I'm going to be twenty-six years old. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Wearing the number 18 shirt in Borussia Dortmund, Lars Ricken reminded himself once again in his mind.

Born in Dortmund, he received professional football training in this heavy industrial city since he was a child, but he is completely different from the style of the city, he has delicate foot skills, excellent organizational skills, good character, good academic performance, typical moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor all-round development, is a good student in the eyes of everyone.

From an early age, he was the future standard-bearer of high hopes from Dortmund.

Entering the first team at the age of seventeen, manager Heathfield gave him the chance to make his Bundesliga debut.

He qualified to start three days after his debut, scoring his maiden Bundesliga goal and netting his first European goal in the UEFA Cup six days later against Inter Milan.

Since then, Ricken's development at Dortmund has skyrocketed.

He can play as a midfielder, as a shadow striker, as a striker, as a right-hand midfielder......

Heathfield, the head coach at the time, gave him plenty of room to grow, to gallop and to shine into his talent.

As a result, he became a genius in the eyes of everyone.

He once shot Alex Ferguson's Manchester United at Old Trafford, in a crucial moment in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.

He once came on as a substitute in the Champions League final at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, and used an amazing lob to play the Italian goalkeeper Peruzzi, and buried the strongest Juventus in Europe at that time.

At that time, he was only twenty years old.

At that time, everyone felt that he would be the best talent of German football in the next decade.

Entering the national team, the media hyped up wildly, and fans poured in from all directions...... Everything became a matter of course.

But the plot seems to be gradually drifting off.

A serious injury, which caused him to say goodbye to the field for two months, also left a psychological shadow on him.

Upon his return to action, he was somewhat resistant to physical contact, which made his style of play less and less threatening.

But everyone still has confidence in him, believing that everything will slowly improve.

But no one expected that the team had encountered turmoil and frequent changes of coaches, which made Ricken, who was already lacking self-confidence after returning from injury, become more and more timid.

What frightens him even more is that whether it is in the club or in the national team, there are gradually new people emerging, who are constantly challenged, and even have encroached on those positions that originally belonged to him.

Ballack at the same age has gradually occupied the core of the national team's midfield with his outstanding performance at the club, and even Deisler, who is four years younger than him, has become the main force on the right side of the national team.

No one talks about him anymore, and no one cares if Ricken can still get back to where he was back then.

What made him feel even more threatened was that the team brought in Rosicky, who shone in the European Championship from Sparta Prague, the Czech midfielder nicknamed Mozart Jr., who provoked the team's midfield pillar, won the love of more and more fans, and became the core of the team's midfield.

What about me?

What's wrong with me?

Ricken has asked himself again and again, but on the pitch, he can only continue to play the role of support.

Summer's stability at the helm made the management ambitious, and in two transfer periods, a transfer fee of 100 million marks was used to create the golden trident of Jan Kohler, Everton and Amoruso.

Coupled with the addition of Rosicky, Kyle, Metzelder and other powerful internationals, the strength of the team has increased greatly.

Ricken could clearly feel the improvement in the strength of the team, and he could also feel the eagerness of everyone in the team.

But he also knows very well that he needs to do better to prove his worth in the team and get a ticket to the national team for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

At the Calderón Stadium, Dortmund were playing harder and harder as Atletico Madrid gradually found their form and steadied their rhythm.

Playing possession, playing passing, that's what the Spanish team is good at, Dortmund can't play.

But allowing Atletico Madrid to remain in control of the situation is tantamount to chronic suicide.

At 2.02 meters tall, Jan Kohler was degraded by equally tall centre-back Pablo Ibáñez, with Amoruso and Everton also being closely targeted.

Rosicky was even more under the close defense of Marcos Senna, and there was no bright spot except for that shot.

At this point, someone had to step up and break through the walls of the Sheets Army and find a way to get the ball behind the Czech goalkeeper's goal.

This person can only be him!

He needs to turn the tide in key moments, as he did when he shot Manchester United and Juventus.

He's a bumblebee, all his life.

He had to do it, both in public and private.

So, when he saw Rosicky with the ball, he was being watched by Marcos Senna, who was trying to find a way out, and immediately ran over and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

Rosicky accurately passed the ball to Ricken's feet, and it stopped very comfortably, so that a thought immediately flashed through Ricken's mind, kill!

It's like against Manchester United, against Juventus!

Thinking of doing so, Ricken immediately rushed forward with the ball.

Xavi Alonso was a little surprised and immediately stepped back, but Deco next to him quickly followed.

In the dense defensive area, Ricken couldn't dribble fast and was immediately close to Deco.

At the moment when Deco approached, a picture suddenly flashed through Ricken's mind.

Four years ago at Bielefeld's Estadio Alm, in the ninth round of the Bundesliga, he first blocked Bielefeld's Greek defender Stratos with a shot into his own goal and scored an own goal to help Bielefeld open the scoring.

Later, in the 80th minute of the game, he was injured in a scramble with the opponent.

That game was not only a nightmare for his career, but also for Borussia Dortmund.

This defeat made Dortmund suffer three consecutive defeats, five games without a win, only two wins, three draws and four losses in the first nine rounds, only nine points, as the defending champion, but fell to the relegation zone of the standings.

Since then, Dortmund has started a turbulent beginning!

What happened four years ago, the moment Deco got close, came to Rickon's mind, and his pace with the ball was sluggish, and he quickly came to his senses as soon as possible, but he was covered in a cold sweat.

It's a big trip!

Deco was shrewd and didn't make any moves from close quarters, but when the Brazilian midfielder saw that Ricken was big, he didn't hesitate to make a move.

The ball is broken!

The entire Calderón Stadium burst into cheers.

After breaking the ball, Deco couldn't care about Ricken, and caught up with the ball as soon as possible and brought it forward.

After Ricken stabilized his body, fear instantly filled his body.

He was well aware of what it would mean to let Deco dribble the ball to his back.

"Defend back, defend back!" Ricken exclaimed, and he didn't care about anything else, and quickly chased back.

But Deco seemed to have eyes on his back, and before he could catch up, he kicked the ball to the left.

Jankulovski stepped forward quickly, received the ball and continued to move forward.

This damned Czechman turned out to be even faster than Rosicky!

Ricken couldn't take care of Deco anymore and quickly swept past the Brazilian midfielder and continued to chase back.

He only has one thought now, absolutely not to let Atletico Madrid score, absolutely not!

In any case, we can't let the nightmare of four years ago recur.

Kakara came to the left to meet and Jankulovski played the ball precisely to Kaka's feet.

After the Brazilian skillfully stopped the ball, he made a deft turn and left Kyle behind.

Dangerous!!!!

The audience exclaimed!

Everyone knows that Kaka is right-footed, and as soon as he gets rid of Kyle, he can directly get up and hit the goal.

Ricken also knew, and he clearly saw that Kaka turned around and picked up his right foot to hit the door!

At this moment, Ricken couldn't care about anything else, and just fell to the ground and slid the shovel.

Another exclamation!

But Ricken couldn't hear clearly, he only vaguely remembered what he seemed to have shoveled......

Is it a ball?

It doesn't seem to be!

Immediately after, a crisp whistle sounded to his ears from far and near.

When he turned his head, he saw the referee with a silver whistle in his mouth running over quickly, and his right hand was poking into his left breast pocket, as if playing a trick, conjuring up a red card!

Ricken was immediately confused.

When he turned back, he saw Kaka lying on the ground, holding his right calf, and the blood stains on the spikes were clearly visible.

Finished!

It's all over!

He heard the whole Calderón stadium booing around, as if it were a flood beast trying to devour itself in the stadium.

Remorse, fear, panic......

He tried desperately to hold back, but tears still welled up in his eyes.

Red!

He clearly saw that the head coach on the sidelines, Summer, covered his mouth tightly, looking incredulous.

He could also clearly see that every teammate was showing disbelief.

The reality is so ironic.

He longed to be a hero, but ended up being a sinner.

He stood up like a walking corpse, accepted the comfort of his teammates, and mechanically left the field.

He felt the warmth of Coach Summer's embrace, but he was still chilling.

The moment he entered the players' tunnel, he saw Kaka being carried off the field, and Atletico Madrid's team doctor was treating him urgently, and it seemed that there was no major problem.

He also saw on the pitch that the right-back of the Sheets Army was standing in the free-kick position, waiting for the free-kick to be taken in a great position.

He couldn't imagine if the goal went in......

By the time he reached the visitors' dressing room, there was a deafening cheer from inside the stadium.

He heard the announcer chanting Dario Srner's name on the stadium radio.

There was no doubt that the Croatian right-back seized his chance and calmly slotted the ball into Lehmann's goal.

Finished!

It's all over!

Ricken feebly pushed open the heavy locker room door and walked to the chair in front of the closet with heavy steps.

He buried his head between his legs like an ostrich, and his thighs were slammed against his ears so that he could not hear the tsunami of the celebration of the Sheets Legion fans outside.

But his whole body couldn't help sobbing, and finally he cried.

The super-genius who made the whole of Europe look at him back then is dead!

He's twenty-six years old! )