Besides, Mainz had just had two consecutive draws, and Wang Shuo himself wasn't happy about it.
But to his utter surprise, the drama he was watching suddenly became about him.
The evening after the match against Dortmund, the Italian newspaper Torino Sports Daily announced a 40-man shortlist for the 2008 European Golden Boy Award (for players under 21).
The list included 10 nominees from the Premier League, such as Walcott, Bentner, Ramsey, Gareth Bale, and Anderson—all of whom were already well-known young players.
La Liga had eight nominees, such as Boyan, Busquets, Aguero, and Marcelo.
Serie A had seven nominees, including Pato, Balotelli, Okaka, and Sanchez.
The Bundesliga also had six nominees.
Bayern accounted for two of them: the Brazilian center-back Bruno and Tony Kroos.
There was also Werder Bremen's Mesut, Schalke 04's talented midfielder Rakitic, and Bayer Leverkusen's right-sided player, Augusto.
And finally, there was Wang Shuo from Mainz.
