Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 198

< The War on the Ground >

“I’m going crazy, really.”

Rowan had to admit it.

No matter how objective he tried to be, he wasn’t being objective.

They were family, after all.

That’s why he was worrying about unnecessary things.

Like how the World Cup is a difficult stage even for the best players, or how the Netherlands is a tough opponent.

It was a ridiculous worry.

Even the World Cup, even the Netherlands, seemed easy to Johan.

Maybe he was the one underestimating Johan the most.

What do you mean, just a soccer fan?

He was looking at Johan as his family and his brother.

“Okay, just hold on a little longer!”

“Don’t give them a chance! Let’s end it like this!”

After Johan’s third goal, the Netherlands became even more desperate and didn’t stop their offensive.

What appropriately cut that off was Coach Lanister’s substitution.

Reynolds comes out, and Jordan Spencer goes in. It’s for defensive reinforcement, right?>

Looks like an appropriate substitution.>

England’s second substitution. Mikel Myers comes out and Steve Duncan goes in. Now Coach Lanister is putting in another defender.>

I think we need to see the positioning first. Duncan can also play as a defensive midfielder, so he’ll probably be positioned in front of the back four.>

Jude Harrison clears the ball out. Ah, England has a third substitution.>

By using substitutions in quick succession, the Netherlands’ momentum keeps getting cut off. It looks like a good timing.>

Coach Lanister continued to disrupt the flow of the game by using substitutions every five minutes.

The players being substituted out left the field as slowly as possible without receiving cards, and the Netherlands couldn’t help but become more and more anxious with England’s tactics.

The defense line has definitely gotten thicker.>

They just need to protect the two-goal lead.>

Now the time is already the 25th minute of the second half. There are only 20 minutes left.>

The Netherlands continues to launch long ball-oriented attacks, but it’s not working.

And, time passed meaninglessly.

Added time is 4 minutes! The Netherlands has gained a fairly generous amount of time, but it’s still not enough! England, who will advance to the semi-finals if they hold on for just 4 minutes!>

The clock on the scoreboard stopped, and 4 minutes of added time were given.

The moment of victory was approaching.

But,

The Netherlands’ persistent attack belatedly bore fruit.

Oh, it goes in. Peter Jansen’s goal. The Netherlands catches up with a goal in injury time. The atmosphere in the stadium becomes strange.>

Peter Jansen’s goal with 2 minutes left.

The Dutch players quickly ran to the halfway line with the ball, and the English players looked at each other with a sudden sense of unease.

Surely… it can’t be?

“Please…”

“We can’t go to extra time! We don’t know what will happen!”

The English fans, with their hands clasped together, praying in the suddenly strange atmosphere.

If this happens, England, who has been chased, will become more anxious.

They just need to safely spend the remaining 2 minutes, but can they do it?

The game restarts, 2 minutes left!>

However, the spectators who were watching the game with anxious hearts, in the next moment.

Soon began to relax.

Because the most reliable Johan took the ball and moved.

‘2 minutes.’

Johan intended to keep the ball.

For 2 minutes.

He doesn’t have the stamina to dribble past everyone from here and score a goal like he used to.

He remembers it being tough at the end of the second half even when he was active, so it’s even more so now.

Instead, he was confident enough to keep the ball.

Without being taken away by anyone.

Johan dribbles the ball to the right. The Netherlands must take that ball at all costs! They swarm him like bees!>

As Johan took the ball towards the touchline, the Dutch players rushed in.

But, an interesting scene was produced here.

Ah, he’s not pushed back! Johan protects the ball like a statue, without budging!>

Three or four people rush at him at once, but Johan doesn’t budge.

Johan placed the ball in front of the touchline, protecting the ball with his whole body, blocking the players pushing from behind.

In the meantime, Johan showed off his footwork to avoid the feet reaching for the ball.

Truly Herculean strength.

Not only that.

Paang-!

In the gap that briefly opened up due to the frantic pushing.

Johan did not miss that gap and escaped the narrow space.

And, he started running along the touchline.

Tatatat-!

The more Johan ran, the more the Netherlands’ hearts burned.

Johan, who ran along the touchline, quickly reached the corner flag, and there he once again unleashed his adamantine defense.

Remaining time is 30 seconds!>

Johan fiercely protects the ball, placing it inside the corner kick zone.

The Dutch players couldn’t remove that one Johan.

And, all the merciless time passed.

“Bweeek, bweeeeek, bweeeeeek-!”

Johan, who created the foundation for victory, ended up protecting the victory.

The Netherlands is now going home! And! England advances to the semi-finals!>

The Netherlands stopped their journey here because of Johan alone.

ㆍㆍㆍ

-England defeats the Netherlands 3-2 in a close match, advancing to the semi-finals!

-Johan van’s second hat-trick of the tournament, 12th goal of this tournament… One goal away from the all-time highest goal record (Just Fontaine, 13 goals)

-Argentina defeats Spain after extra time… Final score 4-2. With this, all host countries suffer the bitterness of elimination

-England advances to the semi-finals without extra time, Argentina advances to the semi-finals after extra time… Green light for reaching the finals

-Brazil secures a semi-final ticket by defeating Germany 3-2!

-France and Italy, unable to decide the match in 120 minutes, Italy advances to the semi-finals 4-3 after a penalty shootout

ㆍㆍㆍ

England’s semi-final opponent is South America’s traditional powerhouse, Argentina.

Argentina, who defeated Spain, one of the host countries of this tournament, was a team with many technical players playing in La Liga [the top professional football division of the Spanish football league system].

Argentina typically plays skillful and flashy soccer reminiscent of ‘South America’.

The balance between offense and defense is slightly lacking compared to the Netherlands, but their offensive power is said to be greater than the Netherlands, according to the world.

However, ahead of the semi-final against Argentina.

The English media was already quite optimistic about reaching the final.

No, not just the media.

The fans were the same.

-England meets Argentina, who came up after a penalty shootout… 99.9% chance of reaching the final

-Semi-finals will be easier than the quarter-finals… Is England’s victory already confirmed at the point of defeating the Netherlands?

-Establish a national holiday for the date of the World Cup victory? Prime Minister James Logan’s victory pledge

-A middle school in London changes its name to ‘Johan van Middle School’

-“Let’s change the name of London” English fans petition to change the name of London to ‘Saint Johan’ after winning the World Cup… 300,000 signatures obtained

-Dad fan tattoos the 2030 World Cup victory… “Best decision of my life”

-Brazil or Italy… Predicting the final opponent

England is all about hyping things up.

Perhaps there is no country in the world that can keep up with England when it comes to hyping things up.

In fact, this hype had started before the tournament, but it became even more severe after defeating the Netherlands and confirming their advancement to the semi-finals.

“Hmm… I suddenly feel uneasy.”

Rowan scratched his head at the sudden sense of unease.

Rowan also knew that Argentina was definitely an opponent they could beat, and that England was in a favorable situation considering various factors.

Everyone was hyping it up too much, so he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“Argentina isn’t a team to be taken lightly.”

Clearly, Spain was a more difficult team than Argentina.

First of all, they are the host country, the home team.

And the players are more glamorous than Argentina, etc.

However, the fact that Argentina came up after defeating such Spain does not change.

It’s not the strong team that wins, but the winning team that is strong.

Argentina was a stronger opponent than Spain, and it didn’t seem like a situation to be happy about having to meet Argentina instead of Spain.

“Hmm. Anyway, the hype didn’t become a curse during the last Euros [European Championship] either. I have to hope it will be the same this time.”

The curse of hype doesn’t work on Johan.

I’ll have to trust him.

ㆍㆍㆍ

This is Camp Nou [Barcelona’s home stadium]. We will be broadcasting the semi-final match between England and Argentina from this sacred place of Catalonia.>

England and Argentina are countries that seem to have little connection, as they are far apart on different continents.

In fact, they have a historical relationship to the point of fighting a war between countries.

The Falklands War.

A war between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the ownership of the Falkland Islands, located in southwestern South America.

It seems like a historical story that has nothing to do with soccer, but it’s not completely unrelated.

After this Falklands War, England and Argentina met each other in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

The result was Argentina’s victory.

Argentina had Maradona, and Argentina, led by Maradona, lost in the war but won in soccer, eventually winning the World Cup that year.

However, the quarter-final match between the two teams was also the most controversial match in World Cup history.

Perhaps because Maradona’s most famous goal among his many goals, the ‘Hand of God’ incident, came out in that match.

Because of this, English fans still did not recognize the defeat that day.

And, decades have passed.

They were calling today ‘Revenge Day’.

Other things should not be involved in the sacred ground. But since the World Cup is ultimately a national competition, the people of both countries can’t help but feel different about watching this game.>

It is said that many security personnel have been deployed to the stadium today in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances. I hope for a good game without any unfortunate events.>

Since the feelings between each other are not good, and the fans of both countries are not calm.

A strange tension flows through Camp Nou.

And,

That goes for the players too.

“···”

The eyes of the players waiting for the whistle to blow seem more determined than ever.

Faces that say they can never lose to each other.

In between, only Johan looks comfortable.

“Bweeek-!”

The war on the ground has begun.

The problem will be the battle of stamina. The World Cup involves playing consecutive games in a short period of time. The quarter-final match was also just 5 days ago.>

Moreover, the moving day cannot be counted as a rest, so the period to recover is actually only 4 days. In that respect, Argentina definitely has a disadvantage.

However, isn’t it ultimately the legitimate right of the person who won cleanly?>

That’s right. It’s a disadvantage, but it’s not unfair.>

From the beginning of the game, the faces of the Argentine players looked somewhat haggard.

Argentina, who had a fierce battle with Spain just 5 days ago, even going to a penalty shootout.

On the other hand, England won cleanly in 90 minutes.

Even in a situation where the game interval is short, playing 30 minutes more is a big deal.

Argentina knew that.

They knew that as the game time passed, it would not be good for them.

Because of that, in the early part of the first half.

Argentina started to push first.

Argentina comes out with delicate passes. Argentina’s weapons are the individual techniques of the players and those short passes.>

You must not fall for that rhythm.>

Certainly, when they have the ball, the skills of the Argentine players are terrifying.

Argentina is full of players who are good at soccer, not only the attackers but even the defenders.

Argentina, who defeated Spain with partial tactics that actively used individual skills rather than soccer with thick lines, seemed to have brought out such tactics this time as well.

And, that was quite threatening.

Ariella breaks through and goes in! Digging into the left!>

Both left and right wingers of Argentina are top-notch dribblers.

I get the feeling from the beginning that the left and right fullbacks will have a hard time today.

But,

England also came up with a countermeasure.

They thought that being overwhelmed to some extent on the side was a foregone conclusion from the beginning.

Strengthening the defense in the center.

England knew very well that Argentina had no choice but to rush in the beginning anyway.

Ariella’s shot hits the side net. Bellamy blocked the shooting angle well.>

Argentina takes the first shot of today’s game.

Bellamy reduced the angle well, so it didn’t become an effective shot.