Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 6

< 005. Tryouts >

“Okay. You two in the center. You two cover the sides. Anyone here can play striker?”

“Me!”

“I can too!”

“I’ve been a striker since I was a kid!”

Before the practice match.

Time to decide on positions.

At the coach’s question, the kids all raise their hands.

As expected, the most popular position among the young players is striker.

The flower of soccer is the goal, and the striker, the position that scores those goals, is the object of envy.

Of course, that’s why the striker is also the most important position.

‘Hmm…’

The coach strokes his chin, looking at the kids who raised their hands to be strikers.

I don’t know.

When he checked the evaluations of the kids who raised their hands, there wasn’t really anyone he wanted to put in the striker position.

There was someone else he wanted to entrust with the striker position.

“What about you?”

“…I can do it.”

“Really? Good. Then, number 61. You’ll be the striker.”

“Yes.”

Participant number 61, Yo Han.

The coach assigned Yo Han to the striker position,

and Yo Han soon became the focus of the children’s attention.

The kids knew it too.

That Yo Han’s level was different.

Everyone had seen Yo Han taking the test.

This test was a relative evaluation.

A game where you have to do better than the guy next to you to get picked.

So, even though they’re on the same team, they can’t help but give Yo Han a look of jealousy.

Even,

there were kids who spoke quite honestly.

“Hey, friend, how old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“Really? Then you still have plenty of time. This *hyung* [older brother or male friend] is eighteen, okay? Please pass to me a lot.”

“Hey, I’m eighteen too. Ask me too.”

The kids pat Yo Han on the shoulder, asking him to pass to them a lot.

They want to stand out more and be the main character.

However,

who will that ultimately make stand out?

That was something they would know after playing the game.

*

Yo Han’s determination for the game was simple.

To prove that his brother’s failure was just bad luck.

In other words, to prove instead that the blood flowing through his family is by no means terrible.

‘It’s already making my chest tight, though.’

He was prepared, but Yo Han couldn’t help but feel his chest tightening.

He was glad that it was 60 minutes instead of 90 minutes in the first and second half.

Having to mingle with about 20 kids for that long was annoying.

This is what he ran away from, but he’s coming back on his own two feet.

But there’s nothing he can do.

Once he’s started, he has to close his eyes and do this game properly for his brother.

“Beeeep-!”

The game started.

The game started with a kick-off by Team B, to which Yo Han belonged.

“Going back! Watch out!”

“Pass it to the side!”

Team A, the opposing team, started to put strong pressure from the start.

A front press that shows their will to take the ball away as quickly as possible.

It’s a natural pressure since everyone has to be active in the game.

Under such pressure, the Team B defenders are flustered and create precarious scenes while turning the ball around.

There’s no way kids who are seeing each other for the first time today can have proper teamwork.

So, it’s almost impossible to break through the pressure and develop an attack with organic passing play.

Because of that,

“Ugh!”

Ppeoeoeoeong-!

A defender kicked the ball forward.

More like a clearance to get rid of the ball than a long pass to the front.

But,

the side that high ball is heading towards was where Yo Han was standing.

“Take it with your head!”

“Don’t give him space!”

In the gap where the ball floated high, the kids rushed to the landing point.

A chaotic situation where five people rush at one aerial ball at the same time.

Four of them were Team A players, and only Yo Han was a Team B player.

It was a situation where it looked like Team A would take the ball.

However,

Taaat-

Paang-!

Contrary to expectations, it was Yo Han who took the ball with too much ease.

Exactly 185 centimeters, the height he measured exactly one month ago on his 16th birthday.

Furthermore, Yo Han, who can jump higher than any other kid if he puts his mind to it, had no difficulty taking the aerial ball.

Even though four opposing players were pushing him roughly and jumping with him.

“Take it away!”

“Push!”

“Put your legs in, your legs!”

Anyway, he managed to take the ball like that,

but the problem is what comes next.

Four people surrounded Yo Han, who had the ball.

Yo Han isolated in an instant.

In this case,

it’s common for teammates to come over to help him out of the siege.

But,

“Hey! Over here!”

“I’m free! Give it to me!”

The Team B kids didn’t even come close to Yo Han, they just stood far away and raised their hands asking for a pass.

Since the defense was focused on Yo Han, a vacant space was naturally revealed.

Everyone was only thinking of infiltrating that vacant space.

So,

even if Yo Han took the ball, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before he lost the ball again due to the opponent’s cooperation.

But, this time again, the result was completely unexpected.

“Ugh!”

“Eek!”

Like a dump truck breaking through the guardrails and crossing the center line.

The defenders scattered in all directions, and Yo Han dribbled the ball through the gap.

It was an amazing physique.

A figure that overwhelms rather than being pushed back even in a one-on-many fight.

The kids who were pushed over by Yo Han looked at the referee with an unfair expression,

“…”

The referee didn’t even look at them and continued the game.

It wasn’t a foul at all.

If Yo Han was at fault, it was only that he was much bigger than the *hyungs* [older male peers] at the age of 16.

“Hurry up and give it to me!”

“Here! Here!”

As Yo Han broke through the opponent’s defense, the kids became even more agitated.

Everyone is in a hurry.

Since all the defense is focused on Yo Han, everywhere is a wasteland, so it’s understandable.

‘Let’s see.’

Yo Han dribbled the ball with his feet and identified the positions of the kids who were clamoring for the ball.

When I was young.

Yo Han had quite a bit of experience playing in games because of his dad.

At that time, Yo Han always remembered being scolded by his dad.

Everything was good, but he didn’t run enough.

It was obvious.

Because he was too lazy to run, he walked around for most of the game time.

But,

that’s why his skills have improved steadily.

It was passing.

‘The two on the left and center have crossed the offside line.’

Passing was the best option for Yo Han because he didn’t have to run and he could get rid of the ball, which only caused trouble if he had it.

‘Right.’

Thanks to this, Yo Han’s vision and passing technique were considerable, unlike a striker.

Even now,

Yo Han, who had grasped the positions of all the front teammates and opposing defenses in a short time of about 1 second,

Ppeoeoeoeong-!

flew a lobbing through pass towards the best option.

The quality of that lobbing through was,

Shuuuuuung-

Tuoong-!

It was a masterpiece.

Height.

Trajectory.

Speed.

Strength and even rotation.

Yo Han’s lobbing through, which dropped into the space behind the defense towards the infiltrating teammate, was perfect.

With that one pass,

“Wow.”

“Gorgeous!”

“What is it? It’s not like he’s only played once or twice?”

Exclamations erupted from the sidelines.

It was the coaches who were watching the game who uttered the exclamations.

Number 61, who had already stood out from his physique to his skills in handling the ball.

Number 61, who was better than the academy players based on the previous test alone.

However,

the coaches thought that he wouldn’t be able to show that much sparkle in the game, of course.

It was a natural story.

There was no way that unaffiliated kids would have a better sense of the game than academy players playing in league games.

But.

“He’s no joke.”

“His physique, his vision. Even that kick he just passed was perfect.”

“Where did that thing pop out from?”

The scene that number 61 showed strongly hit the back of the coaches’ heads who thought so.

Of course,

It was just one scene.

It was also a possible scene because the kids playing together were also unaffiliated amateurs.

But even considering all that.

Number 61 in that scene was enough to create the illusion of seeing Harry Kane, who had been England’s undisputed top striker for the past 10 years.

“Wohoooo! Come on! It’s me, baby!”

Yo Han’s pass immediately led to a goal.

The guy who scored the goal screams like crazy and celebrates.

He seemed to think that he had succeeded in attracting the attention of the coaches by scoring the first goal.

Other kids also looked at that guy with envious eyes.

However,

Unfortunately for that guy, the coaches’ eyes were still on number 61, Yo Han.

The goal went in because the pass was perfect.

The coaches weren’t even paying attention to the guy who scored the goal.

The coaches were just,

what kind of play Yo Han would show next.

That’s all they were curious about.

*

At the end of the first half, the score was 3 to 3.

Yo Han’s stats in the first half were 3 assists.

But, in fact, it was the first half where he could have raised 3 more assists.

If only the other kids hadn’t spit out Yo Han’s honey pass.

Almost all of Team B’s attacks started from Yo Han’s feet, and each one was sharp.

Looking at the first half alone, it was clear to anyone that the best player on the field was Yo Han, and it seemed like he had already secured a pass even if he didn’t play in the second half.

But,

there was one disappointing part.

“But I still want to see it.”

“What? Shooting?”

“Yeah. That friend hasn’t taken a single shot yet.”

“Hmm. His kicking power shouldn’t be lacking. Is he not confident in his shot?”

It was shooting.

During the first half, Yo Han did not take a single shot.

Of course,

“Well, it seems like it would be okay even if it’s at an average level, or a little below average. Because the other parts are so outstanding.”

Even so, it didn’t matter much because he showed excellence in other areas.

Still, as a striker position.

The coaches were hoping to see at least one shot.

The reason why Yo Han didn’t shoot was,

It was because passing was a less annoying method than shooting.

Going all the way to the penalty box himself and taking a shot, or infiltrating here and there to receive a good pass.

In order to take a shot, you inevitably have to go through an annoying process.

For that reason, Yo Han couldn’t find a reason to shoot.

However,

‘Hmm…’

The second half started.

About 15 minutes had passed out of the 30 minutes.

“Ooh yeah!”

“Good!”

When the opponent’s come-from-behind goal exploded.

The story at that time was a little different.

‘What is everyone doing.’

He was still creating chances like in the first half.

But, perhaps because everyone was too motivated.

They couldn’t connect even easy chances to goals.

Of course, it’s a personal evaluation, so the game result may not be that important, but it’s better to win than lose for the evaluation, right?

Slowly, Yo Han was starting to feel the need to change the pattern.

‘But I’m not going to do anything annoying.’

However, Yo Han had no intention of doing the annoying things he mentioned earlier.

Like dribbling to the front of the goalkeeper or infiltrating towards the vacant space.

But he had to score a goal.

Then,

there was only one way.

Ppeoeoeoeong-!

Shuuuuung-

As always, the long ball heads to Yo Han.

Already through the first half, the kids knew that the easiest way was to pass it to Yo Han unconditionally.

Yo Han easily takes that long ball.

Now, not many defenses are rushing in.

Because Yo Han has never given up the ball in numerous competitive situations.

Since they know they can’t win anyway, they can’t even think of rushing in.

Instead, the defenses were positioned as if they were going to block the pass, keeping their distance from Yo Han.

Yo Han kept stabbing threatening passes, so that was natural too.

But.

No one would have thought that Yo Han would change the pattern at this time.

Seureureuk-

Yo Han pushed and rolled the ball with the soles of his feet.

And,

Tatat-

After taking a run-up of about two steps towards the ball,

Wheeik-!

He pulled his right foot back greatly.

He was thinking of hitting it as it is without having to do anything annoying.

A mid-range shot.

“From there?”

“He’s shooting?”

The coaches’ pupils widened greatly, wondering if it was possible.

It was a considerable distance.

At least 30 meters to the goal.

It was a distance that would be burdensome for even average adult players to take a direct shot.

But.

It was nothing to Yo Han.

What increased because he was too lazy to run wasn’t just passing.

Ppeoeoeoeoeong-!

Shooting was the same.