Field Commander - Chapter 29

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 29.

Chapter 29.

Chapter 29.

“Is it a coincidence?”

Klaus stroked his chin as he retraced the process that led to the goal.

A player who knew nothing about team tactics went in and immediately sent a long pass targeting Smith, who had the fastest feet on the team?

“Maybe he just kicked it forward and got lucky?”

The coaches watching the match offered their opinions.

In fact, that was understandable because if you weren’t paying close attention, aside from that pass, he didn’t give the impression of being active during the match.

He wasn’t actively engaging in physical battles, nor was he touching the ball frequently.

Running up and down according to offensive and defensive transitions was pretty much all he did.

From the coaches’ perspective, they had to check the condition of existing players they needed to take care of, so they might not have watched closely, but Klaus had been watching with his gaze fixed on Kim Sang-hyuk from the beginning.

‘He’s blocking all the passing lanes.’

The reason the attacks kept going to the left was definitely because of Kim Sang-hyuk, and Klaus, who rarely raised his voice during practice matches, had exceptionally shouted.

He too had charisma, so the players immediately began executing tactics, but it led to an interception and then a goal.

“Still, it really raises expectations, doesn’t it?”

Klaus, who had been listening to the coaches’ evaluations, called over Antonio, the main forward.

“Damn belly fat.”

Antonio, whose breath had reached his chin, grabbed his belly fat and gave an awkward smile.

“Try bumping bodies with that number 33.”

It was a 30-minute practice game and the outcome wasn’t that important.

“Yes.”

Antonio, perhaps thinking he needed to make up for it, answered energetically and entered the field.

The match resumed, and the B Team players, who had barely given him the ball at first, slowly started passing to Kim Sang-hyuk.

Team A, who had conceded the opening goal to a swift counter attack, lit a fire in their eyes and began high pressing, with the front forward Antonio sticking to Kim Sang-hyuk as ordered.

‘Antonio’s physicality would work even in the Bundesliga.’

However, the problem was that his other abilities besides physicality suited the 4th Division League.

If he trained a bit more seriously and made some effort, he could go to higher places…

His self-management ability was really terrible.

However, he could be a starter because he ran very diligently on the field.

I thought about using footwork to shake off Antonio, but Kim Sang-hyuk passed the ball to an open defender in the back even before Antonio could stick to him.

‘Is he the type who prefers stable methods?’

But surprisingly, number 33 didn’t lose the ball and made stable transitions.

Team B endured the pressure without mistakes for such a long time?

Klaus, who had been watching the match for 5 minutes, became curious about how far that number 33 could go.

“Pull up the line! Press more! Raise the tempo! Show the class of why you guys played as starters last season!”

The strange thing was that as the pressure intensity increased, number 33’s ball touches increased even more.

In desperate situations, players instinctively try to pass to players with good ball-keeping abilities to escape.

So that means number 33 has good feet.

Unless Team A players were idiots, they would target the passing routes going to number 33.

Jeff, who was under pressure from a fast forward, quickly processed the ball, and it went toward Kim Sang-hyuk who was far away.

The problem was that the pass was too weak.

Antonio, who had been lurking around Kim Sang-hyuk, seized the opportunity and chased after it…

Kim Sang-hyuk was already running toward the ball too.

‘Antonio is faster, but did that guy have a quicker start?’

It seemed like the interception would succeed, but by a hair’s breadth, Kim Sang-hyuk was in a position to touch the ball first.

Since Kim Sang-hyuk had been passing backward, Antonio expected him to make a direct pass to an open player and only pretended to steal the ball.

At that moment.

Kim Sang-hyuk didn’t receive the ball but let it flow while twisting his body, breaking free from Antonio’s pressure.

It was an unexpected move, so Antonio completely lost both Kim Sang-hyuk and the ball.

– Tap.

Then, maintaining his speed, he tapped the ball forward, drew in two other Team A players, and sent a sharp ground through pass to the opposite side.

All of this happened in 2 seconds, and while the defenders who had pushed up the line were turning around, Smith, who had been moving around at the front, started sprinting in sync.

With one pass across the field, Team A’s defensive line completely collapsed.

“Offside!”

If the coach hadn’t raised the flag, it would have probably created a decisive chance for Team B.

“Ah!”

Smith let out a short groan of regret and gave Kim Sang-hyuk a thumbs up.

Smith immediately realized that the pass he had given him at first was definitely not a coincidence.

“Wow…”

Exclamations leaked out from among the coaches.

Breaking free from strong pressure, drawing in even the defenders behind while timing it, then delivering such a pass was a sight not easily seen in the 4th Division League.

“That was a play that couldn’t help but fool you.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Antonio lose his pressing target and fumble around.”

“But that was his left foot just now, right?”

“Earlier it was his right foot, wasn’t it?”

Both feet capable of decisive passes?

The bench fell quiet for a moment.

Because Antonio, who was best at physical battles on the team, lost his balance under Kim Sang-hyuk’s pressure while dribbling and had the ball stolen.

Moreover, Kim Sang-hyuk protected the ball to the end and maintained his balance, but Antonio rolled on the field unsightly.

“He’s good at physical battles too?”

“His jump earlier was incredible too, right?”

“Right…”

Perhaps because of those two passes, Team A wasn’t pressing confidently but instinctively retreated, creating breathing space for Team B’s midfielders.

Kim Sang-hyuk, who had only been passing backward, poked the ball forward without any hesitation, and Team B’s attack began.

“You know what? That number 33. He plays like he’s been on this team for a long time.”

“I had that feeling too.”

“Looking at it this way, the reserve team’s stability and tactical movement seem better?”

“It can’t be that it became like that because of one player, right?”

The coaches’ voices trembled more with anticipation than bewilderment.

Everyone was excited by the unexpected performance shown by the transfer player.

‘Huh!’

Klaus crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

‘…Where did we pick up such a monster?’

Certainly, in soccer, there’s no player greater than the team.

But today he was seeing the opposite case.

* * *

‘It’s quite different from Korea, isn’t it?’

Here they actively engaged in physical dialogue.

Rather than using tricks, should I say they first collide and then continue the play?

The problem was that it was physical dialogue at a different level from Korea.

Especially the guy wearing number 9 – every time we collided, all my joints and bones tingled.

Every collision required gritting my teeth or I could end up rolling on the ground?

‘Their DNA is different from birth…’

I can roughly understand why players who are considered top-tier in Korea mostly fail to perform properly and return home once they advance to Europe.

‘If 4th division players’ physical battles are at this level… what level must the upper leagues be?’

Even I, who had been playing soccer with almost no tension, began to feel some nervousness.

However, after playing for a while, I noticed that 4th division players were generally rough and aggressive in their play.

The fundamentals that most Korean elite soccer players possess? Or delicate footwork like that – you can hardly see any of that here.

Only that bastard Gunter knows how to handle the ball and dribble a bit…

Watching the play of Player 9 who kept bothering me, he mainly enjoyed physical battles with power and speed, and his football intelligence or situational awareness wasn’t very good.

Thanks to that, I was able to deceive him throughout the match.

But this guy.

Perhaps because he didn’t like being constantly beaten by me, he started dribbling blatantly right in front of me.

In situations like this, the guy doing the dribbling is bound to be at a major disadvantage.

Since his footwork isn’t particularly good and he’s someone who goes for linear movements with strength and speed, all I need to do is apply pressure while pushing him to the sideline, then collapse his center of gravity when he tries to cut inside.

Having blocked Jang Jin-woo in high school, who I couldn’t match in physical battles, speed, or footwork, I gained some experience and luck.

Usually when you disrupt their balance they fall on their own, but this bastard is really persistent.

We ended up using our arms, grabbing, pulling, holding, and pushing each other.

But it was difficult for someone whose balance was disrupted from the start to hold on.

The guy who ended up rolling on the training ground diligently cleaned the floor with his Number 9 uniform.

‘Where do you think you’re showing off?’

I also barely maintained my balance, pushed the ball forward, then looked around.

It was near the end of the match, and perhaps because everyone was out of stamina, there were no players rushing into the opponent’s half.

Even several forwards had come down below me to defend.

“Return!”

I shouted to the midfielder who had stopped because there was nowhere to pass, then ran into the empty space on the right, and the pass came exactly where I wanted it.

‘Their ball handling is really rough, but they’re good at passing…?’

Thinking I needed to finish with a shot or something to avoid a counter attack, I was running with the ball when someone quickly stuck to my side.

Gunter.

When did this guy who had gone deep into our territory run all the way here?

I definitely have to acknowledge that he’s fast.

“You should be defending, where are you popping out from?”

Unlike Antonio who lacked defensive skills, this guy kept interfering with my path and applied pressure while pushing me to the sideline.

“Are you playing soccer with your mouth?”

“I’ll make it to the first team before you do.”

He’s definitely the best player here, but he seems to have the flaw of underestimating his opponents.

He wouldn’t know what kind of play I do, so he’s pushing forward unilaterally like this.

It was clear that I was definitely slower in speed compared to him.

But being slow doesn’t mean you can’t deceive your opponent.

Technique exists to be used in situations like this.

I momentarily killed my speed and turned backward with the outside of my right foot.

“Ugh.”

Naturally, in situations like this, the defender is at a disadvantage.

Because they have to react half a beat slower than their opponent.

He also quickly reduced his speed and cleverly blocked the left space where I could break through with his body.

‘He defends well.’

But a turn doesn’t end with just one move, does it?

I immediately poked the ball through the gap between his spread legs with my left foot, then lowered my shoulder first and put it into Gunter’s shoulder blade.

Gunter, caught by another feint, stretched out his leg with a flustered expression.

‘Foul?’

I slipped my body between his shoulder blades and gently pushed him, so he couldn’t extend his foot properly and was pushed to the side.

Even so, I briefly lost my balance after getting caught by his foot, but I didn’t fall completely.

I urgently turned my gaze.

The guy who had received my cross earlier and scored was somehow charging toward the goal post.

‘That guy is really fast too.’

I pressed my hand against the ground, twisted my waist, and swung my leg.

– Thwack!

I gave a ground pass while falling, and I saw Player 23 who was charging take a cut shot.

But it went straight to the goalkeeper, and the goalkeeper deflected the shot.

“Ah. That’s unfortunate.”

Compared to the field players, all the goalkeepers on this team seem to be above average.

But that deflected ball unluckily connected to the opposing team that was backing up.

A long pass going up from the back field in one go.

Player 9 who had been bothering me overcame the physical battle with Adam and split our goal post with a direct shot.

A movement I couldn’t expect from Park Sang-il who played at Cheongju FC.

‘Ah, I take back what I said about the level being lower than Cheongju FC.’

The match tempo was definitely faster than Cheongju FC.

Maybe it’s because everyone’s play is linear and aggressive.

If I hadn’t recklessly rushed forward, we wouldn’t have conceded such a meaningless goal.

I was kicking the innocent grass with my foot when Coach Klaus nearby approached and said.

“That was very good play. And it’s not your fault we conceded, so don’t worry about it.”

Did he read my mind?

Those words softened my emotions a bit, but conceding a goal was really disgusting and unpleasant.

“How nice. Acting above your station and rushing forward only to concede?”

Well, it seems not everyone has the same mindset as Coach Klaus.

‘I was trying to take it somewhat easy while adapting since there’s jet lag and I haven’t adapted to the tactics yet…’

I looked at Gunter who was sneering.

“So did you do well? Acting all high and mighty when you couldn’t defend and just fouled.”

“What?”

Seeing his expression as if he was grinding his teeth, I gave him the same smile back.

“You’ll make it before me? With that skill? Wake up from your dream.”

Unlike our war of words, the match ended 1-1, but the teammates who had been wary and blunt upon first meeting smiled and said a word each that I did well.

Since the first impression wasn’t bad, should I call this a fairly successful debut?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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