As June arrived, all participating teams in the World Cup announced their 23-man squads.
At the same time, the famous German website 'Transfermarkt' also updated the market values of the thirty-two World Cup teams!
Spain topped the list with a total market value of 751 million Euros, with the most expensive player being Iniesta, the midfield orchestrator from Barça, whose value was 55 million Euros.
The German Team followed closely with a total market value of 626 million Euros, and the most expensive player was Götze, valued at 55 million Euros.
Host Brazil ranked third with 467 million Euros, and the highest-valued player was Neymar from Barça, at 60 million Euros.
Among all the players participating in the World Cup, the highest-valued player was Barça's superstar Messi.
He topped the list with 120 million Euros, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's 100 million Euros.
It's worth mentioning that Messi's market value was higher than the combined market value of thirteen countries!
Among all the teams, Honduras had the lowest total market value at 21.15 million Euros.
The lowest highest-valued player among all countries was from the Australia National Team; their most valuable player, Jedinak, was only worth 2.5 million Euros.
Among them, the biggest increase in value belonged to the German Team's newcomer, Mark Lane!
Before the market value update, his value was a mere 50,000 Euros.
In the latest update, his value skyrocketed from 50,000 to 15 million Euros!!!
A staggering three hundredfold increase!
Such a rise in market value might be the most absurd increase in Transfermarkt's history.
Of course, Mark's skyrocketing value also benefited from his impressive performance in the Bundesliga.
The day after the market value update, the Bundesliga official also announced this season's major awards.
Dortmund's wing core, Marco Reus, was named Player of the Season!
Wolfsburg's head coach Hecking was named Coach of the Season!
In the selected Best XI, ten players were from this season's champion and runner-up teams, with Bayern Munich contributing seven players and Dortmund three.
The only player not from the champion or runner-up was Wolfsburg's prodigy, Mark Lane!
This award was voted on by over a thousand representatives from the professional players' union.
In the voting for this year's Best Player, Dortmund's Reus received 28.6% of the votes, beating his teammate Lewandowski's 20.3% to win the award.
Bayern's Robben ranked third with 10.1% of the votes.
In the Best Coach voting, Wolfsburg's coach defeated Weinzierl (25.5% of votes) and Guardiola (18.6% of votes) with a 30.7% vote share, successfully winning the award!
Hecking, once dubbed the "firefighter coach," led Wolfsburg to a third-place finish in the Bundesliga this season, setting a new club high since the 2008-09 season, fully deserving of the honor.
And Wolfsburg's prodigy, Mark Lane, who emerged after the winter break, edged out Augsburg's Hahn and Dortmund's Drmic to win the Bundesliga Rookie of the Year award!
In his sixteen appearances during half a season, he contributed an impressive six goals and eight assists!
And this was mostly when he came on as a substitute!
Besides the direct statistics, his brilliant performance on the field also won over his peers in the Bundesliga.
This was why, despite only playing half a season in the Bundesliga, he was voted by other players to be part of the Best XI!
With his inclusion in the Bundesliga Team of the Season and being named Bundesliga Rookie of the Year, Mark also completed two major season tasks, thereby receiving a total of ten potential points as a reward!
At the same time, his fame and popularity also saw a visible surge.
Transfermarkt called him "this season's biggest discovery in the Bundesliga!"
Clubs from other countries also knew that the Bundesliga had produced a prodigy who, in just half a season, transformed from an unknown youth team player into the Bundesliga's best rookie and a new German National Team player!
Many clubs interested in him had already sent scouts to Brazil, planning to thoroughly observe him on the World Cup stage...
And just three days later!
Germany hosted its final warm-up match before the World Cup at the Mewa Arena in Mainz.
Their opponent was Armenia, ranked 30th in the world!
Although their ranking was even higher than some World Cup participating teams.
However, Armenia's only notable star was Dortmund's new number ten, Mkhitaryan.
Armenia's squad strength was one or two tiers below Cameroon.
This also related to the team's upcoming trip to Brazil, so choosing a weaker opponent for a "warm-up" would also prevent players from unexpected injuries.
However, accidents always happen when you least expect them:
In the 43rd minute of the first half, the German Team's starting left winger, Reus, unfortunately twisted his left ankle during a challenge with an opponent.
Witnessing Reus fall to the ground in pain, clutching his ankle, Mark, sitting on the bench, showed a hint of helplessness.
As a reborn person, he knew Reus would get injured before the World Cup, but he was powerless to help.
He was not an omnipotent god, nor was he a head coach who could arrange the lineup.
Even knowing, he couldn't change it.
Perhaps, this was Reus's fate...
After an on-field examination by the team doctor, Reus's situation was very serious; he couldn't continue the match and had to be substituted.
Löw, frowning, looked back at the players on the bench, his gaze sweeping over Podolski and Mark.
With Reus's injury withdrawal, he might even miss the World Cup entirely.
As the head coach, he had to choose a replacement.
Although Podolski was not a starter at Arsenal, he performed commendably in his limited playing time. However, the former Prince Poldi was already twenty-nine years old and past his prime.
Mark, on the other hand, was only eighteen, with immense potential and room for improvement.
Should he choose the experience of the veteran or the drive of the newcomer?
After some thought, considering it was a warm-up match, Löw's gaze finally settled on the black-haired teenager. "Mark, get on!"
Hearing this, Mark immediately stood up, took off his substitute bib, revealing the number 23 jersey underneath.
While Reus was being helped off the field by the team doctor, Löw gave Mark, who was standing on the sidelines, his final instructions: "Once you're on, you have only one task: take the ball and dribble past defenders!"
"And after breaking through, you have two choices. First, cut inside and shoot; second, play a pass-and-move with the striker!"
"Understood, Coach!"
As the fourth official raised the substitution board, Mark stepped onto the field.
This was his second match for the German National Team.
And this time, he had a new role: left winger!
...
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