Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 144

The kind of chaotic situation that a team trailing 0-1 tries to create in the final minutes of the second half unfolded from the start of the game.
A loose ball situation occurred in front of the goal, leading to a scramble.

In this kind of situation, it’s 50-50.

There’s also the fact that offense and defense are 50-50, and concentration and luck play a 50-50 role.

This time, luck seemed to be on Chelsea’s side a little more.

After a bit of a struggle, the ball somehow crossed the goal line.

Anyway, it’s a goal.

Chelsea scored the opening goal just two minutes after the start of the game.

“Woo, hooray!”

“Fucking yes!”

“Justice is served!”

“That’s the end for the traitor, Bellamy!”

Uh?

T-This isn’t it?

Confusion bloomed on Bellamy’s face.

*

Scoring the opening goal was very encouraging for Chelsea.

But now, the problem is Johan.

Gustavo was really amazed.

The more he dug into the player Johan Van, the more he was.

How could such a player exist?

Training attitude? Insincere.

Passion for soccer? None.

Then what about his performance? League top scorer, Euro champion and MVP [Most Valuable Player], Ballon d’Or [an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football] winner.

Does that make sense?

Most of all, the most absurd thing is his consistency.

Of course, Johan’s career wasn’t long enough to discuss consistency.

He’s only played a full season last season.

But so far, consistency is the problem.

From his debut game to his previous game.

Johan has shown consistent performance in every game.

Gustavo was most curious about how that was possible.

Players inevitably tremble with anxiety every moment.

The anxiety of having to show their best performance every week.

And the anxiety of having to continue that next week.

The only thing that can resolve that is training.

Training is, in a way, something that makes the body tired, but it makes the mind comfortable.

By training, you can get the hope that you can play the same way tomorrow as you did today.

But what about that guy?

Every day, he suffers from that anxiety, sweating to avoid being left behind, and he’s not even lacking in talent, so what is that guy among the hard-working geniuses?

He doesn’t even try, but his skills don’t seem to be deteriorating, but rather improving.

That was actually the case.

If you compare his games from last season with his games this season, you can definitely feel it.

He was the best today.

West Ham is aiming for an equalizer as soon as they concede a somewhat absurd goal.

When Capello got the ball, Bellamy shouted desperately,

“To Johan! Hey! To Johan!”

He shouted to Johan so urgently that Capello passed the ball to him without thinking.

The ball heads to Johan, and Gustavo tenses up.

Before entering the ground, he pretended not to want to lose, but.

Honestly, he couldn’t find an answer.

The answer to controlling this guy.

The only thing he can hope for is that Bellamy’s words were a lie.

That Johan’s condition shouldn’t be at its best.

However, the moment Gustavo had his first physical encounter with Johan.

Gustavo could still tell that Bellamy still had affection for his former team.

Bellamy didn’t lie.

“Ugh…!”

Gustavo rushed towards Johan, who was facing away to receive the pass.

He wouldn’t usually collide with ordinary strikers like this.

He can’t.

If you do a ‘body check’ like this, nine out of ten will fall over and the referee will call a foul.

But that guy is the one in ten.

Even if you try to push him on purpose,

“…”

He doesn’t budge.

Rather, Gustavo, who had rushed in, was pushed back slightly.

He resented Niklas Ginter, but now he understands.

He said he had to bump into him whether he liked it or not, so Ginter shook his head with a pale face.

Ginter couldn’t do it, so he had no choice but to step up himself.

But he understands.

Even though he attacked from behind, it’s this much, but Ginter collided with this guy head-on.

It’s a good thing Ginter survived.

Tatatat-!

Once he turns around, you can’t stop him, so you have to stop him from turning around.

Johan had already turned around.

The guy with a body like a boulder is also very agile.

This isn’t the time to think about it, but what his 8-year-old son said while playing a soccer game came to mind.

“Ugh! It doesn’t move like the real thing! It’s a terrible game!”

His son kept begging him to buy a player he really wanted, so he spent some money, thinking he was thinking of his dad, but his son bought a Johan Van card.

The boy, who was jumping up and down with joy until he bought the card, frowned when he played the game.

He said the game character didn’t move like the real thing.

However, unlike complaining, the Johan character was flying around, scoring a hat-trick even with the 8-year-old son’s clumsy controls.

But even that is nothing compared to reality.

Gustavo, who has the real Johan in front of him, was able to realize once again that children’s eyes are always accurate.

No, he’s not in front of him anymore.

He had already passed him.

The real Johan is definitely not comparable to a game character.

He’s even more of a scam than a character with all sorts of stats.

Boom-!

Johan, who easily passed Gustavo, took a right-footed shot.

Johan’s shot, aiming from this position, never misses.

Whoosh-

Thud-!

“Ah…”

“Damn it, I knew it wouldn’t last.”

“He can’t even go 5 minutes.”

The home fans sighed as the goal net shook.

And Bellamy sprinted towards Johan and hugged him.

“That’s it! Johan! Just one more goal! No, just two more goals!”

“Okay, I got it.”

7 minutes into the first half.

Bellamy, resurrected like a dog.

*

Both teams exchanged a goal each in less than 10 minutes.

The score was 1-1, and the game was restarted with a new feeling.

However, the positions of both teams could not be completely the same.

It was clear that the score was 1-1, but it felt like it wasn’t really 1-1.

Even though it was the same goal, the processes of those goals were a little different.

Chelsea’s goal was a lucky goal, while Johan’s goal was clearly a goal that Chelsea ‘couldn’t stop’.

The Chelsea players knew that difference better than anyone else, and Chelsea began to get caught up in their own game, showing a play that seemed to lack confidence.

West Ham was running around Stamford Bridge like it was their own home.

Barkley and Nathan were running around like malamutes released in a snowy field, and every time Capello got the ball, Bellamy urged him to pass it to Johan.

Capello kept passing the ball to Johan without realizing it due to the pressure, and Johan, who received the opportunities, saved Bellamy’s life.

Johan turned the game around before the end of the first half.

And,

The second half, which started with a 2-1 score, didn’t change.

When Johan’s wedge goal exploded, Bellamy was finally able to regain his relaxed smile.

I wasn’t just talking shit without any backing, was I?

I could be cocky because I had something to believe in.

“Phew. Don’t grin like that.”

“Grin? It wasn’t me who split you guys, it was Johan.”

Time passed quickly, and it was already the final minutes of the second half.

Bellamy and Gustavo, who had come up into the box during West Ham’s corner kick situation, were talking.

“Hey, Bellamy.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, but I think I found it through today’s game.”

“What?”

“The answer we’ve been searching for so desperately.”

“What, is it something like learning by getting hit? What is it? Give me a hint. I’ll use it on the training ground.”

Gustavo chuckled and patted Bellamy on the shoulder.

“This season, you guys win the championship.”

“Huh?”

“Then next season, we’ll win. And then I’ll kill you, Bellamy.”

“…That’s a little scary.”

Rather, letting West Ham win the league.

That seemed to be the easiest way and the only way to stop Johan.

And that was quite realistic, which made the smile disappear from Bellamy’s face.

Well, anyway, it was still a story of the future.

Anyway, for now.

West Ham seemed to have forgotten how to lose.