Chapter 5: Hao Junmin Was Disappointed, Lin Hao Was Elated!
Lin Hao’s apartment wasn’t far from the Schalke 04 club. After a car ride of about ten minutes, Lin Hao and Gaisen arrived at their destination.
As expected by Gaisen, since he had inadvertently revealed Cottbus’s intention to buy out Lin Hao, this time they were no longer greeted by ordinary staff. Instead, they were directly met by Schalke 04’s deputy manager Hughes and Milnor, who had been in contact with them earlier.
As soon as they stepped out of the car, Hughes and Milnor approached with warm smiles.
“Long time no see, dear Gaisen!” Hughes greeted cheerfully.
“Ha ha, indeed it’s been a while, Mr. Hughes!” Gaisen replied with equal warmth.
Although they had only exchanged brief nods in the past, now that the coach had issued a strict order to sign Lin Hao, and Gaisen wanted to leverage Schalke 01 for more, the two men naturally embraced each other with mutual understanding.
“Hi! You must be Lin, right?” Hughes said, turning his attention to Lin Hao.
Having seen Lin Hao numerous times in videos and reports, Milnor’s gaze was fixed on the young man standing beside Gaisen.
When they finally met in person, Milnor was struck by the undeniable impression that this 18-year-old was born to be a forward. Standing tall at 1.88 meters with a perfectly proportioned physique, the faintly visible muscle lines beneath his thin short sleeves only confirmed his potential.
Just from his appearance alone, Milnor felt they had truly found a gem this time.
“Ha ha! Alright, Hughes, I’ll take Lin to the locker room,” Milnor said after patting Lin Hao on the shoulder and nodding to the two men discussing contracts.
Milnor then led Lin Hao toward the first team’s locker room.
“Lin, you’ve been with the U20s, right? Have you ever been to the first team’s facilities?” Milnor asked as they walked.
Since Schalke 04’s first team was located in the heart of Gelsenkirchen and the headquarters occupied a relatively small area, the other squads were based in suburban branches. So Milnor was curious if Lin Hao had ever visited the first team’s side.
“I’ve been here a few times for events, but I’m not very familiar with it,” Lin Hao replied.
...
While Lin Hao and Milnor headed to the locker room, the coach was already on the training field, urging his players to start jogging.
Anyone familiar with Magath knew that his greatest passion was pushing his players to their physical limits as if they were beasts of burden.
He had been like this back at Wolfsburg, and after coming to Schalke 04, he became even more intense. Years later, when coaching Shandong Luneng, Magath even made the entire team hike up and down Mount Tai to improve their fitness—a decision whose consequences were predictable.
At this moment, except for Raul, who was doing recovery drills with the ball at the sidelines, the others were already gasping for breath.
Yet, even then, Magath was not satisfied.
Especially after seeing his favorite center back, Metzelder, lagging behind the group, Magath could no longer hold back.
“Keep going!” he barked.
“Keep going! After a holiday, look at what shape you’re in!”
“Metzelder! Don’t fall behind! Look at that belly of yours!”
“And you! Hao! Pick it up!”
It wasn’t just Metzelder who was called out. Hao Junmin, who had just transferred from China at the end of last season, was also fortunately singled out by Magath.
As soon as they heard their names, Metzelder and Hao Junmin immediately switched into high gear, as if whipped into action.
Well, seeing his encouragement had some effect, Magath was slightly more satisfied.
After making everyone run two extra laps, he finally allowed them some rest.
Meanwhile, Lin Hao, now dressed in his new number 23 jersey, appeared at the edge of the training field.
“Boss!” Milnor greeted Magath and then gathered the still-breathing players.
It was time for the newcomers’ introduction. Even if they were promoted from the youth ranks, a proper welcome was necessary.
But unlike the others who seemed lazy and indifferent, Hao Junmin, standing at the back, suddenly became excited.
No one else might have known, but he was quite familiar with Lin Hao, especially with their first meal together in Gelsenkirchen still fresh in his mind.
Though the U20 and first team were based in different locations, Hao Junmin had met Lin Hao several times privately.
He had watched all the matches of the World Youth Championship and, apart from the unexpected final, was well aware of Lin Hao’s ability to join the first team.
He hadn’t expected that in just a few days, Lin Hao would already be reporting to the first team.
“All right! Let me introduce the new player coming up from the U20s—Lin Hao!” Magath announced after all the players had lined up.
Since Lin Hao was promoted from the youth ranks and his record in the third division didn’t carry much weight among these Bundesliga stalwarts, Magath kept the introduction brief, and the players gave polite applause to conclude the ceremony.
The reason was simple: Schalke 04 was still a powerhouse, and players coming up from the youth ranks simply didn’t pique much interest.
“Damn, Xiao Lin, congrats! Why didn’t you tell me?” As soon as the welcome was over, Hao Junmin excitedly rushed over and pulled Lin Hao into a hug.
“Brother Hao, I only got the call this morning telling me to report to the first team. I haven’t even signed my contract yet!” Lin Hao said.
“Ha ha, don’t worry about contracts. The first team will definitely pay you more than the U20s!” Hao Junmin assured him.
...
As the saying goes, “Fellow countrymen meet, tears flow freely.”
Due to the language barrier, Hao Junmin had few friends in the first team, so seeing Lin Hao was an overwhelming joy.
The fatigue from the endurance training vanished instantly.
However, before Hao Junmin could chat much with Lin Hao, Magath was already shouting to start the team scrimmage.
Upon hearing “scrimmage,” Hao Junmin grew tense.
He knew that lately, he had been locked in fierce competition with Atsuto Uchida from Japan during these practice matches.
Unfortunately, in yesterday’s scrimmage, despite being placed on Team A, he had made several mistakes, and today he feared he might be pushed out by Uchida.
Hao Junmin listened anxiously as Milnor read out the team rosters. Standing beside him, Lin Hao’s heart also fluttered with nervous excitement.
Although Lin Hao knew his current form and stats were enough to be a competent substitute at Schalke 04, facing these players—who were contenders for the Champions League semifinals this season—he worried whether he might end up like in the finals before, or if, with five forwards in the squad, he might not even make the B-team bench.
“Team A, forward line: Edu, Raul, Farfan!”
“Midfield: Rakitic, Jones, Baumjohann!”
“Defense: Salif, Matip, Metzelder, Uchida!”
“Goalkeeper: Neuer!”
“Team B, forward line: Lin Hao, Charly Steyaas!”
“Midfield: Papasopoulos, Kruger, Annan, Hao Junmin!”
...
Poor Hao Junmin’s fears were confirmed—he didn’t outperform the Japanese player.
But Lin Hao was thrilled.
He had been wondering if he would only get a few minutes of garbage time on the sidelines, but instead, he had been named in the starting lineup for Team B!