Lars Riken, the pride of Dortmund's youth training who has been growing up, is only 28 years old, but he suddenly seems to be a person of the previous era, because even from his first appearance on behalf of the first team

Counting from now on, more than eleven years have passed.

That incredible lob in the 1997 Champions League final made him famous all over the world, but eight years later, people's memories of him still seem to remain stuck in the beauty of that moment.

The Germans once regarded him and Deisler as the hope to lead them to revival. No one would doubt their extraordinary talents that are visible to the naked eye, but unfortunately, injuries have once again become a roadblock on the growth of talents.

Compared to Deisler, who retired a year later due to depression due to frequent injuries, Ricken may be lucky, at least his career lasted longer than the former.

However, despite Ken's outstanding performance every year, what followed was endless time lingering on the hospital bed. He never lived up to people's expectations, so much so that the media gave him a

A rather ironic nickname - "Forever Rookie".

God gave him a talent that astonishes the world, but did not give him a tough enough body. Ricken's fragile ankle was simply unable to shoulder the important task of leading the German team to revival.

Many years later, people suddenly discovered that the two men who could really carry the German team forward in the trough were actually two men who seemed inconspicuous under the light of Ricken and Deisler - Ballack and Deisler.

Klose.

Ricken gave in. There was no embarrassment about "I have no control over my fate" and no stubborn resistance to surrender to fate. This was the most natural choice for a person who had been fighting the pain for more than ten years.

He no longer has too many expectations, he just wants to play well in every remaining game.

Although, there isn’t much left.

……

But today, Ricken changed his attitude.

Because Levi, a boy under the age of eighteen, although his skills are still immature and his talent is not outstanding, he has a body that Ricken envies.

Ricken didn't want to lose to such a person, and he could even imagine how the media would describe this game:

"New Genius> Former Genius!"

"The successor of Ricken defeated Ricken!"

"Seventeen-year-old Li is better than seventeen-year-old Ricken!"

Ricken couldn't accept all this, even if he had bowed to fate, even if he no longer struggled, he still retained the last bit of pride:

At the age of seventeen, Lars Riken was the hope of German football and a unique genius. Not just any cat or dog can be compared with him!

At that moment, he regained the youthful spirit of flying swords that killed Juventus eight years ago.

He decided to try his best.

This may be his last fight against fate, or it may not be considered a fight, because he just wants to tell the other party and the media one thing:

"Not every seventeen-year-old rookie can compare with him!"

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"The situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable for the home team. Although Van Marwijk's tactics have suppressed Mainz's offense well, they have also lost the firepower to attack. If they continue like this, they will have more time.

But there really aren’t many.”

Bela Reddy analyzed the trend of the game without a trace of emotion, but to be honest, he was a little disappointed in his heart. He was originally looking forward to Van Marwijk's eye-catching targeted tactics and looking forward to Dortmund's

The Jedi counterattack, but now?

He's just an ostrich that buries his head when he fails.

It seems that the overall outcome of this game has been decided.

Reddy in the studio shook his head slightly and began to pack up the scattered information on the table.

"Huh?"

The sound coming back from the scene in Westphalia suddenly became louder, attracting Reddy's attention.

"Dortmund's counterattack opportunity! The advance is very fast! Kyle distributes the ball to the right, and the one who gets the ball is... Ricken! It's Lars Ricken!"

Bela Reddy didn’t know what was wrong with him, why did he get excited involuntarily just by mentioning this name in this counterattack?

"Kyle's interception position was very advanced. Before the Mainz people could stop the defense, Ricken had enough space!"

"Li has already pounced from the side. Can he stop Ricken?"

"It's gone! Beautiful! The ball has been passed! Li has tried his best, but he can't even delay Ricken for a while!"

"Ricken has everything in front of him. If he continues to maintain this speed, it will be a one-shot!"

"There are still thirty-five meters away from the goal. Goalkeeper Vacher is very far forward. He is already preparing to attack and block. Ricken——!"

Reddy almost shouted the name with all his strength, and then suddenly lost his voice.

If you are a fan who did not watch the live TV but listened to the game on the radio, you will already be cursing at this time:

What happened, Reddy, tell me!

But if they were fans watching the game, or fans in Westfalen, their reaction was exactly the same as Reddy's. When Ricken made that move, everyone lost their voice in an instant.
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……

This includes our protagonist.

When Kyle first stole the ball near the center circle, Levi didn't have any extra thoughts. This was an opportunity for the opponent to counterattack, and he had to block it with all his strength. It was as simple as that.

He quickly looked around, found Ricken who was advancing, and followed him - this was the person he immediately identified as the arrowhead of the opponent's counterattack.

The development of the situation was consistent with his judgment. Kyle indeed distributed the ball to the right, and Levi was already very close to Ricken.

Perhaps because he didn't feel the danger approaching, Ricken's dribbling rhythm actually slowed down a bit. This made Levi secretly happy. He had figured out the right time for Ricken to touch the ball. When the latter took the ball out again,

The moment is when he cuts in and takes back control of the ball!

Now!

Levi almost threw his entire body out, and it was about to become like a wedge embedded in the gap between Ricken and the ball!

At this critical moment, Levi suddenly discovered that the situation deviated from his expectation, and the ball that Ricken sent out was much farther than before!

Ricken himself chose to rush over from the other side of Levi!

Obviously, the reason why he slowed down just now was not because he did not notice the danger, on the contrary, it was precisely because he was waiting for this successful breakthrough!

A standard human ball passed!

Li Wei didn't react for a while and was stunned on the spot.

Of course he has heard Ricken's story. He was once known as the three golden boy geniuses along with Raul and Del Piero. Even among the countless stories that hurt Zhongyong in world football, he is one of the most lamentable.

In his mind, shouldn't Ricken be disabled at this time? Too many injuries have overwhelmed his fragile body. He no longer dares to speed up, pass people, or do those things he once did.

Technical moves that are easy for him, from the beginning of this season until his retirement two or three years later, his attendance rate in the league did not reach more than half.

Ricken in the first half completely confirmed Levi's memory. Without the introduction by the commentator, the audience might not even know he was on the court.

But that action just now...

Is that really what Ricken can do now?

Levi turned to look at Ricken's retreating figure, and in a trance he seemed to see the shadow of the boy who once chased the wind.

Vidic is already moving closer to Ricken, but if the latter maintains this speed, Vidic will obviously not be able to interfere with him. After all, dealing with speedy forwards has never been the former's strength.

At this time, Levi suddenly realized that he was still on the court and still competing! He hurriedly started chasing Ricken, even though it seemed to be in vain.

But just when he started, he saw Ricken's next action. At that moment, he just felt his scalp numb:

No way?

No way!

※※※※※※

Ricken is not as relaxed as others seem.

When he made the move of passing the ball, he even felt as if his legs were filled with lead.

That heavy feeling made him understand that he could never go back to that summer eight years ago.

The former super sports car had exhausted the last drop of fuel in the fuel tank. Ricken felt a tearing pain in the muscles of his left calf. He knew that it was the consequence of the forced acceleration to break through Levi.<

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Maybe, he thought, my journey ends here.

But how could he be willing to do so!

When he was very young and was not qualified to stand on this court, he thought that he would keep fighting here until one day he was too old to run anymore.

Unexpectedly, this day is coming so quickly.

Unfortunately, I can no longer fight for Westphalia.

However, this is the place where I have lived and fought for more than ten years, and I always want to leave something behind.

Ricken thought so.

He raised his right foot. This blow was no longer to prove who was stronger than whom, he just wanted to tell the world:
To be continued...