Soccer Genius Wants to Get Noticed - Chapter 133



Only Krnovel

Episode 133: The Goat and the Griffin

We only started to do some proper attacking work after conceding two goals.

“This way!”

Right flank of the friendly camp.

Right-back Benno Schmitz drops deep to support central defender Luca Killian and quickly passes the ball to Eliez Schiri with a one-touch pass.

Even though the opposing team’s attackers did not apply strong forward pressure, they gradually drew the ball into their own camp through delaying work from the rear.

“Pressing!”

Then, Vincenzo Grifo, Nils Petersen, Roland Szalai, and even attacking midfielder Jung Woo-kyung. At the moment when Freiburg’s attackers form a net, our central midfielders open the way forward for a moment.

Just after Eliez Skiri sent a ground ball to his partner Sali Ozcan, he ran towards him again… … and he got a light tap in front of his foot.

The movements that follow are also incredibly refreshing.

Boohoo!

Skiri walked towards him with brisk strides and, with his long right foot like a flamingo, he slid a long pass into the enemy’s left flank.

Thanks to this, the mismatch happens just as planned in the locker room right before the game.

His team’s competitor is Ljubicic and his opposing defender is Jonathan Schmidt.

Although they may seem similar in physique at first glance, their aerial ball-chasing abilities are clearly different.

“Ugh!”

As Freiburg’s veteran defender drops out, the ball takes a parabolic curve and bounces further to the left.

As it turns out, the person who has the ball is… … Jonas Hector.

Earlier, right-back Schmitz had drawn the opposing attackers in, and he had crossed the halfway line and shot high into the opposing team’s territory, and now it was his turn to reap the rewards of his risk.

“Don’t come close! Just delay for now!”

“Maxim!”

“Maxim is late to come back! I’ll block number 27! Philip, you watch number 7!”

The central defenders are left confused as Freiburg’s players are concentrated on the opposite side of the field.

Jonathan Schmidt, the opposing right-back, after a brief moment of deliberation, chooses to mark Jonas, while the right-back chooses number 7 Ljubicic and the left-back chooses number 27 Anthony Modeste.

If there are not enough players, it is impossible to play cooperative defense, so tension appears on the goalkeeper’s face.

That was understandable, because the right side of the field, the penalty box, and even the second line were completely empty.

I had gone down to the friendly camp to help Schmitz for a moment, but I was running up with all my might.

“Whew, whoosh, whoosh.”

The situation couldn’t be better.

Christian Gunter, the dedicated defender, is quite fast, so even when he reached top speed, his breathing did not get farther away, but he did not get closer either… …so there was no need to grab his uniform.

This was in perfect accordance with what head coach Andre Pollock had said.

Immediately after Skiri’s pass burst out, he jumped out and took the lead in the contest.

By the way, Mark Ut was also running up from the central area.

The giant meerkats, resembling humans, are a clever as they are mischievous – they take the path they run into to the left to avoid overlapping spaces.

This way, I can also jump obliquely, towards the center.

“Jonas!”

As soon as I approached the box, a gorilla jumped in front of the goal and demanded a pass.

Boohoo! Whirilirik-

The Cologne captain swings his left foot powerfully to send a cross lofted over.

The official ball floats into the air, then draws a trajectory that seems as if it will cross the goal line, but then suddenly curves into the box.

Modeste, who was running towards the left side of the goal, seemed too far away to bring his forehead to it.

right.

The truth is behind it.

It was aimed at Mark Ut, who was rushing in from the rear.

Boom!

And the ugly meerkat… …shows off his ugly talents, as expected.

Instead of putting his weight on the ball and finishing with a header, he just swung his head to change the trajectory of the cross.

As a result, the direction of the ball’s progress inevitably changes towards the right side of the box, but the height is not enough to be completely satisfactory.

The timing is good, but it’s too high.

In fact, the speed at which I was running and the trajectory of the ball all suggested that it was right to finish with a header.

Kwak!

But since I hate having my hair messed up, I put the brakes on my running.

Once a decision is made, the connecting action flows like water.

After planting his soccer shoes deep into the grass, he quickly twists his upper body and lifts one foot first. Then, he lifts both feet off the ground and uses both arms to stabilize himself.

He keeps his gaze on the ball from beginning to end, then swings his left foot and falls flat on the ground.

The feeling of it resting on the instep is [perfect].

If I had to describe it in words, I would say it was an ’embossing shot’. I really liked the feeling of it being lightly placed, and the clean feel of it making you wonder if it was really a shot.

And of course, cheers erupted from all sides.

Wow!

When I looked up belatedly, I saw the official ball rolling on the floor to the left of the goal.

I hit it accurately, but overhead shots are inherently difficult, so I didn’t expect it to penetrate the goal’s blind spot.

It really, really looked like it was properly placed, as the opposing goalkeeper couldn’t even fly.

This is all just my personal guess, but considering that the cheers from the crowd go beyond the realm of mere sound and feel like vibrations, I think it’s definitely true.

okay.

If you put in something easy, you will get praise, but if you put in something difficult and cool, you will get recognition. Then, sports become a work of art.

That’s what I did just now.

“Hey, you crazy… … Damn, you crazy kid!”

“Oh, come on!”

The only problem was Mark Ut’s aftermath, as soon as he got up from his seat, two hands flew at him and ripped his hair apart.

“You crazy bastard, why didn’t you head it there? I gave you the perfect timing!”

“What are you talking about, go get the ball… … Ah, go away!”

“Hanul!”

My rational and reasonable demands are rendered useless as my colleagues, including Jonas and Ozkan, barge in one after another.

If there wasn’t much time left in the game, this wouldn’t have happened.

While being pinched here and there, hit on the back of the head, and being the target of a goal celebration(?), I checked the scoreboard and saw that it was only 26 minutes into the first half.

Everyone seemed to have lost all sense of reason after scoring an early goal.

* * *

Steffen Baumgart, manager of FC Köln, looks out onto the pitch.

“… … Hmm.”

At 41 minutes into the first half, the score was still 1-2.

It would have been desirable to score an early goal to make up for it, but the opposing team was not willing to give up the momentum easily, so the score gap was still maintained.

And it wasn’t just the players’ willpower.

Glance.

Next to the bench, near the sideline, stands the Freiburg manager with his arms crossed.

Gray hair, excessively raised hairline, gaunt face, numerous wrinkles, and contrasting sharp eyes.

He possessed not only experience but also tactical flexibility.

“We are having a hard time attacking. Freiburg are completely down.”

Coincidentally, head coach Andre Polak also added his remarks.

“It’s 451, right? The defense and middle lines are each lined up in a straight line, blocking off the space.”

“Yes. The left side is particularly difficult. Hanul keeps trying to break through… … but when there’s a lot of space, he just opens up Schmitz’s side. He also gets a lot of fouls. It seems like they’re not giving Hanul any chances.”

“… … That’s okay, since you only get one or two chances to decide during the entire match. It’s more about stamina. It’s a headache.”

“… … .”

It’s not that time is on Freiburg’s side.

[in!]

Bullfight! Whirlirik-

Right side of the stadium.

With three defenders lining up behind him, Sung Ha-neul reluctantly passes the ball deep into the flank, and soon Schmitz floats a cross towards the other side of the box.

Freiburg’s players, who have been refining their defensive tactics, are not leaving Ljubicic alone.

Phew!

Instead of a wide defender, central defender Philipp Lienhard rushed in to clear the ball, which was followed by a quick counterattack.

To make matters worse, the positions are reversed in an instant as the ball is kicked far away before the forward pressure can be applied.

As Freiburg’s wingers rush to win possession, Cologne players quickly fall back into defence.

Although most of the counterattack opportunities were blocked in advance by Cologne, it was a scene that was bound to be heartbreaking in the grand scheme of things.

Every once in a while, whenever a proper counterattack opportunity arose, the players’ stamina would slowly wear down.

Especially the sides.

“Hanul! Don’t come down too low!”

[okay!]

Following the head coach’s instructions, Sung Ha-neul moves to the center line and then moves up again. As expected, not long after, a pass from Ozkan reaches his feet.

“… … I don’t know if Hanul can handle the second half. The attack flow is completely shifted to the right side.”

“It must be because the left side is blocked. It doesn’t seem like Ryubicic is in a condition to attempt a direct breakthrough, so he needs to get through with a cross, but Modeste is not able to secure the possession. As a player, we have no choice but to push to Hanul.”

“Should we try to ask a little more aggressively?”

“No. That kind of flow is closer to instinct. Trying to twist it by force, calling it a bench instruction, will only have a negative impact.”

“How about trying to cut through the center?”

“… … Unfortunately, the central leadership is not overwhelming. Furthermore, if we forcefully break through a tight spot and lose it, we will have to defend while leaving out either Skelina or Ozkan in the counterattack situation. If we concede a goal, it will lead to the worst outcome. 1v2 and 1v3 have different feelings.”

“Sometimes you have to take risks.”

“That’s right. But we have to avoid the ‘risks the other party wants.’”

“Then there is only one option left.”

Both men look at the right side of the ground at the same time.

Seong Ha-neul was using his footwork, the instep, and the outside of his foot freely, and he was about to make a decisive move.

Knock, knock, whistle!

The opposing central midfielder’s outstretched foot is evaded through upper body feints and quick ball touches, and then immediately turns to the right.

Boom, boom!

As the side defenders’ sliding tackles continued to fly in, he successfully evaded them once again by lifting the bottom of the ball.

Wow-!

Just as the home crowd senses something is about to happen and is rising to their feet, the third central defender rushes in and slams the ball into the net with his shoulder.

[Ugh!]

Woof woof woof!

As the boy lets out a short scream and falls down, the Rhine Energie Stadion is filled with a barrage of curses and boos from Cologne fans.

The penalty line is a good four or five paces away, so the referee ends the situation with just one yellow card.

So Baumgart makes a decision without delay.

“… … In the second half, let’s move Hanul up to the striker position. We need to reduce the physical burden. So that he can focus only on attacking.”

“Yes. I think that’s the best option. He showed potential both in the minor leagues and on the Korean national team. If you give him a chance to compete in the box, he’ll naturally get penalized less. But one thing to keep in mind is… Modeste might not like it very much.”

On very rare occasions, Coach Baumgart would fiddle with his hat and pretend not to hear his head coach.

“Director?”

Just one side of the stadium.

Just look up at the two clubs’ symbols engraved on the scoreboard.

On one side was a goat raising both its front legs, and on the other was a black griffin (a legendary creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion).

“Man thinks, God guides(Man thinks, God guides).”

“… … .”

“Let’s not think that far ahead.”

No matter how many times he reminisces about it, it’s a fight that’s just going to get longer and longer, so he’s determined to end it in 90 minutes.

It had to be that way.