Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: FA Cup Semi-Final vs Tottenham (3)
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"Lucas!!!"
Paang—
He backheeled the ball backward, and Lucas Cruijff tumbled to the ground.
Both he and Vanderpen, who had raced alongside him, were now out of the play.
'Stay down, Lucas.'
All that was left in front of me was the goalkeeper.
And he had even rushed forward, trying to intercept Lucas Cruijff's backheel pass.
Thwoong—
...
I scooped the ball up low and lofted it over him.
Unlike field players, a goalkeeper can stretch with his hands, so I lifted it much higher.
That slowed its descent toward the goal.
Thwoong. Paang!!—
So I bypassed the keeper, let it bounce once, and finished it perfectly.
No one to bother me—just slot it into the empty net.
Chwarak—!
The crisp, satisfying sound of the ball rippling the net echoed out.
I spun around and sprinted toward the goal line beyond where Lucas had fallen.
Surprisingly, Lucas was already back on his feet, but he wasn't jumping around.
Iyaaaaaaaah!!!—
Lucas Cruijff, arms spread wide toward the stands, soaking in the cheers with his whole body.
'This guy?'
He'd stolen my celebration.
——
"Yeager, come on!"
The situation was ridiculous and hilarious, so I jogged over slowly. Only when I arrived did Lucas turn back and call for me.
"We made it perfect again this time!"
"Yeah, yeah, good job. You really showed off your speed this time."
The timing for my own celebration felt off, so I just stood next to Lucas, gazing at the roaring crowd.
"Go say hi to them too!"
With that, Lucas turned and headed back to our half first.
Thanks to him, I finally had my moment.
All eyes in the crowd on me.
Every camera pointed straight at me.
But the timing was a bit off...
So right there in front of the fans, I pressed my palms together, bowed my head, and prayed.
A bit different from the typical soccer player's prayer celebration—more solemn, a proper prayer pose.
'This celebration is dedicated to my father, the footballer Ban Yechan.'
——
These days, our Ban family dinners—now a tradition after a few months—were in full swing.
"You need a proper one already?!"
"Those things come naturally with time and get set naturally~"
"You gotta set it quick so fans can copy it!"
Today's dinner chat was all about my celebration.
I didn't have a signature one yet that screamed "Ban Yeager."
And surprisingly, my little sister Yerin was the first to point it out, insisting I needed a cool, meaningful trademark celebration.
"Fine, fine. Let's go one by one with ideas then."
"Sweet! I'll go first."
As expected, since she brought it up, she had something ready.
...
"What do you think!"
"You want me to do that...?"
"One idea per person!"
"Sigh... Okay, fine. Dad, what about you?"
"That was Dad's too?"
"Of course. If nothing comes to mind right away, tell us tomorrow."
"..."
Dad pondered deeply.
"I've got one right away."
"Oh, sounds good? Better than Yerin's, I bet."
"Eeeeek!! You haven't even heard it yet!!"
I ignored my whining sister and waited for Dad's demo.
"Hm..."
Celebrations showing religion felt a bit heavy, and anyway, I'm not religious.
"How's that? I did it all the time as a player."
"Oh, if it's from your playing days, that works."
That changed everything.
Now it felt legit—rooted in history.
——
That's why today's goal was a hat-trick.
Waaaaaaah!!!—
This was the first one—Dad's idea.
To compare the three properly, better do it before the others fade from memory.
[Oh~ Ban Yeager's debuting his first celebration!]
BbangYe explaining Ban Yeager's celebration.
But whether on purpose or not, he didn't mention if it was romantic or if he liked it.
This was basically judging time.
And Dad's celebration was competition for his own idea.
BbangYe wanted goal number two.
No—the next celebration.
——
25th minute of the first half.
Score at 2:0—a tilt where you could say the game was leaning our way.
But 65 minutes still left.
Three goals is one thing, but two? Plenty of time to dream of a comeback.
Tottenham needed to show some change.
Too early to criticize them for no goals in 25 minutes.
Conversely, their defense had leaked two in that time—big errors.
But Tottenham's backline was their best possible four: especially the center-back duo of Miki Vanderpen and Antonio Silva, one of the PL's top pairings.
Subbing a CB would make it worse, not better.
So Frank Thomas turned his eyes to the left fullback.
Both goals involved Ban Yeager and Lucas Cruijff, sure—but both came down the right.
Meaning disappointment in Destiny Udogie, the left back supposed to cover that space.
"Urgh..."
Did that mean sub him now?
"What should we do..."
Defensive tactics coach Matt Wells asked Frank.
They were mulling pulling Destiny Udogie.
"...We stick with it."
Frank Thomas chose to keep the starting lineup.
Way too early to burn subs.
Besides, Destiny Udogie had clear strengths.
——
The game restarted with Tottenham's kickoff.
If they couldn't grab at least one before halftime...
They could still win, but the second half would be brutal.
No more delaying—Tottenham parked only Vanderpen and Antonio Silva at the back, throwing everyone else forward for chances.
Even those two were creeping past midfield.
Precarious reliance on EPL speed king Vanderpen's cover.
But it let both fullbacks push high, numbers advantage, more options in build-up.
Right back Pedro Porro, with his overwhelming kicking over defense, kept whipping dangerous crosses into our box.
On the flip, left back Destiny Udogie's position was basically left winger.
His role skewed toward finishing over buildup.
186cm, 73kg—insanely solid physique for a fullback.
His physical dominance exploded occasionally.
"Block him!!!"
Thud thud thud!!!
Udogie wouldn't go down...