First off, condolences to the GOAT, Lionel Andres Messi, the loss of a father is a deep blow.
Second, congrats to Ronaldo on the marrieage, hope this one is the one.
***
Having experienced two awakenings, Jin Hayes had somewhat gained some experience. That kind of experience was difficult to achieve through subjective deliberation; it wasn't as if saying you wanted a certain skill would instantly summon it. Instead, an awakening could only be triggered at a moment of true longing from the depths of the heart, when the subconscious will was at its strongest.
The first awakening occurred at the Everton training base. The young player was being utterly humiliated by the English kids, who wanted nothing more than to rub it in his face. Not only were the obvious discriminatory words and actions not stopped, but the Everton coaches also ignored them, allowing their youth players to act without any decency.
In a moment of despair, Jin Hayes was forced into action like a duck being driven onto a perch. He had long accumulated enough anger in his heart, but what could he do?
At that time, Jin Hayes's technique and physique were no match for the Everton group; he would still be humiliated upon going out there. At that moment, Jin Hayes felt his desire to become stronger break through the sky. And thus, the story began; Jin Hayes triggered his first awakening.
The second time was when Borussia Dortmund faced Werder Bremen. Jin Hayes's weakness of having a thin frame was seized upon by the opponents, who subjected him to constant malicious fouls and physical confrontation throughout the match. His stamina could hardly support such intense combat.
Seeing the team on the verge of collapse and Jin Hayes himself about to break down, he desperately hoped he could possess a stronger physical talent that could support him in fighting until the very last second. As a familiar, mysterious sensation spread throughout his body, a voice rang out from the depths of his heart for the second time.
The indescribable feeling was too special; Jin Hayes had only experienced it twice in his life. It was completely different from ordinary sensations; Jin Hayes could naturally distinguish it very clearly. He was certain that just now, while teaching Anna how to kick free kicks, he was about to have his third awakening.
He remembered that his obsession with free kicks was particularly deep at that time. If he mastered free kick and set-piece techniques, he could better guide Anna and bring greater tactical value to the team in future actual matches. Unfortunately, at the very moment the awakening was about to be triggered, he was interrupted by Anna.
Anna shouldn't take the blame for this; it was Jin Hayes himself who took the initiative to cut off the connection. He knew very well that as long as there was a suitable opportunity, the awakening would definitely be triggered again. It was like meeting a desired partner where both parties were in mutual agreement, but just as they were about to merge, they were interrupted by uncontrollable external factors.
Even if it didn't happen this time, Jin Hayes was confident he could continue the unfinished progress next time. It was best to maintain a calm mindset and let nature take its course; it couldn't be rushed.
...
March 7, 2009, 15:30 Berlin time.
Veltins-Arena. The fiery Ruhr Derby was about to kick off. Last season, Borussia Dortmund did the double over Schalke 04. In the first round of this season at Westfalen, Borussia Dortmund once again defeated Schalke 04 3-2.
Since Jin Hayes joined Borussia Dortmund, the Bumblebees finally reversed the fortunes, maintaining an unbeaten record against Schalke 04 for two consecutive seasons. Jin Hayes, of course, also became the player most hated by everyone at Schalke 04.
Starting the match, Jin Hayes held the hand of a young mascot as they walked into the Veltins-Arena. The dense crowd in the stands created an overwhelming wave of boos, giving off a visual sense of dark clouds pressing down on a city about to crumble. It was so intense that even the young mascot beside him couldn't bear it; the little girl looked up curiously at the handsome older brother next to her.
"Sir, why are they booing you like this? It's a bit impolite."
Jin Hayes smiled faintly and looked down, intentionally making a fierce expression. "Because they are afraid of me. Are you afraid of me?"
The mascots were basically all local young fans, with Schalke 04's blue blood flowing through their entire families; theoretically, the two were from opposing factions. But the little girl giggled, the dimples on her face making her look quite adorable. "I'm not afraid, sir. You are a good person."
Well, being given a 'good person card' by a young girl was quite something.
Enduring the boos from the entire Schalke 04 crowd, Jin Hayes stood near the centre circle, ready for the kickoff. The substitute forward Bajram Sadrijaj beside him couldn't help but worry a bit for Jin Hayes; if he were booed like this, his legs would surely go soft. But when he turned his head and saw Jin Hayes's expression, Sadrijaj understood. Jin Hayes had already switched to serious mode; Schalke 04 was likely going to suffer today.
Whoosh—as soon as the match started, Jin Hayes poked the ball back to Nuri Şahin and turned to run towards the front court. At the same time, substitute left winger Tamás Hajnal and right winger Jakub Błaszczykowski charged forward with their heads down. The Borussia Dortmund forward line launched their most adept blitzkrieg.
Schalke 04 goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was just about to warm up his body to welcome the upcoming attacks when he looked up and saw that the Borussia Dortmund players were almost in his face. His teammates seemed to still have very little guard against Borussia Dortmund.
"Are you a bunch of idiots?!!"
Was this the first time these people had played against Borussia Dortmund? Didn't they know that what they were best at was the blitz attack? How could there be no sense of tension at all in the Ruhr Derby?
"Scheiße!! Damn it!" Neuer blurted out a curse and accelerated his charge out of the penalty area. His sixth sense told him that things were about to get very dangerous. As Schalke's last line of defence, he had to disrupt this attack.
Sure enough. Şahin passed laterally to Sebastian Kehl, and Kehl passed back to Şahin. After looking up for half a second, Şahin feigned a turn to pass back but suddenly unleashed a long ball directly into the front court. The target was precisely Jin Hayes, who was charging towards the front of the penalty area.
On Germany's ZDF Channel 2, the commentator Mehmet Scholl, a recognised fan of Jin Hayes, was still looking down reading the starting lineup. He looked up and immediately exclaimed: "Şahin!! A long pass directly finding Jin! Not offside!"
At the moment of the pass, Jin Hayes was exactly parallel with Schalke 04's Heiko Westermann. By the time Westermann realised something was wrong and turned around, he had already been pulled away by a body's length by Jin Hayes.
"Neuer! Charging out of the penalty area!"
Fortunately, Neuer had anticipated Borussia Dortmund's early attack ahead of time. Transforming into a 'sweeper-keeper,' he charged out of the penalty area to clear the ball. The landing point of the ball was not far in front of the arc; when Neuer arrived, he could take the ball down with his chest. By using his footwork to shake off Jin Hayes and then sending a long pass out, he might even be able to launch a counterattack.
The ideal was beautiful, but the reality exceeded Neuer's imagination. Jin Hayes's momentum in his determined charge was even more fierce, and in an instant, he had already arrived in front of Neuer. Jin Hayes even jumped early.
Jump Enhancement.
"OHHH—"
Exclamations erupted from the stands of the Veltins-Arena. At the moment Jin Hayes jumped, it was as if people saw a basketball player soaring through the air. The young player actually used the posture of the Bundesliga logo to complete the ball control in the air first.
"Controlling the ball in the air?!"
Manuel Neuer, who was close at hand, widened his eyes. Jin Hayes's ball control was completed almost in his face; he saw it with absolute clarity. In order to prevent the ball from bouncing forward upon landing, Nuri Şahin's long pass was intentionally given topspin. The football flew in with intense rotation and extremely high speed.
Normally, one would either have to take it with their back to the goal on the chest or wait for the ball to land and lose its momentum before handling it. If one wanted to intercept it in the air, there was a high probability the ball would bounce 3 metres away.
Jin Hayes actually brought the ball down steadily in mid-air.
Before Neuer could even rush up to press, the moment Jin Hayes landed, he had already flicked the ball over Neuer's head. Goalkeeper Neuer instinctively wanted to reach out and touch the ball, but he immediately realized he was outside the penalty area. Just as his left and right brain were battling for about 0.2 seconds, Jin Hayes had already bypassed Neuer and was charging towards the goal with a cold, murderous gaze.
"A flick!! He's past him!! Jin—facing an open goal!" Neuer gritted his teeth and turned to chase back, but it was already a step too late. Jin Hayes sprinted to the goal line and pushed the ball into the empty net with his instep, making it look easy. The match clock on the scoreboard clearly displayed the time: 00:09:32—9.32 seconds.
"Gooooooooal!! Borussia Dortmund's signature blitzkrieg!" Mehmet Scholl roared loudly, listing the records as if they were family treasures. "1986, Bayern Munich, Lothar Matthäus scored in 13 seconds; 1998, Bayern Munich, Giovane Élber scored in 11 seconds; 2002, Kaiserslautern, Ulf Kirsten scored in 11 seconds; Today! March 7, 2009, Borussia Dortmund, Jin Hayes—scored in 9 seconds! He is simply a record harvester, having set the record for the youngest appearance in the Bundesliga; the youngest goal-scoring record in the Bundesliga; the record for the youngest hat-trick in Europe; the Bundesliga single-season assist record; now, Jin Hayes has broken the record for the fastest goal in the Bundesliga!"
The Veltins-Arena, which had been filled with boos, came to a sudden halt at this moment. The stands fell into complete silence, with only the few hundred fans in the away section going wild.
"Where are the boos? Why aren't you booing anymore?"
After scoring, Jin Hayes did not let up. He intentionally went before the home team's die-hard fans' stands and raised his arms.
"Louder! A bit louder! I can't hear you!"
When Jin Hayes put his hand to his ear, his mocking gesture was turned up to the maximum. The Veltins-Arena could no longer hold back. Unprecedented, earth-shattering boos echoed throughout the entire city of Gelsenkirchen.
"This scene is really hard to take." Scholl didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Jin Hayes looks like a gentle and honest kid. As a Golden Boy Award winner and one of the hottest young players, he isn't arrogant off the pitch; instead, he is low-key and peaceful, and very friendly to away fans. But on the pitch, he is a nightmare to opposing fans. It's fine as long as you don't provoke him, but anyone who does will face a fierce counterattack on the spot."
Provoking the fans after a goal, in Scholl's view, exactly proved his youthful spirit and that he was still a young man.
"Referee? He's acting like this and you're not going to do anything?" Schalke 04 captain Heiko Westermann complained to the referee with righteous indignation. The head referee couldn't help but roll his eyes; it was clearly the home fans who had provoked him first. He had heard discordant sounds from the stands more than once—monkey-like screeches, and people holding bananas...
These were all behaviors strictly prohibited by the German Football Association. In the referee's view, Jin Hayes's provocation was nothing. But according to the rules, the head referee still had to step forward and give Jin Hayes a verbal warning.
"Jin, dial it back a little, don't go too far—by the way, nice job."
"No problem, sir."
Jin Hayes's goal had been achieved: striking back at the fans with a goal. He had made those who provoked him fuming with rage, yet they couldn't rush onto the pitch to hit anyone. Venting his frustration was enough; next, he had to focus on the match.
9 seconds into the start, Schalke trailed Borussia Dortmund 0-1.
Jin Hayes's behaviour of adding fuel to the fire completely ignited this Ruhr Derby. From then on, the referee's whistle never stopped. He had to blow it almost every 5 minutes. At its most intense, he blew it 3 times in 1 minute. Players from both sides engaged in frantic challenges in the midfield. Sliding tackles, throwing people down, elbowing—the Veltins-Arena was just short of setting up an Octagon for the players to have a UFC-style no-holds-barred fight.
Less than 30 minutes into the match, Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund each had 2 players receive yellow cards, and several more players had already been noted by the head referee, ready to be carded at any time.
Among them, the one who drew the most resentment was, of course, Jin Hayes. In just 30 minutes, Jin Hayes was fouled 6 times by Schalke 04, averaging once every 5 minutes. He had provoked the fans at the start, and his playing style made it too easy for him to be targeted. Schalke 04's defensive players watched as Jin Hayes performed fancy dribbling in front of them, shifting left and right, yet they couldn't win the ball no matter what.
Centre-back Westermann was made flush-faced by him, his eyes spitting fire. "This guy!!!"
Using his body, sticking out his foot, pulling the jersey—he simply couldn't take the ball from Jin Hayes. Westermann hardened his heart, exerted force with his hand, and tripped Jin Hayes with his foot. This immediately ignited the anger of the players on both sides again. In an instant, both sides were like rival gangs, gathered together and ready to start a war at any moment.
"As expected of the Ruhr Derby, all the elements of a fiery derby are here." The head referee's shrill whistle sounded repeatedly. He almost felt like he needed to fire a warning shot into the air. It took a great deal of effort to pull the two sides apart, and he gave the offending player Westermann a yellow card warning, while also giving Borussia Dortmund a free kick opportunity, from an angle to the left, at a distance of 27 metres.
"Wait?" Seeing that Şahin was about to take the ball to perform the kick, Jin Hayes hurriedly rushed over. "Nuri, leave this ball to me."
"What?" Şahin thought he had misheard. With Jin Hayes's level of free kicks, how could he have the confidence to take the shot? But looking at Jin Hayes's eyes, he didn't seem to be joking.
Jin Hayes indeed wasn't joking. At this moment, that familiar feeling had come again. The third awakening was knocking at his door, and this time he was determined not to let it slip away. His heart pounded with anticipation as he placed the ball on the grass, stepping back to measure his run-up. The Schalke wall formed in front of him, jeering and taunting. Jin Hayes ignored them all. He focused on the ball, on the target, on the feeling building deep within him. This was his chance.