Chapter 44 - 42: Another Suk

Chapter 44: Chapter 42: Another Suk

"A brilliant match! After 90 minutes of play, Mostar Zrinjski defeated the Banja Luka Warriors 2-0 in an away game, securing their second consecutive win of the season!"

"And in this match, the newly joined Suk was absolutely outstanding. Two matches, three assists! He has become Mostar Zrinjski’s veritable cannon-feeder!"

"Congratulations to Mostar Zrinjski, and we look forward to even more brilliant performances from the young Suk in the future."

The match was over.

As they had hoped, Mostar Zrinjski secured the away victory, taking home the three points.

The match wasn’t easy. At the start, they faced intense physical resistance and tight defense from the opposition. Fortunately, they didn’t lose their cool, using their positioning and passing to create space and score the first goal.

This goal laid the foundation for their victory.

And for Suk, his performance of three assists in two matches fully demonstrated his ability and importance.

It also showed that Head Coach Van Stiake has a sharp eye for talent.

"Well done!"

Van Stiake gave Suk another big hug, as if declaring that this was the player *he* had found.

Suk’s performance was directly linked to Van Stiake.

After all, no one at the club had thought Suk could help the team; it had just been Van Stiake being stubborn.

And now, the facts proved that Van Stiake had been right.

The stat line of three assists in two matches was already quite impressive.

Moreover, Suk had helped Mostar Zrinjski develop a completely new tactical system.

In the future, when Kosopech was targeted, they would have the ability to switch up their formation.

In other words, they now had the confidence to turn a match around.

As soon as the match ended, Mostar Zrinjski headed straight for the train station.

They had won the match and secured the three points here, and had even provoked the home fans during the game. Van Stiake, fearing an incident, had them leave early.

They arrived at the train station smoothly and, amidst the "cordial" greetings from the Banja Luka Warriors fans, they boarded the train home.

"What a memorable place!" Suk said, his expression full of disgust.

After all, anyone who had such an experience would have their impression of the city greatly diminished.

"We played really well today, a fantastic overall performance," the goalkeeper, Kish, said happily.

For Kish, this had been his easiest match.

With a solid defensive line and teammates pressing and sweeping high up the pitch, led by Suk and Modric, the pressure on him in goal was greatly reduced.

Kish had a very enjoyable match experience.

"Have you two ever thought about joining the Bosnia and Herzegovina National Team? I can help you apply for citizenship."

Kish looked at Suk and Modric. If these two were his teammates on the national team, they might actually have a shot at the FIFA World Cup.

Modric lowered his head slightly, remaining silent in a tacit refusal.

Suk also turned his head to look out the window.

"It’s so dark out there!"

Kish looked at the two of them, exasperated. ’If you want to refuse, just refuse. Why all this drama?’

For Suk, why would he give up his perfectly good Croatian nationality to join Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Croatia was something of a perennial contender in European football. While not a superpower, they were strong enough to reach the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup.

In the Davor Suker era a few years back, Croatia had already made a run to the FIFA World Cup semifinals.

And his generation’s mission was bound to be even more daunting.

The rhythmic clatter of the train wheels on the tracks sounded out, a subtle rhythm like a lullaby that gradually brought on a wave of sleepiness.

The others had already drifted off to sleep, and Suk, unable to resist his own drowsiness, gradually fell asleep as well.

When Suk woke up, the train had already pulled into the station. They had arrived in Mostar.

"Everyone grab your luggage, don’t leave anything on the train."

Van Stiake offered a reminder as they began to get off the train one by one.

Suk followed the team closely, with Modric behind him. They disembarked in an orderly fashion and took the bus back to the training facility.

Suk took out the clothes he needed to wash, ready to take them to the laundry and take a shower himself.

Just then, Stelk ran over in a flurry of excitement.

"Sarajevo lost! They lost!"

Suk said, annoyed, "What’s so surprising about losing? Anyone can lose a game."

"It’s different! It’s different!" Stelk waved his hands. "This is Sarajevo we’re talking about. They’re the strongest team this season."

"How so?" Suk asked, holding his laundry basket.

Stelk rattled on, "Their main defensive line is all made up of starters for the Bosnia and Herzegovina National Team. In midfield, Meškapeci and Tolister have both played in the Five Major Leagues. And then there’s last season’s Best Newcomer, the Silver Boot winner, and the current top scorer, Suk Mazic!"

"Suk?" Suk paused. "Another Suk?"

’Is my name that common?’ Suk wondered.

Stelk laughed. "It’s actually pretty common. Because of Davor Suker, a lot of people use the name Suk."

"The key thing is, he was already the Silver Boot winner at eighteen, and this season he’s going for the Golden Boot. The guy is nearly 190 cm tall with a hulking physique. Kosopech said that in a physical confrontation, even he couldn’t hold his own against that Suk Mazic guy. You can imagine how explosive his physical ability is."

The moment he heard the guy was 190 cm tall, Suk’s heart was filled with envy and jealousy.

"If they’re so amazing, how’d they still lose?" Suk said sarcastically. "Guess they’re not strong enough!"

"Sigh! Nothing to be done. They were playing in the Champions League. It seems several of their starters got injured during the third qualifying round. In the end, they were knocked out of the Champions League and lost in the league too."

The first-place team in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Super League gets to participate in the Champions League qualifiers.

Before the group stage, the Champions League has three qualifying rounds to give the champions of lower-ranked European leagues a chance to compete.

By passing through all three qualifying rounds, a team can finally secure a spot in the group stage, which means a chance to face teams from the Five Major Leagues.

It seems Sarajevo made it to the third round this season, but ultimately they were defeated, got eliminated, and had key players injured, which led to them losing their league match as well.

However, after experiencing the journey of the Champions League qualifiers and being baptized by fire against strong teams once again, the Sarajevo that returned would inevitably be even stronger.

"Making it to the third round is seriously impressive."

Even the usually quiet Modric chimed in, "Dinamo Zagreb has never made it to the Champions League group stage either."

The Croatian League is a higher tier than the Bosnia and Herzegovina Super League.

As the dominant giant of the Croatian League, Dinamo Zagreb was practically in a league of its own, but even so, their performance on the road to the Champions League had been mediocre.

Suk looked at Modric and asked, "Luka, is Mazic really that good? How does he compare to me?"

Suk was still quite bothered by this guy with the same name.

Modric looked at Suk. "You have more talent than he does."

Suk grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

"You’ve got good taste."

With that, Suk happily trotted off to do his laundry.

Stelk looked at Modric and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Is it really okay to lie to him like that?"

Modric tilted his head. "I’m not lying. Suk’s abilities haven’t been fully developed yet."

"He’s already playing well enough," Stelk said.

Modric replied, "Yes! But it’s not enough..."

After a pause, he added, "You’ll understand in the future. Suk Mazic is one-dimensional; his ability only benefits himself. But Suk is different. He elevates the entire team’s strength exponentially. We haven’t seen our best yet."

Stelk was completely baffled. He looked at the small figure happily doing laundry in the washroom and found it hard to compare him to the hulking giant in his mind.

He decided not to think about it anymore. Anyway, he was just a substitute. His current goal was to work his way into the starting lineup.

「The next day」

Suk got up early, first heading to the dining hall to chug a large bottle of milk, then began his training.

His training became even more intense.

Although he pretended not to care, he was genuinely ticked off by that 190 cm tall, simple-minded giant with the same name.

’Not only is he tall, he can shoot that well, too!’

’Same name, both center-forwards, so why does that guy get to be so tall and strong?’

Meanwhile, Suk had to drink milk every day, frantically consume nutrients, and try every possible way to grow taller.

But there was nothing Suk could do about it. He could only continue to work hard and develop his abilities in other areas.

’If my direct physical confrontation isn’t good enough, then I’ll just have to find a way around it and improve in other areas.’

’Since I can’t be a game-deciding, classic center-forward right now, I’ll just have to drill myself to death in organizing, passing, and assisting.’

’Last season’s Silver Boot winner!’

’This season’s Golden Boot?’

’In his dreams!’

’Even if I don’t score, I’ll frantically feed my teammates the ball.’

’Anyone can win the Golden Boot, except that guy!’

Suk thought, feeling quite jealous.

At the same time, Suk was also a little upset.

’It’s been a week, so why is there no sign of my strength increasing?’

’My Strength Attribute is stuck at 61 points and just won’t budge.’

’I’m only two points away!’

’Just two more points and I can improve my Shooting ability.’

’This really sucks.’

The only slight consolation was that in the card draw after the match against the Banja Luka Warriors, Suk had drawn another four Status Recovery Cards.

He had used four last week, and this week he was given four more to replenish his stock.

’I can’t use them all up! There’s just no way!’

He’d had six before, but now his total had clearly risen to seven. This stuff is practically free.

But the Status Recovery Card was really useful.

Using one during halftime was like unlocking a "Super Standby Plus" function, and it could also prevent injuries.

He could also use one during training for an instant full recovery.

Suk immediately stood up and continued to train.

Train!

Train to death!

As long as the training didn’t kill him, no one could stop him from training like a madman!