Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Starting Lineup - 3
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I've realized something recently.
I Must Be a Genius.
"Talk a lot, and don't forget to check your position when the pressure comes up."
"Okay, okay."
"Now, Forza then Viola. Forza-!"
"Viola-!!!"
With the thunderous roar, the kids who had been in a circle with their arms around each other's shoulders scattered to their positions.
"Hoo-"
I, too, walk towards my spot.
As always today.
The sun of Florence is hot, and the grass is green.
And I am standing right in the middle of it.
"Peeeeep-!"
As the whistle blew, the purple and sky-blue uniforms began to mix.
The grassy field, which had just been all green, was now a crimson battlefield.
In the midst of that chaos, I too began to move busily.
This is a battlefield where you die if you just stand still.
"Back!"
"Slowly, slowly!"
The match against SSC Napoli has begun.
Today, I started as the team's Second Forward. In the 4-2-3-1 formation, position 3, the one in the center.
It's called Second Forward, but today I was ordered to take an organic movement that isn't bound by position.
Sometimes like a Mezzala.
Sometimes like a Regista.
Sometimes like a Second Forward.
I also take movements to the side, try creative passes, and continuously aim for goals.
In short, it means I have a lot to do.
I respect Gino again.
Until now, I had only received comfortable instructions to just do what I think.
Gino must have always run with such roles assigned to him, so I can't help but respect him again.
Anyway, I was also told that on top of doing those roles today, I should freely judge for myself.
So it's not particularly difficult, but...
The problem is the opponent.
I understand everything about my role, but the problem is that the opponent is Napoli.
Can I really unfold my play as I want against such a strong team?
"Drop! Don't come up!"
"Going back! Quickly!"
Early in the match.
From the start, the opponent began to push up.
They raised their defensive line quite high while simultaneously applying pressure to the front.
How should I put it.
I can feel an overwhelming momentum as if they want to break our spirit in the beginning. A pressure full of hostility that I couldn't feel in training covers all directions.
The atmosphere was incomparable to the last match I entered when the tide had already turned.
However, precisely because of that, my concentration feels sharp.
Ji-woo came to watch the match again today.
She must be somewhere in the stands.
We even exchanged messages before the match.
Thanks to that, it was easy to get distracted thoughts, but since the opponent was pressuring like this, I had no leisure to look away.
Now, I am only focused on this battlefield.
"This way!"
"Go! Go!"
Our team is circulating the ball in the back.
Since the opponent is pressuring hard from the front, it looks a bit precarious.
The pressure is so fierce that it looks like we are desperately trying not to lose the ball, let alone try to build up through passes.
I heard there are few teams that can withstand that pressure.
If that situation prolongs, a long pass will inevitably come out.
More precisely, it's not a long pass but a clearance.
Not just me, but the friend who started as the Prima Puntata (Center Forward) today, Enzo Baretti, isn't tall either.
We are at a disadvantage in aerial duels.
Tatatat-!
So I go down.
I was instructed to actively go down to support if the build-up in the back is disturbed.
Now is that time.
I go down along the right half-space, sensing the opponent's pressure range and rhythm.
At a glance, the opponent's pressure looks quite perfect, but if you look closely, there is a gap.
You must not be deceived by their momentum. Napoli's pressure was clearly not moving as one body, and I positioned myself in the space behind the one who was out of rhythm.
"Hey-!"
When I shouted, I could see our team's defenders making eye contact with each other.
Training is done for times like this.
The defenders, who finished communication with a brief exchange of glances, executed the pass work they had practiced.
Paang-!
Paang-!
The pass that barely avoided the pressure came to me.
The guy who should have been holding this position had gone too deep on his own, so I was standing alone in the space.
Thanks to that, I received the pass comfortably.
And,
Tatatat-!
I immediately turned and drove the ball towards the front.
I learned that a quick attack transition is the most fatal to opponents applying front pressure.
There is no reason to hold the ball in our zone for long. I run along the right half-space while checking both sides simultaneously.
Bwoooooooooo-!
I blasted a long pass to the left.
The opponent's spacing is tight. But because of that, they expose quite a large space on the side.
Since I had already analyzed this fact, I was able to make a quick decision easily.
To be honest, the defender who ran straight at me looked scary, so that was a bit scary too.
Paang-!
As I confirmed my pass connected perfectly, I ran towards the front.
I ran while simultaneously checking the movement of the friend who received the ball, Bruno, and the opponent's defense's reaction.
Bruno, who caught the ball in a wide space, dragged the ball near the box and then showed a movement trying to take on the opponent's fullback one-on-one.
The moment I confirmed that intention,
Tatatat-!
I instantly increased my speed and ran into the box. I planned to penetrate the left side of the box.
Bruno, the left winger, is right-footed.
Because of that, he usually enjoys cutting inside and shooting in this situation.
It's a movement to help that.
If I pull one defender deep into the box, the shooting angle opens up more.
Bruno, who was looking at the angle while slowly facing the opponent, seemed to have read my movement as well,
Tatat-!
He cut inside and took a crossing movement with me.
And,
Bwoooooooooo-!
He shot immediately.
A curled shot aiming for the far post, but...
Shwooooooong-
"Ah!"
The under-rotated shot went over the goal.
It became an attack with a good process but a disappointing result.
"Sorry, sorry."
Bruno, who took the shot, raised his hand to his teammates and signaled an apology,
"Good!"
He gave me a thumbs up.
I answered him back and ran towards our zone.
At the same time, I could hear the shouts of our midfielders.
"Come back! Get in position!"
"Match the line! Defend!"
As I ran towards my defensive position, I suddenly thought this.
Just because the opponent is Napoli... I don't think I need to be that scared.
If I just stay sharp, I feel like I can at least fulfill my role.
It was thanks to that play just now.
I just have to do what I practiced.
"Match the spacing, spacing!"
I started to immerse myself deeper in the game.
"We need to go faster! Faster!"
"Call a bit more!"
"Let's do it with confidence! With confidence!"
When I came to my senses, the time had already passed the 30th minute of the first half.
Time had passed so quickly that it made me wonder, 'Already?'. It seemed because a situation where I couldn't afford to loosen my tension for even a moment had continued.
"Hoo-"
Napoli was definitely a strong opponent.
At the beginning of the match, I thought I could win easily, but I realized 5 minutes later that was an arrogant thought.
Perhaps feeling that they had allowed the first shot too easily, the opponent began to show a more focused appearance.
A stronger pressure suppressed us.
We couldn't respond appropriately to it, got trapped, and exposed a crisis a few times with mistakes in the back build-up process.
To be honest, I was a bit flustered.
It wasn't because I couldn't do my play.
It's a bit awkward to evaluate myself, but anyway, I was continuing the game without a mistake.
I was flustered because of the kids on my team.
How should I put it.
A sense of disparity?
I'm not sure if this is the right term to use in this situation, but anyway, I felt something like that.
Watching our team kids struggling against the opponent's pressure, making mistakes, and not being able to do their plays.
The kids on my team that I know kick the ball well.
Much more than me.
Until not long ago, I was the one wandering in the bench group. Even though I'm lucky to be on the same field now, it means that until not long ago, these kids were a distant existence to me.
And those kids are struggling.
Meanwhile, I am thinking that this level is manageable.
It was a bit confusing.
Have I gotten too immersed in acting like a genius?
"Give it forward!"
"Raise the line!"
Anyway.
It wasn't time to have miscellaneous thoughts.
I saw our team's defense cutting off the opponent's pass. At the same time, I went down, and the ball was naturally passed to me.
Instead of taking that ball and turning,
Paang-!
Paang-!
I exchanged a one-two pass, shook off one guy, and started to advance.
I kept driving the ball and checking the front, but the teammates I needed to see were nowhere to be found.
Everyone's reaction was late, and their penetrations were late.
I thought about taking a beat and waiting for my teammates to get into their positions, but...
With a strange confidence that suddenly came to me, I didn't stop dribbling and kept running.
Somehow, I felt confident that I could finish this myself right now.
I've finally gone crazy.
Tatatat-!
I run straight along the right half-space.
At the same time, I check the front to find a vulnerable spot.
Perhaps because I've been playing mainly with passes so far, I see the defense spreading out wide.
I thought I needed to penetrate in a straight line.
I already have speed.
I judged it would be better to use this speed to go fast and quick, rather than playing unnecessary tricks.
I see one midfielder blocking my path. But to me, who already has speed, it's no different from a training cone.
Tatatat-!
I slightly change direction and get past him.
Then I blast the ball straight again to close the distance to the box.
Now the defenders are narrowing in on me.
I drive in with a desperate heart, thinking I must pass before that door closes.
Can I get through?
Tatatat-!
I learn once again that if you are desperate, nothing is impossible.
I quickly passed through the defenders and penetrated into the box.
The right side of the goal.
I see the goalkeeper sticking to the near post to narrow the angle.
After confirming that movement, I exhaled deeply and ran towards the ball.
And I pulled my right leg back,
Bwoooooooooo-!
I shot right away.
Swaaaaaah-
My shot went low towards the far post. After confirming that, the world started spinning.
Because I put my full body weight into the shot while having speed, my body floated up and I had to roll on the ground.
I rolled maybe once or twice.
I supported myself with my hands and got up, lifting my head.
I saw our team kids running towards me, shouting.
The ball had gone in.
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I've realized something recently.
I Must Be a Genius.