March 20, 2012, 9:30 PM.

The weather was perfect, and the Playmobil Stadium was buzzing with excitement.

The 18,000-capacity stadium was packed. Only 1,800 away fans were present; the allocation of away tickets is based on stadium capacity and isn't a fixed number.

Fürth, though a 2. Bundesliga team, had eliminated two Bundesliga teams in the previous rounds: Nuremberg and Hoffenheim.

Both victories were 1-0, with a consistent counter-attacking strategy.

Their tactics today remained unchanged. They didn't single out Ye Chen for special marking but instead formed a strong defensive line in their own half.

They aimed to wear down their opponents and seize any counter-attack opportunities.

This strategy, while simple in theory, requires great team cohesion and willpower.

The DFB-Pokal requires a decisive result; if they couldn't counter-attack within 90 minutes, they'd have to defend for 120 minutes...

Enduring 120 minutes of relentless attacks would be a huge physical and mental challenge.

Of course, with Ye Chen on the field, things might be a bit easier for them.

During warm-ups, Ye Chen noticed Chinese students waving the Chinese flag. He went over to greet them. It was a group of three men and one woman; the woman seemed to be there with her boyfriend.

After a quick photo opportunity, the match was about to begin!

"Hello, everyone! This is... Oops, this is GuGu Sports! I'm your familiar game commentator, Wang Tao!"

"Today, I'm bringing you live commentary of the DFB-Pokal semi-final between Dortmund and Fürth. Dortmund has fielded their full starting lineup; Klopp clearly isn't taking any chances!"

"Let's look at the starting lineups... Well, I don't recognize any of the Fürth players!"

"No worries, we all know the Dortmund players, so we'll just introduce them."

"The goalkeeper is Weidenfeller!"

"The defenders are Schmelzer, Hummels, Subotić, and Piszczek!"

"The midfielders are Gündoğan and Kehl."

"The wingers are Ye Chen and De Bruyne, with Kagawa as the attacking midfielder!"

"The striker is Lewandowski!"

"With the exception of Götze, this is indeed Dortmund's strongest lineup!"

"The match has officially begun. Fürth has retreated defensively. We can see that they haven't assigned a specific marker for Ye Chen, opting for zonal marking instead!"

"I predict the deadlock will be broken within five minutes!"

Klopp had studied their previous matches and knew their style of play, so he emphasized the tactics in the locker room: be bold inside the penalty area!

Their individual defending might not be the strongest, but their execution and discipline are excellent.

This gives them a strong collective defense.

But what is Dortmund's greatest strength?

Their attacking players possess excellent close control!

Plus, with Lewandowski today, there's a focal point up front who can hold up the ball!

4 minutes and 19 seconds into the game.

Dortmund had already taken four shots, but Ye Chen's shot went over the crossbar, giving Fürth a goal kick.

The goalkeeper kicked the ball long.

Fürth's striker, Nehrig, jumped for the ball, but Hummels positioned himself well and headed it to Subotić.

Fürth retreated.

Subotić passed to Bender in midfield, who quickly found Ye Chen with a diagonal pass.

Ye Chen swiftly passed to the overlapping Schmelzer.

Schmelzer advanced, with Fürth's defender Schmidtgal closing him down.

Ye Chen continued his run, and Schmelzer passed back to him.

Ye Chen, seeing De Bruyne unmarked on the right, made a long cross-field pass!

The crowd gasped!

"What a beautiful long pass!"

"Such great vision!"

"Ye looks so cool when he plays!"

De Bruyne controlled the ball with his foot.

Mavraj closed in, forcing De Bruyne to move away from the box.

De Bruyne then made a clever back-heel pass into the penalty area.

Kagawa burst into the box.

The speed of the attack caught the defense off guard, and central defender Kleine rushed out.

But Kagawa made a quick pass to Lewandowski, who had positioned himself well behind Nehrig, and he fired the ball into the net!

The goal came at 4 minutes and 48 seconds!

Dortmund took the lead with a swift counter-attack. This was a demonstration of the difference in quality between the teams.

De Bruyne gave Ye Chen a thumbs-up.

Lewandowski celebrated with a sliding knee celebration, joined by his teammates.

Fürth's coach, Büskens, frowned.

What to do now?

The early goal was a setback.

If they didn't push forward and continued to defend deep, they could easily concede another. But if they attacked, they risked conceding even more...

Looking at the Dortmund players, Büskens was envious.

If they were Fürth players, they could make a name for themselves in the Bundesliga!

But there were no "ifs."

The game resumed.

Fürth's coach instructed his team to continue defending for another ten minutes.

They couldn't afford to concede again quickly.

But could they prevent it?

At 5 minutes and 38 seconds, possession returned to Dortmund.

Ye Chen received the ball in the center, executed a beautiful "Elastico" move to create space, and took a shot.

This earned Dortmund a corner kick.

Hummels won the header from the corner, but his header lacked power and was easily caught by the goalkeeper, Grün.

Grün quickly launched a long ball forward towards Nehrig.

Nehrig was initially closer to the ball than Ye Chen, but Ye Chen quickly closed the gap.

Just as Nehrig was about to receive the ball, Ye Chen intercepted it.

Schmelzer, providing cover, received the ball and gave Ye Chen another thumbs-up.

Congratulations to Ye Chen for receiving two thumbs-ups in this match.

The Fürth fans were stunned, watching Ye Chen in disbelief. After regaining his breath, Ye Chen signaled for the ball.

Schmelzer immediately passed to him.

Ye Chen dribbled towards the edge of the penalty area.

To his surprise, he found himself unmarked...

Could it be that his reputation as "the Bundesliga's most prolific shooter" wasn't well-known enough?

If so, he wouldn't hold back!

Ye Chen pushed the ball slightly to his right while advancing, then suddenly increased his speed!

The golden right foot was unleashed!

A powerful long-range shot!

The ball flew through the air...