"Look! Goal!"
"Me?!"
Mark, who was originally standing with his hands on his hips, panting heavily, almost cursed out loud when he heard De Bruyne.
"Bro, do you see how tired I am right now?!"
"And you want me to run behind the defense?"
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
However, seeing that the other party, though flushed, was not out of breath, his heart not pounding, and his eyes shining with excitement, Mark's overwhelming helplessness and resentment instantly transformed into immense courage:
"Alright!"
He could understand De Bruyne's feelings at this moment.
If they could score one more goal, they would essentially secure the victory.
And by defeating Dortmund, they would be able to reach the German Cup final, giving them a chance to touch the German Cup trophy.
This was a huge temptation for every ambitious professional player!
Mark was no exception!
If playing football wasn't for victory, wasn't for championships, then what was the point of playing?!
Since that was the case, what did it matter if he gave his all for victory and the championship?!
As his stamina decreased, Mark also dared not hold the ball for too long; as soon as a teammate passed it to him, he would pass it to a nearby teammate as quickly as possible.
And in doing so, the chance of passing errors also increased.
As Dortmund gradually gained more possession, Wolfsburg was almost completely pinned back in their own half.
Even their two center-backs, Hummels and Papastathopoulos, had pushed past the halfway line.
Under Dortmund's furious onslaught, Wolfsburg was like a small boat, teetering on the brink, repeatedly buffeted by raging waves.
However, as the clock ticked past the seventy-fifth minute, the chance to kill the game quietly arrived!
Dortmund pressed forward in attack, and Sahin in the middle passed the ball to Reus on the left.
The latter dribbled along the sideline, facing the double-team of Ochs and Gustavo, forced his way inside, dribbled horizontally to the edge of the penalty area, and unleashed a powerful shot!
"Reus… shoots!!"
"Benaglio makes the save!"
Fortunately, the shot was too powerful and too central.
With a "thud," Benaglio punched the ball out with both fists, and the ball flew right to the top of the penalty area.
Naldo took a large stride forward, headed the ball, sending it to De Bruyne in front.
Pulling the ball back and turning, De Bruyne looked up at Dost ahead and directly used the instep of his foot to chip a through ball, accurately aiming it behind Dortmund's defense!
"Bas!"
And at the moment of the pass, Dost immediately accelerated forward.
On the other side, Mark, who had deliberately not tracked back on the left wing, also began to use every ounce of his strength to sprint forward!
"De Bruyne!"
"A beautiful through ball!"
"Dortmund's defense has been breached; there's a huge gap!"
De Bruyne's through ball was perfectly weighted.
It just cleared Dortmund's entire defensive line, and then, after landing, it began to slow down.
Unfortunately, Dost's absolute speed wasn't quite fast enough; just as he caught up to the ball, the trailing Piszczek had already tracked back into position.
Dost could only shield the ball immediately, using his arm to keep Piszczek away.
"Dost gets to the ball first, but Piszczek is already in position."
Just as Dost's brain was working at high speed, thinking about what to do, he heard a familiar shout from his left:
"Bas!"
Looking up, he saw Mark, his lips tightly pressed, sprinting with all his might.
Without hesitation, he directly pushed the ball forward.
Mark, who had charged up from behind, chased the ball and burst into the penalty area!
"Mark charges forward!"
"Into the box!"
"One-on-one with the goalkeeper… can he kill the game?!"
Facing the onrushing Weidenfeller, Mark first held his breath, then used his last bit of strength to feint with a dropped shoulder.
He accelerated and changed direction, getting past Dortmund's last line of defense!
The next second, he turned his head away from the goal, pushed the ball with the inside of his foot, and sent it into the empty net!
And the tracking Hummels was half a step too late; his long, sliding tackle ultimately failed to prevent the ball from crossing the goal line and entering the white net… The next second, the entire Westfalenstadion fell silent.
"Mark~~~ Ryan!!!"
"He scores a brace!"
"The ultimate defensive counter-attack! This is a No Look Goal!"
"The Wolfsburg prodigy, with his own strength, has conquered the devil's home ground of Westfalen!"
Amidst the frenzied cheers of the away fans, Mark ran directly to the south stand where the Dortmund fans were, put his hands behind his ears, and defiantly met their angry faces.
When he scored earlier, he had heard the home fans' curses and boos directed at him.
Now, it was his turn to retaliate!
"Still heckling?"
"Heckle for me to see?!"
"Speak up!"
Mark's celebration, however, clearly further enraged the home fans.
Piercing boos and close-up middle fingers from the stands also came flying at him.
Many fans even threw paper cups filled with beer at the arrogant black-haired young man.
For a moment, paper cups and splashing beer filled the air!
Fortunately, De Bruyne quickly pulled him back, preventing him from being hit by the projectiles.
Even so, the head referee still showed him a yellow card for his celebratory gesture, deeming it provocative towards the fans.
To this, Mark merely shrugged.
After showing off, Mark was about to run back when he suddenly felt a jolt in his legs, and intense pain immediately shot from his calves to his brain!
He directly collapsed to the ground with a "thud."
"Ah! Cramps!"
Hearing this, De Bruyne was first stunned, then seeing Mark's pained expression, he immediately rushed over.
"Which leg?"
"Both legs!"
Other teammates also quickly came forward to help him stretch and relax.
That last sprint had used up his very last ounce of strength.
Seeing that Mark had pushed himself to the point of leg cramps, Hecking on the sidelines immediately made a substitution.
Amidst the applause of the away fans, Mark was escorted off the field by two team doctors, one on each side.
"This eighteen-year-old prodigy gave everything for the team."
"Especially the second goal, which fully demonstrated his attacking awareness and composure in front of goal…"
"If Wolfsburg can have the last laugh in this match, he will be the biggest contributor to the team's advancement!"
Coming to the sidelines, Hecking also came up immediately to hug Mark:
"Well done, kid. Get some good rest…"
"Mhm!"
After Mark left the field, Wolfsburg continued to defend with all their players.
Dortmund, on the other hand, pushed forward completely, attacking frantically.
However, in front of the united Wolfsburg players, even when Dortmund pulled one back through Lewandowski in injury time, they still couldn't prevent the team from suffering the bitter taste of defeat.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~~~
As the head referee blew the final whistle, the Wolfsburg players on the field either high-fived in celebration or raised their arms in triumph.
And Mark, with ice packs strapped to both calves on the substitutes' bench, also leaped up from his seat and excitedly embraced De Bruyne, who had also been substituted, beside him:
"Final!"
"Final!!"
"Here we come!!!"
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