Soccer Genius Wants to Get Noticed - Chapter 194



Only Krnovel

Episode 194: The twist of the twist (2)

The first half ended 1-1.

The whistle blows to signal half-time, and the players from both teams take a 15-minute break before dispersing around the field again.

There must have been instructions from the bench, but the pattern itself remains unchanged.

The fight between 442 and 4132.

However, there were some noticeable differences in the defensive formation and offensive development method.

Porto adopted a 4411 formation by dropping one of their front-line attackers slightly when defending, and increased the number of long passes to the left and right flanks when attacking.

Cologne made its wing defenders more restrained in their attacking activities, but when attacking, they more actively switched between the center and right wing, that is, the triangle formation of Sung Ha-neul, Rempale, and Ondrej Duda.

To sum up, it seems that only some of the detailed tactics have changed in the same strategy, so the second half of the game was bound to be fierce as well.

Chhhhhh! Got it!!

“Ahh!”

From the beginning of the second half to about 10 minutes.

All over the field, there was noise from collisions, screams, the referee’s whistle, and boos from the stands.

Cologne central defender Julian Chabot forcibly held off the opposition striker Taremi’s attempted penetration from behind, before Jonas Hector was forced to trip and receive his second yellow card just before allowing a breakthrough into the flank.

Phew!

“Ugh!”

Beep, beep!

To make matters worse, right-back Benno Schmitz was also pushed by the opposing winger Pepe, and he openly pushed him away.

He collects his team’s third yellow card for a pushing foul that is not related to the ball.

[Woooooooo~]

“#@$!”

“Get back there! Both of you, get off!”

As a result, players from both teams rush to the right side of the friendly camp, creating a difficult situation for the referee.

Fortunately for Cologne, the referee’s decisions weren’t always 100% fair, but at least he didn’t hesitate when it was time to blow the whistle.

FC Porto didn’t just play the role of a victim.

Bam!

“Ahhhh!”

Beep!!

Porto right-back Joao Mario was shown a yellow card after elbowing Florian Kainz in the face while trying to stop a run.

“Refer! That kid’s arm!!”

“… … Okay, let’s get out of the stadium for now.”

“no-”

“Your nose is bleeding. You can’t be on the field if you’re bleeding. You understand?”

“… … .”

While Kaints is being treated by the medical team, players from both teams clash emotionally once again, a scene that is repeated several times since then.

Tsupat!

“Ahhhh!!”

“Hey, you $@#!”

During the duel, when Du-da was pushed over by a shoulder fight and fell, the opposing central midfielder Karmu jumped up after the ball… … and scratched the side of his calf.

So what should we do?

Me, Ut, Kainz who had one nostril blocked with cotton, and the extremely gentle Remperle all had no choice but to rush in and engage in a physical fight.

Although the referee’s decision was a yellow card after a video review, the collision with the opposing player was significant considering what happened afterwards.

Mutual assistance.

Because the moment I stepped onto the field, anyone could have been fouled, and it would be me next.

* * *

16 minutes in the second half.

Just after a cross from the left side of the friendly camp hits Whibus’ head and returns to nothing. We push forward step by step without pushing too hard.

Defensive midfielder Elies Schiri dropped deep to line up with the central defenders, while the wide defenders moved inside to create a passing lane as if they were central midfielders.

As the last line of defense pushed up to the edge of the center line, the Porto players did not back down any longer and clashed with each other.

The coaching staff’s instructions to the wide defenders not just stay out of the enemy zone but to close in and play like central midfielders have paid off.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

A never-ending feast of one-touch passes.

Sometimes he escapes the pressure by connecting with a three-way pass between Jonas, Skiri and Duda. If there is no opening for a forward pass, he goes back.

“Return!”

Too-woong!

“Keep moving!”

With Eliez Schiri dropping down between the two central defenders, the last line of defense is supported by three backs, and Shabot comes up again through a 2-on-1 link-up.

okay.

Julian Chabot, the Cologne central defender, took a bold shot.

“Number 24!”

And because he broke the balance, meaningful connections could be made in the central space.

Roll, roll.

When the opposing central midfielder tries to block his path, he passes a short ground ball to Jonas who comes up right next to him.

This does not give him enough space to dribble through, but it does give him ample angle to connect the pass.

Bam! Charrrrrr!

A strong ground ball pass from just beyond the center line into the center of the second line.

It was a century that was difficult to control, with fine pieces of grass fluttering about, but since the ball was received by Ondrej Duda, I also made a secondary penetrating movement.

This time, not for the sake of linking up, but rather for the sake of scoring a goal.

Instead of getting off halfway or approaching the dud, he aimed for the left side of the box and started his footwork.

You don’t need to go all out from the start. Just go up to 60-70 percent of your max, but be able to accelerate right away when a pass comes in.

You just have to maintain it to that extent.

Then, as expected, he gives a direct pass, as expected from someone who is one of the top three players in the team in terms of passing skills.

Phew, whirriririk!

“#@$, $@#@!!”

The goalkeeper’s anxious voice is heard in my ears as I poke the ball forward with the outside of my left foot. The opposing defender, who is not of average skill, does not try to respond ambiguously.

The height of Duda’s pass is roughly between the shoulder and the head. It takes the form of a lob pass, but because it has a strong spin, it circles around the defender’s position and flies in.

If you were thinking of blocking it in the middle, you would have been in big trouble.

Pepe, the veteran central defender and the one involved in the 1v1 matchup… …goes for me instead of the ball.

Because it is a low and fast lobbing through pass, if the first touch of the ball is even slightly off, a rough tackle will come immediately.

Until the moment when he steps on the line near the edge on the right side of the box, he raises his concentration to the limit and does his best not to make a mistake.

I would have liked to have taken a touch of the ball when it hit the ground, but since it was an imperfect pass, I had to catch it when it was waist-high.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The opposing defender was following me at an angle, keeping some distance from me.

In the gap of heavy breathing, I lift only my left foot without lifting my body and receive the official ball. Rather than touching the ball, I gently pull it in by attaching it to the instep.

The gesture of placing the left foot directly in front of the ground in the air… … feels immature.

shit.

It is inevitable that the speed at which the ball was running will die down, but the ball rolled forward immediately after it was placed on the grass due to a failure in power control.

grasp!

At the moment I’ve been waiting for, the opposing defender rushes in, and a small mistake leaves me with only one option.

Touch first or not?

Originally, I had held back my breathing to try one more time, but I stretched out my right leg, using up half of my breathing capacity.

The result was… …a lucky win.

Thud!

Although I was faster on the first touch, my advantage was not great, so the ball, trapped between our ankles, bounced several times before eventually escaping in a diagonal direction.

“#@$!”

I was really lucky enough to understand the swear words the other person was spewing (I couldn’t tell the exact meaning due to the language barrier, but I was sure they were swear words).

Even the location where the ball rolled was like that.

Not too far, not too close.

As soon as it rolls 2-3 meters, the power dies down and the spin is reduced to the point where you can see the pattern on the surface of the ball, making it perfect for hitting repeatedly.

Ta-da-dak.

Next, just turn the direction towards the goal and shoot.

That’s enough.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“……ah!”

What I mean is, if I hadn’t been fouled, it would have been enough.

The subsequent movements are not exaggerated.

If it was my debut season, I should have rolled all the way to the goal line at least since my left foot got caught in the opposing defender’s sliding tackle, but this is already my second season.

There is no need to accumulate embarrassing experiences, so just roll around a bit and raise your hand a bit to make an appeal.

Beep!!

“Referee!! This is a sign of resignation!”

[It was a tackle worth trying! And it hit the box line!]

“What are you talking about!”

Of course, conflicts between players are inevitable.

Amidst a mix of English, German and Portuguese, players from both teams engage in a war of nerves, pushing each other while appealing to the referee about ‘ambiguous issues’.

Whether it’s a penalty kick or not, whether you get a card or not, and if you do, what color it is, etc.

First of all, it seems like the penalty kick is confirmed, but as for the card… … it’s hard to say. The referee put his hand to his ear and seemed to be about to request a video review.

I was able to find out the exact reason through Rempel, who happened to come up to me at that moment.

I see you speak English quite well.

“I guess it’s because it’s not aimed at the goal. The ball bounced out of the box, right? Diagonally.”

“Does that make sense? If you walked inside the box, you’d be out. And the angle wasn’t even wide. You could have turned it once and then shot.”

“… … I think so too, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

What’s the point of just leaving it?

It was a clear scoring opportunity because I took the chance.

As expected, Mark Ut’s fierce protest echoed my thoughts.

[This was a goal! Seriously, if he kicks it, it’s a goal? He has no soccer skills, he’s got nothing! Who the hell is ignoring our little guy!!]

“… … .”

It’s a little annoying, but… …let’s move on.

Anyway, what’s important is the opinion of the video review room.

[Wow!!]

“… … Is this a warning?”

But as the home crowd roared, the final decision was a yellow card.

Well, it’s a penalty kick anyway.

Porto fans also realized the reality and started to shout, but soon became quiet.

The score is 1 to 1.

If the first half was fierce and boasted a rich game, the second half was fierce throughout, so there was no need to say anything about the importance of a single point.

“Yanma.”

“… … .”

“Are you sure?”

“I am always confident.”

“I believe.”

“……huh.”

Ut also seemed to know this fact, as he brought the official ball and shoved it into my abdomen without making any particular joke.

After a while, the noise completely died down.

I walk to the white-marked penalty spot on the grass and put the official ball down.

Support position.

After firmly planting the ball on the grass and raising my head, I saw the away fans behind the goal looking at me with longing eyes, holding their breath.

It’s okay.

There is no need to be nervous.

Maybe because one goal has already been scored, the goal looks wide and the goalkeeper looks small.

‘Just put it in and you’re done.’

Intuition also gave me the signal that although it was unfortunate that the opposing defender was not sent off, the opposing defense was stacking up cards, and if they could just succeed, today’s game would be half-dead.

Beep!

And then, a short whistle.

“Hoo-”

While players from both teams behind me are preparing to jump out at any moment in case something goes wrong, I take a deep breath and step forward.

One shot followed by three steps that will determine your fate.

Boohoo!

Failure was unacceptable.

* * *

[EUROPE: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – GROUP STAGE – ROUND 3]

[FC Porto 1 : 2 FC K?ln]

Scoring Summary

31′ PEPE

38′ Haneul (assist, Tim Lemperle)

62′ Mark Uth

Game over.