Marco sat with his parents in their modest Dortmund home, watching television. New Year's celebrations were beginning across Germany—fireworks, parties, champagne.
His mother brought out the home baked cake. It was her small hobby to make different types of cakes on different occasions. Today, for some reason she made the plum cake.
His father was pouring the non-alcoholic sparkling wine into the new wine glass. He glanced across the room and made a small toast.
"To my son, and the family. What a year it has been!" his father said, raising a glass.
They toasted. Marco took , then set down his glass, mind wandering.
2005 had been transformative.
In January, he'd been fighting to keep his professional contract, rating barely 70/100. Now, December, he was a top prospect, U19 star, rating 77.1/100, contract extended through 2012.
It's undeniably great progress, he thought. But he has so much further to go.
At midnight, fireworks exploded over Dortmund. Marco stood at the window, watching colors bloom across the winter sky.
His mind traced the path ahead.
He was not an ordinary teenager. He has the knowledge about the next 20 years in his head.
He knows the trend of times. He knows about the results of important matches in this two decades.
He also knows about the trends in stock market. Upcoming multi-billion dollar companies, which investment can bring out maximum profit,...
But the problem is his age. In Germany, sports betting is only legal above the age of 18. He still has some before that. But couldn't he use a proxy and let them do the job for you?
Yeah, he probably could. But there is still a limit of how much of a profit could be made from betting. He cannot possibly live off this money in the upcoming decade. Not to mention it may invite unwanted scrutiny from authorities.
The right move is to bet a limited amount of time , make a big profit, and be done with it.
And the results of matches further in future may varie from recorded history since his upcoming and actions and influence may change some cogwheels of history.
Stock market is more reliable and long term solution. As long he has enough funds, it is a very viable path—atleast for few decades.
As he was pondering the the future and his action plans, unknowingly slumber claimed him.
* * * * *
January 15, 2006 - U19 Match vs. Schalke:
The Revier derby—even at youth level, it mattered.
Schalke's U19 squad arrived at Dortmund's training ground with much confidence. They were second in the table, two points behind Dortmund, and their reputation for physical, aggressive football preceded them.
Marco stood in the tunnel, captain's armband on his left arm, listening to the Schalke players talk.
"That's the kid? Is he the so called 'future of German's football'?"
"Looks small."
"Let's see how he handles real pressure."
Marco smiled to himself. He'd heard it all before.
The match started with intensity. Schalke pressed high, fouled hard, talked constantly. Their right-back kicked Marco twice in the first ten minutes—"welcome to the derby" challenges.
Marco stayed patient. Worked the ball. Moved intelligently.
23rd minute: Marco received a pass wide left. The Schalke right-back approached, confident after dominating him early. Marco touched the ball forward slightly, inviting pressure.
The defender lunged. Marco accelerated past him with pure speed, 8.6/10, leaving the defender grasping air. Into the box, cut inside, shot.
1-0.
Marco didn't celebrate extravagantly. Just pointed to the Dortmund badge and jogged back. The message was clear: This is our city.
Schalke equalized before halftime. 1-1.
The second half was war. Tackles flew. Tempers flared. Yellow cards accumulated.
78th minute, still 1-1. Marco dropped deep to receive the ball, drawing defenders with him. He spotted the striker's run with a perfectly timed weighted pass, splitting two center-backs.
The striker ran onto it and scored.
2-1.
Schalke pushed desperately for an equalizer. Dortmund defended grimly.
89th minute: Schalke won a corner. Everyone pushed forward, including their goalkeeper. The corner came in, Dortmund cleared it, and suddenly Marco had the ball with seventy yards of empty pitch ahead.
He ran. Faster than anyone, staying clear of the last defender by yards.
Marco reached the box. The defender has already given up. He gently passed the ball into net.
3-1.
Final whistle minutes later. Dortmund won the derby. Marco Reus with 2 goals, man of the match.
Rating: 9.0/10.
* * * *
May 5, 2006:
Marco was eating breakfast in the academy cafeteria when he heard a commotion outside. The door suddenly swung open and Tim burst in with few others.
"Marco! Have you seen this?"
The bold headline has caused considerable commotion outside, and he understood the situation as soon as saw the first word:
"CALCIOPOLI"
As a time traveller, ofcourse he knew what this is about. It is a mega scandal that changed the geography of world football.
Before this incident, Italian league, the serie A was the foremost football league in the whole world. Known as the 'little world cup', this league was the dream destination of all professional footballers.
The prime AC Milan, inter Milan, Juventus and Lazio were ruling the world with their Italian defense and sheer tactical richness.
But this incident changed all that. In short, this was match fixing. Top clubs in Italy bribed referee officials to rule the match in their favor by using controversial decisions.
Juventus just won serie A in the midst of the storms that raised by questionable refereeing decisions. All though many openly criticized this, there was no definite proof—until now.
Investigators discovered the issue through wiretapped phone calls between club executives and referee officials. Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi emerged as a central figure, accused of pressuring designators to appoint sympathetic referees for matches involving his club and others like AC Milan, Fiorentina, and Lazio.
Juventus faced the harshest punishment: stripped of their 2004-05 Serie A title (left unassigned), deducted points in 2005-06, and relegated to Serie B. Other clubs received point deductions or fines, while executives like Moggi received lifetime bans, later reduced on appeal.
The scandal damaged Serie A's reputation, leading to resignations at the Italian Football Federation and ongoing legal battles, including "Calciopoli bis" probes. No direct match-fixing or bribes were proven, but it exposed systemic referee bias.
Marco took the paper, reading quickly. Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio—all implicated. Wiretapped phone calls. Referee manipulation. Match-fixing at the highest level.
Other players gathered around, reading over his shoulder.
"Juventus might go to Serie B!" someone exclaimed.
"Italian football is corrupt," another said.
But as the saying goes: "What falls apart feeds what grows."
If the influence of serie A diminishes, then it is the opportunity for other leagues to prosper.
And of course, the Bundesliga is also among them.