the new season.

This approach naturally won continuous praise from the players.

The players had no objections to the bonus distribution plan, so they lined up to sign and receive their share of the bonus.

Lin Quan had performed exceptionally well in these two matches, being a key figure in the attack, so he received the highest-tier bonus—20,000 euros! There were only five people in this tier, including Lin Quan and the other four key players who played both matches and performed well, including De Bruyne.

The second-tier bonus was 10,000 euros, awarded to the main players who played in the matches and important rotation players.

The third tier was 5,000 euros, awarded to those on the squad list but didn't play, as well as club staff, etc.

After receiving the money, the players' thoughts immediately shifted away from the training ground. Especially for the young players who didn't have much money in their hands or had given it to their parents, their minds were wandering all over the place!

Seeing this, Coach Schaaf announced the dissolution of training and gave the players three days off.

However, after announcing the break, he reminded the young players not to mess around outside. If they caused any negative news, the team wouldn't tolerate it!

(End of Chapter)