"Maaaarcoooo—Reuuuuuuuuus!!!!"
"The first minute after coming on as a substitute! Marco Reus equalises for Borussia Dortmund!"
"2 to 2!"
"This is the Yellow and Blacks—this is the yellow and black youth storm!"
"And the one who assisted him is Jin Hayes again!"
"He struggled to adapt to the attacking midfielder role in the first half, but he has delivered a dominant performance in the second half!"
In the Westfalenstadion, yellow and black waves were surging and boiling. The frustration of being 0–2 down in the first half was all released through these two spectacular goals. Every fan was cheering wildly, passionately hugging and celebrating with strangers around them. The BVB emblem on the yellow flag fluttered in the Borussia Dortmund afternoon sun.
Sunlight spilled across the faces of the two handsome young men. Jin Hayes and Marco Reus, arms around each other's shoulders, glided across the green pitch in the formation of a fighter jet. The big screen on site showed close-ups of the two—they were glowing.
In stark contrast stood Manuel Neuer in front of the goal. He sat dejectedly on the goal line, looking enviously at Jin Hayes and Reus celebrating.
What exactly happened?
Recalling the goal just now, everything had happened too fast since Reus came on as a substitute in the 69th minute. Originally, Schalke 04 had possession and were planning an attack. The high press, which had not been particularly proficient in the first half, became suffocating in the second. Schalke 04 kept passing the ball in their own half, apparently struggling to adapt to such high intensity.
Especially with Reus—fresh on the pitch and full of energy—working with Jin Hayes to contain the right-back Rafinha. Rafinha's passing lanes were cut off, and he hastily kicked the ball long towards the front, attempting to find Jefferson Farfán. But unfortunately for Schalke, Borussia Dortmund players were more alert. Captain Sebastian Kehl anticipated the pass and intercepted, heading the ball to Nuri Şahin.
The momentum had reversed.
Nuri Şahin had already spotted Jin Hayes's position. He chested the ball down to evade Kevin Kurányi's press, then used his right foot to stroke a precise ground pass over thirty metres. The ball threaded through multiple players, finding Jin Hayes, who was making a diagonal run towards the centre, with perfect understanding.
Recalling Jin Hayes's movement this time, even Neuer couldn't help but applaud him.
The football came diagonally from left to right. Jermaine Jones used his strong body to constantly wrestle with Jin Hayes. It looked like he was about to push the teenager away before he could receive the ball. Jin Hayes's body had not yet reached its maximum physical development, and he was still at a disadvantage against the muscular Jones; his footing was already starting to falter.
Everyone thought possession would return to Schalke 04.
But then Jin Hayes, just before falling, pivoted on his right foot as an axis and magically hooked the ball back with his left foot. The ball seemed to be glued to his boot as he turned 270 degrees. Jermaine Jones couldn't stop his momentum, watching helplessly as Jin Hayes cleverly spun and slipped away behind him—dribbled past by this guy again.
It should be noted that after travelling thirty metres, the football's speed is considerable, and it bounces unpredictably on the turf. If ball control technique is even slightly inferior, the reception will bounce two metres away. To seriously control the ball, one must stop and carefully bring it under control. To control, turn, and dribble past a player as fluidly and effortlessly as Jin Hayes did—only a handful of players in the world can achieve that.
Neuer counted on his fingers; at most, he could name three.
Shaking off Jermaine Jones caught Schalke 04 off guard, and everyone's attention was again on Jin Hayes. Everyone knew that purely man-marking him could easily leave others open. But if Jin Hayes wasn't marked, this guy could dribble through the entire team and score on his own.
Jin Hayes's diagonal break towards the left flank drew right-back Rafinha and centre-back Heiko Westermann into a double-team. Just as Rafinha rushed up, Jin Hayes delivered a simple, unadorned through ball with his right foot. Marco Reus burst out from behind Rafinha, heading straight for the penalty area.
The rest was straightforward. Reus adjusted his steps and fired decisively from the corner of the box. The football arced beautifully, sailing past Neuer's outstretched hands and into the net.
Neuer recalled that if anyone had interfered with Reus, he might have had a chance to save the shot. But Jin Hayes had drawn so much attention that Reus was able to aim carefully and adjust his footwork calmly before shooting.
2–2.
Schalke 04's efforts in the first half were all for nothing.
And that wasn't the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing was that Schalke 04 were currently unable to deal with Borussia Dortmund's attacks on both flanks. If they defended Reus on the left, Jakub Błaszczykowski on the right had scoring ability. If they defended Błaszczykowski, Reus was even more dangerous. Focus on defending both sides? Then who would mark Jin Hayes in the middle—or the lone striker Alexander Frei?
Schalke 04's new head coach Fred Rutten was almost in tears. When he coached PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, he was known for his emphasis on defensive organisation; his PSV side had conceded the fewest goals in the league. No one had warned him before he came to the Bundesliga that Borussia Dortmund's new number 10 was this overpowered. No wonder Schalke 04 had coaches fired because of this player.
In the 84th minute, Schalke still couldn't withstand Borussia Dortmund's increasingly fluid attacks.
Jin Hayes dropped back to the centre circle to receive the ball. A simple feint and change of direction, relying on a rhythm shift to explode into acceleration, instantly shook off Jermaine Jones. Ivan Rakitić came up to defend, but Jin Hayes didn't slow down at all, performing dazzling step-overs. A realistic shoulder drop tricked Rakitić into sticking out a leg; then Jin Hayes suddenly changed direction and glided past on the other side.
Schalke 04's defensive midfield barrier was useless in front of Jin Hayes. He casually dribbled into the penalty area, facing the centre-backs directly. Reus and Błaszczykowski flanked him, making intelligent runs to stretch the defence like pulling apart a soft piece of toast. There were holes everywhere.
So much so that they overlooked Alexander Frei—the experienced Swiss international who had been invisible for eighty minutes.
Jin Hayes only needed to use a sombrerito to fake out Westermann, then deliver a simple through ball without any technical flash from the edge of the box. Alexander Frei, in open space, received the ball, opened up his body, and unleashed a powerful shot. The distance was too close. "Spiderman" Neuer had no chance; he could only watch as the ball pierced his net for the third time.
"An assist hat-trick!! Last season's Bundesliga assist king is still going strong!"
"Jin Hayes in the attacking midfield position is like a fish in water—even more threatening and terrifying than on the wing!"
"Borussia Dortmund have successfully turned the game around! They have once again 'beaten' Schalke 04, winning this Ruhr Derby!"
3–2. Three goals scored consecutively in the second half—a thrilling comeback.
With only a few minutes left, Schalke 04 had completely lost their fighting spirit, powerless to turn the tide. It felt as if the sky were falling.
...
After the match, Jin Hayes was once again surrounded by reporters. Following the Bundesliga tradition of "lower score, better performance," Bild gave Jin Hayes the highest score of 1. In front of the media, Jin Hayes stood familiarly against the backdrop, surrounded by a ring of microphones, completely unfazed, chatting cheerfully:
"A winning start to the season, and winning the Ruhr Derby—that means a lot to us."
"How do I feel about playing attacking midfielder for the first time? I feel pretty good. Compared to a winger, attacking midfield offers more space and more options."
"How do I view the assist hat-trick? I'm not that excited. This is just my daily routine—isn't it normal to get a few assists every game?"
"As for the Champions League qualifier midweek, does that even need to be said? We fought tooth and claw last season to finish in the top three. Just playing a Champions League qualifier would be too much of a loss. We should at least aim for the quarter-finals, right?"
A group of German reporters, facing this sixteen-year-old player, simultaneously thought of one word: arrogant. Who said Asian players like to be humble? Jin Hayes's aura was aggressive, like an ancient blade too sharp for its scabbard.
The key was that he had the ability to back it up. If you, at sixteen, break assist records in the Bundesliga, and in your second year deliver an assist hat-trick in your first match and win MVP, you'd be confident too. Anyone else would have gotten carried away long ago. Jin Hayes was just stating facts.
The Champions League qualifiers themselves shouldn't be a problem. Borussia Dortmund's coaching staff had set a minimum target of reaching the Champions League group stage and advancing to the round of sixteen. Of course, being drawn into a group of death with several giants would be another matter.
As a top-five league, the Bundesliga's third-placed team from the previous season didn't need to participate in the first two rounds of Champions League qualifying. They only had to defeat one opponent in the third qualifying round to enter the group stage proper.
The teams in the third qualifying round were generally familiar to fans: Ukrainian Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk, Russian Premier League runners-up Spartak Moscow, Serie A's Fiorentina, Greek Super League champions Olympiacos, Eredivisie's Twente, Ligue 1's Marseille, Turkish Süper Lig champions Fenerbahçe…
Theoretically, facing these teams, Borussia Dortmund had nothing to fear and could expect to progress. That's why Jin Hayes didn't take the qualifiers too seriously.
But he had forgotten one thing: Borussia Dortmund's luck in the draw was quite bad. They had drawn one of the strongest opponents in the qualifying round—last season's La Liga fourth-placed team, Atlético Madrid.
The clash between La Liga and the Bundesliga had already begun in the Champions League qualifiers. The cruel format meant that two strong teams could only compete for one ticket. With only three days left until the home-and-away knockout ties, both Atlético Madrid fans and Borussia Dortmund fans began to feel anxious. Hadn't they worked hard all last season just to enter the Champions League proper? Being eliminated in the qualifiers would be devastating.
Back in the dressing room, Jin Hayes noticed his teammates staring at him with strange looks.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Jin, do you know what big words you just said?" Nuri Şahin asked. "Champions League qualifiers? Easy, no problem, right?"
Jin Hayes was nonchalant. "Yes."
"You forgot—our opponent is Atlético Madrid!" Şahin said with a long face. Compared to the current Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid's strength was clearly a notch higher. He truly wasn't confident about getting past this hurdle. Jin Hayes had spoken too confidently; if they were eliminated by Atlético Madrid, the entire team would become a laughingstock.
"Guys? The match hasn't even started. Why boost their morale and diminish our own? It's just the fourth-placed team in La Liga. We shouldn't be scared even against Real Madrid!"
Jin Hayes was about to lecture Şahin, but as he thought about it carefully, he suddenly felt something was off. Right—last time in the tactical meeting when they analysed opponents, who was at Atlético Madrid now?
In Jin Hayes's impression, Atlético Madrid hadn't yet risen to prominence around 2008. If his prediction was correct, it wouldn't be until Diego Simeone took over in 2011 that Atlético would become a European powerhouse. Was the current Atlético Madrid worth worrying about?
Jin Hayes quickly opened his phone and pulled up the tactical document he had saved.
Wait. That's not right.
During the tactical meeting, Jin Hayes had been dozing off and hadn't clearly seen who the opponents were. Now he saw it clearly.
Defenders: John Heitinga, Antonio López, Antonio Domínguez. Midfielders: Maxi Rodríguez, Simão Sabrosa, Éver Banega, Raúl García.
Forwards—Jin Hayes couldn't help but lean back when he saw these two names.
La Liga Golden Boot winner, Uruguayan divine striker—Diego Forlán.
And the twenty-year-old emerging Argentine striker, the successor to "El Niño" Fernando Torres, La Liga's Best Latin American Player, winner of the 2007 European Golden Boy award—Sergio Agüero.