Chapter 1008 Stealing the First Blood!

"AAAAARGH!"

The moment Tanaka witnessed the ball go into the back of the net, he couldn’t help but roar, screaming as loudly as ever against the sky.

He rushed toward the corner flag, searching for where the crowd was. The moment the boy found that spot, he jumped on the commercial board, slamming the badge on his chest proudly in front of the fanatic supporters on the stand.

"THE NAME IS AO TANAKA! REMEMBER THAT, EVERYONE!"

Of course, that passionate introduction would be received well with full of love, as no supporters would hate such a player who could potentially become a hero in a derby game like this.

"I don’t know what you are saying, Boy, but I approve it!"

"Come on! Welcome to Schalke, Brat!"

"Hahaha! As expected from Japanese players! They know what it means to fight for the badge!"

Only after Tanaka listened to the crowd in front of him did he realize that they didn’t speak the same language.

Those people didn’t know his Japanese at all, and his ears couldn’t even recognize a single shit coming out of their German mouths.

However, that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm. No, if anything, his grin only got wider than ever, as he patted the badge on his chest proudly.

Behind him, the other players followed with great enthusiasm. First, it was Fabian who sent the assist, and Hoppe who became the bait, and even Morita who orchestrated everything from behind the scenes.

Within a second, everyone gathered, laughing their ass off after finally getting the lead that they had been waiting for.

"Hahaha! That goal is crazy, Tanaka-san!" Morita slapped his senpai hard on the back while also waving at the supporters excitedly.

"Not bad, not bad..." Fabian also gave a nod of approval. "You know exactly where to run, and you don’t even hesitate to go there. It seems that you are not just here as a bench warmer, huh?"

Even Sead Kolasinac rushed from the defensive line so that he could join the proper celebration there.

"Good job, Tanaka! That goal is going to change the whole game!"

Meanwhile, in the DAZN studio, the enthusiasm finally started to decline a little bit, and now, Daniel Herzog and Michael Ballack could finally give a proper analysis of what was going on earlier.

"They are careless, Dortmund’s defense, I mean," Ballack stated bluntly. "This has been their problem since the first half, as they allowed Schalke’s midfielders to run from their blind spot without any guard so many times."

"Morita has done it at least twice in the first half, and Fabian also managed to get one from the same scenario, and yet, Terzic seems to ignore the threat coming from the second line."

"Now, they are paying a huge price for it, as being down in the scoresheet against Schalke with Higo protecting the goal will be a pain in the ass."

Daniel Herzog couldn’t help but have a sweat drop on his face at the last sentence. He knew that Ballack could be blunt, but could the man restrain himself from such a crass word?

Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done, and if anything, he also agreed with that assessment.

"Still, you cannot forget the important role of that boy here. Who is his name again? Ao Tanaka?" The man checked his data to make sure that he was correct in this regard.

"He made an intelligence play. Just look at the replay! After sending a through pass to Fabian, he went wide to the flank that Benito Raman had just left earlier!"

"Raphael Guerreiro was still paying attention for a moment, but when Benito Raman made a cut into the box, the full back had to put his focus on the biggest threat in front of him!"

"It also helps that Tanaka himself didn’t make any sudden sprint or something that could be determined as a threat here. No, he jogged casually, waited, waited, and waited until Guerreiro’s focus was not on him, and the exact second he knew, the boy sprinted without hesitation!"

"This is something that couldn’t be taught simply by watching the game! No, the boy’s observation skill is clearly beyond his age, and he took advantage of that beautifully!"

"His name is Ao Tanaka from Japan, remember that, Schalke fans!"

While everyone was still glazing at the boy’s goal, on the other side of the pitch, all the Dortmund players were so ashen right now.

The goal really came out of nowhere, and it hurt more than anything else, especially since they themselves knew that their rival would pull this scheme right after the whistle was blown.

It was like... They knew what kind of threat they had to face, and yet, they were so helpless to stop it.

That feeling was ugly, and they would remember it for the rest of the game.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" From the sideline, Edin Terzic also started shouting, trying to wake them up from this nightmare. "This is just the beginning, for God’s sake! We still have 45 minutes left! Don’t forget about that!"

The boss’s reminder made all Die Borussen’s players realize that, yeah, it hadn’t even been a full minute since the game began before they conceded a goal like this.

If anything, this only made them fall into a deeper depression, believing that this was just the beginning of their end.

The one who fell hardest was definitely Marwin Hitz. After all, the goalkeeper had done well in the first half, blocking all the threats from the home team left and right earlier.

Hell, he even managed to make 4 saves during that time, and while compared to Higo, the number was not that much, that was the most he had ever done in one half of the game, telling everyone that this was the best game of his career.

Unfortunately, everything crumbled in just 30 seconds, as he found that his proud achievement before was meaningless after facing the fierce Blitzkrieg attack from Schalke.

He could only punch the grass, cursing at himself for that goal.

’Fuck! If only I could do better...’