Chapter 127 – Europa (5)

127

Unsurprisingly, soccer is a team sport.
I wasn’t aware of this obvious fact. It’s just that I’m so used to playing with ‘me’ at the center, not the team I’ve been before.

From my elementary school days when I first started playing soccer until now, I have always been the main character.
It is rare for any team to have a good breakthrough player. You must have fast feet, good technique, and excellent trapping ability and reaction speed.

Even if these conditions are met, it is difficult to successfully break through the dribble in an actual game, but what if a player knocks out 1-2 players every game?

Any coach would want to use a player like this.
In particular, if you are a coach of the Korean elementary, middle and high school soccer department with a sexual supremacy, you have no choice but to form a team with players who are overwhelming in attack right away.

I was the main character in the university where I got the status window, in the Olympic team, and even in Frankfurt. It was natural.

Except for exceptional cases, like in high school or Barcelona, ​​I always played in a team that was centered around me.

Even now.
Why did I choose Frankfurt?

Overwhelming the second division through loans in the second half, he received transfer offers from many clubs.
Among them, there were teams with much higher name value than Frankfurt, and others with much better conditions, but my choice was not shaken.

It’s not that I adapt to the tactics, but the team’s tactics adapt to me.
Because the team that could do that was Frankfurt.

Our team’s attack strategy is simple.
The left fullback advances high like a side striker and takes over the left side, while the center striker Donald Cook competes with the opposing center backs and draws attention.

On the other side, on the right side, Alberto Mondi widens the defensive gap as wide as possible, and Chicharo carries the ball through dribbling using his unique ability to depressurize, freely moving around the half space and delivering the ball to me looking for an opportunity.

To put it simply, other players pull aggro in order to spread the pressure on me and provide as much free space as possible.

Our team’s attack pattern is to create a 1:1 or 1:2 situation with more freedom and freedom from pressure under the tactical movements of my teammates to create attack opportunities with unique breakthrough power.

I was getting used to the tactics tailored to ‘me’ and forgot the basics of soccer.

‘What is this… It was almost like flying.’

Isn’t it a play that reminds me of someone from ‘greed’, except that it’s more flashy and has better breakthrough power?

I realized it belatedly.
That I don’t have to score goals.
It’s okay even if I’m not the player who scores the goal.

Of course, the ball is important.
Goals are the heart of football.

It’s not that the striker boasts the highest ransom for nothing, and it’s not that he gets the most spotlight for nothing.

But scoring goals in every game is not the only main character.
If only goal scorers are the protagonists of football, how could Kevin De Bruyne, Mesut Ozil, Di Maria, Zinedine Zidane, Pirlo, or Alonso become the protagonists?

How could defensive players such as Paolo Maldini, Gianluigi Buffon, Cafu, and Alessandro Nesta be treated like protagonists?

The attack point is an important factor that cannot be ignored, but there are many other important factors as well.

‘The important thing is… It’s influence.’

Even if you don’t score a goal in every game, you can shine more than anyone else.
And above all,

‘You don’t have to be the main character in every game.’

After all, if you do well, you will naturally become the main character.

On the pitch, I said to Donald Cook and Alberto Mondi.

“Actively infiltrate into the penalty box and aim for the goal. I’ll make space as I fall to the side.”

A tall black man and a handsome Italian smile.
Not to mention striker Donald Cook, Alberto Mondi is also a player who has the temperament of a hero enough to express dissatisfaction with the pre-season tactics.

And the second half resumed.
This time, I send the ball to left fullback Bruno, who has been overlapping while avoiding Alex Richards who leans like a bull on me receiving the pass.

As in the first half, the flinching guy quickly follows, as if he had expected that he would insist on breaking through the dribble,

“Return!”

I have the inertia of running, but you can’t catch up with me.
The Monaco players narrowed the space as soon as they got off the mark with a 2:1 pass to Bruno.

However, this time, they showed a different play than they expected.
After turning off the aggro of the Monaco players by hitting the ball as if to break through the dribble,
Tung!

I gave a pass and connected the pass to Bruno who kept digging into the left side.
Bruno, who caught the ball well with the first touch, stepped deeply and raised the cross.

A large black man throws his body toward the ball that curves sharply and heads into the Monaco penalty box.
Despite being 193 cm tall and weighing more than 90 kg, Donald Cook’s header pass to the opposite penalty box, competing with the center back, who sticks to the elastic body unique to blacks, hit the cross.

“On the other side!!”

Just as he was running, Alberto Mondi kicked the ball hard.

* * *

“Goal!! It’s a goal!! Alberto Mondi scores the team’s precious first and comeback goal in the Europa League!!”
“The team movement was very good just now. At half time, Franz Walder seems to have done a very good job at reorganizing, right?”
“That’s right. Minjun Hong shows a different pattern than before and shows a good starting point play.”

Although he failed to record an attack point, anyone who watches soccer knows that Hong Min-joon played a big role in this goal, but not all fans are keen on soccer.

The commentator’s role is to explain in a way that is easy for everyone to understand.
Watching the replay screen that followed soon after, the commentator started talking enthusiastically.

“Look. As soon as Hong Min-Jun got the ball, Alex Richards tried to catch up, but unlike the first half, he escaped from the pressure with a clever 2:1 pass. I pass to In Bruno to create an open chance.”
“Ah~ I see. Hong Min-joon created an opportunity for me.”
“That’s right. And a good cross. Donald Cook’s judgment was also good here. It’s a scene of a header competition with Montana Alvaro, who is called an iron wall. Looking at his posture in the air, he tilted, right? If Donald Cook was greedy, maybe It should have missed, but thanks to a clever sideways effort, Alberto Mondi, who penetrated, was able to seize the chance.”
“It was an altruistic play! The team seems to have improved… It’s a pattern play that hasn’t been seen in Frankfurt before, right?”
“The part that has been pointed out as Frankfurt’s weakness has been the monotonous attack pattern centered on Hong Min-jun, but it looks like they have been preparing a lot for today’s Europa match. This is the first part of the tactic this season. He showed and proved that this kind of play is possible.”

* * *

In the game that followed, I focused on the linkage.
When I receive the ball, I always enjoy breaking through the dribble. If I look good, I create an attack chance with my personal ability, and if I look bad, I play to drag the ball.

The Monaco players, who had been preparing for a day where I enjoyed playing with the ball for a long time, could not adapt to my one-touch pass connection and gave me threatening opportunities by swinging around.

“Chicaro!”

At the beginning of the second half, as the attacking team had planned, the moment the second half passed 15 minutes, the game was changed again.

Chicharo’s pass, which quickly escaped the opponent’s pressure, passed through paired central midfielder Sergei, passed down to Donald Cook, and then headed back to Chicharo.

The ball was delivered accurately in front of me as the Monaco players lost their markman and dug into the gap in the space that was made in an instant.

As soon as I catch the ball, Alex Richards, who seemed to be about to run right into it, flinched at the moment.
Donald Cook, who came down and participated in the linkage, is passing by him, exuding an overwhelming presence as large as his size, so he must be worried that I will pass him again.

But not this time.
While he flinched between me and Donald Cook for a second, my foot was kicking the ground with all its might.

Alex Richards, realizing belatedly that it was a breakthrough, not a pass, rushes in,

“Ugh!”

You don’t need any special tricks.
When he ran with his shoulder in front, he just kicked his ball long and knocked him over with instant speed.

Even if he started a second faster.
No, even if he didn’t hesitate for that short time, less than one second, he wouldn’t have gained the momentum to beat him. But he had a pass in mind and showed a small gap, and I just didn’t miss it.

“It’s a shot!!”

Realizing he couldn’t win the race for speed, Alex Richards quickly shouted at the Monaco players.
Surely you’ve analyzed me quite a bit, right? Normally, I would have connected it somehow by shooting.

Took.
As if to shoot, the Monaco defense throws their bodies.

The ball rolls sideways in a desperate struggle to block the shooting course exquisitely.
And there,

Pop!
There was Chicharo, who ran to the front of the empty penalty box with me and Donald Cook’s aggro.

Beep, beep!
The match ended with the referee’s whistle.

2:1.
It was a rewarding victory in the most difficult opponent in Group D, Monaco.