La Liga Debut. (2)
'Easy. So easy.'
Is football really this easy? The emotion I felt while breaking away from the ceremony and heading back to our side.
Just because running is fast, you can score so easily? The reality that I've struggled so hard to play football for over ten years in this world hit me hard.
As with everything else, doing things simply is always the best.
A kill pass from the back to the front. A simple ball touch to beat the defender, then sprinting to the goal and shooting.
I've never been able to do something this simple until now...
Of course, my current skill is better than it was at the time of my death. After ten years of only kicking the ball, no other training. If I returned to my previous life with this level of skill, I could probably achieve five consecutive Champions League titles.
Even if my football skill had improved beyond my past life, this goal was simply because my main player was faster than the opponent's main defender, so the shock was unavoidable.
“Ryu, that was a great goal!”
Feeling that shock while returning to the field, Lucia who had given me a wonderful assist approached me with a happy expression, completely unaware of my speed. Just like every other player, scoring an attacking point felt really good, and Lucia's expression was quite happy because I had connected her pass to an attacking point.
“Lucia's pass was really good. It was just a simple touch and it was taken away?”
“Haha, hearing you say 'taken away' from your mouth feels weird?”
And she threw out a joke as usual. Unlike her somewhat elegant appearance, Lucia loved such low-class jokes. In my previous life, people who made such jokes were unpopular with the opposite sex but popular with the same sex, and even excluding football skill, they had a style that made them popular among players.
'No way, with a face like Lucia's, she should be popular with the opposite sex too? Right, since she's a football player, it doesn't matter anyway.'
Anyway, hearing such jokes while maintaining the image I was pursuing was impossible, so when Lucia made those jokes, I would laugh inwardly. I liked that about Lucia. What can I say? It felt like I didn't care whether she was male or female?
Honestly, among the teammates, there were some who were overly conscious of the fact that I was male, so I rather liked this kind of Lucia.
Of course, throwing such jokes at other male players besides me would be grounds for sexual harassment lawsuits, but...
“Lucia...”
Of course, I had no intention of suing Lucia, but I called her name to remind her to be careful with her manner of speaking.
“Ah, sorry. I sometimes forget that you're a guy. How is it that a player who scores such a great goal is a guy?”
“...You know that's a dangerous statement, right?”
“Haha, is that so? Anyway, well done. Kid.”
“My height is taller than Lucia's, though?”
“That's why you're called a kid, Ryu. Anyway, it was a great goal. I'll ask you for another one next time.”
“Yes, I'll do my best to score.”
“...chu~”
Lucia, as if she had something on her mind, burst into laughter and returned to her position. I couldn't guess what she was thinking, but one thing was clear: this play had left a mark on Lucia.
From pre-season training up until before Olympiacos, there was a feeling that she liked my play, and this play seemed to have confirmed it.
Well, it was a bit humorous, like a certain type? Anyway, it felt that way, but since she was a skilled player, showing her my play wasn't bad. No, it was always good to be noticed by Lucia.
Lucia was a homegrown talent who had been playing for Barcelona since 2002, a player who led the peak of the 2000s with two Ballon d'Ors. Her status in the team was higher than even the coach, or perhaps even the president, so if I got close to Lucia, there was no way I would be sent to the reserves for any unreasonable reason.
'And since we're at it...'
And I looked at another player I needed to get close to, besides Lucia. The target was Albaria, who had told me today that she wanted a wonderful pass from me.
Albaria was also a player who had appeared on the Ballon d'Or podium and the Player of the Year podium multiple times, and since she was the player responsible for the team's attack, if I left a mark on Albaria after Lucia, there was almost no chance I would go to the reserves.
No, if I could win the hearts of the two players, it didn't seem like it would take long to secure a starting spot.
Because those two players were the core of the team's core.
'Then for the remaining matches, I'll focus passes on Albaria and try to build some favorability.'
Currently, it was the 15th minute of the first half. There was still quite a bit of time left to focus passes on Albaria. I wanted to aim for a hat-trick if possible, but since I had already shown the goal, it was time to prove that I was no longer just a goal-scoring player.
And to do that, I had to read the opponent.
'Hmm... they've definitely pulled the line back. They don't want to give me the same breakthrough situation as before? Right, knowing I'm faster than me, the line was a bit up earlier. This means they're coming out in a complete counter-attack.'
I watched the opposing players dribbling the ball and checked the opponent's changed tactics. As expected from the world's highest-level league, even if Leganés was a lower-table team, their tactical changes were quite fast.
But no matter how much they pulled the line back, they had to aim for a draw, so the ball had no choice but to advance toward our side, and with the defensive line fully pulled back, Leganés' players' spacing would inevitably widen.
And widening the spacing meant no organic play!
With the spacing wide and no organic play, the midfielders who were already numerically insufficient in the flat 4-4-2 formation became isolated in the center,
“Ryu!”
Yelena, who had stolen the ball with strong pressure, passed it to me.
After receiving Yelena's pass, I took the ball and sprinted toward the open space. And I quickly checked the position of the target, Albaria.
Albaria, who had slightly dropped back to defend, was currently sprinting from the left behind.
'I could afford to be a bit late here?'
There were two defenders in front of me.
Josephin, who had been beaten by speed earlier, was stuck in the back as usual, not being careless, and her partner Gorcne was sprinting forward to block me.
'She's coming fast.'
Looking at her sprinting at that speed, it looked like she was aiming for a sliding tackle. And as our distance got closer, she started to lower herself. And at that moment, just like I had done with Amira, I lifted the ball first, lightly jumped to avoid her tackle, and sprinted forward.
'Still, she didn't use her feet. No, the opponent didn't use her feet either, so why did Amira do that action?'
I thought that as I beat the player, but now was the time to focus on the match.
Because Albaria was faster than me, while avoiding the tackle and slowing down, Albaria had already overtaken me, being behind the opponent's right fullback.
Even if I passed now, it would be two players attaching to Albaria, so the only pass I could give was one relying on Albaria's individual skill, so to help Albaria as much as possible, I continued sprinting even at the moment the pass timing came out.
And in front of me was Josephin, who had been beaten by speed earlier, waiting in position.
Although her speed was slow, she was still a La Liga defender, so she was evaluated as having quite good defensive ability.
But that was for dealing with other ordinary players.
While mixing in a body fake and stepping on thin air, the player's body twitched. Maintaining the speed of the rolling ball, I approached while mixing thin air and body fakes, and in the end the player couldn't hold back and stretched her foot,
“Uwa...!”
At that moment, I lifted the ball slightly and avoided her foot. The player grabbed my jersey as I passed her, but my goal was the pass. Feeling the pull on my jersey, I sent the ball forward as is.
Luckily, Albaria was in line with the opposing fullback. And the moment the ball left my foot, she accelerated, and the pass I hit to match Albaria's speed from training landed between the goalkeeper and Albaria.
Of course, the ball's position was closer to Albaria than I intended.
'As expected, she knew how to receive it.'
At the same time I saw Albaria take her shooting motion, I fell backward helplessly,
“Waaaaaaa!!!!”
The roar of the spectators echoed. And with the shock felt from behind, the clear blue sky appeared.
'Ah... football. It's easy. Damn, this is it.'
Shaking off the grass on my jersey, I stood up, and Albaria who had scored the goal ran to me and shouted.
“Ryu! I was surprised that you gave the pass too late!”
And she took a gesture to lift one foot in front of me. I placed my foot in the air above Albaria's knee as per the gesture, and Albaria pretended to wipe my football shoe.
“So, did you not like it?”
“No, it was perfect. I'll ask you for such a pass again next time.”
“Of course. Just touch your foot and I'll turn it into a goal.”
“Kuk, actually better than Arnal?”
By doing this, had I successfully won Albaria's heart? It was really fortunate that the opponent before the league debut was a lower-table team. Even in the Europa League, there wouldn't have been the leeway to take care of players like this.
“And congratulations on your first league assist, Ryu.”
“Albaria’s goal was also wonderful.”
So far, it had been a perfect match.
One thing that bothered me was that Albaria had run to me who had given the assist, but I, who had scored the first goal, didn't run to Lucia who had given the assist and only did the ceremony alone?
'Well, Lucia isn't the type to care about such things.'
So my league debut match had flowed smoothly, scoring one goal and one assist in just 20 minutes of the first half, with no particular worries.