Soccer: Maxed-out ball control, the skill is too overpowered.

Beep!

Beep!

beep—

Two short whistles and one long whistle—a familiar sound to every football player, an imprint etched deep into their soul.

Thomas Muller was a little dazed, his mind not quite processing what was happening, and he was still mechanically trying to fight, move around, and look for opportunities.

These three whistles are like an alarm clock when you wake up from a dream, reminding you to stop dreaming and get up to go to work like a beast of burden.

It's like the school bell ringing, a release from the agonizing two 45-minute classes.

Although my mind was blank for both classes, I gained nothing.

At least the school bell means that I can temporarily escape this cage and breathe a little easier.

Rather than taking a breather,

Thomas Muller wanted to sigh.

He himself was unaware that his back view, with his hands on his hips and head down, in the live broadcast was somewhat similar to Roberto Baggio's in the 1994 World Cup.

The numbers on the scoreboard are always cold and unforgiving.

0-1!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

GER (0-1) BEL

32′——LU SHAW

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"This kid..."

Thomas Muller shook his head helplessly.

从他2010年加入德国成年队开始，经历过2010南非世界盃、2012乌克兰欧洲杯、2014巴西世界盃、2016法国欧洲杯……

Four international competitions and countless national team events of all sizes.

The greenhorn of yesteryear is now considered a veteran of the German national team.

Even though Müller is only 25 years old this year.

It seems that the 18 and 22 World Cups will be his limit.

Thomas Müller felt a sense of melancholy, having just experienced the peak of the national team and now having to witness the fall of the German machine.

Thomas Müller might have been a little resentful if he had lost to someone else.

But he lost to Lu Xiao, who was being lifted up by the crowd.

Muller was completely convinced.

Like a king ascending the throne, Lu Xiao was carried on the shoulders of his Belgian teammates as they circled the stadium stands, celebrating their victory and advancing to the semi-finals with the Belgian fans!

The celebration, which originated from the Atlético Madrid era, has been perfectly inherited by the Belgian national team.

No matter where he is, "King Lu" will always be "King Lu".

That goal in the 30-minute mark today, that volley inside the penalty area, was truly spectacular!

"Brothers..."

Müller was about to comfort his teammate, but when he turned around and saw...

Kimmich, Rüdiger, Khedira, Neuer, Schürrle, Kroos, and others collapsed on the grass, weeping with their faces covered.

Their possession rate once reached as high as 80%!

Germany dominated possession throughout the game, and in the second half, they kept Belgium huddled in their penalty area, unable to move an inch.

But is it useful?

They besieged for so long without making a single threatening attack, and even in injury time they were still leisurely passing the ball around on the outside.

They simply wouldn't let Mario Gomez, a tall center forward, play.

Müller really can't understand what coach Löw is thinking!

"Never mind, none of that matters anymore."

Muller shook his head, glanced back at Lu Xiao who was celebrating, and quickly helped his fallen teammate up to comfort him.

Come back in 2 years!

Hopefully, by then...

……

"Champione, Champione! Ole, Ole, Ole~~~~"

The Belgian players went wild, raising Lu Xiao high while singing songs celebrating their victory.

Lu Xiao was left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Put me down right now!"

"And don't open champagne!"

They've only made it to the semi-finals of the European Championship!

Two more tough battles are coming up!

The teams we faced afterward were all tough opponents, not teams like Germany or Spain that were past their prime.

Regardless of Croatia, France, or Portugal,

They are the most formidable opponents in the last two years!

Of course, barring any unforeseen circumstances,

Next up is France, the 2018 World Cup champions, the host nation, and the biggest favorite to win the title.

There was no way around it; from the moment we somehow managed to climb to first place in the group,

Lu Xiao's little butterfly wings have already altered the timeline.

Belgium is destined to compete against the world's strongest national team in the same half of the draw as France!

According to tradition, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I should receive a message from that person.

really,

After completing a series of procedures including celebrating with fans on the field, thanking the crowd, and giving television interviews,

Lu Xiao walked into the locker room.

Ignoring his teammates who were dancing shirtless in the locker room,

I opened the locker and took out my phone.

A series of message notifications followed one after another, with push notifications covering the entire phone screen.

Some had parents, some had club teammates and friends.

There's also the sweet German Chloe.

If there are girls around, of course I'll reply to their messages first.

Chloe: [Today's game was fantastic! Lu, you're my hero!]

Lu: [Wait, you're German, right? Why did you betray us?]

There was no reply for a long time, and Lu Xiao had no idea what Chloe was thinking with a blush on her face on the other end of the internet cable.

I received the message a moment later.

Chloe: [Yeah, you eliminated the German team, I should be sad...]

Chloe: [But seeing you score goals and see you win makes me very happy.]

Lu: [So you're still a little traitor]

Chloe: 【No way!!】

Lu Xiao could now feel the cute pout of the girl on the other side.

Okay, I'll stop teasing her.

Lu: [Thank you, your support means a lot to me. As long as you're here, I'll keep winning!]

"Lu, what are you grinning about? Who are you chatting with?"

"No, just a friend... By the way, what's that sweet taste?"

"Huh? Is it sweet? It's not sweet at all."

De Bruyne, an honest man, wrinkled his nose and sniffed around; the only smell in the locker room was the sweat and foot odor of a group of sports students.

Where's the sweetness? I'm asking you, where's the promised sweetness?

Lu Xiao ignored him.

It doesn't matter whether other people are sweet or not, as long as Lu Xiao herself is sweet, that's enough.

"After winning the European Championship, maybe I should... never mind, maybe I should wait until the World Cup... wouldn't that be a bit too late?"

Lu Xiao was lost in thought for a while.

In just one minute, I received a bunch of app notifications.

Including Dongqiudi, Weibo, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram...

[Lu, the savior! Leads Belgium to a 1-0 victory over Germany, advancing to the semi-finals!]

[European Championship Goal of the Year nominee! Lu Xiao's volley inside the penalty area seals the victory!]

[Belgium's Golden Generation Rises! That Asian is Dominating Europe!]

Even YouTube pushed out the news.

[Germany 0-1 Belgium! Lu Xiao's epic goal seals the victory! Leading his team into the European Championship semi-finals!]

No need to click, it's definitely a multi-camera replay of the only goal of the entire match.

In the early days of his career, when Lu Xiao was at Bayer Leverkusen, he loved watching these kinds of videos to see how netizens praised him in various ways.

I'm so used to seeing these kinds of notifications by now that I just ignore them.

What caught Lu Xiao's attention, of course, was news from his good brother.

Gezi: [Damn it, this got you into the semifinals! You're done here!]

Lu Xiao's nickname for Griezmann is the Chinese character "格子" (gézi).

At the club, Lu Xiao also explained Griezmann's Chinese nickname to him, and many netizens and fans have a very good impression of Griezmann.

Griezmann was deeply moved by this and almost cried.

"Do I have that many fans in the East?"

"Of course!"

"Looks like I'm a world-class star now!" Griezmann's joy was short-lived, as Lu Xiao poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

"They're just benefiting from my fame."

"Fuck you!"

"Rebound."

"..."

This is a typical bickering session between Griezmann and Lu Xiao.

Meanwhile, a five-star hotel near the Stade de France.

Griezmann and his French teammates watched the entire match.

In Belgium's hard-fought 1-0 victory over Germany,

The atmosphere within the French team was somewhat tense.

Griezmann glanced at Lu Xiao's message, then at his teammates, and forced a smile.

"It seems this is the ultimate test."

On the phone screen, Lu Xiao's reply was full of fighting spirit.

Lu: [Bounce! I'm returning that line to you verbatim! Bro, go on vacation soon.]

Damn!

Griezmann, who has always been cheerful and optimistic,

I can't laugh at all this time.