Chapter 31 – Step Up (3)

31

There is such a thing as momentum in football.
It is an intangible energy that is neither visible nor quantitatively measurable, but is felt naturally while playing the game.

Anyone can feel it, not just players.
Even just by playing games, don’t you sense whether our team is at an advantage or a disadvantage? How accurate it is is secondary, and such momentum or flow is like a sixth sense that anyone can feel.

And, unfortunately, this sixth sense tended to work better the more sinister it was.

‘Oh shit. The atmosphere is so damn strong.’

The whistle blows announcing the restart of the game, and senior Na Jin-ho, our team’s central striker, lightly pushes the ball.
I passed the handed ball back to the defensive camp and slowly looked at the ground as I headed toward the left side, where I should be located.

This is the first time our team has scored the first goal this season.
In the meantime, we have been winning and winning by overwhelmingly suppressing the opponent team, and our team before I joined was a team that had more draws than wins or losses.

The fact that there are overwhelmingly more draws than wins and losses in the soccer league means that the draw is often 0:0. Football is more likely to end in a score of 0:0 than a draw with a score of 1:1 or 2:2 or higher.

Of course, solid defense is essential for such deformed performance.
In common sense, what would happen if you faced a rookie team with only a lot of offense and draws? If it’s a hundred, it comes out aggressively. To achieve a draw in such a situation means that the team is strong defensively.

In other words, our team has been playing practical soccer—precisely anti-football that causes drowsiness—which is famous for not conceding any points.

And at the center of that was the captain of our team, a senior with high knowledge in the 4th grade, who had been picked and raised by the coach as the starting pitcher since his sophomore year, and who has been working with the coach for 3 years now.

In the midst of winning and winning, the captain and key player left due to injury.
And, of course, the first goal scored by the defense team’s mistake right after the game started.

If the atmosphere is good, that’s weird.
Of course, even after the game restarted, our team was in a troubled mood.

I can’t explain it clearly, but I was calmly passing the ball with a nervous mind to the defensive line that seemed to be somehow unorganized.

“Referee! Oops! It’s cheap!!”

Another accident happened.

About 10 minutes in the first half, about 5 minutes after the start of the replay.
Ji Hak-dae, who scored the first goal, was moving just as he had started.

He doesn’t shrink defensively just because he scored a goal, or go aggressive because he’s excited.

The two strikers of Ji Hak-dae, who came out with a typical 4-4-2 tactic, continued their monotonous attack with a big and small composition, but this time, they slowly turned the ball from behind to attract our team,

Bang!
I thought the defensive line was a little higher, so I threw out a long ball.
The opponent’s ‘big’ striker ran like crazy to preoccupy the drop point, but it wasn’t an unexpected tactic, and our team’s defense also responded obvious to the obvious tactical move.

To bring the line up and get stuck on the offside line.
A team with well-organized defensive organization did not have to take a risk by overdoing a header contest.

The opponent team’s attack is not an unexpected and creative attack, but it is an obvious pattern, but it is more of a problem if a foul is called or the second ball is missed due to a failed contest.

As expected, our team’s well-organized defense took two steps forward and raised the line, and as a result, the striker ahead of our team’s final defender was caught offside when he received the ball—a situation that should have been, but alas.

Senior Oh Sang-tae, whose mentality was bursting, reacted one beat slowly.

The striker of the opposing team, who caught the ball almost on the same line, took a 1:1 chance with the goalkeeper, almost from the front, without any interference from our team’s defense, who was lagging behind in raising the line, and took an open chance and shook the net with ease.

“Referee!! It’s okay!! Check the VAR!!”

The coach ran wild all the way, but as a result of the video review, it turned out to be onside slightly, and the score was 2:0.

5 minutes after the restart, I waited for the start of the game again at the center line.

‘Oh shit. This is a big deal.’

I have a bad feeling that if I leave it alone, I will lose like a real dog.

‘I can’t. After all, there is no one but me to solve it.’

Our team doesn’t have good offense, and there are no players who stand out for their individual skills except for me.
In the end, I am the only one who can solve this situation.

But. I did everything from the beginning.
Didn’t my team’s offense depend entirely on me in the first place?

It will be a bit difficult…

“Senior! Please drive the ball to me from now on!”
“What? How much?”
“It’s just during the attack.”
“Hey! Does that make sense? What messi are you?”
“Then what should I do in this situation? I will pierce it.”
“Under….”

The seniors who looked at me in bewilderment soon nodded, and in the resumed game, I was driven to the point where I felt like it was one-sided.

‘Left!’

And successive breakthroughs.

‘Danger—danger!’

As soon as I pierced one, the player behind me immediately rushed in.
If you pierce that, another player will run.

“Fuck!”

No matter how good my individual ability is, soccer is a team sport after all.
It’s impossible to break through 3-4 people alone… No, it is only possible if circumstances support it.

There are 2-3 people on the opposing team in a small space, how do you break through that?
In the remaining 30 minutes, I tried to break through the dribble more than 10 times, and all of them failed.

“Hey bastard! Get out of your mind! If you don’t want to play, it’s a horse! “
“… Sorry.”

The locker room at the end of the first half.
Sang-tae Oh, whose mentality was shattered, shook his head with a pale face.

My excessive dribbling break through failed to score a comeback goal, but fortunately no additional points were conceded thanks to the defensiveness of the opposing team, who was surprised by the breakthrough power that 1 or 2 people could break through if I tried.

However, senior Oh Sang-tae’s play was not normal enough that there was a moment when it was dangerous even with the opposing team’s poor attack enough to be said to be fortunate.
To the point where I thought it would be better to have an amateur stand up than not being able to properly clear, check, or pressure because I was so shrunk.

The director, who had been arguing with senior Oh Sang-tae for a long time, also tried to adjust his voice with a sad expression, perhaps seeing his pale face and even his hands trembling.

“It’s a condition.”
“Yes, yes, Director.”
“I know my body didn’t come up because it was my first start this season. Mistake? Can do it Anyone can make mistakes. So bitch, be a little more confident. Even if you make the same mistake, it’s different between playing confidently and being scared.”
“Yes Yes….”
“Bastard! Stretch your shoulders! What did you do?”

I did.
Even if that’s a sin, there’s nothing to say.

“Even if I take my pants off and shit on the field, I don’t change them. So run with confidence. Got it?”

At the coach’s words, the teammates gave Oh Sang-tae a good look when he raised his head.
No matter how irritating and wanting to say a lot, from a player’s point of view, everyone has experienced the worst performance.

“And Hong Min-joon.”
“Your supervisor.”
“Are you Messi?”
“Yes?”
“Is it Mbappe?”

Suddenly, I look away at something, but the director yells out with a red-hot face.

“I ignore the tactics and move at will!”
“… Yeah? I’m just trying to solve the situation somehow… “
“Hey bastard!! That’s just blaming you for being good on your own!”

Honestly it was embarrassing.
Then what should I have done in that situation?

An insecure defense and a mediocre attack.
In the monotonous offensive tactics that depend only on me, in the end, what I will do is to be more active.

Seeing my unfair expression, the director smiles softly.

“Mind! Even that great foot talent works because the seniors back it up, dude. I said Just do what you’re told to do. Do you know how much your seniors are sacrificing to make you active? Huh? Don’t jump around because you’re great, develop a tactical eye, or if you can’t do that, shut up and do what you’re told, dude. Why twist?”
“… No.”
“No, I think it’s fucking twisted. But your twists are twisted, and the seniors’ twists are twisted, aren’t they?”

My eyes are blinking at the unexpected words, so the director nods.

“I wonder if the seniors who took on the role of sacrificing yourself to stand out were not twisted. Bitch, if you hit your dribble in the game so far, it must have been because you were so good alone. If so, I would be playing in Europe. The sunbaes are running so hard that they will make space for you. Okay?”
“… Yes.”
“Then don’t run wild alone. Seniors also trust and play. Do you know what I mean?”
“No. I don’t know.”

The director, who was looking at this bastard with a look of rebellion, nodded his head.

“Okay. You know, I have to explain that it’s going to be crazy.”
“… I’m not a jerk.”
“Dude, you’re right. So listen to all the explanations from now on.”

Oh Mr.
While the coach was setting the tactical board, I hated the seniors who looked at me and smiled with soft lips. Because it’s not a big deal.

* * *

“Ah~ everyone, the game is too one-sided.”

A woman holding a selfie stick and taking pictures of the ground makes a sad expression.

“It’s a bit disappointing that I came all the way here because there was a promising monster in the college league. Still, the individual skill of defeating 1 or 2 people seems excellent, right? Oh, looks like the second half is about to begin! Then, please join Football in Love in the second half!”