“Uh…that’s true.” Gao Jianfei nodded.
Although Lahm also looked down on Gao Jianfei, believing that Gao Jianfei couldn't play football at all, he was still quite patient. He introduced each player to Gao Jianfei from left to right.
Of course, during the introduction, these German players all looked at Gao Jianfei with indifference and disdain.
"Aha!" At this moment, the team's winger, Podolski, snorted. "Mr. Gao, I heard you play in an attacking forward position. I wonder if you'll take my place, Gomez's place, or Özil's place... Hahaha!"
Upon hearing this, many of the German players burst into laughter.
“I can pass the ball between you and the goalkeeper, creating a one-on-one opportunity, but I doubt you can catch it in time. Hahaha! Don’t always be offside!” Özil mocked.
This drew another burst of laughter from the German players.
"Well, that's a pretty slap in the face!" Gao Jianfei said helplessly. But there was nothing he could do. This German team was at least one of the top four football teams in the world. For a football ignoramus like himself to be humiliated by them was quite an achievement.
"Alright, shut up!" Ram scolded his teammates. "Today is Mr. Gao's first time training with us! We must cooperate well with him!"
The captain still held considerable authority; once Lahm spoke, the German team members stopped mocking Gao Jianfei.
“Well then, Mr. Gao, let’s take a look at your technical strengths,” Lahm said, turning to Gao Jianfei. “Which position on the field do you prefer to play? The center of the attacking third? The left flank? The right flank? Or perhaps the opponent’s penalty area?”
"Uh... this?" Gao Jianfei thought for a moment. "As long as it's a forward position, I think I can handle it."
“Oh God!” Ram’s face was very sad. “Mr. Gao, please answer my question seriously! We Germans, compared to the Italians and French, lack a sense of humor! We don’t like listening to your jokes on the formal training ground!”
"Oh?" Boateng, the big, dark-skinned man, grinned. "So you're really good? Alright then! Let's test your skills! I think you have no objections, right? Haha... A superstar who can play any position in the attacking third!"
Boateng's eyes held a strong sense of provocation.
These black players usually have strange tempers and are very competitive. When they heard Gao Jianfei bragging, Boateng was the first to stand up and wanted to "teach" Gao Jianfei a lesson.
Boateng's comment was met with approval and agreement from most of the German players.
Captain Ram nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Gao, show us your skills!"
Gao Jianfei was in a bind; he had no choice. Retreating now would surely earn him the contempt of these Germans! Now, even if it meant forcing himself, he had to go on! "How do you want to test me? Hmm?"
"Haha! First of all, if you're playing in the attacking third, speed is an essential quality! Being fast allows you to tear apart the opponent's defense. Being slow means you can't even catch your own teammates' passes! So... let's have a speed contest!" Boateng grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth. Then, he pulled out the 6'9" Mertesacker. "Mertesacker, how about you and Mr. Gao have a speed contest?"
"Damn it, you're kidding me!" Mertesacker chuckled and cursed, but did not object.
Gao Jianfei was speechless!
Mertesacker is a center-back, very strong in one-on-one defense and extremely good at controlling aerial balls, but his weakness is his slow turning speed and slow recovery speed.
In terms of speed, Mertesacker is the slowest player in the current German team!
Making model Sak compete with Gao Jianfei in speed is an extreme disrespect to Gao Jianfei!
“Listen, Mr. Gao, it’s fine if you’re faster than Mertesacker. But if it were me competing with you, I reckon… haha, I’d leave you in the dust!” Boateng laughed loudly.
Yes, Boateng is Black, young, and incredibly explosive. As a full-back, his ability to run back and forth is phenomenal! He has boundless stamina! Boateng can be considered one of the most physically gifted and fastest players on this German team!
“Alright, Mr. Mertesacker, let’s go!” Gao Jianfei didn’t say much, walked to the side, and got into a sprinting stance.
Mertesacker smiled and walked over to Gao Jianfei's side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
"There's a flag up ahead, about 80 meters away. Whoever reaches the flag area first wins, understand?" Captain Ram acted as the referee. "Listen to my command! When I count to 3, you start running!"
Off the field, Löw, Bierhoff, Mayor Klose, and a group of assistant coaches gathered together, watching with great interest as Gao Jianfei interacted with the German players.
“They need to get to know each other. Well, I think if Mr. Gao can earn the players’ respect, it will be very helpful for the match against Real Madrid in a little over ten days,” Löw said with a smile.
"I think this Chinese guy will have a hard time earning the respect of the players. Of course, if it's playing poker or Chinese mahjong, he can easily win over our lads. But not on the pitch," Bierhoff sneered. "Look, he wants to race Mertesacker. How ridiculous!"
That's true. While Mertesacker is slow and has a slow turning speed, that's within the professional football circle. Among professional footballers, Mertesacker is considered slow. However, compared to the average person, his speed is definitely very fast!
Just kidding, with a terrifying height of 1.98 meters, his two long legs can leave ordinary people far behind when he takes a stride!
Gao Jianfei, at 1.78 meters tall, is incredibly small next to Mertesacker. Moreover, Gao Jianfei looks far too refined and delicate; can he even run? His daily exercise is probably less than a tenth of what a professional footballer does—what's the point of him running?!
“This… my old friend Löw, tell your players to stop humiliating Mr. Gao! He is a partner of our country!” Mayor Klose was also anxious.
At this moment, the spectators outside the stadium also saw that Gao Jianfei was about to play against center-back Mertesacker. They started shouting loudly, chanting Mertesacker's name in a very orderly and loving manner.
On the field, Ram shouted, "1...2...3! Start!"
"Whoosh!" Mertesacker dashed off! Although his long legs moved slowly, each step covered a considerable distance!
Gao Jianfei Mertesacker ran several steps before he seemed to realize what was happening and began to chase after him!
Gao Jianfei runs very slowly!
Within seconds, he was thrown more than 20 meters away by Mertesacker!
"Hahahaha! This...this...this speed, and you still want to play football?" The German players burst into laughter.
They can't even outrun the German team's notoriously slow players, so what's the point of playing? How are they supposed to outrun Real Madrid's diminutive defenders? How are they supposed to catch up?
"Yes, at my normal speed, I definitely can't outrun a professional soccer player!" Gao Jianfei was quite certain of himself. "Then, I'll use a little bit of my lightness skill!"
With this thought, the internal energy in his dantian surged! Gao Jianfei's entire body suddenly felt lighter! His running frequency suddenly increased!
"Whoosh!" Gao Jianfei caught up with Mertesacker in a very short time!
"Huh?" Mertesacker had been more than 20 meters ahead of Gao Jianfei and was almost at the finish line when, in the blink of an eye, Gao Jianfei caught up and overtook him!
"Haha! I've reached the finish line!" Gao Jianfei used only a little bit of his lightness skill to overtake Mertesacker, reach the finish line, pull out his flag, and wave it.
"Me? Me? My speed... how come I'm slower than an average person? I'm dizzy!" Mertesacker was utterly speechless! He glanced nervously at Löw on the sidelines, thinking... "Damn, the coach always criticizes my slowness, and now, even an average person is faster than me. My starting position... Ah! Boateng, you idiot, you've ruined me!"
The spectators on the sidelines were initially very excited, but in the blink of an eye, their center-back was defeated by a seemingly frail Chinese man... This was unacceptable!
Suddenly, the entire room fell silent!
The German players were also a bit dumbfounded. They looked at each other.
"No way? Mertesacker lost?" Boateng, who suggested the race, blushed a little, feeling sorry for his teammate Mertesacker.
At this moment, Gao Jianfei waved his flag and shouted, "Boateng, you're fast! How about we have a race?"
"Damn it!" Boateng roared. "You want to compete with me in speed? Ridiculous! Most strikers in the world who are known for their speed wouldn't dare to compete with me. You want to compete with me in speed? You think that just because you beat the slow Mertesacker, you have the right to be arrogant in front of me?"
Boateng stepped forward, gave Gao Jianfei a thumbs-up, then turned the thumb down, making a gesture of disdain.
Gao Jianfei trotted back excitedly and stood on the same starting line as Boateng. Then he turned to Ram and said, "Mr. Ram, please count to 3 like before, and then Mr. Boateng and I will run together!"
Ram nodded solemnly, "Alright, get ready, 1..."
Off the field, Löw stroked his chin. "Uh? Not bad speed."
Bierhoff retorted, "What's so special about that? My son can outrun Mertesacker!"
Mayor Klose thought to himself, "Damn it, stop bragging!"
On the field, Ram shouted, "...2...3! Start!"
"call out!"
Gao Jianfei and Boateng darted out at the same time!
Boateng is 1.9 meters tall, tall but not clumsy. He inherited the excellent genes of black people, and his explosiveness and speed are amazing!
"I'll make you admit defeat!" Boateng sprinted towards the finish line at top speed!
Off the field, Bierhoff smiled and said, "Löw, it was a wise move of yours to call up Boateng to the national team. Although the lad has a rash temper, his defensive actions are too aggressive, and sometimes he's quite irrational, but tsk tsk, look at that speed, that explosiveness... uh? What happened? Gao... Gao... Gao actually outmaneuvered Boateng?"
"Huh?" Löw's eyes widened instantly!
He witnessed an extremely horrifying scene! Gao Jianfei, with his small arms and legs, moved with incredible speed, overtaking Boateng from behind, then accelerating again, leading Boateng by about 10 meters before crossing the finish line!
After Boateng sprinted to the finish line, he realized that he was a few seconds behind Gao Jianfei!
"Huh? This..." Boateng himself found it hard to believe the result! But he really had run at full speed!
As for Gao Jianfei, he only used his lightness skill slightly; he didn't go all out at all... "Well, I used 30-40% of my speed to beat this fast German guy. However, that's just running in the air. If I were to run with the ball, I estimate I couldn't outrun him."
Gao Jianfei feigned exhaustion, panting heavily, "Huff...huff...Mr. Boateng...I...I was slightly faster than you...huff...I'm exhausted..."
In the stands, thousands of spectators were ready to cheer for Boateng, because they didn't believe this Chinese player could quickly defeat him. But the outcome...
"This...I...I...um...I have to admit, Mr. Gao, you are faster than me..." Although Boateng looked down on Gao Jianfei, he was not one to deny defeat.
"Did Mr. Boateng go all out just now? If not, shall we have another match?" Gao Jianfei said, pretending to have recovered.
"Alright, I've done my part, there's no need to continue," Boateng said, completely convinced. "You were leading me by several seconds. If this were a real football match, you would have already left me behind and completed a shot or pass. There's no need to continue."
At this moment, Ram and the others also jogged over.
Veteran striker Klose gave Gao Jianfei a thumbs-up and laughed, "Gao, you're incredibly fast, even faster than Ronaldo in his youth! Amazing! Amazing!"
Bierhoff, standing on the sidelines, muttered, "Damn, this guy's physical attributes are really good. But being fast doesn't mean he can play football! No matter how fast you are, if you can't get the ball, it's completely useless!"
Löw remained silent, only looking at Gao Jianfei with amusement.
Now, the German players have toned down their arrogance a bit and are no longer targeting Gao Jianfei as much as before.
Of course, this does not mean that all German players are convinced of Gao Jianfei's abilities.
At this moment, center-back Hummels stepped forward and laughed, "As an attacking player, speed can be a nightmare for the opposing defenders, but speed alone cannot pose a threat to the enemy!"
Having defeated two German players, Gao Jianfei's confidence soared. "Hmm? If I'm not mistaken, you should be the starting center-back for the Bundesliga champions, Borussia Dortmund, right? Mr. Hummels! Hmm, what advice do you have?"
Chapter 422 Barbarians
Chapter 422 Barbarians
Mats Hummels. A current starting center-back for the German national team. He plays for Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund. His market value is a staggering €18 million!
At this moment, Hummels was clearly not impressed by Gao Jianfei! Especially since, at over 1.9 meters tall, he felt Gao Jianfei's insignificance even more acutely when looking down at him! Of course, this doesn't mean Hummels thought Gao Jianfei was inferior in any other way or in terms of personality. This was a football field, and everyone was playing football! He was utterly unconvinced by Gao Jianfei within the realm of football!
“Since Mr. Hummels says that speed doesn’t represent everything, then how do you intend to test me?” Gao Jianfei said with a smile.
"Mr. Gao, you're an attacking player, so you need to know that physical contact is unavoidable in football! Even the fastest player will get entangled with the opposing defenders, even facing close marking and vicious tackles! Therefore, physical attributes are also essential for a successful player! If you only have technique and speed, but your physical attributes are weak, then I can easily knock you out with just a light touch!" Hummels said arrogantly. "You should know about 'fair play,' right?"
"Huh?" Gao Jianfei was taken aback. "Yes, I admit that physical fitness is an indispensable part of football. So, Mr. Hummels, how do you intend to test my physical fitness?"
Hummels smirked. "If you can get past us and reach the goal over there, then you'll pass!"
After saying that, Hummels, accompanied by several defenders, walked towards the penalty area of one side of the field. Gao Jianfei and the other players followed.
Off the field, Löw chuckled, "What new tricks have the lads come up with to mess with Mr. Gao? Haha, I must say, this was a truly lively training session!"
Bierhoff didn't speak to Löw, but kept muttering, "Torture him! Torture him!"
At this moment, the group moved to the edge of the penalty area. Hummels, Mertesacker, Boateng, Badstuber, Friedrich, and a group of strong defenders stood in formation in front of the goal. Hummels pointed at Gao Jianfei and said, "Listen, Mr. Gao, you accelerate and charge towards us! No matter what method you use, as long as you can get past our defense and into the goal, you win! Of course, during the sprint, we might make physical contact... Haha! If we knock you over, it just means your physical condition is too poor! Don't worry, just run without the ball. If you dribble, we'll inevitably have to tackle you, and if we injure your leg, it will definitely affect the match in ten days!"
"Oh? So that's how it's played!" Gao Jianfei immediately understood what Hummels meant.