Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 41

< Episode 040 - I'm Not Going Anywhere >

The day after the England-Italy match.

“Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“If you ever feel bloated or have indigestion, just take a look at this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Here. It’s like digestive medicine.”

Rohan hands Ban Seok-ho his laptop.

On the laptop screen:

An article about soccer from a Korean portal site was displayed.

-Ban Yohan, who chose the England national team, shows why he was selected… Sets youngest debut and goal record

└Wow… he’s a truly legendary talent.

└Feels like I got robbed while my eyes were open.

└Damn it, KFA [Korean Football Association]! If you had just been a little more considerate of Ban Seok-ho, we could have had someone like that playing for our national team!

└Hey. But maybe it’s a blessing for him. Thanks to that, instead of suffering in the Korean national team, he’s playing happy soccer in the English national team.

└I never thought he’d debut right away, and I never imagined he’d score two goals there.

└They said he wouldn’t be able to play in England, but he’s been crazy since his first game? LOL

└He’ll definitely be a starter at the next Euros…

“…Burp.”

The moment he saw the comments, a burp involuntarily came out.

Rohan, who looked at all internet reactions, including community sites and articles, knew that many fans predicted Yohan wouldn’t get much playing time if he went to the England national team.

Frankly, there were many people who cursed him with such high intensity that it was embarrassing to even say it out loud.

But, through yesterday’s game, Yohan showed that he had the talent to play a key role in any team.

“What? He’d be a guaranteed starter in Korea, but it would be a thorny path in England?”

No, it’s not.

“The Italians are going crazy too. Did you see it?”

“Huh? I haven’t seen that yet.”

“Yesterday, Barcelli and Marcio were both torn apart by Yohan, and they’re making a fuss, saying a monster has appeared.”

“Our Ban family’s pride is now spreading to Europe.”

As Rohan said, the reaction in Italy was also heated, but in a different way. The majority of reactions were of shock.

Especially, the most heated reaction was to a single article photo.

“Wow…”

“This is a real 인생샷 [life’s best shot; a photo that captures a perfect moment].”

“I need to change my profile picture again.”

The photo showed three people jumping together for an aerial ball: Barcelli on the left, Marcio on the right, and Yohan in the middle.

Yohan was the highest of the three, like a gold medalist at the Olympics.

“This one photo explains everything about yesterday’s game.”

“Summary in one image: Yohan destroyed Italy alone.”

It was a symbolic photo. For them, the existence of Barcelli and Marcio was absolute.

Juventus has such a huge symbolic meaning that there’s a saying that half of Italy are Juventus fans. Since Barcelli and Marcio were the core of such Juventus, the two were the pride of Italy.

But, the scene of the two of them being simultaneously defeated by Yohan was bound to be shocking to Italian fans.

Some reporters even described yesterday’s defeat as the ‘Wembley Incident’. That’s how shocking it was.

That’s how Ban Yohan’s name spread across the sea to Italy. Next was Spain’s turn. It wouldn’t be much different for those guys.

“But, if he becomes too famous, this is going to be a problem.”

“Why?”

“Now, not only teams in the same league, but the whole of Europe will be after Yohan. Juventus is one thing, but if a team like Real Madrid gets involved, it’s going to be a headache.”

It’s a proud thing that Yohan’s name is spreading widely, but there are inevitably worrying aspects. In the current soccer scene, young, big-sized strikers are hot commodities that sell for a high price as soon as they become popular.

Juventus of Italy, who suffered badly this time, or Real Madrid of La Liga, if he performs well against Spain, will also be drooling over Yohan.

Real Madrid is a mega-club and prestigious club that ranks among the top three in Europe. West Ham is too weak to protect its players from such a giant.

“Of course, playing for such a big club is also a proud thing, but…”

“Having seen our chant being sung at Wembley yesterday…”

Real Madrid is a prestigious club that any soccer player, not just Real Madrid fans, would want to play for at least once. Many players think it’s a great honor to have played for Real Madrid once. It’s that proud, but didn’t we feel it yesterday?

The moment ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’ echoed through Wembley thanks to Yohan, it was a lethal dose of West Ham pride.

Now that we’ve tasted it once, can we send Yohan somewhere else?

“In that respect, Yohan’s personality might work out well.”

“Personality?”

“Is he the type to go all the way to Spain? He’s the type who wouldn’t go because he’s too lazy to move.”

“That’s true.”

Well, we’ll have to trust Yohan.

Yohan chose a school close to home and a national team close to home. Then, a club close to home would be the best club for Yohan.

I hope that laziness doesn’t change.

“Anyway, just looking at him makes me full.”

“I’m so digested that I’m hungry.”

“Then, he’s a panacea.”

West Ham fan and Yohan’s sasaeng fan [an obsessive fan who stalks or engages in other inappropriate behavior]. Ban Seok-ho and Rohan were lost in Yohan pride and couldn’t get out.

ㆍㆍㆍ

[New Messages 99+]

“…?”

When Yohan woke up late when the sun was high in the sky, he frowned as he checked his phone. There were so many messages. He wondered who had sent so many messages.

First of all, there were messages from his family.

Ha. Replying to texts is also a chore.

Dad:

♧Things to know that will help you in life

The happiness of our lives is not far away. Happiness is always by our side, but we just pass it by without seeing it. The best of these is health. Health is like a wife who has gone through hardships with you. It means to treat it well when you have it ㅡㅡㅋ In that sense, I would like to introduce five of the most famous doctors in the world to our friends.

1. Sunshine

2. Rest

3. Exercise

4. Healthy diet

5. Confidence

★Have a happy day today.★

As always, Dad sent good quotes. He sends a salute emoticon as a reply.

Mom: Hey, those Italian guys were handsome lol

Mom: But to Mom’s eyes, our youngest is the most handsome♥♥

Mom: It was worth marrying your dad for his face lol

Mom: But the article says they call my son a super joker, what does that mean? Isn’t the Joker a villain from a movie?

Mom seems to be having fun with soccer these days. She keeps learning soccer terms from somewhere…

Dad and hyung [older brother] are enough; it’s going to be difficult if Mom does this too. He presses a shrugging emoticon.

Hyung: Yohan

Hyung: How did it feel when you turned it around and the crowd sang the West Ham chant?

Hyung: It was heaven, right?

Hyung: You were overwhelmed with West Ham pride, right? You thought you should pledge allegiance to this club for life, right?

…West Ham chant?

Ah. Yesterday, I wondered why I heard a familiar song; that was the West Ham chant. ‘I thought it was a popular song these days.’

Thinking about it that way, I feel somewhat proud. He presses a thumbs up emoticon to his brother.

“Next… Captain?”

Yohan frowns. There were dozens of messages from Captain Gordon.

Captain: My love, little guy! You proud thing!

Captain: Don’t forget you belong to West Ham! You’re a Hammer! Once a Hammer, always a Hammer!!

Captain: You know I was the one who took the best care of you when you first came to the first team, right?

Captain: You were able to adapt quickly thanks to me. Right?

“…”

When I read the messages from Gordon from the beginning, it contained the content that he watched the game well and a little bit of self-praise.

From then on:

Captain: Hey! Aren’t you reading!?

Captain: Oh? You’re ignoring the captain’s message?

Captain: Do you want to be called in for a meeting?

Captain: Just kidding… 🙁

Captain: Read it!!!!

Captain: [Photo]

Captain: [Gifticon]

Obsession… I can feel the madness. I knew this person was talkative from the beginning. Why are there so many messages like this? It’s noisy just looking at the letters. I think he had a beer because he was in a good mood.

“Hoo.”

Yohan sighed and was looking for a suitable emoticon to reply.

Knock knock-

“Yes?”

“Oh, Yohan. Can you come out for a second? It’s time for individual interviews with the players.”

“Ah… yes.”

The coaching staff called him, so he threw his phone on the bed and put on his clothes.

Because of that:

Captain: Hey! 1 disappeared but there’s no reply?

Captain: Read and ignore!?

Captain: Did you lose interest in us!

Captain: Okay. You’re comfortable playing with good guys, right?

Captain: Be happy there!!!

Captain: You’re not reading again

Captain: [Gifticon]

Only Gordon was anxious.

ㆍㆍㆍ

After 4 days of rest and training, the 4th match of the UEFA Nations League Group B group stage against Spain was held again at Wembley.

In the previous away game against Spain, England lost 1-2 and damaged their pride. Thanks to that, they also gave up the top spot in the group to Spain.

England won against Italy and became 2 wins and 1 loss, but Spain won against both England and Switzerland and drew with Italy, leading with 2 wins and 1 draw.

Therefore, in order to secure first place in the group and a direct ticket to the Euro 2028 finals, Spain was an opponent that had to be defeated.

The heat of Wembley Stadium was hot again today. England’s starting lineup was no different from the first game. In other words, Yohan starts the game on the bench again.

Spain was definitely a different style of team than Italy. If you think about it, it’s similar to England. They raise the line, focus on the midfield battle, and play the game with short passes rather than long passes. Therefore, it seemed that the game would be decided by who made fewer mistakes and played their game.

Unlike the game against Italy, the game started to flow into a shootout. Both teams raised their lines as if they had no intention of conceding, and sharp passes and thrilling shots crossed from the start, knocking on each other’s goals.

In the meantime, the main character of the first goal was Mason Maguire. Perhaps stimulated by Yohan’s performance in the last game, Maguire shook the Spanish goal with a powerful right-footed shot in the 11th minute of the first half.

But Spain didn’t just stand still. In the 25th minute of the first half, Pablo Enrique of Sevilla, the top scorer of the Champions League last season, finished off a pass from Fernando Viega, a Real Madrid midfielder, to equalize.

After that, there were several chances. Each time, the dazzling saves of both team goalkeepers came out, and the first half ended 1-1.

The second half was similar. The fierce battle between the two teams to take the lead continued, and the two teams gave and took another goal each.

In the 9th minute of the second half, Spain scored first to make a comeback. Immediately in the 13th minute of the second half, Anton Ziegler succeeded in a header from a corner kick to equalize again. So 2-2, the game is back to square one.

But with the feeling that the game would not end in a draw like this, the atmosphere was tense.

15 minutes into the second half, like in the game against Italy, super joker Yohan stepped onto the ground. However, the only difference is that this time, he was put in instead of midfielder Ian Cliff, not Maguire. Coach Lee Ranister’s trick worked again.

Yohan, who came on as a substitute, stood in Maguire’s place, and instead, Maguire went down to the attacking midfielder position, which was Ian Cliff’s place. The synergy between the two was pretty good.

Maguire put down the burden of scoring and exerted his influence as a 9.5 without regret. Thanks to such Maguire, Yohan was able to comfortably engage in siege in the box, embarrassing the Spanish defenders.

Of course, it was clear that the Spanish defenders were also top-class defenders in Europe. But, if you look at the class alone, no one surpassed Italy’s defense. Italy was also defeated by Yohan, so could Spain have stopped it?

No.

Yohan scored the winning goal in the 38th minute of the second half, with 7 minutes left in the end. Maguire transported the ball into the box with a good dribble breakthrough, and Maguire passed the ball to Yohan, taking advantage of the fact that the defenders’ attention was drawn to that side.

Yohan caught the ball in the box, and after that, there was no need to explain. Yohan calmly put the ball into the corner of the goal, and that goal soon became the winning goal.

In the end, Yohan became the main character of the winning goal in both games.

*

After the game, Yohan, who was selected as MOM [Man of the Match] in both Nations League games, had an interview. In that interview, various questions were poured out to Yohan, who had a successful national team debut.

Among them, there was also a question that slightly touched Yohan’s nerves.

“It seems that you had a particularly good chemistry with the Man City players. There are also reports that Man City manager Jose Ernesto is keeping an eye on Yohan. What do you think about this?”

In fact, the question itself was rude. I asked it in a roundabout way, but anyway, the meaning of the question was, to put it simply, ‘You’re going to go if Man City calls you, right?’

Even Yohan knew the hidden meaning of the question. Because of that, Yohan answered firmly.

“My only goal is to win the West Ham championship.”

And in response to Yohan’s answer, Stratford, London, was a sea of tears that day.