Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 187

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“Hey… is this for real?”

“What, what’s going on?”

“Those damn Spaniards. So noisy.”

“Why is everyone so out of it!”

The West Ham fans were collectively bewildered by Real’s opening goal.

West Ham had always been on a winning streak.

They had never experienced defeat in the league, and the same was true after reaching the Champions League knockout stage.

They had only ever tasted victory and had never considered the possibility of their team losing.

At least this season, the West Ham fans had never felt a sense of crisis.

But now, that sense of crisis was slowly rearing its head.

Of course, it was still early in the game.

The first half wasn’t even halfway over.

Considering they had Johan, conceding a goal might not have seemed like a big deal.

But the atmosphere was ominous.

Everyone knew Real was a strong team, but Real in the final felt even stronger than expected.

You could tell from just the beginning of the first half why they were the defending champions.

Is the final really different?

Is this the weight of the final?

“Hala Madrid!” [A chant meaning “Go Madrid!”]

“…”

The Real Madrid chant filled the stadium.

The Real fans, completely energized, took off their shirts, waved their jerseys, and jumped around.

It had only been 10 minutes, but they were already acting as if they had won the game, and I wanted to retort, but the sense of crisis had killed my spirit.

“Tell me it’s not true!”

“Show us!”

In the end, all they could do was believe.

When did a team full of crises become a team that didn’t know what a crisis was?

It started when Johan came in.

So, all they could do was trust Johan.

The West Ham fans began to watch the game, hoping Johan would show them that this wasn’t a crisis.

It was true that West Ham was in a disadvantageous situation.

The important thing was how they would solve it from now on.

Johan stood on the halfway line, feeling annoyed that he had to kick off again after just 10 minutes.

And then,

He called Buckley.

“Why?”

“Yes.”

“? Not ‘yes,’ why are you calling me?”

“You told me to come.”

Usually, only one person does the kickoff.

In the past, two people used to stand and do it, but since the rules were revised, it has become the norm for one person to do it.

Johan had always done it that way until now.

But now, he needed a partner.

Because,

“Beeeep-!”

The coach told him to put it in as soon as possible.

Tap-

As Johan requested, Buckley tapped the ball, and Johan began to advance.

All processes were omitted.

He was planning to go directly from here to the goal.

Passing the ball back and forth was a waste of time.

This wasn’t some kind of mini-game, and even if it were, no striker would think of breaking through all the defenses alone from the halfway line.

But this was Johan.

Johan was a player who had already achieved this ridiculous feat in the semi-finals.

Therefore,

The Real Madrid players tensed up.

That guy might really be thinking of getting past everyone and scoring a goal.

‘But this is the final stage, my friend.’

Real narrowed the gap.

They thickened the defense in the center, while the three forwards did not participate in the defense and went forward.

They were confident they would succeed in defending and were preparing for a counterattack.

But,

That was a mistake.

Real should have focused on gathering as many players as possible to stop Johan.

Tatatat-!

Johan, who had been slowly dribbling the ball, began to pick up the pace in earnest.

Johan’s navigation system was a bit different from that of other attackers.

It was always a straight line to the final destination.

He didn’t allow any detours.

Viega rushed in roughly but was easily bounced off.

Viega was a tough player, but he was no match for Johan.

But the real challenge was behind him.

The third line, where Diego Casas and Thomas Stein were standing.

Normally, Real’s defenders didn’t have much to do thanks to these two.

That’s how good they were at defending.

Real was able to record the most goals in La Liga because of Casas and Stein, who swept through the midfield like vacuum cleaners, sucking up all the balls.

However,

Casas and Stein, who faced Johan, experienced their inherent limitations.

No matter what, they were midfielders, not defenders.

Casas and Stein had already resigned themselves to receiving a yellow card each in today’s game.

They had already admitted that it would be difficult to stop Johan perfectly.

But, the moment they physically collided with Johan, they realized.

That one yellow card was not enough.

To stop this monster, they had to be prepared to collect a red card.

Real’s last line of defense, who had been facing the natural disaster called Johan after the strong breakwater was breached.

The defense leader, Juan Gonzalez, made a decision first and ran forward.

He judged that there was no answer if he waited inside the box.

However,

Things wouldn’t be any different outside the box.

The referee had already put the whistle to his mouth several times.

Johan had already broken through Real’s midfielders, who were rushing in with fouls.

Gonzalez, who had vowed to avenge the defeat in the last Euro [European Championship], was reminded of why he had lost that day, let alone avenging it.

‘Right…!’

Predicting the direction, Gonzalez clenched his teeth and threw himself.

Johan was in a motion that looked like he was going to break through to the right.

However, the moment Gonzalez threw himself.

Johan scraped the ball with the sole of his foot, changing the direction of the ball and twisting his body.

Thanks to that, Gonzalez ended up in a ridiculous pose, throwing himself into the air.

Tatatat-!

An open chance opened.

Johan’s navigation system made a sound.

-Arrived at destination.

Ppeoeoeoeoeoeong-!

Johan’s right foot spewed fire.

The low-trajectory shot was fired towards the left corner of the goal.

Shuuuuuuuuung-

The shot, with its terrifying speed, was difficult to block from the start,

And it even bounced once in front of the goalkeeper.

That was a shot that even Yashin [Legendary Soviet goalkeeper], if he came back to life, would have had difficulty blocking.

Thud-!

Put it in as quickly as possible.

Johan perfectly carried out Coach Schmidt’s instructions.

Perhaps the most tactically aware player in West Ham was not Capello or Bellamy, but Johan.

“Fuuuuuck! That’s it!”

“You’re seeing this for the first time, you bastards!”

“This is why West Ham was able to come this far!”

When Johan’s equalizer exploded, the West Ham fans were able to blow away their anxiety at once.

Also,

They were able to completely erase the thought that the final was different.

As long as Johan was there, the final was no different.

He would crush anyone, no matter who they were.

That was Johan, and that was West Ham’s football!

And it wasn’t just the fans who started thinking that way, but also the West Ham players.

“This is our way!”

“You’re frustrated too, right? All the teams that have faced us have felt that way!”

The stage of the Champions League final, which they were stepping on for the first time in their lives.

The unfamiliar air felt like it was changing into the comfortable air they already knew.

The final was no different.

The Champions League final was just the same football game where 11 players played against 11 players for 90 minutes with one ball.

What is football to the West Ham players?

Football is a sport where twenty-two people run around for 90 minutes, and then Johan scores a goal.

Today, football would become such an unreasonable sport.

“Okay, let’s start now!”

“Let’s focus! Let’s play our football!”

With Johan’s goal, West Ham’s morale soared.

As the ground hardens after the rain.

West Ham’s play after Johan’s equalizer was clearly different from the beginning of the game.

It felt much more stable.

On the other hand, Real felt quite cautious.

Unlike the beginning of the game, when they would attack as soon as they got the ball, Real focused on maintaining possession and increasing their possession rate from the 15th minute onwards.

They had no choice.

They had felt with their bodies that even giving the opponent a kickoff could be a dangerous situation.

They were afraid to attempt an attack easily unless it was a perfect situation.

And today was the final.

There would be no further opportunities.

No matter how good Real was, they had no choice but to be careful.

That lull lasted longer than expected.

Of course, it wasn’t that they didn’t attempt any attacks at all, but Real spent most of their time passing the ball in the back.

Towards the end of the first half, Fabricio broke through the right flank once again and created a chance, but Petrovic, who had clearly come to his senses, did not give up and followed through to the end, ending the situation.

“Beep, beep-!”

With that, the first half ended 1-1, and the game continued into the second half.

“Coach.”

“Hmm?”

“Honestly, I’ve reevaluated you a bit.”

“What.”

“I think you can’t ignore experience. I can’t maintain my composure at all, but you’re still maintaining it.”

Just before the start of the second half.

Coach Jamie sat on the bench and spoke.

Honestly, he was a bit impressed.

About the attitude Coach Schmidt showed during halftime.

The last halftime for the last 45 minutes of this season.

Coach Schmidt had been thinking a lot as he headed to the locker room.

About what to say to the players during halftime and what kind of motivation to give them would be the best.

The words Coach Schmidt said after that thought were simple.

“Am I the only one? I feel like I know the ending of this drama we’ve been creating. No, it’s not just me. You all know it too. You all already know the answer. What kind of ending this drama will have.”

“Don’t doubt it. Be confident. I was already able to be confident after watching the first half. Today is a game we can’t lose. I want you to keep asking yourself why that is and go into the second half.”

Coach Schmidt wanted to give them confidence.

That’s why he said that.

“But, what is that reason? Tell me. Is it Johan after all?”

“You think about it yourself.”

“Keueung.”

“There’s no right answer. It doesn’t matter if 11 people think of different answers. Just have confidence. I just wanted to instill that.”

“Hmph. That’s cool.”

“The job of a coach is to pretend to have something even if you don’t have anything at times.”

Honestly, he couldn’t be sure of victory.

No matter how much he had the absolute belief in Johan, the opponent was Real in the final.

Anything could happen during the second half.

So, Coach Schmidt didn’t have confidence either.