Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 16

< 015 – Will You Prove It? >

Thwack-!

“···!”

“···Huh?”

When the goal net shook violently,

Everyone blinked, dumbfounded.

It happened so fast.

From the shot to the ball burying itself in the corner of the goal, it all happened in the blink of an eye.

“···Huh?”

Antonio, who had been nutmegged [ball passed between his legs], wore a bewildered expression.

He didn’t even have time to feel humiliated.

He just couldn’t understand what had happened.

So,

Let’s recap the situation.

He, a defender who had been playing for West Ham for four years, had just conceded a goal to a sixteen-year-old kid who had only joined training yesterday and hadn’t even debuted yet.

And he did it by letting the ball go through his legs.

‘Is that even possible?’

It seemed impossible.

Just last week, he was facing some of the league’s top strikers.

And he had never given up such a humiliating goal to those players.

But now,

He was so easily breached by a kid?

“Antonio! Get your head in the game!”

“Even if the opponent is young, you can’t let your guard down.”

“Huh? Let my guard down···? Ah, right. Right, let my guard down. I let my guard down.”

When his teammates mentioned letting his guard down, Antonio nodded.

Yes, that was right.

Letting his guard down.

Antonio could only attribute this absurd event to a lapse in concentration.

There was no way he could have been outplayed by this kid.

He had just let his guard down.

He had underestimated the kid too much.

“Antonio, you’re embarrassing us.”

“Hey, hey. Can’t go crushing a budding new talent, can we? I was just giving the kid a little boost as a senior.”

“Being too lenient won’t help. Do it properly next time.”

“Yeah, yeah. I will.”

Antonio brushed it off with a laugh.

However,

Antonio’s laughter sounded very awkward.

That was probably because Antonio knew it too.

He was trying to dismiss it as just letting his guard down.

But if he were honest with himself.

It wasn’t just about letting his guard down.

*

“···Coach? It went in?”

Jamie Coach clicked his tongue.

First touch 15 minutes into the game.

And that first touch led to the first shot, which led to the first goal.

One shot, one kill.

He knew the kid was talented, but it was a goal that made him question reality.

“Antonio has his moments of instability, but he’s not the type to give away chances so easily.”

Although Antonio wasn’t the team’s starting center-back.

He was still a defender who had been playing in the Premier League for years.

Yet, to perfectly set up his shot in front of such a player.

That alone was worthy of high praise.

And then,

It actually went in.

With perfect speed and a perfect trajectory.

The shot was so fast and accurate that the starting goalkeeper, Sheringham, didn’t even think about reaching for it.

Even if a league-class striker, not Johan, had scored that goal, it would have been worthy of admiration.

But,

Isn’t Johan just a sixteen-year-old kid?

This was truly an astonishing scene.

“···”

Schmidt was just as surprised, though he didn’t show it.

Schmidt didn’t think the kid would be able to score in today’s game.

Especially while sticking to his own playing style.

He thought that kind of play might work at the youth level, but it would never work at the professional level.

But it worked.

At the professional level, even among the players he had been coaching for a year.

It was a moment when Schmidt’s expectations were beautifully shattered.

“Coach?”

“···What.”

“If he does this well, isn’t it going to mess up your plans?”

Jamie Coach scratched his head and asked.

It was definitely the opposite of Schmidt’s plan.

What Schmidt wanted today was for Johan to fail to prove himself and to keep pushing himself until he did.

But if he proves himself so easily?

He won’t find a reason to work hard, like always.

If that happens, they’ll have to start all over again.

“Not yet.”

“Yes? Not yet?”

That’s why Schmidt couldn’t easily admit it.

“It’s not enough yet. Just one goal isn’t enough. What about him making his teammates suffer by just walking around for 15 minutes? Do you think that can be covered with just one goal?”

“That’s true, but···”

It was a well-scored goal.

It was clear that the kid might feel he had proven himself enough.

But,

If he thought he had proven himself with just that one goal, he was mistaken.

Schmidt thought that just one goal wasn’t enough to offset the shortcomings he was showing.

“You can already see the difference in energy levels after 15 minutes. And it’s all because of that kid.”

Schmidt’s words were true.

Johan was draining the stamina of the other players.

The difference in energy levels between the two teams could be felt even after only 15 minutes.

That difference would only get bigger as time went on.

To make up for that difference, the players would have to run until they were exhausted.

Compared to the sacrifice of those teammates, one goal was definitely not enough.

So, if Johan thought he had proven himself enough, he was definitely wrong.

“Then, how many goals would be enough?”

How many goals would be enough?

“···”

Schmidt found Jamie Coach, who kept chattering beside him, particularly annoying today.

*

Thwack-!

Whoosh-!

Thwack-!

The clear sound of the ball hitting the goalpost echoed around the 20th minute.

It was Johan’s second shot.

Just like the first goal, Johan received the ball with his back to Antonio at the edge of the arc,

This time, he only turned halfway before unleashing a left-footed turning shot.

Unlike the first shot, this one was a curler that drew a large arc.

The trajectory of the curled shot was beautiful, but unfortunately, instead of shaking the net, it hit the goalpost.

However,

That alone was enough to surprise the players once again.

It was also enough to make the B team players, who were playing with Johan, look at him again.

“Hey, Captain. That kid is more composed than I thought?”

“Yeah. Even if it’s just a practice match, they usually can’t even get their heads in the game at first.”

The B team players took a moment to catch their breath and chat while the opponent prepared for a goal kick.

Before the game, the B team players were all planning to play as if one player was missing.

What could a sixteen-year-old kid do anyway?

They thought it would be easier to just think of it as training for when a player gets sent off.

But,

He was more composed than they thought.

Not only that, but he was sharp.

You couldn’t imagine that this was his first first-team game.

‘The first shot was with his right foot, and the last one was with his left. It wasn’t just a bluff, was it?’

Team Gordon, the captain, smiled as he recalled the conversation he had with the kid before the game.

It was true that all the kid had done in 20 minutes was take two shots.

But one of them was a goal, and the other hit the goalpost.

It was enough to give them hope.

He had created one goal and one near-goal with just two shots, so the B team players with Johan had expectations of what kind of results he would show if they gave him the ball more.

That expectation was in the B team players to which Johan belonged.

With just two shots.

“Now that it’s come to this, should we push our cute little kid a bit?”

“Can’t hurt. I was hoping to see that kid’s shot a bit more too.”

“For the record, he said himself that both feet are his main feet, so you can pass it to him however you want.”

“He said that himself? Haha. I like this kid. Okay. I’ll give you the ball somehow, so try to satisfy us.”

In fact, Johan wasn’t a very appealing passing option for his teammates.

Johan was always just walking around near the box, so he wasn’t in a good position.

The basic knowledge is that in order to receive a good pass, you have to move actively and look for empty space.

But since he kept standing side by side with the defense, it was ambiguous for the players to give Johan a pass.

However,

Seeing him turn two extremely ordinary passes into threatening shots.

They thought it would be okay to just give it a try.

And so,

From that moment on.

Starting around the 20th minute, the B team players’ pass supply began to focus on Johan.

Shortly after.

That expectation,

Began to turn into certainty.

“Here, do it!”

Wham-!

A pass coming towards his feet.

As the ball rolled to Johan, Antonio stuck to him tightly from behind.

Antonio was quite pissed off.

In the previous two shots, Antonio had been pushed back in the physical battle with Johan.

He couldn’t help but feel his pride hurt.

Being pushed back by a middle schooler.

This was something he couldn’t tolerate as a man.

‘I’m not going easy on you this time, kid.’

Antonio was determined as he ran towards Johan.

He wasn’t even looking at the ball.

This time, he was going to press him from behind so that he couldn’t even get the ball.

With that thought,

It was when Antonio lunged at Johan’s back with all his might.

Swoosh-!

“···!?”

Antonio’s eyes widened,

And shortly after, Antonio’s face was buried in the ground.

Johan had turned his body as if he knew it was coming, avoiding Antonio’s dash.

Johan, who had made Antonio look foolish, calmly passed Antonio, keeping the flow of the ball alive.

Antonio had become a fool again.

However,

Now, no one was laughing at Antonio.

They were all slowly realizing that the reason he was being beaten wasn’t just because he was a fool.

“Block the space!”

“Cover him!”

“Don’t let him shoot!”

The space that was revealed because Antonio was breached.

The two defenders on both sides narrowed in towards that space.

The cover was quite fast.

They all knew now that Johan’s shooting was worth acknowledging.

Therefore, the defenders rushed towards the center with the thought of stopping the shot attempt itself.

However,

There was one thing that those defenders didn’t know yet.

That Johan actually preferred passing to shooting.

Wham-!

With the attention drawn to Johan, both the left and right sides were open.

Johan calmly turned the pass to the left as the defenders were drawn to him,

Thwack-!

A teammate who received the ball with a free chance lightly kicked it into the goal.

It was the moment when Johan created his second assist and lived up to his teammates’ expectations.

*

“Coach. Coach?”

“I’m not deaf, you rascal.”

“At this point, I think things have turned around?”

“What’s turned around?”

“I mean··· isn’t there a lot more pluses than minuses? 2 goals and 1 assist···”

The game was already in the 30th minute of the second half.

The score was 2 to 3.

The B team was in the lead.

It was the opposite result from when the A team had been in control all along.

It was, of course, because of Johan.

Johan had turned a few chances, which weren’t even worth calling chances, into attack points.

It was true that his playing style brought minuses to the team, but it was also adding much bigger pluses.

If the striker is creating all the attack points, where is there a bigger plus than that?

No matter how little he moves.

“You still can’t admit it?”

“···”

“It seems like you’re the one who needs to break your stubbornness first.”

“Hey, you! You’ve been chattering all game, geez!”

“Jeez. Why are you suddenly yelling, Coach?”

“I know! I know, so stop talking!”

“You’re only mad at me. Sigh.”

It’s inevitable to get angry if you keep talking about something you already know.

Schmidt couldn’t help but admit it either.

That Johan had proven himself.

That the attempt to tame Johan was a failure, at least for today.

The play that Johan showed today was the play that Schmidt hated the most, but it was a play that even Schmidt couldn’t say was harming the team.

“He’s going to be late again tomorrow, isn’t he? What are you going to do, Coach?”

“What am I going to do?”

If he thought he had proven himself enough and showed a lazy attitude again from tomorrow.

According to his principles as a coach, he had to send him back to the U18 team.

Because his principle was to never use lazy players.

But···

To send that talent back down?

Would that really be the right choice?

“···”

Schmidt was already strongly tempted.

The temptation to make an exception for that kid.

The temptation to put aside even his own principles that he had adhered to for decades.