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Lance was stunned.
Before this, he had never considered this question.
To be able to become a professional player, play in the first team of a club, and have the opportunity to compete in the top league.
This was Lance's past extravagant hope.
Now, at 16 years old, he has consistently appeared in many consecutive matches, subtly establishing himself within the Bayer Leverkusen club.
And he had just completed several breakthroughs, his first start in the Champions League, his first goal in the Champions League, and his first hat-trick in the Champions League.
If Lance was only famous in the Bundesliga before, this time, he had become famous in one battle through this Champions League match!
Less than an hour after defeating Real Sociedad, the news had already been widely publicized through social media.
England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium…
Fans from many countries had learned about the 16-year-old wonderkid at Bayer Leverkusen through Twitter, Facebook, news apps, and other media.
Of course, there are countless cases of overnight success in football, but not many stars ultimately persist and shine in top league matches.
Other fans from various countries were just surprised.
However, football association officials from various regions had a keen sense of smell.
Including the Belgium Football Association, Portugal Football Association, and other regional football associations, they had long noticed Lance's movements.
Previously, they had only been observing Lance in secret.
After the Champions League battle, they knew they couldn't wait any longer!
Who had ever seen a prodigy who started in the Champions League at 16 and scored a hat-trick?
That was practically a case of 'act fast or lose out'!
Football association officials from various countries couldn't wait to pick up their phones at night and take action immediately.
Soon, Jorge Mendes received more than one call, then he relayed this message to Lance himself.
"Given your background, the Belgium Football Association is the closest fit. However, Belgium might find it difficult to achieve results in major tournaments."
"My suggestion is to join us in Portugal. We Portuguese have a wealth of talent, and in the future, when you join the national team, you'll have world-class stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, and Pepe."
"If you're in the squad, we'll definitely form a championship-contending lineup…"
Jorge Mendes also had his own selfish motives.
As a Portuguese, he hoped Portugal could win international tournaments.
With a monstrous presence like Lance, and a world-class peak superstar like Cristiano Ronaldo in his prime, they might actually be able to lift the World Cup!
However, Jorge Mendes was interrupted by Lance before he could finish speaking.
Upon hearing Jorge Mendes's news just now, Lance's memories suddenly couldn't help but rewind 10 years, to a certain day when he was 6 years old.
At that time, he had just gotten into a fight with a few children on the field.
There was an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old chubby kid among them.
Several of them ganged up to bully him, until Lance got serious, grabbing one of them and beating him almost to death, which immediately intimidated the group of bullying children.
Just then, Kevin De Bruyne, whose height already exceeded 170 cm, arrived.
When the children saw that Lance was not easy to bully and had an older helper, they simply left with harsh words.
Only Lance and Kevin De Bruyne sat in front of the goal.
"Lance, I've already joined KRC Genk's youth academy."
Kevin De Bruyne didn't know how to comfort Lance, so he simply changed the subject.
"That's great, I want to be a star too."
At 6 years old, Lance thought that joining a professional youth academy would make him a big star, enjoying the cheers of tens of thousands of people on the field.
Kevin De Bruyne didn't discourage Lance; instead, he smiled genuinely.
"Then we'll be stars together! Not just at the club, but we'll also join the national team!"
"Okay! We'll be stars together!"
The promise made at 6 years old was long nullified, but it was enough to influence Lance's deepest first reaction.
At this time, Kevin De Bruyne was already a member of the Belgium national team.
In 2010, at just 19 years old, he made his debut for the national team.
It is said that he also has a chance to be selected for the main squad of next year's Brazil World Cup.
And what about himself?
His professional career had just begun.
Now, an opportunity lay before him!
Lance did not have much sense of belonging to Belgium.
But compared to Portugal, Spain, and Germany, the Belgium team could better represent his childhood football dream.
This was where his original intention lay.
Regardless of whether this team could achieve results in future World Cups, Lance wanted to give it a try!
Anyway, joining the Chinese National Football Team was impossible.
According to the prediction in his dream, the environment of the Chinese National Football Team would continue to deteriorate in the future, and even the most outstanding stars would be assimilated by this environment, gradually sinking into a deep quagmire from which they could not extricate themselves.
Such a Chinese National Football Team would be difficult for Lance to save alone.
It's better to save the country through a roundabout way…
At this moment, a plan suddenly formed in the mind of the 16-year-old Lance.
If this plan was to be realized, he had to have enough influence.
The influence of a Champions League champion was not enough.
It had to be the world's number one, the only GOAT, someone who had won the World Cup.
Only when his divinity was fully realized could he push for subsequent actions and completely change the situation from its root.
Moreover, according to future predictions, the Belgium team was not without competitiveness; in a few years, they would have a good chance of getting close to the World Cup!
After comprehensive consideration, Lance had made a decision in a short time.
"Thank you, Mr. Mendes, but I don't need to consider other options. Since I am currently a Belgian national, I will simply accept the invitation from the Belgium Football Association."
"Alright, that's very reasonable. Next, you might participate in some U19 or U21 matches. If you perform well, you might even have a chance to be exceptionally selected for the national team… Of course, this requires some patience, and luck."
"I understand."
"Okay, then I'll reply to the Belgium Football Association now. I won't disturb you anymore. Enjoy this victorious night."
Hanging up the phone, Lance breathed a sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from his mind.
"Kevin, do you remember what we agreed upon when we were kids?"
"You're joining the national team?"
Kevin De Bruyne reacted quickly and had already guessed it.
"Probably U19 for now"
"That's great!! From now on, we'll be teammates!"
VfL Wolfsburg, inside the apartment, Kevin De Bruyne, who was lying on the sofa playing with his phone, suddenly sat upright.
Of course he remembered what they had said when they were kids!
If Lance, with his talent, joined the Belgium team, it would definitely be a significant reinforcement!
The team currently had Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, himself, a certain scoundrel goalkeeper, and Lance…
Kevin De Bruyne didn't even dare to imagine how luxurious the lineup would be then!
He was already eager to fight alongside his good brother!
…
The next day, Lance, who scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad, once again made headlines in football media around the world.
The classic image of Lance shirtless, holding his jersey, standing in front of the camera, made many female fans in various countries recognize this handsome player.
He himself didn't know how many infatuated neutral female fans this action attracted across Europe.
He could only perceive the clues through the speed of his fan growth.
Lance's Twitter account surged by 100,000 followers within 12 hours from its previous 30,000!
And it was gaining followers at an exaggerated rate every day!
#AsianGeniusHatTrick
Topics about Lance inevitably made it onto Twitter's trending topics, as well as Weibo's hot search list in China!
So much so that the next day in the club gym, teammate Julian Brandt was lazily scrolling on his phone, and all he saw were news praising Lance.
His expression was very resentful, envious and jealous:
"Brother, you're completely famous now!"