Chapter 712: There’s No Cure, You Should Retire! (Second Perspective)
Chapter 712: There\'s No Cure, You Should Retire! (Second Perspective)
Entering April, the intensity of matches for Werder Bremen remained high, defeating Stuttgart 3:1 in the 27th round of the league.
In the quarter-finals of the German Cup, facing the defeated Freiburg, they encountered strong resistance, struggling to break the deadlock. At a critical moment, Huang Hu and De Bruyne became the saviors of the team, shining on the field as twin stars.
It was a swift counterattack, as the Belgian received a direct pass from Caldara near the midfield, looked up to see his partner sprinting into the opponent\'s territory, and then sent a long lob pass with full force.
The ball traversed half the field and met a Chinese youngster near the edge of the penalty area. At this moment, the defending player beside him exerted force to prevent Huang Hu from easily receiving the ball. However, this area was too sensitive, and he was unwilling to foul easily.
Although Huang Hu\'s ability to resist was weak, he quickly twisted his body to break free from the entanglement of the opponent during the moment of hesitation, then chested the ball forward and swiftly entered the penalty area to form a one-on-one situation.
The Freiburg goalkeeper immediately chose to rush out, and the ball fell between him and the Chinese youngster, with just over a fist\'s length separating the two.
In such a narrow environment, Huang Hu raised his foot to lightly support the falling ball, letting it land steadily. Then, in the next second, he flicked the ball to evade the goalkeeper\'s block, and then pushed it into the empty net.
"Goooooooooooooooooooal! The ball is in! A beautiful series of moves!"
"Huang Hu scored the decisive goal for Werder Bremen! He prevented the match from dragging into a cruel overtime or penalty shootout!"
"Let\'s take another look at this fantastic counterattack through slow motion. De Bruyne suddenly launched a long pass, catching Freiburg off guard. I think he must have had full confidence in his old partner."
"After the ball accurately found Huang Hu, the Chinese youngster chested it forward and accelerated to shake off the defensive entanglement, but also closed in on the goalkeeper."
"It was just too close, but Huang Hu cleverly brought the ball down, then flicked it sideways to evade the goalkeeper\'s reaching hands. The entire sequence of movements was fluid, with the ball seeming like an elf dancing on his toes!"
With this precious goal, Werder Bremen eventually defeated Freiburg 1:0 and advanced to the semi-finals of the German Cup, where their next opponent would be Bielefeld.
They were a team from the German second division, relatively weaker in terms of strength, and reaching the semi-finals was already a miracle.
In the other semi-final match, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich faced each other. Werder Bremen could be said to be awaiting the outcome, waiting for the clash between the two titans.
In the 28th round of the Bundesliga, facing Hamburg at the Weser Stadium, Werder Bremen continued their hot streak. Fritz and De Bruyne quickly scored a goal each, with an assist from Huang Hu.
The Chinese youngster felt that his goal would come soon, but unexpectedly, an accident occurred first.
In the 66th minute, Huang Hu quickly advanced with the ball to the edge of the arc, and the opposing defender Dickmeyer suddenly slid in from the side, failing to touch the ball but fiercely nailing his cleats on the Chinese youngster\'s left foot.
He felt a sharp pain, then fell to the ground in agony. The referee\'s whistle immediately blew, and nearby teammates rushed to check on Huang Hu\'s condition.
Seeing Huang Hu in such pain, Selke was furious and rushed to Dickmeyer to demand an explanation, while De Bruyne quickly signaled for the team doctor to bring a stretcher.
Chaos ensued on the field, with the referee team and staff urgently maintaining order between the two sides. After the team doctor examined the injury, he immediately signaled to the head coach to make a substitution. The Chinese youngster needed to be taken to the hospital!
Shafer\'s heart raced. If something unexpected happened to their attacking core at such a crucial moment, what would Werder Bremen do next?
With severe pain in his ankle, Huang Hu felt everything was hazy. There were constantly noisy voices around him, and he felt like he was lying on a stretcher, rushing to the hospital with sirens blaring.
Will the club reimburse the medical expenses?
It must be said that the Chinese youngster showed great courage at this moment. Instead of worrying about his injury, he started thinking about the treatment expenses.
Of course, he hadn\'t suffered any major injuries since he started his career, so it was normal for him to lack experience in dealing with this situation.
After arriving at the hospital, the doctor injected Huang Hu with a medication, and he felt the pain easing significantly, followed by a sense of fatigue, then he fell into a deep sleep.
When he woke up again, his agent, Balmond, sat anxiously by his bed, looking at him. Huang Hu rubbed his eyes and suddenly said, "It seems I should find a girlfriend, so that I won\'t be accompanied only by old men when I\'m hospitalized in the future."
Balmond couldn\'t help but laugh and cry. Shouldn\'t a normal player be concerned about his injury first?
"Francisco, how\'s my leg injury? When can I return to the field?" It was only at this moment that Huang Hu remembered to ask about his current condition.
"It\'s hopeless, you should retire!" Balmond said impatiently.
"What? Damn it! If I had known, I should have saved more money. And what did I learn in school before? Can I find another job in the future?" Huang Hu said in frustration, pulling his hair.
The agent widened his eyes, as if looking at a fool. "You believe everything, huh? You actually started thinking about your future. So, saving money like a miser before was all for today?"
"Of course, I can\'t eat as an athlete forever. I should plan ahead. Huh? I believe everything? Does that mean you were lying to me just now?"
Balmond rolled his eyes. "Do you have no sense of how serious your injury is? Just because you got tackled a bit? If everyone retired on the spot for that, countless players would bid farewell to football every year."
"I just felt very painful, so I thought the injury was serious. So, what\'s the actual situation?"
Returning to the main topic, Balmond also put away his joking manner. "It\'s not too bad. The doctor said it\'s mainly a skin injury caused by the cleats and a twisted ankle. But it will take at least a month to recover from the ligament and bone injuries, possibly until the end of the season."
"What? What about my Golden Boot challenge? And Alexander, did he score in the last league match?"
"Um, he seems to have scored one. Now the gap between your goals and his is reduced to just one."
Bang! Huang Hu heavily pounded the bed. At this moment, he felt the weakness caused by the injury, but soon he cheered up again, picking up his phone from the bedside to check the schedule.
"I have only a month to recover, and then I need time to regain my form. I don\'t have much time left." The Chinese youngster muttered to himself, "No, I must shorten the recovery time, at least to leave two matches!"
"Why are you so anxious? You\'re still leading the top scorer chart, aren\'t you?" Balmond asked puzzledly. "Although I don\'t know Alexander and don\'t understand him, I know he won\'t give up. It\'s the dignity and pride of being a striker."
So when Fritz and De Bruyne visited Huang Hu as representatives of the team, they were surprised to find no signs of discouragement or disappointment on the Chinese youngster\'s face.
Instead, there was a determined expression, exercising his body to the maximum extent allowed by the doctor, eating bland recovery meals that were nutritious but not fattening.
"I will definitely return before the end of the league. You guys wait to assist me in scoring!"
De Bruyne was momentarily stunned, then smiled and patted Huang Hu\'s shoulder. "I\'ll be waiting for you, and I\'ll feed you the ball until you\'re sick of it!"