Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 45

< 044. There is Compatibility >

“Wow…”

When Yo-Han scored, Ernesto was smiling.

Smiling even though his team conceded a goal?

Of course, it was also because he couldn’t even imagine losing today’s game just because they conceded one goal that he could smile.

However, anyone who knew Ernesto well would have been quite surprised to see that smile.

The perfectionist Ernesto was a manager who would berate the players even if they were winning 5-0 and conceded just one goal.

But Ernesto was smiling.

It was a smile that came from pure admiration.

‘Diaz, Blake. Both are in the top five in terms of speed in our team.’

Ernesto had directly adjusted the positions of Diaz and Blake during the corner kick situation.

Instructing them to wait a little further back than usual.

He could tell that’s what needed to be done just by looking at the first corner kick.

If they were positioned a little further forward as usual, he could tell that a dangerous situation would definitely arise just by seeing Yo-Han running towards the ball during the first corner kick.

They positioned themselves as humbly as possible.

However, was even that arrogant thinking?

Diaz and Blake couldn’t catch up to Yo-Han at all.

The explosive power coming from his tall height, long legs, stable core, and beautiful posture made him seem more like a track and field athlete than a soccer player.

It was a purely beautiful sprint.

And what about the finish?

In fact, a 1-on-1 chance with the goalkeeper is indeed a situation where the attacker is incredibly advantageous.

But that’s also why it’s a burdensome chance. Like a penalty shootout. It’s the goalkeeper’s position where they have nothing to lose even if they don’t block it, and it’s the attacker’s position where they become a fool if they don’t score.

Especially for young players, they can’t help but feel that burden more greatly, and it’s difficult to maintain composure in front of the goal.

But Yo-Han’s finish looked so easy.

The ball stuck to his feet even while dribbling at full speed. Seeing Eduardo rushing out to narrow the angle, he lightly bypassed him just by changing direction while maintaining his speed with composure.

It was the most ideal finish an attacker could show in a 1-on-1 situation with the goalkeeper.

‘It was beautiful.’

Ernesto aimed for beautiful soccer. To the point where his philosophy was that a victory without substance was not recognized as a victory.

Ernesto, who also had the nickname of an aesthetician of the soccer world, couldn’t help but smile at that beautiful scoring scene.

Even if he was the opposing team’s attacker.

‘Until this season…’

Of course, Ernesto thought that would only be until this season.

That he was on the ‘opposing team’.

Clearly, Ernesto knew that Yo-Han had signed a contract renewal with West Ham at the start of this season.

Of course, they must have set an enormous buyout clause [a specific amount a player’s contract can be bought out for].

But what does that matter? It’s Man City.

It’s about both money and honor.

‘The completion of utopia…’

Ernesto wanted to get Yo-Han at all costs.

Because of that,

“Coach Leto.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“Raise the line further.”

“Pardon?”

“Tell them to be more aggressive.”

“Ah, understood.”

He wanted to see more.

His true worth.

*

“Looks like they’re going for a shootout.”

“Hmm…”

Coach Jamie said, watching the heated game after Yo-Han’s equalizer, and Manager Schmidt nodded.

Man City seemed to have made a decision for sure.

Rather than being afraid of Yo-Han tearing through the backspace and preparing for it, they would rather ignore it and overwhelm them with firepower, that kind of nuance.

“Spacing! Spreading out! Don’t waver!”

Honestly, that was the scariest thing.

‘Man City coming out aggressively’ that is.

Could there be a team that can overwhelm this team with firepower? Not just within the PL [Premier League], but even if you expand the scope to Europe, you could count them on your fingers.

No, depending on their condition that day, there might not be any at all. Considering the peak of the soccer they play, Man City was a team without weaknesses.

But strangely, I wasn’t very afraid today.

Rather, good. You want to try? Okay. Let’s try.

Let’s have a proper go, no matter who wins.

I felt like that.

Of course, there was also the reason that it was okay to lose, good to draw, and a jackpot to win.

However, more than that, it was more because I thought it would be worth trying to go up against them like that.

That was, of course, because of Yo-Han.

What can withstand Man City’s firepower is not a thick defense or the players’ fighting spirit.

It was only the firepower that Yo-Han was emitting alone.

In other words, perhaps West Ham is the only team in Europe that can survive a firepower battle with Man City.

Because West Ham is the only team that has Yo-Han.

Anyway, in order to show that kind of firepower, the first thing to do is

To take Man City’s firepower with our bodies first.

After all, they have the initiative.

Paang-

Paang-!

Man City easily passes through the midfield with their unique one-touch short passes, aiming to enter the box.

Today, Jonathan Naison and Jacob Buckley barely touched the ball.

They are pressing, but they are not intercepting the ball at all.

At the center of that was Jack Price.

Price, who was already in top condition today, was definitely stimulated.

Yo-Han’s appearance of placing the ball on the halfway line after scoring the equalizer felt like a provocation.

As if to say, take responsibility for what you said.

That’s right.

No matter how much a guy with no skill runs his mouth, he can’t make people angry.

They would just ignore him, saying, ‘What’s wrong with that idiot?’

However, the reason why Price is incurring the wrath of West Ham fans is definitely because he has the skill.

It’s annoying to hear him run his mouth, but he’s even good at it. Everyone wants someone to teach that guy a lesson, but there’s no player who can do that, so they get even more angry.

Tata tat-!

Since they had already conceded a goal from Price’s long-range shot, the West Ham defenders’ attention was focused on Price as he broke into the center.

However, that was what Price was aiming for,

Pa a a ang-!

Price, who had changed direction from the front of the arc to the right side, cut a diagonal pass.

A through pass that stabs into Araujo, who is going behind the defense on the right.

Petrovic’s response was a step late.

Araujo was definitely fast, so Petrovic, who thought he was late, belatedly threw his body, but Araujo folded it once there, perfectly opening the left-footed shooting angle.

However, Araujo’s choice after that was not a shot. It was a light pass to Price, who was coming in.

Man City’s trademark, a quick passing play that takes the souls out of the defenders.

Paang-

Ppeo eo eo eong-!

Cheolseok-!

In fact, running your mouth before revealing your hand means that you are confident.

Price was showing the basis of that confidence. Two goals in the 28th minute of the first half.

Price celebrated again this time, and received even bigger jeers than the cheers that erupted when he scored the equalizer.

But.

‘…Not yet.’

Price smiled, checking Yo-Han’s expression after placing the ball on the halfway line again.

His expression hadn’t changed.

It’s about time he felt a sense of reality.

Could it be that he still thinks it’s worth a try?

‘Stubborn.’

Price smirked.

*

The first half ended 1-2.

It wasn’t a bad score.

Anyway, the fact that they somehow endured that offensive and blocked it with 2 points.

However, there was still a long time left in the second half, 45 minutes.

And, the aspect of the second half began to flow no differently from the first half.

Man City didn’t need to change the flow of the first half,

West Ham had nothing to change.

In other words, the flow of raising the guard to the end and being beaten all the time continued.

“…It’s hard.”

“Well, it’s not like we didn’t expect it. Rather, we’re holding out better than I thought.”

“But it still looks difficult…”

They are barely holding on.

The West Ham fans are gradually losing strength as they see the goal about to open at any moment.

It’s true that they are holding out better than expected, but it seemed like the time was coming to empty their minds.

Yeah. Well, it’s okay to lose. The opponent is Man City.

With this feeling.

That was a natural thing.

The possession rate is over 3 to 7, the number of shots is also overwhelming, and the passes are not even a game.

Unless there is a lot of luck, it was hard to see any chance to wiggle.

But, that luck.

It seemed like that luck was coming at an unexpected time.

Ppeo eo eo eong-!

Shu u u ung-

Ta a a ang-!

“Oh, shit!”

“Wow, I thought we were going to concede…!”

It was the goalpost.

Twice at that.

In the 8th minute of the second half, Price’s shot hit the goalpost, and in the 16th minute, Araujo’s shot hit the goalpost once again.

The goalpost had saved them twice from shots that would have been conceded.

The atmosphere in the stadium began to feel strange from that moment.

What can change the atmosphere and flow of the game at once is a goal.

But, even if it’s not as much as a goal, what changes the atmosphere is that the goal that should have gone in doesn’t go in.

Man City’s two goalpost hits definitely made the flow of the game strange.

For the first time since the game started, the flow began to shift towards West Ham.

Of course, even though they had seized the flow, it wasn’t like West Ham could push Man City to the point of embarrassment.

It was just that the opponent’s front pressure, which had been pushing them all the time, had become a little looser, and that the ball circulation was somewhat possible in the back or near the half-line, that was all.

Even so, their stamina had melted away from blocking Man City’s offensive.

There were scenes where passes to Yo-Han were missed repeatedly even though they were easy passes.

However, the important thing was that only one person was still saving his stamina close to full.

Ppeo eo eo eong-!

Shu u u ung-

Tu ung-!

Gordon’s lobbed pass fell deeply to the right side of Man City’s box.

In fact, it was an absurd pass miss.

Because his legs were shaking, he missed the ball and kicked it in the wrong direction from where Yo-Han was.

Because of that, Gordon shouted sorry as soon as he kicked the ball.

However, that wasn’t important to Yo-Han.

“…”

John Blake approached the ball rolling towards the goal line, glanced back, and thought.

‘I need to take some of his strength out.’

Yo-Han was running from far away.

I know that he’s not the type to run to save even dead balls like that.

He must be in a hurry.

So, I was thinking of using that to take some of his strength out.

Because of that, Blake deliberately slowed down and let the ball roll as it was.

It was a ball that would roll straight to the goal line if left untouched.

If I just block the guy running from behind with my body, I can take away his stamina and buy some time to stop the opponent’s flow.

However, there was something Blake had overlooked.

He didn’t have a chance to bump into Yo-Han because he didn’t get the ball often, so he didn’t know yet.

How much of a physical beast Yo-Han is.

Of course, he looks strong on the outside, so I could guess that he would be strong.

But the problem is, Yo-Han’s actual strength far exceeds the level that Blake had estimated.

Peo eo eo eok-!

I wouldn’t have known if Blake had just blocked the path.

Because then Yo-Han would have been fouled for coming in from behind.

However, Blake also had an action of putting his body in to block Yo-Han.

In the end, it was as if the two had bumped into each other equally.

So,

“Keueok!”

It wasn’t a situation where a foul could be given even if Blake fell ridiculously.

Chwa a a a-!

It was a rare scene.

Yo-Han saved the ball by throwing his body.

It was a scene that everyone was seeing for the first time, and perhaps a scene that they might not see again after today.

Anyway, Yo-Han, who saved the ball, dribbled the ball into the box without delay.

It was a sudden situation, but

Still, there was no angle.

Because he went in almost along the goal line.

So shooting is impossible.

“…”

Yo-Han’s gaze was directed towards the back, as if to grasp the position of his teammates running in.

Goalkeeper Eduardo caught that.

Because of that, Eduardo took his left hand off the goalpost.

That is, he expected a cutback or a cross to go up.

However, Yo-Han also did not miss that.

Ppeo eo eo eo eo eong-!

There was definitely no angle.

However, it was enough for Yo-Han to have only a needle hole.

Because even if you force a needle hole, it will go in.

Shu u u u ung-

The shot, which was strongly hit with the outside of his foot, curved into the near post, and goalkeeper Eduardo was caught in reverse motion and knelt down on one knee.

Cheolseok-!

“Waaaaaaaaat-!”

Everyone knew that Yo-Han didn’t need creative passes that no one expected, or killer passes that evoked admiration.

Everyone knew that the best pass for Yo-Han was just to put it accurately under his feet.

But, one fact that even West Ham teammates and fans didn’t know yet.

To ‘Yo-Han in a pissed off state’, even an absurd miss pass can become a plausible pass.

That’s how Yo-Han matched the balance once again.

*

Yo-Han’s second goal was shocking in many ways.

To Man City, and to West Ham.

It was natural for Man City to be shocked because they had conceded a goal in a situation where they shouldn’t have conceded at all.

On the other hand, it was a fresh shock to West Ham.

‘That kid…’

Yo-Han’s appearance of running to the end towards the outgoing ball.

The older brothers know better than anyone that he’s not the type to do that.

However, seeing Yo-Han doing that much, they had no choice but to straighten their shaking legs even by force.

The youngest, who was so lazy, is doing that much.

I can’t give up as older brothers.

It was an equalizer that he had painstakingly created thanks to not giving up.

“Let’s protect it. That way, we can see his face proudly.”

“If we concede again, we really don’t deserve it.”

“I’ll have to bring a baseball bat to the next training session. And stand in a line and get a line drive from the kid.”

If we can’t protect this, we really have no face to see Yo-Han. They were players who already had some sense of inferiority.

But, if they show their limits even here, they will really feel a great sense of self-reproach.

So, for his sake and for their own sake.

There should be no more goals.

Ah, one more thing.

“I can’t see that bastard running wild again either.”

“This opportunity won’t come again. An opportunity to laugh at that bastard in front of his eyes.”

Even if it’s just because I want to see that Jack betrayer kneel for the first time.

Let’s endure somehow.

With that thought, the eyes of the West Ham players began to burn brightly.

“Bite your teeth!”

“Anyone who has the strength to walk after the game will die to me!”

“Come on, let’s go to the end!”

It was natural for Man City to become impatient when they were tied.

Because of that, their attack became even more intense than in the first half.

However, the West Ham players were also exerting superhuman strength.

I was even grateful to Price.

For saying those words before the game.

Maybe if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have run this much.

But, his words became a stimulus and the West Ham players literally used all their strength to block Man City’s offensive.

And,

That’s how time passed and it was already 90 minutes and it was extra time [added time at the end of a match to compensate for stoppages].

“Bbi i ik-!”

Man City was the one who seized the last chance.

Man City gets a corner kick at the point when more than half of the 3 minutes of extra time has passed.

They can’t be satisfied with a draw as it is, and since it’s the last attack anyway, almost all the players gather in the box.

The only ones left behind are Yo-Han, two fullbacks, and the goalkeeper.

The moment when this one corner kick can decide today’s long game.

Ppeo eo eo eong-!

Price’s kick came up, and

Pa a a ang-!

The ball that West Ham’s center back Lucas Simone headed out bounces to the side of the box.

The one who caught that ball was Gordon, who was standing there to prevent the corner kick from being connected shortly.

Gordon is,

Ppeo eo eo eo eo eong-!

Without even looking, he hit the ball towards the front.

And,

Shu u u u u ung-

Gordon roughly watched the ball fly,

Without even watching it to the end, he turned his back.

Then he started walking step by step.

It was to Price.

Gordon, who stood in front of Price, raised his arms and started laughing like crazy.

“Ha ha ha ha!”

Without even seeing who caught the ball he had cleared, Gordon was celebrating in advance.

The reason why you can act like you won before revealing your hand is because you are confident.

Just like Price had been running his mouth since before the game because he was confident, Gordon was also celebrating in advance because he was confident.

And,

After a while.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaak-!”

Along with the sound of the goal net shaking, the London Stadium began to cause an earthquake.

It was the sound of the Man City battleship sinking.