Golden Greenery

"I dream of joining the German team one day and going to the World Cup!"

Per Mertesacker, born in September 1984 in Hannover, Germany, is 195 cm tall and weighs 88 kg. Resolute character, mellow character.

Mertesacker's father is the youth training coach of a small local club in Hannover, which is smaller than Maddieburg, so Mertesacker has been receiving football training since he was four years old. Later, the teenager Mertesacker joined the largest club in Hannover - the Hannover 96 Youth Academy, where he met his friend Mario Gomez.

Mertesacker was a very caring person and participated in many community volunteer activities. In addition to training, he often has to take care of fourteen disabled people, but he never brags about himself because of this.

In the past, Mertesacker didn't seem to have the slightest advantage except for his height. The Hannover 96 youth training department gave him the evaluation: too silent, lack of aggressiveness as a defender, slow turning, not suitable for confrontation in high-level games.

During that time, Mertesacker had a very difficult time. No matter how much effort he put in, he was not valued by the club and became the most marginal figure in the youth academy. However, Mertesacker's calmness and composure on the court, as well as the rare overall situation view of young players, were discovered by the discerning Klopp. Subsequently, he was about to face the elimination of Hannover 96 and was brought by Klopp to Fort Maddie. Mertesacker grew up quickly and became the captain of the youth team through the carving of small skills.

There have been many great legendary defenders in the history of German football, Vogts, Breitner, Koller, Bremer, Beckenbauer, Summer, Matthaus...

Mertesacker is very eager to be one of these legends.

Many years later, when Per Mertesacker lifted the Hercules Cup aloft as the captain of the German national team, he thought of this night on the peninsula in early winter.

"Zhuo, do you have any dreams?"

"I..." Zhuoyang was speechless.

Zhuo Yang was born in Xi'an, China in August 1985. He is 183 cm tall and weighs 73 kg. Talented, let nature take its course. The scientific professional training has increased his height and weight compared to when he first arrived in Germany.

Zhuoyang didn't know what dream he had, and he never thought about it. From a very young age, he only devoted himself to the things he was interested in, and other things were perfunctory, such as school study.

For a long time, Zhuoyang lived a very casual life. His mother would play the piano if Zhuoyang was asked, and Zhuoyang would go to Germany when asked. I have never planned how I should spend my life, or what kind of achievements I want to achieve. In other words, it doesn't matter what you do. In the future, after studying abroad, he will go back to China to become a pianist or piano teacher. Like his mother Yang Hong, Zhuo Yang has no objections. Maybe I can keep playing football, as long as my mother agrees, which is fine, but if it can't continue, then I don't play, it's no big deal.

This is how Zhuoyang grew up to the age of seventeen casually, without any ambitions, nor did he firm up any ideals.

Zhuoyang has never insisted on anything!

If there is any persistence in Zhuoyang's heart, it is that Zhuoyang does not want to disappoint his father Zhuo Tongtong.

When Zhuo Yang was in kindergarten, because of his growing body, he especially liked to eat, and he couldn't stop eating all day long. In the kindergarten, other children drank the porridge spoonful by spoonful, Zhuoyang took the bowl and drank it in big gulps. The other children only ate the stuffing when they ate buns, but Zhuoyang gobbled up three and it wasn't enough. But the meals in the kindergarten are rationed, which is a bit cruel to Zhuoyang.

Finally, Zhuoyang started to grab other children's meals, steamed stuffed buns, and fruits. Until one day, Zhuoyang pushed down the little girl next to him and snatched the half-eaten cantaloupe. The teacher couldn't bear it anymore and filed a complaint against his father Zhuo Tongtong.

For Zhuo Tongtong, who is so proud and has high hopes for his son,

This is tantamount to a bolt from the blue.

Zhuo Tongtong could have beaten Zhuoyang severely, at least scolded him, but he didn't.

Zhuo Tongtong rode a bicycle, took Zhuoyang with him, and rode all over the streets and alleys of the city to find a cantaloupe for his son.

In the hot summer, Zhuo Tongtong was sweating profusely and pedaled all afternoon. Finally, when the sun was about to set, he saw a small van selling cantaloupe on a street in the suburbs.

After paying the money, he cut it open on the spot, Zhuoyang squatted on the ground and started eating.

Zhuoyang will never forget that day, when he ate a cantaloupe, he saw his father Zhuo Tongtong's eyes full of tears.

From that day on, even if Zhuo Yang was mischievous, even if he would make Zhuo Tongtong angry, he never wanted his father to disappoint him, because his father had never let him down.

"I... just want, don't let my father down..."

Zhuoyang didn't know that his father Zhuo Tongtong had never been disappointed in him. Since the day he was born, he has been Zhuo Tongtong's eternal pride!

——+—+——

The six young people were talking about their dreams and aspirations, and the stars in the sky came in through the skylight.

They may be separated in the future, and they may become rivals on the court, but they have always cherished this friendship on their respective paths to pursue their dreams. Many years later, when they became famous and grew old, they always agreed that the years spent on the peninsula of the German Canal were the most memorable moments in their careers.

The peninsula at night in winter is lonely, desolate and uninhabited. Occasionally a figure walks down the dark driveway, looking like a ghost. The hustle and bustle seen in summer is gone at this time. It was full of darkness, the lights were dim, and some were just a little starlight reflected by the river on the opposite side. The broken dead leaves are scattered on it, and the whiteness in the darkness makes people feel the smell of decay and death of plants.

Starlight shines on the ground, and crickets chirp sadly everywhere. The humidity of the night permeated the air, weaving a soft net, covering all the scenery in it. Everything the eyes touch is covered with this soft net-like thing, and every plant and tree is not as realistic as in the daytime. They have fuzzy and illusory colors, and each of them hides its delicacy. All keep its secrets, making people feel like a dream.

Zhuoyang and the six of them took a shower and changed their clothes, talking and laughing as they walked towards the parking lot outside the club. Due to the narrow geographical restrictions on the peninsula, the parking lot can only be set outside the club, and all personnel below the club director and coach are not allowed to enter the club area. There is no way, a small place can only be a little petty. Fortunately, the distance is not far, and after a few minutes' walk, everyone has no objections.

The six people laughed and played and came to the door of the club without a formality. In the dark parking lot, only an old-fashioned street lamp in the corner gave off a pale yellow faint light. The uncle security guard on duty didn't know where to hide and be lazy. Fallen leaves slapped quietly on people's faces.

Under the night, the trees on both sides of the parking lot looked like two rows of eerie monsters, swaying gently with their teeth and claws open, and the sporadic dead leaves that had not yet fallen made a 'rustling' sound.

The atmosphere is a little weird.