Soccer Genius Wants to Get Noticed - Chapter 144



Only Krnovel

Episode 144: Consecutive Winnings (6)

I won’t say that everything went my way.

After Cologne’s third goal in the 9th minute of the second half, and Remperle’s third goal of the season, I made a few mistakes in my attacking work.

First is positioning.

Jan Tillman on the left and Remperle on the right attempted to switch aggressively towards the center, but the opportunity was wasted due to the slow reaction of the counter-attackers.

The second mistake was that he had difficulty controlling the passing lane from behind –

“Hanul!”

Clang, clang!

There were many instances where passes coming from the third line were intercepted along the way.

Head coach Andre Polak had strongly urged Augsburg to play steadily as a quick transition between offense and defense would be advantageous to them.

I still have some shortcomings when it comes to positioning and timing passes.

Hmm.

In a way, isn’t this proof that I have humanity?

Moreover, despite several crises, there were no major problems because the friendly defense blocked the opponent’s attack flow well.

The game is still in Cologne’s hands.

Accordingly, fellow players in charge of the third line also put the puzzle together through their own judgment around the 20th minute of the second half.

“Elijah!”

With defensive midfielder Elies Schiri exposed to the opposition’s fierce forward pressure, right-back Schmitz drops into the centre instead of out wide.

“Where!”

In the meantime, opposing winger Ruben Vargas tries to block the ball, but Elies Schiri pretends to pass it to him and in an instant, he spins 180 degrees, breaking the pressure of the entire Augsburg attack.

If you pour pressure on the right flank of your camp and the left flank passing route is completely opened up… … then it’s just over.

“Side!”

“Number 14! Daniel, you catch it!”

As left-back Jonas crossed the halfway line to join the attack, the opposing defense stopped Daniel Caligiuri.

Before that, I will first take the movement on the second line.

I don’t know if this is the original role of ‘free roll’, but after the second half, there was an unspoken agreement among the team members. Almost all the pass lanes were aimed at my feet.

This time, let’s do it right, for sure.

It lingers in the back of the head, out of the dedicated defender’s blind spot, and then immediately jumps out.

Grasp – Rapid acceleration with the sound of grass squeaking.

When I get down to an area closer to the center line, about 10 meters away from the box, I am clearly given the priority to touch the ball.

Boom!

Next, without being greedy, he passes the ball diagonally to the left of the enemy line. The ball is passed to Jan Tillman, who is excellent at tactical movement, so that he can face the goal and receive the ball.

“Big!”

“Whew, whoosh.”

Then another hard brake. And again, another hard acceleration.

To avoid being caught in the hands of the Marksman, he goes around as if he is exiting a roundabout.

If the process of receiving the ball and returning the ball is easy, there is nothing to hesitate about in the subsequent attack.

Jan Tillman dribbles up the pitch with a couple of touches, then slams a ground pass into the top corner just before being stopped by a defender.

The recipient is Anthony Modeste.

The aftermath is predictable.

The poor gorilla, who doesn’t want to give the ball to me, will struggle to turn his body towards the goal, and the opposing center back will just stretch out his leg at the timing of turning around instead of directly colliding with me.

WHIST, bang!

Since the gorilla’s strength is not ordinary, the ball will roll to the rear area without anyone’s possession, and then it will be… … mine.

I’m given the full first touch of the ball after outpacing dedicated marksman Rhys Oxford.

Chorrrrrr!

Of course, a shot is impossible, because the right-sided central defender, Robert Gumny, is rushing out and sliding.

A situation where you have to stretch your toes to barely secure the advantage of a ball touch.

Once more, let go of your greed and place your toes on the left bottom of the ball.

Too-woong!

The official ball’s direction of travel is to the right.

Team Remperle is running towards the opposing winger Iago, and here the options are divided.

A safe bet is a 2-on-1 pass.

If I can quickly recover from losing my balance after tripping on Robert Gumni’s foot, then it’s possible if Remperle becomes the cat that can return it right away.

On the other hand, what was special was that immediately after receiving a 2-on-1 pass, he lobbed a pass to Anthony Modeste, who was digging into the left side of the box.

Well, it’s nothing.

I guess I should think about it as a big treat.

Including today’s game, my Bundesliga record this season is 20 goals and 16 assists, so I definitely wasn’t conscious of the 20-20 (20 goals, 20 assists) record.

Drumroll, thump!

“ah……!”

But my bold decision is blocked by my loyal subject, Rempel.

Like me, he had a one-touch return pass in mind, but in the process of doing so, the ball hit the defender’s shin and went out of the goal line.

“Sorry, I didn’t have enough strength. Oh, really. I’m going to blow this.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

“……really?”

“Really. I understand everything. I told you not to do that because I thought I would hand it over to Modeste. That was great advice. I didn’t say it out loud, but I showed it with my actions.”

“That’s not it. What did I do… … Please don’t say anything weird during the game.”

“If I had pulled it with my left foot and dragged it behind my body, and then lifted it up with my right heel, it would have been over.”

“… … Ah, that’s not it!”

Remperle was furious at the joke, but I thought it was 100% sincere.

Honestly, it feels good.

The fact that he not only shines in one position, but also leads the entire team’s offensive work. The joy of creating each and every thing with my own feet, without being restricted to a specific position, gave me an incomparable sense of satisfaction.

So that’s why.

Even Remperle’s little miss, my inability to do much with the subsequent corner kick, and even Modeste’s one-handed annoyance on the other side of the box were laughable.

Because I am the one who ‘makes’ things. Like building a castle by assembling Lego blocks, no. Because I am the only one who decides what I make.

The important thing was just how to complete the tickling in my head that was on the verge of becoming reality.

* * *

Beep, beep-

The 32nd round of the Bundesliga ends with the referee’s whistle.

[Wow-!!]

The cheers coming from the away stands meant that Cologne would soon win, so I shook hands with Jan Tillman, Özkan, and Schiri in turn.

The final score was 1 to 4.

I was satisfied with winning the bet with Reece Oxford and winning the match, but what I remember most is the final scoring.

29 minutes in the second half.

Before everyone lost focus due to stamina issues, we showed off one perfect link-up.

Schmitz joins the center and receives the ball from Schiri, and starts off with a ground pass to Jan Tillman on the left side of the second line near the center line.

After that… … it was literally a feast of uninterrupted passes.

He passed the ball to me with one touch as I was digging into the center on the same line, so I just dropped the ball and moved forward.

Boom!

Remperle, who was closing in, receives the pass instead and lifts it up lightly to knee height.

So, instead of trying to stabilize the ball, I scraped the surface of the ball with the side of my right foot to apply a strong spin and then moved forward again.

At this time, the official ball is left in its place without being touched any further.

’27… … Look at the ball, the ball!’

The moment the opposing defense leader called my number, Jan Tillman followed as expected and kicked the lower part of the ball.

The place where the whirligig-rotation occurred was the left edge of the box.

Jonas Hector, who had infiltrated deep into the enemy camp, immediately steps forward.

Too-woong!

My penetration route is from outside the box, slightly to the right, in the central area, to the left of the goal.

Naturally, the distance to Jonas was also quite close, so the light forward pass with just a touch of his foot soon rolled into the grass, making it easy to kick.

If this happens, it’s a repetition of the previous situation.

Phew!

Without dribbling, he cleanly kicks the ball with the top of his left foot, and the ball disappears into the distance of his vision with the sound of the grass being swept away.

The destination is on the other side of the box.

The recipient was… … Rempel again.

Wow!

“I killed the assistant earlier. Thanks.”

“……huh.”

The time of reflection is concluded by the person who scored the last goal for the team. His face is flushed red, as if he was quite happy about scoring two goals.

“Is it good?”

“Good. It’s a multi-goal. Is this common?”

“Not common.”

“… … Not you, but to me.”

“Oh, I admit that.”

“… … .”

The reason I let out a blunt tone without realizing it was because the players’ stamina was depleted after the team’s fourth goal and the game became disorganized.

The final scoring sequence was really awesome.

I just wanted to recreate the same scene one more time, no more, no less.

That didn’t work.

Thud thud.

Then, out of the blue, a large hand flies in and invades my precious and noble crown.

“Oh, I told you not to touch my hair… … .”

“I told you not to touch me, but you’re touching me. You don’t know anything.”

The owner of the hand is, of course, Mark Ut.

If you were sick, you should have gone to the hospital instead of staying at the stadium and waiting until the end.

Still, I don’t feel completely bad.

“You did well. You got completely screwed.”

“Take care of Stuttgart like you did to us.”

“I know for sure our coach put a marker there, but where did he leave him the whole game?”

One after another, Iago, Geoffrey, Caligiuri, Grueso, and even the opposing team players came up to him and praised him.

“Are your legs okay?”

“Huh? Legs?”

“I touched it wrong when they gave away the penalty kick.”

“Oh. No problem at all. I saw you running.”

Marksman-Reese Oxford, who clashed throughout the game, was no exception.

“Yeah. I was a bit too ambitious back then… … It wasn’t intentional. You know?”

“No, I don’t know about that.”

“… … .”

“I’m joking. Next time… … No. Next time, make sure to walk. Don’t get hurt.”

“Hahaha, you little brat… … .”

As we talked, I realized that he had only agreed to give me his uniform when he lost the bet, but hadn’t decided what he would get when he won – but before I could argue, he took off his shirt and gave it to me.

“A bet is a bet. See you next time.”

“no…….”

“Oh, that’s okay. That’s why I got beat so badly and then got punished.”

You might as well take what’s mine and not give me this garbage (who would want to receive a sweat-soaked uniform?).

As I was holding it with my thumb and index finger to minimize the contaminated area, Ut snatched it away and hit the back of my head as well.

“Oh, why!”

“This crazy guy… … Will you please think about the team’s image?”

“… … .”

Although there was nothing to refute, he belatedly realized the presence of the cameraman and locked his mouth.

Since when have you been taking pictures?

“Ugh… … Okay. Let’s go do the interview quickly.”

“Interview?”

“Yeah, it’s you again. You, the talented one, are the MVP of the game again. So get out of here.”

“Yeah. I will.”

“… … .”

Given a bit of evasion, I quickly walk towards the corner of the stadium.

At the place where the plastic billboard had been erected, lights and cameras were waiting for me, and in front of it, there were a lot of away fans.

Why, half of them were Korean.

[Holy Sky!]

[Wow!]

[Ahahaha!]

Even the interviewer burst into laughter as he noticed that there were a lot of Koreans, and I was soon guided by the staff into the camera.

“Ha-nul, come quickly!”

A day that’s not perfect, but satisfying.

I didn’t know then that days like this were the days when I had to let my guard down.