Chapter 706: Busy Winter Break and Awards (Second Perspective)
At the end of the first half, both sides shook hands at 1-1. As they prepared for the second half, Werder Bremen continued to maintain their steady mindset and rhythm, seeing the dawn of victory against Borussia Dortmund.
After scoring the first goal, Huang Hu clearly wasn't satisfied. His runs and assists became even more active.
"Huang is at it again! He shoots from the back!"
After a wall pass between De Bruyne and Hayrovic, the Belgian winger crossed accurately from the flank, finding the Chinese youngster positioned in the box.
He quickly slid to push the ball past the defenders before them, but unfortunately, it grazed the post and went out of bounds.
"Ah~!" Sighs echoed through the Weserstadion stands, but soon turned into applause and cheers.
"In recent times, the Yellow and Blacks have completely fallen into a passive situation, with numerous defensive loopholes in the backline and stagnation in midfield organization. Klopp should make some adjustments to this."
The German certainly wanted to do so, but injuries left him struggling with his options. In the 60th minute, he replaced the out-of-form Schahin with Bandowski.
Bringing on a defender meant Klopp gave up on the attacking intent, aiming to secure the draw. This further excited the home team; they wanted more than just one point.
In the 81st minute, Werder Bremen attacked again, with Fritz, De Bruyne, and Huang Huo forming a triangular position. The German midfielder first passed the ball to the Belgian midfielder.
De Bruyne didn't stop the ball, directly sending a ground pass. When the Chinese youngster in the arc area received the ball with his back to the goal, he quickly attracted Dortmund's defensive attention, so he chose not to turn around, but instead took two steps back.
Just as he moved away from the penalty area, Selke suddenly chose to push forward into the heart of the defense. The shift of Dortmund's defensive focus naturally followed between their backline and midfield.
Huang Hu passed back to De Bruyne, then quickly turned and headed towards the penalty area. The Belgian midfielder sent a lobbed pass into the space with his foot, targeting not Selke, who was marked, but the Chinese youngster!
The Yellow and Blacks' goalkeeper Langlak was taken aback and rushed out, but it was too late. Without any interference in the small penalty area, Huang Hu jumped sideways to volley.
The ball passed Langlak's fingertips and dropped into the top right corner of the goal.
"2-1! Werder Bremen takes the lead again!"
"The goal comes from Huang Hu, a wonderful volley! In the air, he stretched his body to the extreme, just like a soaring eagle, so graceful!"
"This is his third brace in the league, and he has expanded his total goals to 13. The Chinese youngster now surpasses Alexander Meyer to lead the top scorer list!"
"Dortmund's league performance has been too poor. Losing this game will plunge them deeper into the relegation quagmire."
Hero Huang Hu ran towards the stands with open arms, where fans cheered for him, shouting his name. This goal was the best gift for them.
Soon, teammates also rushed over to surround the Chinese youngster. "Well done, my god, your volley was amazing!"
"I bet this goal will be the best of the week, maybe even the season, haha."
De Bruyne, Selke, and others patted Huang Hu's back admiringly.
From leading to being overturned, the Dortmund players felt like they had experienced a roller coaster ride. It was almost as Schaaf had said before the game; Immobile's goal made them momentarily forget about Lewandowski, but they had to remember in such adversity.
If the Polish striker were still here, could he have turned the tide? After all, he had already scored nine goals for Bayern.
Such thoughts intensified their inner frustration, and they failed to create good opportunities for the rest of the game.
2-1, Werder Bremen defeated Borussia Dortmund, achieving their first victory against the Yellow and Blacks in nearly five years!
The last game before the winter break was on December 20th, the 17th round of the Bundesliga, where Werder Bremen faced Cologne away.
They were once the champions of the inaugural Bundesliga and the most successful team in the league's early days. Unfortunately, due to financial and size issues, they gradually declined in the 1980s.
Now they struggled like any other lower-tier team, moving between the first and second divisions like an elevator.
This game didn't bring much difficulty for Werder Bremen. Although Huang Hu couldn't continue his goal-scoring streak, Selke and De Bruyne each scored to help the away team lead by two goals.
In the final moments, Cologne midfielder Marcel Risse helped the team pull one back, causing a slight ripple in the situation. However, the away team still held on to win 2-1.
With the first half of the season over, the Bundesliga entered its break, and the second half of the season wouldn't start until the end of January. In other words, the winter break lasted for more than a month.
Although top teams usually gather for training in mid to late January to quickly regain form, this was still the longest break among the top five leagues, much to the envy of players from other leagues.
For the past two seasons, Huang Hu had taken this opportunity to travel around Europe, encountering many adventures and even romantic encounters with passionate Italian girls and bold French girls that left him lingering.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do it this year as he needed to participate in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Being a tropical country adjacent to the equator, Australia could only host the tournament in winter.
Less than 20 days from the first match, fortunately, head coach Lippi was relatively humane and allowed the European-based players to rest for a few days before regrouping for training.
China's first match opponent was Saudi Arabia. This time, the lineup for the Asian Cup was very comprehensive, with all the European-based key players besides Wang Feng present, including Dong Fangzhuo.
Of course, he mostly served as a reserve in critical moments, as Lippi wanted to test and train young players more, so Dong Fangzhuo wasn't included in the starting lineup.
After a fierce battle, relying on Feng Miao's free-kick goal, they narrowly defeated the strong West Asian team 1-0.
The positive attitude of the young players and the result of the match uplifted many Chinese people, indicating that domestic football had indeed entered a stage of benign development.
Even if a group of powerful veterans like Wang Feng and Dong Fangzhuo retired and left in the future, they would still be able to maintain their status as top in Asia and second-rate in the world, quietly waiting for new stars to grow.
With the current number of Chinese players playing in Europe, this was not impossible.
After the first match, the attention of many fans was drawn to the FIFA annual awards ceremony, and even the national team organized a viewing of the live broadcast.
The annual Best XI was almost dominated by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, with only Messi from Barcelona, Ronaldo from Manchester City, and Thiago Silva from Paris Saint-Germain sneaking in.
Of course, Angel Di Maria's transfer to Manchester United was also considered, but most of his nominations were based on his performance with the Galacticos, as the Red Devils didn't have European competition this year.
The Fair Play Award was won by World Cup volunteers, and the FIFA President's Award was presented to Hiroshi Kagawa, a 89-year-old Japanese football journalist, in recognition of his contributions to the football industry.
The Puskas Award was won by James Rodriguez, the Best Women's Football Coach was Keller Mann, the FIFA Women's Player was Kesler, and L?w defeated Ancelotti to win the Best Men's Football Coach award.
As for the highly anticipated FIFA Ballon d'Or, everyone held their breath. This time, FIFA invited Henry, who had just announced his retirement, to present the award.
He opened the envelope, glanced at the contents, then looked meaningfully at FIFA President Blatter beside him, and announced the winner of the 2014 Ballon d'Or—Thomas Muller!
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