"Track back! Track back!"
"Quick!! Charge, get up there!"
"Mark him closely!!"
"Ah, damn it—"
Seeing this goal, Jin Hayes was also powerless. He could only prop himself up on his knees, taking the chance to catch his breath and recover some stamina.
Matchday 6 of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund vs. Stuttgart, was a tough battle. Just how tough it could be seen by the score on the scoreboard: 3–3. In the 60th minute, the two sides were tied. This time, Jin Hayes didn't want another draw at home; drawing two consecutive rounds in the same manner was truly hard to stomach.
Borussia Dortmund finally had their full starting lineup. Alexander Frei, Marco Reus, Jakub Błaszczykowski, and Nuri Şahin were all in the starting eleven. The young İlkay Gündoğan and the talented Mario Götze sat on the bench.
Originally, Götze would have needed at least a year of experience before steadily appearing in the first team, but in the last match, Jin Hayes's three assists allowed Götze to complete a hat‑trick on his debut. The 16‑year‑old secured a spot in Klopp's first team a year early. Jin Hayes had once again made a small contribution to the shifting of expectations.
For this match, Jin Hayes was originally very confident. Just seven minutes in, his dribbling in the final third created chaos, and his through ball in the box set up Reus to score. When they were leading 1–0, he thought they could easily take down Stuttgart today.
However, the match progressed much more difficultly than he imagined, with Stuttgart equalising in the 19th minute. Super striker Mario Gómez activated his harvesting mode. He overpowered Mats Hummels in the box to win a header, equalising with a powerful strike. 1–1.
Teams like Juventus and Hoffenheim had all tried to find ways to limit Jin Hayes's performance, attempting to defend. Stuttgart manager Armin Veh had only one strategy: attack.
With Sami Khedira and Thomas Hitzlsperger anchoring the midfield—a midfield configuration of German national team calibre—they provided strong firepower support for Stuttgart's front line. Coupled with the "one tall, one fast" duo of Cacau and Gómez, they continuously assaulted Borussia Dortmund's defence.
Stuttgart's simple attacking style made it difficult for Dortmund's high press to be effective. The match gradually evolved into an end‑to‑end Premier League rhythm, with transitions feeling like they were on double speed. Neutral fans were enjoying it, but the Dortmund home fans were anxious.
In the 25th minute, Jin Hayes used a counter‑attack opportunity to beat three players in a row and thread a through ball into the box, which Alexander Frei finished with a close‑range shot.
Leading 2–1.
Just two minutes later, Stuttgart crossed from the wing, and it was Mario Gómez again with a header in the box. Keeper Roman Weidenfeller made a desperate save, but Cacau arrived in time to slot home the rebound. 2–2.
Before the end of the first half, Jin Hayes beat a man outside the box and assisted Reus for his second goal, making the score 3–2. Until the 60th minute, the score remained unchanged. He thought it would stay that way, but then came the scene Jin Hayes had just witnessed.
Mario Gómez once again found space in the box; this time it was Neven Subotić's turn to fail to mark him, allowing Gómez to head it in. 3–3.
"Neven, my fault, sorry—"
"Forget it, it's not your fault." Weidenfeller was very frustrated, picking the ball out of the net for the third time. He wanted to scold him, but seeing Subotić's dejected look, Weidenfeller couldn't bring himself to do it.
Subotić had tried his best just now, but who would have thought Mario Gómez would be in such good form today, forcibly winning the header in the air. Previously, Subotić had mocked Hummels; now it was his turn to get hit by the boomerang.
"I told you, didn't I? This guy is hard to deal with." Hummels was also very frustrated. Gómez had tormented their centre‑back duo in turns, seeing this "Super Mario's" goal tally reach six, tying with Jin Hayes on the top scorers' list.
"Over the past two seasons, Mario Gómez's goal count has exceeded twenty, ranking third on the scorers' list twice. This season, this Super Mario has a great chance to compete for the Bundesliga Golden Boot!" The commentator was full of praise for him. Oliver Kahn was also happy; with the German striker in such excellent form, he might be able to show his skills at next year's World Cup.
"Mario Gómez is a very well‑rounded striker, outstanding in both heading and shooting. He is tall, strong, and powerful, while also possessing certain movement and poaching abilities. For a goalkeeper, when such a figure is looming in the box, you feel in danger at any moment."
His good brother Hummels looked terrible, so Jin Hayes and Şahin hurried to kindly comfort him.
"I said you were trash and you didn't believe me; you can't even stop Gómez."
"Exactly, your height is just for show."
"Why don't you go be a male model instead? I happen to know a modelling agent—"
"You two—thank you so much!" Hummels gritted his teeth. He was already in a bad mood, and these two were just adding fuel to the fire. Never mind Şahin, that bastard, but how did the honest‑looking Jin also turn bad?
"Fuck off! Watch me shut that guy down!" Hummels clenched his fists, fuming with rage. Seeing his brother still had fighting spirit, Jin Hayes breathed a small sigh of relief.
In his view, Hummels's ceiling was very high. His defensive awareness and sense of positioning were world‑class. It was just that the current Hummels was still very raw, relying too much on his physical attributes for defense.
It was fine against average strikers, but when matched against a striker with aerial beast attributes like Mario Gómez, Hummels found it hard to gain an advantage. After being repeatedly frustrated in defence just now, Hummels inevitably started to doubt himself.
Once he lost confidence, it was easy to shift the pressure onto his teammates. Subotić was essentially playing one against two, having to mark both Cacau and Gómez, making it naturally difficult to cope.
"Use your head, idiot." Jin Hayes pointed to his temple, "friendly" reminding his good brother. What he got in return was Hummels showing him the internationally recognised friendly gesture.
Banter aside, being reminded by Jin Hayes, Mats Hummels suddenly realised his problem. He had been so obsessed with competing against Gómez that he had indeed been a bit stubborn; in fact, he could have defended more intelligently.
"Neven, let's step it up! We can't concede any more goals!"
"Okay!" Subotić and Hummels both perked up, ready to have a proper contest with Stuttgart's front line.
On the other side, Jin Hayes was also thinking about an attacking strategy. The opponent's defensive midfielder Sami Khedira was performing quite well. He was troublesome when defending, and his attacking contributions were also significant. It seemed that to neutralise Stuttgart's defence, he had to break the point that was Khedira. How to break an opponent—this was the area Jin Hayes was most confident in.
....
After the restart, Dortmund circulated the ball in the back before it reached Jin Hayes's feet again. He carried the ball across the halfway line, and Khedira happened to be blocking his path, his expression solemn and focused.
After sixty minutes of confrontation, Jin Hayes had already figured out Khedira's characteristics. This future Real Madrid midfielder and German national team mainstay's greatest advantage was his outstanding stamina and large defensive coverage.
He was a typical box‑to‑box midfielder, using his positional sense to block key nodes and prevent the opponent from advancing, but his actual defensive duels and tackling weren't aggressive; he didn't put enough pressure on the player with the ball.
To put it bluntly, his offensive and defensive levels were quite balanced, but he was a bit cautious in defensive choices, often hesitant to commit for fear of fouling. He relied more on the team's collective defence, holding his position and waiting for teammates to double‑team.
In that case, Jin Hayes had a strategy. And that was speed.
Before Khedira's teammates could close in, he would blow past him first, using the time difference to tear a hole in Stuttgart's formation. The 21‑year‑old Khedira, facing the 16‑year‑old Jin Hayes, hadn't yet realised that the young player in front of him had targeted him and was about to take him to school.
Facing Jin Hayes, Khedira indeed didn't dare to commit, fearing he'd be bypassed by this guy. Khedira just kept his distance for now, trying to stay on the inside and force Jin Hayes wide. To his surprise, Jin Hayes suddenly accelerated and charged right at him.
"Damn it!"
When two rivals meet on a narrow path, the brave one wins. Khedira panicked slightly, hurriedly using his body to block the path and his arms to try to intercept Jin Hayes. Before he could even grab the opponent's jersey, his vision blurred, and the figure flashed and vanished. Khedira's heart skipped a beat. Looking down, the ball was gone too.
"Not good!" Turning around in panic, Jin Hayes had already slipped past him, pulling away with a sudden burst of speed.
"Beautiful breakthrough!! Jin Hayes suddenly accelerated through the middle, a very subtle rabona flick for a nutmeg! The young magician is already charging towards the box with the ball! Serdar Tasci tries to intercept on the edge—and he's beaten too! He's bypassed two players in a row!"
Tasci was too wary of Jin Hayes's dribbling, thinking he would use some flashy technique to toy with him. But to his surprise, Jin Hayes just used a simple change of pace, a sudden stop and start, to lose his marker and burst into the box.
The goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann, the 39‑year‑old veteran German keeper, rushed out of his goal. Based on experience, he thought the young player might take too heavy a touch. Lehmann believed he had a chance to smother the ball.
But he ignored his own age and the youth of his opponent. Lehmann regretted coming out halfway. The young player's speed was beyond his imagination; before his hands could even touch the ball after diving, he was deftly chipped by Jin Hayes.
Lehmann lay on the ground, looking up in despair as Jin Hayes leaped over him. His eyes were like those of a ruthless assassin, weaving through the guards with ease, approaching the target for a clean, lethal strike without any hesitation.
Clean and decisive.
"OHHHH—Jin!! Here comes his solo goal!! Unstoppable!! He's unstoppable!"
Jin Hayes chipped the ball over Lehmann, and the last centre‑back, Delpierre, didn't give up, throwing himself into a desperate slide tackle to block Jin Hayes's shot. But Delpierre overlooked one thing: even in the six‑yard box, how could Jin Hayes just shoot?
Delpierre could only watch in despair as Jin Hayes suddenly stopped and turned, performing a Marseille Turn right on the goal line.
This guy is simply not human. Who on earth does a Marseille Turn on the goal line?
What normal player could resist shooting and instead choose to literally dribble the ball into the net?
Delpierre was starting to question his life.
It couldn't be helped; one could only say Jin Hayes was overly cautious. Carrying the ball from the midfield to the goal line, his sudden burst had completely shredded Stuttgart. Being scored on in such a humiliating way was a devastating blow to morale. The Stuttgart players, who had been in high spirits, now had eyes filled with deep self‑doubt.
Especially Khedira. He had been bypassed by Jin Hayes like a training cone, not even seeing where the ball went. Standing on the grass of the Westfalenstadion, Khedira looked on blankly as Jin Hayes performed an elegant knee‑slide celebration at the corner flag, worshipped by tens of thousands of fans in the stadium.
The stadium DJ's passionate voice dragged out: "Borussia Dortmund take the lead once again! The scorer is the saviour of our Westfalen, our king—Jiiiiin Haayeees—"
Seeing this scene, Khedira knew that this match was beyond saving. No one could defeat this young player in this stadium.