Hamburg's AOL Arena.
On the pitch, the players in yellow gathered to celebrate, while the Hamburg players in red and white jerseys collapsed to the ground, powerless. In the stands, the home fans stared blankly, completely plunged into silence. Only the few hundred Borussia Dortmund fans in the away section were still singing, dancing, and waving flags.
"Why is it like this?"
"Is it still impossible?"
Mladen Petrić, the former Borussia Dortmund striker who had scored a brace, was already mired in self‑doubt. They had been leading by two goals in the first half; the advantage was theirs. How could they not win this?
They had thought that by the 70th minute, Hamburg's defence had achieved perfection, completely restricting the opposition. No matter how strong Jin Hayes was, he wouldn't be a threat if he couldn't get near the goal. Yet, he had managed to break through from the right flank into the penalty area, providing a cutback assist for Alexander Frei to score.
With the first goal breaking the psychological barrier, things became much easier. In the 84th minute, Jin Hayes repeated the feat, continuing to break through from the right. He was double‑teamed by three players on the flank, yet he forcibly broke past all three.
He dribbled back and forth to toy with the defenders, suddenly spotted an opportunity to nutmeg one, and inside the penalty area, he feinted a cutback pass. The defenders were all guarding against Nuri Şahin and Frei's late runs to shoot, but who would have known that Jin Hayes would suddenly pass across to the far post.
Heartfelt Pass triggered; the ground pass was extremely fast. The football carved a strange arc across the grass, slipping between the defender and the goalkeeper. Marco Reus arrived at the far post and easily swept the ball into the empty net with his right foot.
2‑2.
Jin Hayes had achieved a brace of assists, forcefully leading Borussia Dortmund to level the score.
...
Seeing there were only five minutes left, Hamburg could potentially score if they attacked fiercely; Petrić was in such good form, he completely had a chance for a hat‑trick.
But Hamburg's manager, Martin Jol, lost his nerve.
Unexpectedly, he substituted off the best‑performing Petrić, bringing on a centre‑back to strengthen the defence. When Petrić saw the substitution signal, he couldn't believe it. "Me? Subbed off?"
Are you kidding me.
Petrić was full of resentment, unwillingly being replaced by the coach. When leaving the pitch, he couldn't even be bothered to shake hands with the head coach; the two passed each other like strangers.
Martin Jol stood on the sidelines, anxious and fearful, hoping only that the team could hold onto one point. If they dared to attack, the space in the backfield would inevitably be exploited by that Chinese player, and then they wouldn't even have that one point.
As it turned out, Martin Jol's strategy was indeed effective. With five defenders and three defensive midfielders, all eleven players were concentrated near the penalty area—a completely defensive "iron bucket" formation that was airtight.
Even if Jin Hayes wanted to break through, there was no space, let alone passing to penetrate. As time entered stoppage time, it seemed Borussia Dortmund was about to pay the price for their slackness in the first half, and their winning streak was about to end.
But Jin Hayes never gave up; he was still running desperately on the pitch, looking for opportunities. The physical enhancement from his advanced conditioning was enough to support him for a full 90 minutes; the more exhausted he became, the faster his stamina recovered. By the end, he felt like a perpetual motion machine.
"Jin is the youngest player on the pitch, but he is the player who has run the most. In this match, his running distance has already exceeded 13,000 metres. The stamina issue that was criticised last season has actually seen such a significant improvement?
According to sources from Borussia Dortmund, Jin Hayes is the hardest‑working player on the team, performing extra training every day. He is able to achieve today's success not just by coasting on his natural talent; he is evolving at all times—look at this play!"
Mehmet Scholl was still marveling at Jin Hayes's hard running; stoppage time had already reached 92:45. The three minutes of added time were about to pass, entering the final seconds.
Everyone thought the 2‑2 score would hold until the final whistle. Jürgen Klopp was even discussing with his assistant Željko Buvač that this draw would allow Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen behind them to close the gap.
Just at this moment, it was Jin Hayes who stepped up.
...
Originally, he had just dropped back to the centre circle to receive the ball. Perhaps in the final stages, the defensive players had relaxed and failed to press him immediately. Jin Hayes dribbled and changed direction to the right, deceiving the opponent's centre of gravity before suddenly pulling the ball back with an elastico. He changed direction to the left to break through.
"Stop him!!"
"Guard his right foot!!"
According to the scouting report, Jin Hayes was a typical right‑footed player; his passing and shooting were almost exclusively with his right foot. Defenders only needed to block half his position, driving Jin Hayes to the left flank, and he would lose all threat. Jin Hayes indeed had no space to shoot, so he could only continue to dribble toward the touchline, coincidentally crossing paths with Reus as he moved to the left flank.
"Good opportunity!"
Jin Hayes suddenly tried a backheel flick to pass to Reus, letting him break into the penalty area. Unexpectedly, the Hamburg players had long been guarding against this move.
In a real match, opponents are not AI in a video game, nor are they background characters in a script. Defensive players are living, breathing professionals; everyone has their own judgment and reading of the game.
For instance, the defensive midfielders guarding Jin Hayes were the Czech David Jarolím and the German international Piotr Trochowski. If Jin Hayes were the protagonist of some fictional work, they would just be insignificant extras who should be easily bypassed.
However, Trochowski was a genuine German international who would be selected for the national team for the South Africa World Cup. He keenly judged Jin Hayes's intent and moved early to block the passing route.
The cross‑run between Jin Hayes and Marco Reus, and the backheel pass motion, had already appeared on the pitch more than once.
"The same trick, don't think you can use it in front of me!" Trochowski's interception was sudden; even Jin Hayes was startled. The moment he saw Trochowski move out of the corner of his eye, he quickly retracted the pass, hooking the ball back at the very limit of his right foot—he was almost dispossessed.
But this also forced him into an awkward position: the goal was to his side, and directly in front of him was the left sideline. The opposing defensive midfielders had already sealed off Jin Hayes's passing angles, and the full‑back was also assisting in defence, blocking the space for him to break through.
Jin Hayes only had two choices: turn and pass back, potentially missing the final attacking opportunity and leading to the whistle, or protect the ball on the flank and force his way through, using the final seconds to cross—though whether his teammates could win the header was uncertain.
Just at this moment of desperation, Jin Hayes hooked the ball back and dribbled a step toward the sideline, creating a narrow angle. The football bounced up off the grass.
In that instant, that familiar ethereal feeling appeared in his mind again. Causality Shot Enhancement triggered.
92:55.
The referee was looking at his watch, the whistle in his mouth, his exhaled breath almost making a faint sound.
92:56.
Jin Hayes took a deep breath, his heart as calm as water. He stealthily swung his left leg, the power of his waist driving his thigh, then his calf—the standard shooting motion completed countless times at the training base was perfectly replicated in this moment. The moment the football bounced up and hadn't yet landed, Jin Hayes fiercely struck the bottom of the ball with his left foot, hooking out a standard topspin strike.
"WTF??"
"Huh?"
The defensive players hadn't yet reacted, suddenly realising that Jin Hayes was shooting from near the sideline.
So rushed.
"Eh? Jin!! Left‑footed volley!!"
Mehmet Scholl was dumbfounded, about to say that this shot selection was inappropriate, simply reckless. However, the next second, the football turned into a cannonball, whistling toward the goal.
The ball climbed rapidly before suddenly dipping, as if pressed toward the goal by an invisible giant hand. Its speed was so fierce that the goalkeeper didn't even have time to think about making a save, staring blankly as the football grazed the underside of the crossbar and kicked up white spray in the net.
It was as if the whole world was frozen in that moment, only recovering a second later, as the away stand erupted in crazy clamour. Scholl's excitement was about to burst through his chest; he had already shouted until his voice cracked.
"Jiiiiinn Haayeeees—"
"A last‑minute winner! He's scored a last‑minute winner! OMG!"
"Jin Hayes's unscientific goal has arrived! He doesn't score the simple ones; he only scores the high‑difficulty ones!"
"From this angle, scoring with a volley is almost impossible. It's as if this shot came from another dimension—unstoppable!"
"In the dying seconds when the referee was about to blow the whistle, Jin did it! He refused the draw, refused the single point!"
"Look at this 16‑year‑old running toward the away stand, roaring together with the Bumblebees fans! You can always believe in him. Always!!"
"This is the power of a superstar, this is ultimate individual heroism!"
Commentary guest Oliver Kahn was stunned. He rarely saw his partner Scholl so crazy; in the past, Scholl had a humorous, witty, and sharp commentary style, not a passionate one. And this was just a Bundesliga match, not a Champions League final; what exactly were you getting so fired up about?
However, Jin Hayes's sideline world‑class lob winner just now was truly spectacular. This transcended the league, transcended team results, transcended worldly utilitarianism—it brought excitement and passion from a pure football perspective. Regardless of what you're getting fired up about, being fired up was the right thing to do.
The director was still playing slow‑motion replays of Jin Hayes's miraculous goal from different angles. Everyone said he couldn't shoot, everyone said he only had a right foot, so today Jin Hayes used actual action to prove that his left foot could produce a world‑class goal.
Whether it was a fluke or not, just look at whether it went in.
In bars big and small across Dortmund, the bustling crowds looked up at the TV screens, exploding with excitement at that moment. Cheers resounded, beer was recklessly splashed into the air. In front of televisions in thousands of households, people were similarly cheering and hugging excitedly.
Young couples embraced and kissed; older couples did the same. Jin Hayes's last‑minute winner made Uncle Hans unable to help but pull Maria over and give her a fierce kiss on the lips. Maria, unconvinced, hugged her husband and kissed him back.
At over fifty years old, they were still so affectionate that Anna couldn't bear to watch; she just held a magazine to block her view, her gaze focused on Jin Hayes on the TV, high‑spirited as he celebrated the victory with his teammates.
The moment the goal was scored, the match was over. In an ordinary regular‑season game, the Bumblebees substitutes swarmed onto the pitch. Anna clutched her chest, her heart beating wildly; watching Jin Hayes play was always this stimulating. She didn't know if it was his spectacular left‑footed volley that made her excited, or simply because of Jin Hayes.
After the match, Jürgen Klopp faced the media reporters, the smile on his face unstoppable.
"How to evaluate it? We really had problems in this match; we wasted opportunities in the first half, plus there were too many mistakes in the midfield and backline. But fortunately, we have a saviour. Jin's two assists and the final last‑minute winner successfully snatched three unplanned points; I even thought we were going to lose this match."
It was the turn of the home coach, Martin Jol; he seemed to have aged ten years. Jin Hayes's title of "coach killer" was no joke; Jol felt he had entered the countdown to being fired.
"We should have gotten three points, but it's a pity the opponent was Jin."
How are you supposed to play against someone who can produce the impossible when it matters most?