No matter how unwilling Schneider was, he had to accept his fate of being substituted.
However, he didn't high-five Mark as he came off, but walked directly past him.
Of course, Mark didn't bother with high-fiving Schneider either. The moment Schneider's foot touched the ground off the field, he couldn't wait to rush onto it.
Running onto the field, he saw Zhou Yi holding up his hand, waiting for him. So he ran over and completed the high-five.
"What's the mission?" Zhou Yi asked Mark during the high-five.
"The coach wants me behind Kinczek, to try to cut in and shoot when I have the chance, and help with support if I don't." Mark said simply, and Zhou Yi nodded to show he understood.
"Okay, go ahead then. You know how to play, right?"
He didn't tell Mark that this was an opportunity to nail Schneider to the bench completely, because now wasn't the time to think about that. Winning this derby was the most important thing. Compared to winning the game, personal grudges didn't matter at all.
If Schneider weren't such a king of wasting opportunities, Zhou Yi would have been happy to pass him the ball for an assist.
He'd done it before in previous games.
But sadly, Schneider never seemed to appreciate it...
Mark nodded as he ran towards his position.
※※※
Mark's appearance didn't attract the attention of Schalke 04. However, after Schneider came off the field, many spectators felt that the victory in this game was even more certain.
After all, Schneider was a well-known striker in both the U17 and U19 teams. His departure would undoubtedly reduce Borussia Dortmund's offensive quality.
If they could keep Götze and Kinczek in check, even if Zhou Yi could pass the ball, he wouldn't be able to find any targets!
Borussia Dortmund's attack would be completely harmless.
On the other hand, Mark's mother was very excited and kept waving at Mark in the stands: "Mark! Mark!! Go! Go!! Mark!!"
※※※
It had been a long time since Mark and Zhou Yi had played side-by-side in a match.
Whether it was internal games or warm-up matches, it hadn't happened.
But when he stepped onto the field again and saw Zhou Yi, he didn't feel any strangeness at all.
He was familiar with Zhou Yi's passing style, knew how Zhou Yi would play, so he also knew how to run. And he firmly believed that Zhou Yi must also be very familiar with his playing style and know how to pass to him.
Some people describe a good understanding by saying that a single glance is enough, but Mark believed that he and Zhou Yi didn't even need eye contact.
Just run.
After Mark came on the field, he quickly discovered that Schalke 04 lacked attention to him, and their defense against him was just a formality.
This was his chance.
Now it depended on whether Zhou Yi could see it.
In fact, Zhou Yi had also noticed Schalke 04's attitude towards defending Mark.
This was exactly what he hoped to see.
Soon, the opportunity came.
And this time, the opportunity was unbelievably good—Schalke 04's defenders were focused on Götze and Kinczek, and even Zhou Yi was facing defensive pressure. Only Mark was in an open space, but no one was defending him!
They really didn't take Mark, who had just come on the field, seriously...
If he didn't take advantage of such an obvious gap, he would be too sorry to Schalke 04.
Just at this moment, facing the opponent's tight defense, Götze couldn't break through, so he shifted the ball out and passed it to Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi didn't wait in place to receive the ball, but instead moved towards it.
After passing the ball, Götze cut inside, seeming to want to do a one-two with Zhou Yi. His actions attracted the attention of Schalke 04's defense.
But Zhou Yi didn't look at Götze's run, but turned his eyes to the other side, focusing his gaze on Mark.
He noticed that Mark had retreated a little, hiding himself better, and the gap was still there.
So good at finding and using gaps... this was indeed the Mark he knew.
Although his playing style had changed, and he had worked hard on physical confrontation for more than a month, his keen grasp of gaps and opportunities was still there. It was his instinct!
After seeing Mark's situation clearly, Zhou Yi's gaze returned to the ball.
At this time, the ball was about to roll to his feet.
Zhou Yi didn't choose to stop the ball, but instead raised his right foot and kicked the ball towards his left front!
A ground ball that skimmed the grass, the ball rolled past the feet of a Schalke 04 defender.
It was actually very close to him, but because he was running towards Götze, he was powerless in the face of this ball that brushed past him, and could only watch it roll towards the gap behind him!
At the moment Zhou Yi passed the ball, Mark, who had been hiding behind, suddenly burst out!
The strength training of the past month had brought Mark an unexpected benefit, which was that it increased his explosiveness, making his starting speed faster than before.
Maybe only a tenth of a second faster, but that tenth of a second could allow him to react faster than others and reach the designated position!
※※※
In fact, before Zhou Yi passed the ball, everyone thought he would pass the ball to Götze. After all, in the previous games, he and Götze had the most cooperation, and Götze had scored many goals because of his assists.
He and Götze were the golden partners of Borussia Dortmund U19.
So everyone's attention was focused on Götze.
But when Götze broke into the penalty area, the ball didn't follow.
Everyone watched Zhou Yi pass the ball to the other side...
Who was on the other side?
They shifted their gaze over and found a person wearing Borussia Dortmund's number twenty-five jersey appearing in an undefended space!
"It's Mark!" Mrs. Wagner shouted excitedly.
No one thought that Mark would receive the ball in that position. There were no Schalke 04 defenders around him. Now he was directly facing the Schalke 04 goalkeeper, and he had plenty of time to adjust his shot!
However, Mark didn't adjust for too long. After stopping the ball with his left foot, he shot directly with his right foot!
The ball flew forward quickly along the ground.
Although Schalke 04's goalkeeper, Arthur, quickly dived to save, it was still a step too late.
For goalkeepers, diving to save takes the most time.
Mark cleverly didn't choose to powerfully blast it into the upper corner, increasing Arthur's difficulty in saving.
Arthur didn't touch the ball. The ball rolled past his hand and into the goal!
Goal!
Goal!!!
It wasn't until the ball rolled into the goal that Mark reacted—did I score?
His first shot after coming on the field actually resulted in a goal?!
At this time, he wanted to find Zhou Yi, who had assisted him, but as soon as he turned around, he saw Zhou Yi rushing towards him.
"Great job, Mark!! You're simply the nemesis of Schalke 04! Haha!"
In the last game against Schalke 04 U17, Mark scored twice, helping Borussia Dortmund U17 defeat their Ruhr district rivals. Zhou Yi wasn't wrong to say that...
While Zhou Yi and Mark were embracing, Götze ran into the goal, grabbed the ball, and then ran over to pat Mark on the shoulder: "Well done, Mark! Now we're only one goal behind them! Come on, let's continue!"
He hadn't forgotten his goal yet—to win this Ruhr district derby, even away from home!
Mark also understood what was most important now. He didn't celebrate the goal wildly, but ran towards the center circle with Götze.
The other teammates came up and just patted him on the shoulder and touched his head, without intending to hug him.
Everyone knew that time was short now, and the more time they could gain, the more hope they had of winning.
※※※
When Mark scored, Mark's parents both jumped up from their seats, and his mother, Mrs. Wagner, was especially excited.
"Mark! My son! Well done! You are my pride!!!"
She didn't care at all about revealing her identity in front of a large group of Schalke 04 fans. She just wanted to cheer for her son now.
Scoring a goal not long after coming on the field, could there be a better U19 debut than this?!
No!
This was already the best U19 debut that Mrs. Wagner could imagine.
Katarna also stood up from her seat and applauded for her younger brother.
In her opinion, being able to score a goal was a good thing.
※※※
When Mark scored, Jebara jumped up from his seat and hugged his assistant coach.
Now they were only one goal behind!
At this time, Jebara didn't think about whether this Mark was enjoying Zhou Yi's nanny assist again.
In the derby, he couldn't think about so much. Being able to win was more important than anything else.
The Borussia Dortmund U19 players on the bench all jumped up from their seats, raised their arms and cheered, happy that Borussia Dortmund had pulled back a goal.
Only Schneider sat on the bench, watching all this in surprise.
I worked so hard on the field and didn't score a goal, but that kid scored a goal as soon as he came on?
Did God have to be so good to him!
※※※
Borussia Dortmund's goal made the Schalke 04 fans feel very depressed.
Neuer was speechless.
He couldn't blame anyone for this goal. There was no problem with goalkeeper Arthur, and there was no problem with the chasing defender.
It wasn't a very obvious gap, but the opponent caught it.
It wasn't that his side didn't perform well, but that the opponent performed too well...
Draxler whispered in Yang Muge's ear: "That number twenty-five... isn't that the guy who scored two goals against us in that game?"
Yang Muge nodded: "That's him."
"Damn it, Borussia Dortmund brought him on... we're in trouble now..." Draxler's impression of Mark was naturally very deep, especially the tacit understanding between him and Zhou Yi, which left a deep mark on Draxler. This goal was almost a replica of that game, almost exactly the same!
Zhou Yi sent the ball to the gap, and that number twenty-five quickly found the gap and scored the goal with almost no one defending him...
Schalke 04 lost to these two people in that U17 Ruhr district derby.
In Draxler's eyes, who didn't know what had happened after Mark was promoted to Borussia Dortmund U19, Mark was Borussia Dortmund U19's secret weapon. Now that Borussia Dortmund had sent him up, as long as he and Zhou Yi reproduced the tacit cooperation of that game, it would be enough for Schalke 04 U19's defense to have a hard time!
And obviously, Schalke 04 U19, whether it was the coach or the players, didn't understand this.
Draxler frowned on the sidelines, biting his lower lip tightly, worrying about the fate of his team.