Leo Lin had no way to do the celebration he wanted, because after scoring his fourth goal, his teammates had already trapped him.
Gayà grabbed Leo Lin's left hand, Rodri wrapped his arms around Leo Lin's waist, Parejo seized his right hand, and Sergio Ramos, stumbling without paying attention, fell beside Leo Lin and simply hugged his right leg while he was there.
Leo Lin had originally wanted to rush to the touchline and spend a moment with the Spanish fans, but now he could not go anywhere.
The Spain players were clinging to Leo Lin like they had lost their minds. None of them knew exactly what they were trying to do, but the one thing they were all doing was holding on to him.
On the sideline, Hierro also badly wanted to hug Leo Lin. He had wanted to do it ever since the World Cup.
Because Leo Lin kept making Hierro marvel at his strength again and again, and praise his performances again and again.
Spain's wild celebration stood in sharp contrast to Norway's helplessness. The gap in the scoreline, and the real gap on the pitch, made Norway realize just how far they still were from reaching the European Championship proper.
Norway wanted to play in the European Championship proper because only by taking part in tournaments of that level could the national team's young players gain more room to grow. It would also help the national youth system develop one excellent young talent after another, creating a cycle that produced more homegrown stars.
Germany, England, and Spain had all relied on this kind of path. First, they worked hard to keep qualifying for major tournaments, then used the influence of those tournaments to shape their national youth academies, which in turn produced more outstanding young players.
After one cycle, some of those young players would stand out and join the national team one after another, helping the team remain strong enough to keep playing in major tournaments, and even start competing for titles. Then the cycle would continue.
Before play could even resume, Hierro made a substitution, taking off Leo Lin, who had scored four goals in this match.
The Spanish fans were naturally generous with their applause. After Leo Lin came off and sat on the bench, the Spanish fans in the stadium were still chanting his name.
"This is the Spanish fans recognizing their team's leading star. Leo Lin now wears the number 10 shirt for the national team, just as he does at Liverpool. In both teams, he is the core figure."
"There's no doubt that Liverpool and Spain will build their overall team structure around Leo Lin for the next ten years!"
As the match neared its end, Morata took his chance, meeting Asensio's cross with a header and scoring. After the goal, he thanked all the Spanish fans in the stadium.
Once the match ended, the broadcast camera immediately found Leo Lin, just as it had in so many previous matches. He was their only focus.
Leo Lin was greeting the Norway players when Ødegaard quickly found him and made the same request countless young players had made to Leo Lin before.
"Lin, can I swap shirts with you?"
Leo Lin gladly agreed. The fire in Ødegaard's eyes was obvious, and Leo Lin could tell that he did not want to keep sinking at Real Madrid.
Sometimes, perhaps a change of environment really could help a star who had not been performing well enough find a better version of himself.
The reporters at the scene were looking for targets, hoping to interview one or two famous stars.
Ødegaard was soon caught by a reporter. Since she was beautiful, Ødegaard decided to answer two questions.
"Ødegaard, although you haven't been getting chances at club level, we just saw that your performance for the national team was actually very good."
"Will you insist on staying at Real Madrid to fight for more opportunities, or would you accept a move to another club in order to get more playing time?"
Ødegaard thought for a moment, tightening his grip on Leo Lin's shirt.
"My goal is to grow into a midfielder as outstanding as him in the future. I want more playing time, but before that, I'll work hard to improve my ability first."
As Ødegaard said this, his eyes remained fixed on Leo Lin.
In this match, he had watched Leo Lin's performance directly and up close. How he handled the ball, how he passed, when he chose to beat a man, when he looked for a combination. Leo Lin's control over timing and the rhythm of the pitch left Ødegaard deeply impressed.
In the future, he would use Leo Lin as his direction, improving both his ability and his intelligence on the pitch.
Three days later, there was another European Championship qualifier. The opponent was weaker, nowhere near Spain's overall level.
So Hierro made a full rotation, and Leo Lin and Rodri were allowed to leave the national team early and return to Liverpool.
This was Klopp's request. Klopp was worried that his two key midfield generals might be overused and injured.
Whenever international matches came around, players who left their clubs were always at risk of picking up all kinds of injuries, which threatened top clubs trying to deal with a packed schedule.
Fortunately, all of Liverpool's stars who had gone away on international duty returned safe and sound.
Since Liverpool's next match would not be until March 20, when they faced Chelsea in the EFL Cup final, the Liverpool players had plenty of time to rest before then.
Leo Lin spent most of each day watching movies with Maria, or playing passing games with Rodri in his back garden, while Stingy Guy came out from time to time to cause trouble.
Under Leo Lin and Maria's careful care, Stingy Guy had grown a size bigger than before. He had also started to become more mature, and often helped Maria fetch packages as though he could understand human speech.
On the sixth day after returning to Liverpool, Leo Lin was walking through the garden with Rodri, discussing whose barbecue tasted better.
"Definitely Vivian's. It's better than Laura's," Rodri said, actually supporting Vivian, which made Leo Lin worry for both Firmino and Laura.
Suddenly, Barnett walked into the yard.
After greeting the two of them, Delores immediately went to find Maria and Laura. The three of them now loved sitting together and chatting.
"We're eating at your place tonight. Tell Maria to make a few more good dishes. Don't always order takeout."
Barnett raised the bottle of dry red wine in his hand. It had been a long time since he had shared a proper drink with Leo Lin.
The moment Rodri heard there was a meal to freeload, he naturally raised both hands in approval.
"Oh, right. I've got a bit of inside news. There's a private golf course in the western suburbs that's about to be sold. It covers around thirty thousand square meters. Buy it, renovate it a little, and it could be turned into a nice small golf practice course. Something like that would be pretty popular with wealthy businessmen."
"So, what do you think? Interested in taking it over?"
Barnett raised an eyebrow at Leo Lin. He had spent quite a bit of effort digging up this lead. A finished golf course like this was rarely put up for sale.