Chapter 227: Chapter 63: Wang Shuo Is Back! This Is the Power of a Bundesliga Star, and I Need Him on My Team

After an all-night celebration, the Mainz team finally left their hotel in Berlin after lunch.

By the time the team returned to Mainz, it was already evening.

They were met by waiting Mainz fans the moment they got off the highway.

There was one rather awkward problem.

In the history of Mainz, winning a championship was a virtually unprecedented event.

As a result, they were completely unprepared for it.

After the team won the title, they scrambled to find an open-top bus for the parade but couldn’t get ahold of one.

They finally managed to rent one from Frankfurt, but it still had to be hastily painted in Mainz’s colors.

By the time the team arrived at Bruch Road Stadium, the freshly painted open-top bus was just arriving from Frankfurt.

Everyone changed their clothes, and holding the DFB-Pokal trophy, they boarded the bus and began the slow procession toward Gutenberg Square in the Old Town District.

The entire route was lined with cheering Mainz fans.

Over 20,000 fans had traveled to Berlin for the match, and by now, almost all of them had returned.

And they all joined in the championship parade.

Residents from all over the city of Mainz, and even from surrounding areas, flocked to the Old Town District.

This was the club’s first-ever national title in its history!

The passionate fans packed the Old Town District’s main thoroughfare, which wasn’t wide to begin with, bringing everything to a standstill.

Everyone was cheering for the team’s victory and celebrating the players!

When they finally reached Gutenberg Square, they found it packed with even more fans.

From the top of the bus, all they could see was a dense sea of people stretching in every direction.

The enthusiastic crowd made it impossible for the bus to even enter Gutenberg Square.

In the end, the Mainz players had to get off the bus. Escorted by security, team captain Nowitzki led the way, holding the championship trophy high as they entered the square.

This was Wang Shuo’s first time experiencing a championship celebration in a European city.

The scale of it was absolutely stunning!

The fans’ raw passion for soccer and for the title made him truly feel the deep, almost familial bond between the team and its supporters.

When the players had all ascended the temporary stage, Head Coach Klopp belatedly arrived.

To everyone’s astonishment, he had shaved off his trademark bushy beard, revealing a clean-shaven face.

Wang Shuo and the others found it incredibly strange.

’Is Klopp still Klopp without his beard?’

’It just isn’t the same!’

“I am incredibly proud, because I have fulfilled the promise I made here!”

Klopp explained that back in 2003, after failing to lead the team to Bundesliga promotion, he had made two promises.

The first was that he would, without a doubt, lead the team into the Bundesliga.

And he did, leading them to a historic promotion into the Bundesliga and then successfully keeping them there for consecutive seasons.

The other was that he would lead the team to a Breakthrough, ending the club’s history of zero championships.

And now, he had fulfilled that promise as well.

Finally, Klopp emotionally told all the Mainz fans that no matter what the future held, no matter where he went, he would forever be a son of Mainz.

He had a home here, and a family of friends!

The crowd struggled to contain their emotions.

Although the Mainz fans had known for a while that Klopp was leaving, hearing him say it made them all incredibly sad.

Logically, they all knew Klopp had to go.

Mainz was too small a club; it could no longer contain his talent.

He deserved to go to a bigger club like Bayern, Dortmund, or Bayer Leverkusen, where he could fully unleash his genius.

But emotionally, it was still hard for them to accept.

The celebration in Gutenberg Square continued late into the night.

Afterward, the club held a victory banquet, which the entire team attended.

Klopp made a point of speaking to every player to say his goodbyes.

Everyone knew that this time, he was really leaving.

…

After the victory banquet, Wang Shuo stayed in Mainz for another two days.

He enjoyed a well-deserved two-day rest.

It was the most relaxing two-day break he’d had since arriving in Germany in early ’08.

Afterward, he boarded a flight back to China.

He returned alone.

Zhao Yifan had decided to stay behind in Mainz for extra training.

Wang Shuo’s special summer training program last year had been a huge help to him.

It had led to a complete transformation in his abilities.

Zhao Yifan didn’t dare hope to reach Wang Shuo’s level in just one summer, but he still wanted to train hard enough to catch the eye of the new head coach, Tuchel.

With Klopp’s departure from Mainz confirmed, Tuchel, who had achieved remarkable success with the U19 team, was set to officially take over as the first team’s head coach for the next season.

For Zhao Yifan, this was a golden opportunity!

Wang Shuo hadn’t told anyone he was coming back.

After arriving in Hu City, he hailed a taxi to Huairun Football School.

The driver recognized him the moment he got in the car.

“Wang Shuo?”

Afraid he’d made a mistake, the driver turned his head to take another, closer look before he was sure.

“It really is you!”

“I’m a big fan.”

Wang Shuo was surprised to be recognized by a fan so soon after returning to the country.

On the plane earlier, a flight attendant had also recognized him and asked for an autograph and a photo.

The taxi driver, naturally, was no exception.

Returning to the football school after a year and a half, he noticed that the main gate seemed even rustier than before.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep