"Sweaty after playing football?"
"Use Rexona!"
After a good half-day of shooting in the studio, this short, ten-second commercial was finally done.
Mark Lane and Pamela had also become much more familiar with each other than at the beginning.
At this moment, Pamela, holding her iPhone, came up to Mark Lane:
"Hey, Mark Lane, do you want to say hello to my fans?"
Mark Lane looked at the phone in Pamela's hand and readily agreed without hesitation:
"Of course!"
Waving at Pamela's camera, Mark Lane smiled and greeted:
"Hey, guys, this is Mark Lane!"
"This is my new friend, Mark Lane. He's a famous Bundesliga star. We collaborated on a commercial, but as for what it is, I'll keep you guessing for now..."
After filming, Pamela didn't forget to ask Mark Lane:
"I'm planning to post this video on INS and YouTube, is that okay?"
"Of course!"
During breaks from filming the commercial, Mark Lane and Pamela also chatted quite a bit.
He discovered that Pamela was a year younger than him, yet she was more famous than him.
Her total followers on social media had already reached over 500,000!
In comparison, his own 70,000 to 80,000 followers, as a rising star in the Bundesliga, seemed a bit meager.
However, according to Pamela, her account had been managed for two years to reach its current follower count.
And Mark Lane, with 70,000 to 80,000 followers in less than a month since opening his social media account, was already very impressive.
Perhaps it was because she was similar in age to Mark Lane, or perhaps it was when she talked about her career, Pamela seemed very excited.
She shared her main YouTube channel and related videos with Mark Lane.
At the same time, she was also full of curiosity about Mark Lane, this new Bundesliga star.
Because it was her first time meeting a Bundesliga player.
And Mark Lane's relatively lean physique challenged her stereotype of Bundesliga players being tall and burly.
Of course, there was also his looks, more like an actor than a professional player... "Speaking of which, why don't you do more strength training? The intensity of competition for Bundesliga players is so high; if you're so lean, won't you just get knocked flying with one bump?"
Smelling the faint fragrance wafting from Pamela, Mark Lane's mouth twitched, and he almost couldn't resist retorting.
This girl, she looks so sweet, but why is she so blunt when she talks... Meeting Pamela's curious gaze, he could only shrug and tell her truthfully:
"My coach said that during my growth spurt, I shouldn't do strength training yet. It's not too late to do it after my bone growth is complete."
Nodding, Pamela then said:
"Then you can do some flexibility training; that can help your performance on the field..."
Body flexibility determines whether a person can perform more difficult movements.
For example, a large part of the reason Ibrahimović is able to score many astonishing world-class goals like volleys, bicycle kicks, and scorpion kicks in ways that ordinary people find hard to achieve, is related to his karate career.
"That's a good suggestion."
With a slight smile, Pamela then didn't forget to recommend her videos:
"You can subscribe to my YouTube channel and then watch my videos to train at home; it's very convenient."
"Haha, I'll definitely watch them..."
"Do you usually live and work in Karlsruhe?"
"Yes, this is my first time coming to Berlin again after two months... But if I have work, I also travel around."
"Then next time you have a chance to come to Wolfsburg, remember to tell me. I'll treat you to a game!"
"Okay."
After chatting for a while, the two young people naturally exchanged contact information and followed each other on social media.
Filming his first endorsement commercial and meeting fitness influencer Pamela was just a small interlude.
Two days later, Mark Lane followed his team non-stop to the banks of the Weser River in the state of Bremen.
Their opponent for the twenty-seventh round was none other than Werder Bremen, nicknamed "The Parrots"!
Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg, these two clubs, have a deep history.
Firstly, Werder Bremen is also a Bundesliga team with green and white as its main colors.
Secondly, there has been a lot of player movement between the two sides.
Wolfsburg's former midfield maestro Diego and current defensive pillar Naldo both made their names at Werder Bremen.
And the current Wolfsburg sporting director, Allofs, was the club manager for Werder Bremen starting in 1999.
He only stepped down last summer to take up his position at Wolfsburg.
De Bruyne's loan move to Werder Bremen last season, and his transfer to Wolfsburg this winter window for a club-record fee, were all orchestrated by him.
It's no exaggeration to say that he was the benefactor who saved De Bruyne's career!
However, Werder Bremen, who once nurtured stars like Klose, Diego, Özil, Mertesacker, and Pizarro, and won the Bundesliga title, is no longer the force it once was.
After twenty-six rounds, they had only managed 7 wins, 8 draws, and 11 losses, placing them thirteenth in the League.
Only 6 points above the relegation zone!
Although the squad also boasts Bundesliga veterans like Hunt, Di Santo, Ekici, and Junuzović.
However, the team's attacking ability is very concerning.
After twenty-six rounds, they had only scored thirty goals!
In this match, Mark Lane started as a right winger, forming a dynamic wing duo with Perisic.
The center forward was Dost, who stands over 1.9 meters tall.
And in this match, Mark Lane had only one task on the right flank:
That was to dribble past opponents and cross!
The chemistry between Mark Lane and De Bruyne delighted Hecking.
However, the situation with the team's frontline was proving to be a headache for him.
Olić was Wolfsburg's top scorer this season, having scored twelve goals in the League.
But this former Bayern striker was already thirty-four years old.
No matter how hot his form or how active his running, it couldn't hide his declining physical condition.
Therefore, the younger substitute striker Dost was the team's key focus for the future of the attack.
However, compared to the experienced Olić, Dost had physique and height, good predatory instincts in front of goal, and was a pure poacher, requiring a lot of support from his teammates.
But after joining Wolfsburg two years ago, due to changes in head coaches and his own injuries, the former Eredivisie top scorer's goal-scoring efficiency had been consistently low, and his form intermittent.
So, in this match, to help Dost rediscover the feeling of his dominant days in the Eredivisie, Hecking also instructed De Bruyne and Mark Lane to send more crosses from the right flank to Dost.
And for Mark Lane, this was also a good opportunity to train through matches.
He had recently been learning from Teacher Ding how to deliver those curving crosses that bypass defenders, and this was a perfect chance to test his learning in a match environment with defensive intensity.
In the fifteenth minute of the match, Mark Lane received the ball on the right wing, dribbled past the Werder Bremen left-back, then looked up to observe Dost's movement in the penalty area, and directly unleashed a powerful cross!
Go!
The next second, the ball traced a strangely erratic meteor-like trajectory in the sky above the Weser Stadium, flying directly out of bounds.
Facing this result, Mark Lane could only raise his hand in apology:
"My fault, my fault!"