Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 173

< Villain's Exit >

“Ugh…”

“They really have no intention of attacking at all.”

It had only been about ten minutes, but the frustration was already reaching its peak.

The Atlético Madrid players, huddled in their box, looked almost repulsive.

It felt like eating ten sweet potatoes – a suffocating feeling that left all the spectators craving a refreshing cider.

“Oh…!”

“They’re moving!”

A player on the field slowly began to move, and the audience started to feel a surge of anticipation.

It wasn’t a special move.

The player was simply moving down from the box, and the Atlético Madrid players didn’t react much to it.

However, the reason the audience reacted and began to stir at the player’s movement was because it was Johan.

The cider they had been looking for.

“He must have been so frustrated…”

“Show them!”

As Johan received the ball near the halfway line, the spectators began to rise from their seats, one by one.

And then,

“Uh, uh…?”

“H-He’s going!”

With each passing second on the scoreboard, more and more spectators stood up.

Johan was running.

Towards the eleven opposing players, each positioned and waiting with their net spread out, without any hesitation.

Tatatat-!

“Euhah!”

“Come on, Johan!”

As Johan lightly stepped past Atlético Madrid’s two forwards, Jenas and Martinez, who were the first to block him, even fewer spectators remained seated.

Then,

Tatatat-!

“Yeah! Let’s fucking go!”

“Keep going, Barney!” (Barney is Johan’s nickname)

He penetrated the left midfield line of Atlético Madrid, between De Paul and Felix, at an incredible speed,

Tatatat-!

After deceiving left-back Deulofeu with a heel chop and cutting back to the center,

There were no spectators left sitting in the stands.

From the halfway line to near the box.

It was only natural, as he had blown past five players in the blink of an eye.

But.

“What now…?”

“There’s no space!”

The standing spectators bit their nails.

It was good that Johan had penetrated so deeply.

However,

Penetrating deeply also meant that he had stepped into the area with the most opposing players.

Near the corner of the box.

About six Atlético Madrid players surrounded Johan.

And that wasn’t all.

The remaining players were forming a perimeter around that encirclement.

All the players were watching Johan, ready to fill any gap as soon as the encirclement was breached.

It was too tight.

No matter how good Johan was, how could he escape that narrow space?

There seemed to be no way out, either forward or backward.

“Show us…!”

“Do it!”

It seemed impossible, but Johan was a player who always showed unexpected solutions.

So, with half worry and half expectation, the home fans desperately watched Johan.

In response to their cries, Johan answered.

Tuk-!

Johan, who had slightly slowed down in front of the box, pushed the ball to the left.

And then, a run-up.

It was a motion to shoot.

It seemed like a good solution.

If he couldn’t go any further, he might as well just shoot from there.

Of course, it was questionable whether the shot could even pass through the defenders who were densely blocking with their bodies.

But if it was Johan, they thought he might somehow find a gap.

The Atlético Madrid players thought so too.

However,

It was a feint.

Sreureuk-

The next moment.

A small earthquake occurred at the London Stadium.

It was because all the spectators put their hands on their heads and jumped up at the same time.

“Holy shit-!”

“Heueot!”

What surprised them all was a scoop turn.

A skill called a scoop turn because it looks like scraping the ball with a ladle (scoop).

Johan gently scraped the ball with his left foot, which he had pulled back as if to shoot, changing its direction.

It was as if a bug had occurred in the physics engine.

In any case, to give a shooting fake that would fool the defense, you shouldn’t reduce the speed of the swing in advance.

You have to slow down the speed as late as possible, right before the ball touches your foot, to perfectly deceive the opponent.

In that respect, Johan’s shooting feint was perfect.

Johan’s left foot stretched out as if he was really going to shoot until right before it touched the ball.

However,

The foot, which stopped magically right in front of the ball, gently scraped the ball in a way that felt out of place with the violent extension.

Tatatat-!

Instantly to the right.

Johan, who had changed direction, tapped the ball and ran.

The Atlético Madrid players, completely fooled by the shooting fake, had to twist their bodies, and it was already too late to catch up with Johan.

Johan already had a perfect shooting angle in front of him.

Bbeoeoeoeoeoeong-!

A shot with his right foot, aimed at the near post.

That shot,

Syuuuuuuuuuung-

Passed over the goalkeeper’s head,

Cheolseok-!

Pierced the net.

“…”

At that moment, all the players on the field covered their heads with both hands.

Both the Atlético Madrid players and the West Ham players.

As if they couldn’t believe it.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaat-!”

A huge roar enveloped the London Stadium.

*

The moment Johan’s goal exploded, a familiar commentary flowed from a Spanish broadcasting station.

Ankara Johan.

Ankara (encara) means ‘still’ or ‘continuously’ in Catalan.

So, Ankara Johan, Ankara Johan means still Johan, Johan continuously.

From the halfway line to the penalty box.

From Atlético Madrid’s first line of defense to the final Maginot Line [a series of defensive fortifications built by France before World War II].

In that series of processes where all the defensive lines collapsed, Johan was there from beginning to end.

Still, continuously.

Johan broke through Atlético Madrid’s dense defense, which seemed impossible to solve, with a one-man charge.

“What did I just see?”

“I’m glad I saw this here. If I had watched it alone at home, I would have thought there was something wrong with my eyes.”

“My insides are so refreshed, they’re freezing over!”

The spectators couldn’t calm down even after the game resumed with Atlético Madrid’s kickoff.

Everyone shook their heads with dazed faces, or slumped down, holding their foreheads.

Some were hanging their tongues out.

No matter how many times they thought about it, it was an absurd goal.

“…”

That was the same from Atlético Madrid’s perspective.

It’s absurd.

It’s really absurd.

To concede a goal like this, it was impossible.

Not any other team, but them, conceding a goal to just one player?

And being broken through from the halfway line?

“Ba-rney! Ba-rney!”

The stadium, which was filled with jeers towards them just a moment ago, was now filled with praise for Johan.

This was not the atmosphere that Atlético Madrid liked.

Not at all, not at all.

*

Atlético Madrid was a tough team.

Logically, if it became 0-1, it would be normal to come out a bit more aggressively.

Even if they maintained their stance of defending first and then counterattacking, it would be natural to at least show a more active approach to counterattacks.

But Atlético Madrid stubbornly didn’t unlock their all-out defense.

“Throw it away!”

Bbeoeoeoeoeong-!

Atlético Madrid defender Salgado, who succeeded in defending, kicks the ball far away.

It’s not a long pass for a counterattack, but a clearance that is literally throwing it away.

The important thing is that they’re not forced to throw the ball away, but they’re deliberately throwing it away.

Counterattacking is also an attack after all.

The moment you go on a counterattack, even if you minimize the number of people involved in the counterattack, there will inevitably be gaps in the defense.

Especially since Atlético Madrid is a team that uses tactics where even the attackers participate in the defense.

Two attackers counterattacking means that two defenders are leaving their positions for Atlético Madrid.

Therefore, Atlético Madrid was showing a willingness to give up opportunities even in situations where they could have tried to counterattack.

Perhaps the shock of being hit hard by Johan was so great that they were shrinking back even more.

If the losing opponent doesn’t show any intention to attack, it’s definitely not a bad situation for this side.

However, it’s still not enough with a one-goal difference.

Above all, Johan is not satisfied.

Who can be satisfied with just one goal?

Johan occasionally came down to the halfway line to get the ball.

Of course, not often.

It was a troublesome task for Johan as well.

However, even if it was only occasionally, Johan coming down to get the ball was very effective.

Just by that, all of the Atlético Madrid players went into a state of tension, and the whole team swayed at Johan’s every small movement.

It was a very efficient exchange.

With just one step from Johan, everyone in Atlético Madrid had to move two steps.

A tremendous exchange of stamina for profit.

The effect of this unfair trade was expected to be revealed over time.

Well, anyway, Atlético Madrid could see finishing the first half 0-1 as a decent result.

It would be a flaw if it wasn’t for conceding an absurd goal to Johan.

Anyway, they blocked most of the attacks well, and they didn’t collapse after conceding a goal and maintained their mentality well.

The problem is stamina.

Stamina is also relative after all.

Even in normal circumstances, defending consumes more stamina than attacking.

Moreover, West Ham had almost no stamina consumption during the first half. Compared to Atlético Madrid, that is.

In the second half, the difference in energy levels between the two teams gradually began to become noticeable.

“…”

Atlético Madrid’s coach Marco Darin watches the field with a scary face.

Darin was feeling that if it continued like this, it was only a matter of time.

The stamina situation is too different.

Not enough to narrow the gap with just player substitutions.

“…Aragones!”

Darin calls Aragones, the leader on the field.

Darin gave instructions in Spanish,

“…!”

Aragones nodded.

‘If I’m going to be called a villain anyway, I’ll become the most vicious villain.’

Darin clenches his teeth.

He has no intention of letting it flow like this.

He’s going to reverse the atmosphere.

Everyone is calling them villains.

Darin didn’t dislike that.

He liked it even more.

So, now that he’s become a villain.

He intends to show the most vicious villainous side [모습].

“Everyone!”

“?”

“Don’t think about the consequences, kill them.”

“…!”

The Atlético Madrid players nodded at Aragones’ words, conveying Darin’s instructions.