Amid the world's heated discussion about the Hoffenheim miracle and Lu Wenbin, the Hoffenheim team rested in Berlin for a night and flew back to Sinsheim the next day.
They got off the plane in Frankfurt, and were greeted by thousands of fans at the airport. Thousands of cars followed the team bus back to Sinsheim.
However, this time the fans' slogan changed to "Triple Crown".
In the Rhine-Neckar County and the city of Sinsheim, Hoffenheim's convoy was welcomed by countless citizens.
Wherever they went, Hoffenheim's team flags were fluttering in the wind, and countless people excitedly shouted slogans of Treble to welcome the return of the team that had performed the miracle of a newly promoted team winning the Treble.
After parading around the city, they arrived at the City Hall Square. This time they didn't just hold up one German Cup trophy to celebrate, but three trophies at once.
When the Bundesliga championship salad plate, the UEFA Cup championship Bertoni Cup and the German Cup gold trophy were held together by head coach Ralph, first captain Salihovic and second captain Lu Wenbin and appeared on the second-floor balcony of the Municipal Building, more than 100,000 fans in the Municipal Square immediately gave out earth-shaking cheers, and shouts of "Triple Crown" and "Long Live the Holy Village" were heard incessantly.
Since there was no game anyway, the celebration lasted a long time. Each player and head coach came up to give a speech or sing and dance, which aroused warm support and applause from the fans.
When Lu Wenbin demonstrated a set of martial arts routines taught by his junior high school physical education teacher, it caused thunderous applause from everyone.
On the one hand, Westerners are naturally curious about Chinese Kung Fu and do not know that what Lu Wenbin demonstrated was stage routines, not real Chinese Kung Fu.
On the other hand, there is Lu Wenbin's personal popularity. Not to mention that he performed a set of martial arts routines seriously, even if he just stood there and sang a song, everyone would applaud and cheer.
The celebration lasted more than two hours in the City Hall Square. Near the end, the mayor of Sinsheim stood on the balcony and gave a long speech with the microphone. He congratulated Hoffenheim on their success in the past season and expressed his honor for the city of Sinsheim to have such a world-famous club.
Especially for Lu Wenbin's performance, the mayor listed all of Lu Wenbin's data and records one by one, obviously knowing them well.
In fact, whether in China or abroad, people are quite disgusted with the long speeches of government officials.
But now the mayor is praising Hoffenheim's achievements and reading out Lu Wenbin's records, and no one is offended anymore.
There are so many people at the scene, all of them are Hoffenheim fans, and almost all of them are fans of Lu Wenbin!
Everyone understands that it was Lu Wenbin's records and data such as the Bundesliga Golden Boot, German Cup Golden Boot, UEFA Cup Golden Boot, and European Golden Boot that helped Hoffenheim complete the unprecedented miracle of a newly promoted team winning the triple crown.
Moreover, it may be the last football song that will never be surpassed!
Therefore, every time the mayor read out a piece of data, the audience of more than 100,000 people applauded and cheered to pay tribute to Lu Wenbin.
However, when the mayor was reading out Lu Wenbin's records and praising him highly, both reporters and fans were a little confused as to why the mayor was praising Lu Wenbin's performance so highly.
Although Lu Wenbin's role in Hoffenheim is definitely the most important and unique, no one can deny it.
But is it really okay to praise a player so blatantly in the team's treble celebration
Where does this put the other players? Are they just dispensable extras
Apart from anything else, Eduardo, Salihovic and Gustavo are definitely indispensable pieces of the puzzle in Hoffenheim's success.
Mr. Mayor, you are putting Lu Wenbin on the fire!
Just when many people were puzzled and Lu Wenbin gradually felt a little uncomfortable from his initial joy, the mayor finally read out all of Lu Wenbin's records and achievements.
Then, the mayor made a startling announcement: "In view of Lu's great contribution to Hoffenheim's winning of the Triple Crown and to the city of Sinsheim's reputation, all members of the Sinsheim City Council voted unanimously and the Sinsheim City Government decided to award Mr. Lu Wenbin the title of 'Honorary Citizen of Sinsheim'."
With a "Wow..." sound, there was a sudden exclamation at the scene, and then thunderous applause broke out, and countless people cheered loudly for the wise decision of the mayor and the municipal government.
Everyone also understood why the mayor singled out Lu Wenbin's achievements just now. It turned out that he wanted to make the city government's decision appear more legitimate and logical.
Lu Wenbin was also a little confused.
He didn't know what the purpose of this honorary citizenship was, but his teammates and coaches around him congratulated him, and more than 100,000 fans in the square also cheered. It was obvious that this honor was rare and not awarded casually.
While still unaware, Lu Wenbin received a golden key and an honorary citizen certificate from the mayor, which symbolized the honorary citizenship of Sinsheim, proving that Lu Wenbin would become an honorary citizen of Sinsheim in the future.
Then, from the mayor's brief introduction, Lu Wenbin learned about some of the privileges and treatment enjoyed by honorary citizens.
This title is not necessarily useful, it is just an honor. But it is not correct to say that it is useless.
At least in the future, whenever Lu Wenbin needs to do something in Sinsheim City, the government departments will definitely give him the green light.
Moreover, when there are any major celebrations or parties in the city of Sinsheim that require Lu Wenbin to attend, he will attend as a heavyweight guest and will be grandly introduced.
Of course, more importantly, this is a recognition of Lu Wenbin’s achievements, his contributions, and his Chinese identity.
Lu Wenbin didn’t quite understand the propaganda value of this, but those Chinese reporters did.
So those Chinese reporters were very excited.
The next day, Chinese media not only reported Hoffenheim's treble celebration parade, but also reported and publicized Lu Wenbin's awarding of honorary citizenship of Sinsheim.
"Lu Wenbin has made outstanding contributions, and the city of Sinsheim, Germany, has awarded him the title of Honorary Citizen!"
"Our player Lu Wenbin was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Sinsheim, Germany for his outstanding performance on the court!"
"Lu Wenbin was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Sinsheim. Here are some stories about the title of Honorary Citizen!"
For a while, Lu Wenbin's honorary citizenship and Hoffenheim's treble both sparked heated discussions among domestic fans.
Although everyone eventually understood that this honor is just a title, Lu Wenbin has been recognized by the European government, which can be regarded as glory for the country. It still makes fellow fans at home feel proud and honored!