Chapter 46 - 44: 3-Win Streak

Chapter 46: Chapter 44: 3-Win Streak

Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup, Mostar Zrinjski vs. Leotar.

"GOAL!! Kosopech with a powerful header!"

"Leotar is no match for Mostar Zrinjski in aerial battles. They’ve completely lost control of the air!"

"After failing to score in the last two games, Kosopech is once again showing the might of a target man! That’s his second goal of the match! With this goal, Mostar Zrinjski has secured a huge advantage in the first half!"

Kosopech’s headers remained Mostar Zrinjski’s deadliest weapon for scoring.

Although he’d been targeted and shut down in the league, in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup, against a lower-division team, it was a complete domination of class.

Suk watched as Unovic, the Leotar center-back who had given him some trouble in the past, was repeatedly crushed by Kosopech’s physicality and aerial bombardment. The sight made his heart pound with excitement.

"Captain! You’re awesome!"

Suk shouted loudly from the sidelines.

Hearing the cheers from his young teammate, Kosopech, in high spirits, gave Suk a distant thumbs-up.

Mostar Zrinjski was now in an excellent position.

Head Coach Van Stiake was also sitting leisurely on the coach’s bench. He said softly to Suk, "Go warm up. Get ready to play in the second half!"

Suk scurried off to warm up.

Soon, halftime arrived.

Van Stiake instructed the team to maintain stability for the first five minutes of the second half and also told everyone that he would be making substitutions.

Kosopech and Oliveira were subbed out.

Suk and Boamei came on as substitutes.

Suk was happy to be getting on the pitch, but someone was even happier than him: Billiar.

"Hey! Suk! High five!"

Billiar jumped up, holding out his hand.

Suk slapped it.

Billiar threw an arm around Suk’s neck and whispered, "I even bought you milk and breakfast this morning. I’m so good to you, you’re gonna pass to me, right?"

Suk said, "That’s because you couldn’t finish it, so you gave it to me."

"Then I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow."

Suk gave him the side-eye. "Just tomorrow?"

Billiar gritted his teeth. "A week! A week, okay?"

"Deal!"

Suk said immediately.

For Billiar, Suk coming onto the field was a very happy occasion.

For one, Suk wouldn’t compress his space like Kosopech did.

For another, Suk’s job was more about passing and assisting, which would greatly improve Billiar’s own performance.

This was why, when it came to his own performance, Billiar much preferred Suk as the starting center forward.

After all, Suk on the pitch meant his own chances of scoring would increase dramatically.

...

Five minutes into the second half, after Mostar Zrinjski had stabilized the game, Head Coach Van Stiake immediately made his substitutions.

Kosopech and Oliveira came off.

Suk and Boamei came on.

Suk and Boamei stood on the sidelines.

Seeing Kosopech walk off, Suk immediately held out his hand, and the two slapped a hard high five.

"Go get ’em!"

Kosopech said loudly.

Meanwhile, Oliveira brushed right past Boamei without a single glance.

But the latter didn’t seem to mind much.

Suk’s entrance onto the pitch immediately delighted the commentator, Basodachi.

"Number 99 for Mostar Zrinjski, Suk, comes on as a substitute once again!"

"In the previous two league matches, Suk’s performance was outstanding, with three assists in two games. His excellent positioning and his movement to drop back to receive the ball serve to link up Mostar Zrinjski’s attack, while also freeing up the midfielders and wingers. If Kosopech is a powerful battering ram who can smash open the opponent’s goal by himself, then Suk is the lubricant. He allows Mostar Zrinjski to get the ball into the opponent’s goal more smoothly and swiftly."

Basodachi looked at Suk, full of anticipation for his performance.

At the same time, Leotar’s center-back, Unovic, also had his eyes on Suk.

This ’little’ center forward, formerly of the Mostar Wanderers, was the one who had stubbornly caused them to lose their final match of the season.

Although they had already secured promotion and were mentally relaxed, in hindsight, even if they had played seriously, it would have likely been a tough fight.

Unovic didn’t dare to be the least bit careless.

However, compared to Kosopech, he thought Suk would be a little easier to handle.

When the match resumed, Suk immediately dropped back to receive the ball.

Unovic saw Suk’s movement and followed him directly.

He knew exactly what would happen if Suk was allowed to pass and receive the ball smoothly.

Suk dropped back, and Unovic followed.

Suk pulled sideways to create a bit of space, but Unovic stuck to him. Suk turned his head to Unovic and said suddenly, "You’re leaving space behind you!"

"What?"

Unovic was confused.

The next second, Modric hit a driven pass, a low ball skimming across the ground.

The ball zipped over the turf, flying precisely into the gap Suk had created by pulling Unovic out of position.

And there, Boamei made a diagonal run forward, using his Speed to leave the fullback behind, and knocked the ball on to Billiar with one touch.

Billiar followed up with a shot.

BANG!

The shot was right at the keeper!

The goalkeeper dove to the side and smothered the ball, holding it tightly.

"Ahhhhh!"

Billiar ruffled his hair in frustration. He knew it was a poor shot and felt annoyed with himself.

But he quickly gave a thumbs-up to Suk and Boamei, acknowledging their good runs and good pass.

On the other side, Unovic was a bit stunned.

He had followed Suk, but Mostar Zrinjski’s attack was still just as fluid. This was different from before.

Suk looked at Unovic’s dumbfounded expression and scoffed internally.

’Of course it’s different!’

’Mostar Zrinjski and the Mostar Wanderers are teams on two completely different levels.’

’Just look at the midfield. Are Mulinar and Modric even in the same league?’

’With the Mostar Wanderers, I had to constantly drop back to help relieve the pressure on Mulinar, making myself the target for receiving the ball up front.’

’But Mostar Zrinjski is different. With Modric’s precise passing and his broad vision of the field, his passes have incredible penetration.’

’All I have to do is create a gap, and they can wreak havoc on the opponent’s defensive line all on their own.’

This gave the opposing defenders a great sense of helplessness.

’Should I follow him or not?’

Unovic decided to follow him again, but this time, he saw Suk dropping back extremely deep.

He was running straight toward the halfway line.

"Shit!"

Unovic cursed under his breath. ’I can’t follow that.’

Seeing he had shaken Unovic, Suk immediately turned around.

Suk was now on the right side, his position even deeper than the winger’s.

Modric immediately passed the ball to Suk. After receiving it, Suk distributed it to the wing while he and Modric both pushed forward. At the same time, the right-back, Kerpic, also started to make an overlapping run.

Mostar Zrinjski instantly switched to a multi-man attack up front, and they actually had a numerical advantage over the opposition.

"That’s the numerical advantage!"

Van Stiake pumped his fist on the sideline, exclaiming excitedly.

The full-back overlapped, Suk and Modric pushed up, the two holding midfielders Camnal and Boban advanced to control the midfield, and the entire defensive line pressed forward.

With the sudden change in rhythm, Leotar had no time to react as Mostar Zrinjski formed a very sharp attacking formation.

Billiar passed the ball to the overlapping full-back, Kerpic. Meanwhile, Suk made a rapid run into the channel without looking back. This run drew away Leotar’s other center-back and also helped create a Shooting lane for Billiar, who was running up behind.

Billiar was now unmarked. Kerpic threaded a nutmeg pass to him, and he unleashed a furious shot. The ball, swift as lightning, blasted into the top-left corner of the goal.

Mostar Zrinjski extended their lead once again.

"What a pleasing display of tactical movement!"

Basodachi couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

In the Bosnia and Herzegovina Super League, most teams use simple and crude attacking methods. They either use a battering ram like Kosopech or Suq Bazhi.

Or they use a speedster on the wing to brute-force their way past the opposing full-back.

An attack with complex and fluid movement like Mostar Zrinjski’s is extremely rare.

But that’s precisely what makes this match so beautiful to watch.

Of course, this was also the biggest change Suk had brought to the team since he joined.

In this attack, although Suk only had one touch on the ball, he was absolutely key to initiating it.

His pass to the wing and his forward run that drew away the center-back—all of this created the goal-scoring opportunity for the team and allowed his teammates to run smoothly into open space.

The entire process of the goal was somewhat complex, but it was incredibly pleasing to the eye.

"ROAR!!!!!!—"

Billiar pumped his fists, celebrating with all his might.

He ran toward the stands, waving his arms continuously, rousing wave after wave of cheers.

The Mostar Zrinjski fans were ecstatic.

For them, the matches were becoming more and more beautiful to watch.

This also caused their support for Mostar Zrinjski to rise rapidly.

But for Suk, this match was just getting started.

...

「The next day.」

The newspaper printers in Mostar Town rolled out the new headlines.

And in the most prominent position was news about Mostar Zrinjski.

A Match Pleasing to the Eye! Mostar Zrinjski’s Beautiful Football!

Van Stiake’s New Football Philosophy for Mostar!

Two Sets of Tactics, Mostar Welcomes a Three-Game Winning Streak!

The newspapers were filled almost exclusively with news about Mostar Zrinjski.

And at the very bottom of the paper, there was a small picture with a single line of text.

"Van Stiake: He is the key to everything, he made it all happen! His name is Suk!"

Below this quote was a small, black-and-white close-up photo.

In it, Suk was in a crowd, beaming with a wide smile, his hands raised in celebration.