"Firmino takes the ball..."
"A brilliant one-two!"
"Füllkrug!"
"What a pity, that shot hit Wolfsburg defender De Vrij and flew out of bounds..."
"Hoffenheim gets a corner kick..."
"Rudy takes the corner..."
"De Vrij gets to it first, the ball is cleared!"
"Hoffenheim's offense is mighty, but it seems to be all bark and no bite..."
As Wolfsburg tightened its defense, Hoffenheim gained more possession.
However, despite having possession and horizontal passing, they were consistently unable to break through Wolfsburg's tight defensive line.
Amidst the cheers echoing through the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Hoffenheim launched wave after wave of attacks, constantly pressing Wolfsburg in their own half.
However, they never created any truly good scoring opportunities.
On the contrary, Wolfsburg repeatedly exploited quick counter-attacking opportunities from defense to attack, reaching dangerous areas of Hoffenheim, especially on both wings, where Mark and Vieirinha were able to dribble forward and complete individual breakthroughs.
Then they would deliver a deadly pass to Olić in the center.
If Olić hadn't been preempted by Süle twice when trying to get to the ball, Wolfsburg would have already extended their lead again. Even so, Wolfsburg's quick counter-attack still pierced Hoffenheim's goal for the third time!
In the sixty-eighth minute of the match, Gustavo intercepted the ball in the center and passed it to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne feigned a pass, then suddenly turned and began to dribble forward.
With a few large strides, he had already brought the battle into Hoffenheim's half.
Hoffenheim's defensive midfielder Rudy stepped up to intercept, but De Bruyne easily bypassed him with a sudden acceleration and change of direction!
At this point, he looked up to observe both wings and saw Mark and Vieirinha making high-Speed runs forward.
Just when everyone thought he would distribute the ball wide, he unexpectedly changed his ankle movement and delivered a perfectly weighted through ball!
The ball found the offside-beating striker Olić, and "Uncle Biscuit" faced Baumann one-on-one, calmly shooting to score!
The score was once again rewritten, becoming zero to three!
With a three-goal lead, the outcome of the match was already decided!
However, Hoffenheim, playing at home, did not give up, but continued to press hard!
Their goal had shifted from equalizing and turning the game around to absolutely needing to score one goal!
Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing to not score a single goal at home and be thrashed three-nil by the opponent!
Fortunately, in the final moments of the match, the team's attacking core Firmino scored a face-saving goal with a long-range shot from outside the penalty area.
Ultimately, thanks to Mark's brace and Olić's goal in the second half, Wolfsburg defeated Hoffenheim three-one away from home, securing all three points!
At the same time, Wolfsburg also achieved a three-game winning streak to start the Bundesliga season.
The opponents defeated in these three matches included League hegemon Bayern, relegation-threatened Frankfurt, and mid-table Hoffenheim.
This shows that Wolfsburg's consistency is not just about winning against weaker teams.
Even against strong teams like Bayern, they can take a bite!
As the match concluded, Mark, who scored a brace, was named Man of the Match.
This was his second Man of the Match award this season.
And the Bundesliga season had only completed three rounds!
In the post-match interview, a reporter immediately asked: "Mark, this is your first brace of the season, but the coach substituted you in the eightieth minute, denying you the chance to score a hat-trick. What are your thoughts on this?"
Facing this clearly tricky question, Mark simply smiled calmly: "Any player must follow the coach's arrangements, and I am no exception. I don't think there's any problem with that..."
"Mark, you've scored four goals in three matches. Are you very hopeful of challenging for the Bundesliga Golden Boot this season?"
"I'm currently just focused on doing my best to help the team win. As for the Bundesliga Golden Boot, that's not something I'm thinking about right now."
With Leverkusen being held to a draw at home by Werder Bremen in this round, Wolfsburg became the only team in the Bundesliga with a three-game winning streak!
Wolfsburg's dream start caught the attention of both media and fans.
They hadn't expected that, although they predicted Wolfsburg would be a spoiler for the championship.
Wolfsburg's excellent performance since the start of the season still exceeded everyone's expectations!
They were supposed to be spoilers, how did they become top of the League?!
And after three rounds, Mark had scored four goals, surpassing all the great strikers to top the goalscorer list!
De Bruyne, who provided three assists in three matches, also topped the assist chart.
Their outstanding performances and astonishing chemistry also earned them the nickname "Wolfsburg's Twin Stars" from the media.
Bild, Sport Bild, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and other media outlets unanimously agreed that Wolfsburg's performance this season would largely depend on the form and play of the twin stars, Mark and De Bruyne.
If Mark and De Bruyne could stay healthy throughout the season, then Wolfsburg's results would not be bad.
Especially Mark, who is the team's attacking focal point and a key target for opponents, averaging among the top three in the League for fouls suffered per game. In every match, he would be pulled and kicked several times.
Although he hasn't suffered any major injuries yet.
However, his playing style also makes him very susceptible to injury.
Of course, to reduce his chances of injury, Mark is also diligently learning how to choose the right timing for breakthroughs and methods to protect himself... Leaving Hoffenheim with three points, the Wolfsburg squad boarded the team bus and returned to Wolfsburg.
As soon as Mark got home, he saw a black dog running towards him with its short legs.
"Woof woof woof!"
Bending down, he picked up the dog, "You scared me, I almost forgot I had a dog..."
"Xiao Hei, did you miss me?"
The dog's answer was to stick out its black tongue and frantically lick his palm.
Watching the rapidly wagging tail, Mark also showed a heartfelt smile.
After giving the dog some specially bought goat milk and dog food, he walked straight into the bathroom.
After showering, Mark changed into a sports t-shirt and went to the yoga mat in the living room, beginning his daily standing meditation and horse stance practice.
And the dog just sat by. Compared to complex people, Mark preferred the simple and loyal dog.
The next day.
At half past eight, after eating the breakfast prepared by his nutritionist at home and petting his dog, Mark drove his black Porsche back to the team base.
However, as soon as he changed into his long-sleeved training kit in the locker room, a staff member from the club's marketing department found him.
"Mark, please go to the indoor training ground now and film something with Kevin and Luiz."
"Film what?"
"A short promotional clip for the FIFA Game. You'll know the specific process later."
Hearing this, Mark nodded.
As one of the two major giants in football games, EA's new generation football game FIFA 15 was officially launching next week.
To boost sales, it was natural to collaborate with real-life clubs and star players to increase promotion.
In his previous life, he had seen many such videos on video websites.
When Mark arrived at the media room, he found that De Bruyne and Gustavo were already inside.
A camera was pointed at three stands.
On each stand was a FIFA player card printed with the headshots of Mark, De Bruyne, and Gustavo.
"Hey, guys..."
After greeting the two, Mark immediately asked: "Are we about to reveal our in-game overall ratings?"
Nodding, Gustavo then explained: "Bingo! FIFA sent us player cards, and the club wants us to film a short clip where we guess each other's overall player ratings and various stats."
"You know so much?"
"I filmed one before when I was at Bayern."
"Then why didn't you film one last year?"
Pausing, Gustavo turned to Mark and joked: "Because before last season started, we were just a mid-table team. Who would want to see the overall ratings of players from a mid-table team..."
"Now it's great, our team has you, a wildly popular World Cup champion and Golden Boot winner. You have too many fans, so for promotional effect, we definitely have to get you to film..."
"Besides, we are now the top team in the Bundesliga!"
Gustavo had joined this globally best-selling football game, FIFA, as early as FIFA 07, while De Bruyne had joined in FIFA 13.
Last year, Gustavo, who had just joined Wolfsburg from Bayern, was the highest-rated player in the team, with an overall rating of 83.
De Bruyne's overall rating was also 80.
Mark was joining the game for the first time and was very excited to see what EA would give him for his overall player rating.
According to FIFA's overall rating standards, only players with an overall rating of 74 or higher would be gold cards.
An overall rating of 74 or below would be a silver card.
And judging from the fact that all three were gold cards, their overall ratings must all be above 74.
FIFA player cards have six stats: Speed, Dribbling, Shooting, Passing, Defending, and Physicality.
"Guys, first let's guess Mark's dribbling stat."
Facing this question, De Bruyne was the first to answer: "At least ninety! His footwork is the best on the team!"
Gustavo, beside him, also nodded, "I agree, at least ninety."
"Wow, your two teammates rate you very highly. Mark, what do you think?"
Raising an eyebrow, Mark smiled: "Dribbling is my strong suit, I think it should also be above ninety."
After all, he possessed the dribbling skills of peak Ronaldinho!
"Then let's reveal it... Mark, you tear it open yourself..."
As he personally tore off the tape on his player card, Mark saw his dribbling rating—91!
"91! Wow, all three of you guessed correctly!"
"To my knowledge, throughout the entire game, there are fewer than ten players with a dribbling rating of ninety or above..."
"And only a handful of players like Messi, Ribéry, and Robben have higher dribbling ratings than you, Mark!"
Although his dribbling ability was evident to everyone in the Bundesliga.
However, for a newcomer to football who had been active for less than a year, this value was already very high.
"Next, let's guess Kevin's passing attribute..."
"I think it's at least eighty-five..."
"I guess eighty-nine..."
With questions and answers, and the three of them joking around, De Bruyne's and Gustavo's various ratings and overall player ratings were successively revealed.
Thanks to Wolfsburg winning the German Cup and finishing third in the Bundesliga last season, the overall ratings of both key players improved.
De Bruyne's overall rating increased from 80 in the previous version to 82;
And Gustavo's overall rating increased from 81 in the previous version to 82.
Finally, it was the turn of the team's star player, Mark.
De Bruyne and Gustavo also turned their gaze to Mark's player card.
They were very curious to know what the overall rating would be for Mark, who burst onto the Bundesliga scene, then helped the German Team win the World Cup, and claimed the World Cup and Bundesliga Best Young Player awards, as well as the world cup golden boot?
When Mark personally tore off the tape covering the overall rating, everyone saw the number:
85!
And he was the only player in the Wolfsburg squad with an overall rating of eighty-five!
Speed 90, Dribbling 91, Shooting 70!
Passing 70, Defending 60, Physicality 67!
Overall Rating 85!!!
These were Mark's stats and overall rating in FIFA 15.
Mark expressed his satisfaction with this.
Considering he was less than nineteen years old, an overall rating of eighty-five was already very, very high.
Of course, these game values are just for fun.
If it were truly accurate, with his current dribbling skills, which are at the level of peak Ronaldinho, his dribbling stat should at least be 98!
A football game's player overall rating is largely determined by the player's fame and popularity.
Even if a player's form was poor or performance was average last season.
However, for long-established star players, their in-game overall rating would not drop significantly.
Of course, the player's age and potential are also considered.
Mark guessed that his in-game overall rating could reach eighty-five largely because he showed astonishing potential to become a top superstar at a young age!
Of course, in addition to the high overall rating of 85, FIFA's official staff revealed that his in-game potential reaches 92!
After filming this promotional short, the three then proceeded to the next promotional activity:
Early access to the FIFA 15 game!
The staff brought in the PS game console and TV, then arranged three chairs. The three grabbed game controllers and began one-on-one game matches.
Both sides naturally chose the team they played for—Wolfsburg.
It's worth mentioning that as gaming friends who often played together, Mark and De Bruyne's gaming skills were very high.
As for the most miserable, it was Gustavo, who was repeatedly tormented by Mark and De Bruyne...
Ultimately, Mark, being single, had faster hand Speed and won the final victory!
At this point, the entire promotional event was basically over.
Of course, Mark, who received his personal player card, didn't forget to take a selfie, holding the player card in one hand and his phone in the other!
Then he also took a group photo with De Bruyne and Gustavo, and posted it on his social media accounts.
With the caption: "Guys, get ready to go online, I'll be waiting for you in FIFA 15!"