Soccer Genius Wants to Get Noticed - Chapter 198



Only Krnovel

Episode 198 The Way Forward, The Way You Must Take (4)

Even though he scored a goal that would shock everyone, including the casters and commentators broadcasting the game, the manager and head coaches on the bench, and the players, and even the home crowd, instead of a flashy goal celebration, Sung Ha-neul went up to the goal and picked up the ball.

“It was a tie? It wasn’t, right? It wasn’t, was it?”

“no.”

When Mark Utt shows a puzzled expression, Jonas also responds naturally. The score on the scoreboard is 3 to 2.

In fact, Cologne started to pull ahead.

“Adamian scored a comeback goal, Ljubicic equalized, and Hanul scored the winning goal.”

“But you didn’t even have a ceremony? It must have been quite a shock.”

“… … By the way, what do you mean you confessed and then got rejected?”

A mischievous expression spread across the veteran striker’s face at the belated question.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I asked Sophie Hertz out on a date and she rejected me.”

“Is that so, Hanul?”

“No. Did he tell me? I heard it from Eliye.”

“… …Skiri told you?”

“That’s not it. I overheard Eliye talking to Whibus.”

“… … .”

“What an idiot. He deserves to be rejected. You should have taken the time to read the mood and brought up the subject. If you ask someone out on a date after running away from home, will they be interested? You should have asked me for advice before bringing up the subject. I’m an expert at asking people out on dates.”

The words, “You must be foolish,” only linger in Jonas’ mind.

Mark Utt loves teasing, and even while he was waiting on the bench due to poor fitness and knee problems, he was looking for an excuse to rip him off.

However, we cannot simply look down on him because of his veteran-like foresight and his unseen consideration.

“Well, I understand on the one hand. He must have been anxious. The transfer was just around the corner, but it doesn’t seem like there was any concrete contract in place, and the league schedule is ending soon because of the World Cup. I wonder if he was ready to move overseas. He probably hasn’t even started yet. So… … He must have wanted to find a place to lean on psychologically. He must have done it without even realizing it.”

“… … .”

“When you look at it like this, it’s really transparent. You can clearly see what it’s thinking. There’s a species like that among fish, too? I can’t remember the name, but its skin is transparent, so you can see right through its body… … .”

“… … Despite that, his performance is still great. It was the same in the match against Mönchengladbach. He lost by a large margin, but he got solid results even though he played for a short time. He scored two goals by himself.”

“That’s right, as I said earlier, it’s beyond the level of playing in the Bundesliga.”

“… … Okay. Anyway, just tease me a little.”

“Of course.”

I don’t know what the ‘of course’ is, but the conversation is interrupted by belated cheers from all directions.

A total of 50,000 seats divided into four sides.

Whether they are wearing red uniforms or casual clothes, everyone stands up and applauds. In proportion, the faces of the opposing team players darken.

“By the way, our little one needs to take care of himself now. He got hit by a technique that’s only used in freestyle football… … It looks like he’ll break a leg with a club if you give him an excuse.”

“Hmm.”

This wasn’t just Mark Uth’s thoughts, as the Cologne bench soon became busy as well.

“Elijah! Get ready!”

“Ja!”

Steffen Baumgart’s choice is solid.

If the ball goes out of bounds, we plan to replace Sung Ha-neul and Elies Schiri, increasing the number of defensive midfielders and making it a 3-2.

“I guess I’ll change it to 4231. The remaining time is… … about 20 minutes?”

“If you add in the extra time, it will be around that much.”

“It might be okay since Augsburg doesn’t have a very solid bench.”

“If the offense does this much, the defense has to hold on.”

Beep!

However, immediately after the game resumed, Augsburg lost possession by playing a long ball into the Cologne camp.

Just before the substitution, one more attack chance is given and the final spark flies.

* * *

[Side!]

Sports, especially soccer, are such that when you go with the flow, you can see amazing things. The Cologne defenders, who push up from the side, show off bold passes, even at the risk of being blocked along the way.

A short cut to Ljubicic in the second line near the center line, causing the ball to fall to shoulder height.

Fight!

He took advantage of the advantage and flicked the ball to the left with his right shoulder, and Jan Tillman ran in on the same line and switched to dribbling.

After moving forward about 4-5 meters, he passes a ground ball to the striker, Dietz, as he approaches the outer line of the box.

Another situation where we are competing with our backs turned.

Pfft, squeak, squeak!

This time, it seems as if they will not let him off easy, and the pressure from the central defender is merciless.

He lowered his body’s center of gravity and pushed up his thighs, but when he felt like he was holding on, he suddenly relaxed his strength and lost his body’s balance. He grabbed the uniform and the skin with both hands without distinguishing between them and began to tear.

As they rushed forward with all their might to prevent them from making an easy pass, Augsburg’s other players also seemed to catch fire – sticking close to their attackers.

Ljubicic is followed by central midfielder Grueso, Jan Tillman’s penetrating movement is followed by right fullback Framberger, Remperle on the right is followed by left fullback Iago, and lastly, the path ahead of Sung Ha-neul, who is digging into the center, is occupied by Frederik Winter.

So, Florian Dietz had nowhere to pass the ball to, so he took advantage of the direct collision with the opponent.

Hook, crunch!

Pushed once.

Kook!

At the second push, scrape the ball with the sole of your right foot and move it outside your body.

“……ah!”

grasp!

With a small sigh that only Dietz can hear, his left foot kicks off the grass and his body turns around at an angle of nearly 160 degrees.

This was the first time in a match that he managed to completely strip away a man-to-man defender.

Even though his side was caught in the opponent’s grip and his uniform was stretched out, he pushed forward a couple of steps rather than getting a foul.

Now, the positions are completely opposite.

Florian Dietz has his eyes on goal and the central defenders have to make decisions behind him.

Whether to attempt a tackle or not.

It’s inevitable that you’ll hesitate after stepping on the box line with just a few steps. That moment of hesitation can lead to a fatal misjudgment.

“Frederick! You have to hold your ground-”

Partner central defender Frederik Winter noticed that the marking was loose, so he gave up on marking Sung Ha-neul and moved to the right.

Offside trap?

There’s no need to worry about an offside foul thanks to Framberger jumping in to block Jan Tillman’s advance.

So, in the central space, there are two Cologne attackers and one defender, and it is just a question of whether to pass forward or roll to the feet.

‘Down.’

As soon as Dietz made his decision, he kicked the ball with the top of his left foot, and soon a low pass was sent flying across the grass… … bang!

It bounces off the defender’s toes.

Fortunately, the path to Seonghaneul didn’t deviate too much, but I cursed inwardly at the trajectory that rose almost to the height of my head.

The boy brakes sharply, digging his right foot deep, and, following his gaze fixed on the ball, turns his body from his shoulder to the left.

Whirlilyrick.

It was obvious that if I tried to control the ball with a strong spin, it would go out to the right side of the box, so my first touch was a shot.

widely.

After intentionally collapsing the center of your upper body, extend your left arm to the floor and use it as support, and raise both legs completely into the air – but fix your left foot as the axis and let the rotational power of your body be concentrated on the top of your right foot.

Similar to an overhead kick, but clearly different: a scissors kick (a shot where the body is launched sideways).

Phew!

As if in a circus, the power condensed from the limbs spread out wide comes together at one point, and the official ball quickly draws a straight line that lands in the lower left corner of the goal.

Clang!!

[Waaaaaaaaaah!!]

[Hanul is totally crazy today!!]

[Why are you doing this, why are you doing so well! Damn it!!]

[Ahahaha, look at the faces of those Fuggerstadter (Augsburg’s nickname)!]

An explosive cheer immediately erupted from the audience –

“under…….”

Florian Dietz, who actually earned an assist, lets out a meaningful exclamation.

Each exhalation was a mixture of admiration, sighs, a sense of wonder that made him feel intimidated as a football player, and pure incomprehension.

How did you react, how did you naturally move on to the next action, and how did you finish it so cleanly?

“Hanul!!”

However, many emotions are covered with smiles and congratulations.

Now is the moment to run to the corner flag with him. The audience agrees and sings the lyrics for the road ahead.

[Oh, Harness. The little goat is leaving.]

[The Rhine goat with the strongest horns must leave.]

[There was a greedy wolf among the goats.]

[Just because of that, our time is disappearing.]

[But we sing. Oh, Hanul. The mighty, mighty goat!]

[Hit and catch, dribble, and score!]

[So that the traces of your soul remain forever!!]

It’s pretty clear that the greedy wolf refers to Werner Wolf, but at least at this moment, no one is complaining.

Because they have the power to stand at the top of the league table.

4 to 2.

Cologne’s high-scoring streak seemed endless.

* * *

I returned home after the home game around 10:30 in the evening.

I was selected as the best player of the match and interviewed (and praised Dimitri), heard a crazy meerkat taunt me by asking, “Should I go on a date with you instead?”, exchanged messages with my national teammate and next round opponent, Mainz’s Jae-seon, and even hurriedly got on the bus to avoid the Korean reporters whose eyes were red from the rumors of my transfer.

As I went through each stage, my head, which had been filled with adrenaline, gradually calmed down, and it reached its lowest point the moment I returned to the corner of the small room.

“… … .”

“… … .”

Is it better to lie in bed and moan, or is it better to be in good shape and expose yourself to an awkward atmosphere?

Either way, it’s not appropriate to describe my brother and I, because we’re in the same space but we don’t talk.

If I must open my mouth, it will only be when I am given official duties.

“… … Did you stretch?”

“Mom.”

“okay.”

I had just finished the game, so I didn’t have the energy to try to please Sung Ha-jun. Luckily for me, my mom was the one who got the ball rolling.

That’s understandable, since the running away incident, my duties have been greatly reduced. My mother is always on standby at home, and things related to my brother are no longer my responsibility, as agreed upon by tacit agreement.

Is it good?

maybe.

It’s a good thing.

Instead of rubbing his brother’s legs, he checks the fans’ reactions on his mobile phone, scans the local Cologne newspaper for articles about his presidency being in jeopardy, searches for news about the World Cup in Korea, and even thinks about the trophies tucked away in a corner of the wardrobe.

A bunch of Bundesliga Player of the Month and Cologne Player of the Month awards (I’ve been getting them almost every month), 21/22 Bundesliga Rookie of the Year, 21/22 Cologne Rookie of the Year, a deflated football for my first hat-trick, a Pokal runner-up medal, etc. I’ll have to start clearing them out soon if I move.

Anyway, there was plenty of other things to do.

“… … I won.”

“……huh?”

“… … .”

“what?”

Then suddenly, I heard a voice I never dared to imagine, and my head suddenly turned to the side.

In front of the desk.

The side of the wheelchair came into view, but Sung Ha-jun was staring at the bookshelf, as if he was thinking about something, so all I could see was the back of his head.

“We won today.”

“… …Why are we talking about soccer? Did you see it?”

“How can I watch it without a TV? I can’t pay for an app to watch it. My teacher told me.”

“Ah, tutor.”

Only then did I understand.

I was talking about a homeschool teacher with broad shoulders but even broader chest muscles.

“I won. When have you ever seen me lose?”

“I heard we lost the last game. 5 to 2.”

“… … It was due to an unavoidable tactical choice. How can he be the starter every time when there are consecutive Champions League matches between the weekend matches?”

“The teacher said the same thing. But he said he did well as a substitute.”

“… … .”

hmm?

Look at this.

“what?”

“what.”

“Why do we talk for so long? Whether at home or at church, your characteristic and identity is to practice silence, like a monk who goes to church.”

“… … .”

“What’s going on? What is it?”

“What happened… … .”

“Speak, I’m ready to listen.”

“… … .”

There is something.

clearly.