Rostock's starting eleven had an average age of nearly 32.
Out of those 11 players, six were local Rostock veterans who had once played in the Bundesliga or 2. Bundesliga before retiring.
Put politely, they were retired pros. Put bluntly, they were cast‑offs discarded by bigger clubs, past their prime and slowing down.
Yet even these fading veterans were dominating Schalke 04's young side.
The midfield was a one‑sided battle.
Rostock's double pivot of Cetkovic and Raschgeb completely froze out Ben Kersey and Halim O'Shea.
No through balls. No progressive passes.
Even simple build-up felt like wading through mud.
Cetkovic might not have been quick, but his brute strength and veteran defensive awareness left Halim O'Shea completely helpless.
All the tricks and flicks that worked on youth players were useless against him.
One tight body check, one well‑timed tackle — and the ball was gone.
Less than 20 minutes in, Schalke hadn't mustered a single meaningful attack.
If not for two decent displays from the full-backs, the score would already have been 2–0 or 3–0.
Daniel screamed instructions from the touchline, red in the face.
But no matter how loud he shouted, the pattern didn't change.
Against Rostock's experienced heads, Schalke looked every bit their U18 age — outplayed, outsmarted, and unable to fight back.
35th minute
Midfield mistakes finally handed Rostock another chance.
The stubborn Halim O'Shea tried for the Nth time to beat Cetkovic with a basic direction change.
Cetkovic read it easily, held his position, and hooked the ball away right in front of him.
One quick switch of play to Stein on the left wing.
Same old tactic.
Stein swung a 45‑degree cross from the edge of the area, and Hahninger rose high inside the box.
No contest.
The towering striker bullied Schalke's center-back pair again and powered a header into the net.
2–0
"BOO!!!"
"BOO!!!"
"SHIT! What garbage is this?!"
"What are our defense and that attacking midfielder even doing?!"
"For God's sake, stop embarrassing us at the Parkstadion! Get off the pitch!"
Rostock's celebrations were drowned out by jeers and angry shouts from the stands.
"Goddammit, Halim! Are you deaf?! I told you to get the ball wide quickly — can't you hear?!"
Daniel didn't care about hurting Halim's feelings anymore. He roared at the top of his lungs.
On the pitch, Halim hung his head, defeated and silent.
Ben Kersey, equally ineffective, looked just as lifeless.
The entire Schalke team looked like wilted flowers.
Meanwhile, back in China…
Li Shuo, a regular on Chinese football forums, was glued to his screen, desperately searching for a 3. Liga stream.
But there was nothing.
No TV coverage. No online broadcast.
Hundreds of other fans who'd seen Hao Junmin's post were doing the exact same thing.
In Europe's top five leagues, only Hao Junmin was still playing in Germany — in fact, he was the only Chinese player in any major European league.
As for young talent?
Chinese football had produced barely any promising youngsters in years.
Compared to the overflowing talent pools in South Korea and Japan, China looked pitiful.
So when a new Chinese face suddenly appeared in the 3. Liga, these die-hard fans latched onto him as a small spark of hope.
Under Hao Junmin's thread, comments flooded in:
I'm at the stadium! There's a black-haired kid on the bench, not playing yet — that must be the guy from the video!
Dude, give us live updates! I've been searching for half an hour and can't find a stream!
Please keep posting! We're desperate for news!
Bad news — Schalke are 0–2 down. They're nowhere near Rostock's level. Midfield is a disaster. Number 9 is slow, turns like a tanker, and keeps trying to dribble. Just got robbed again, leading to their second header.
Stick our guy in! His dribbling and passing looked good enough for the 3. Liga!
Are these Germans discriminating against him? He's clearly talented!
You're our only source of info! Keep the updates coming!
Li Shuo refreshed the page again and again, barely breathing.
He wished he could fly to Germany to watch the match in person.
He just wanted to know: could a talented Chinese kid really make it abroad?
...
The ugly football continued.
2–0 down, Rostock grew more and more relaxed.
After a few more failed dribbles, Halim finally came to his senses.
He stopped trying to fight Rostock's midfield head-on.
He and Ben Kersey began trying to shift the ball wide.
But it was no use.
Even out wide, Wheeler Angelo and Hardy Hunt were isolated.
Every time they pushed forward, Rostock swarmed them with numbers.
Finally, the referee blew for half-time, putting an end to the miserable first 45 minutes.
Daniel spun on his heel and stormed toward the dressing room, fuming.
The substitutes began to follow.
But as he passed Su Bai, Daniel shot him a sharp glance.
"Where do you think you're going? Warm up."
Without another word, he marched down the tunnel.
Su Bai froze.
Warm up? During half-time?
"Congrats! Congrats!"
Backup keeper Smedley Lev clapped him on the shoulder, grinning.
"Congrats for what?"
"You don't know? You're coming on for the second half. Straight into the action."
Su Bai's eyes lit up.
He'd made the matchday squad, but he never expected to actually play.
Like Hao Junmin said, rookies usually needed a month or two to settle in before getting minutes.
He never thought his debut would come this soon.
What Su Bai didn't know was that Daniel had already grown sick of Halim's selfish, ball-hogging performance.
He'd rather throw Su Bai into the fire than watch the same humiliation continue.
At the very least, Su Bai could actually play a dangerous pass.
Zero shots in the first half.
It was the most humiliating match of Daniel's career.