Chapter 67 - 65: Dinamo Zagreb

Chapter 67: Chapter 65: Dinamo Zagreb

"I’ve been following your games in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were amazing! You ran those big oafs around like stupid pigs."

After walking out of the old Director’s office, Di Camoqi took off his priest’s attire and started cursing up a storm.

"And that guy who tackled you—a bastard like that deserves a harsh lesson. If all of us kids from the orphanage were there, we’d have definitely made him suffer."

Di Camoqi seemed even more worked up than Suk.

The two of them walked to Di Camoqi’s room together. He tossed Suk’s backpack onto the table and said, "Wait a sec."

With that, Di Camoqi ran out.

When he came back, he was holding a turkey in one hand and a bag with six cans of beer in the other.

"Don’t tell me you can’t drink because you’re a professional athlete. I’m a priest, and even I drink!"

Di Camoqi expertly popped open a can of beer and handed it over. Suk took it and asked, "Priests can’t drink?"

’He remembered the old Director drinking before!’

"A small portion of them can’t!" Di Camoqi pointed to himself. "I’m too outstanding, so I became part of that small portion."

The two clinked their cans and then tilted their heads back, taking a big gulp.

Suk had drunk before; he’d started drinking with the other kids from the orphanage when he was young.

He just didn’t drink much after becoming a professional player.

But today was an exception.

"I remember you wanted to be a singer. How’d you end up becoming a priest?" Suk asked curiously.

Di Camoqi sighed and looked at Suk resentfully. "It’s because you all left, one by one. Someone had to stay behind, right?"

"So you stayed?" Suk frowned.

Di Camoqi took a sip of his beer.

"It wasn’t just for that reason. Didn’t I tell you? I’m too outstanding!"

Suk said, annoyed, "So what are you so outstanding at?"

"Singing!" Di Camoqi grinned. "On Sunday, I got picked while I was singing hymns at church. I’m a novice priest now, but I’m going to be managing the church choir in the future!"

Suk was stunned.

’From a singer to the lead singer of the church choir?’

’This is too wild!’

"There’s not much to talk about on my end. Besides going to church to pray every week, the rest of the time I’m bored out of my mind," Di Camoqi said. "Watching your games got me hooked on football, and I started following the local team, Dinamo Zagreb."

Di Camoqi’s face filled with anger. "Those two stupid pig brothers are destroying Dinamo Zagreb! Half a season in, and we’re almost in the relegation zone!"

"We?"

Suk picked up on it sharply.

Di Camoqi chuckled, then lifted his jacket, revealing a Dinamo Zagreb jersey underneath.

"They’ve won me over."

Suk said exasperatedly, "You’re a real slacker of a priest."

"It’s just a job!" Di Camoqi said casually. "It’s not like I’m some devout believer. I’m working at the church for two reasons: one, to keep the orphanage running, and two, to provide some security for these kids. After all, if no one takes over the old Director’s work, this orphanage would probably be shut down."

"Speaking of which," Di Camoqi said, "your money arrived. Your friend told me a lot about you. Heard you even resorted to busking by diving?"

Suk’s expression froze.

’He wanted to tear that big-mouthed Kovic to pieces.’

"Had to do it to eat. No other choice," Suk said nonchalantly.

Di Camoqi laughed. "Your will to live has always been tenacious!"

"Have another!"

Di Camoqi handed him a fresh beer.

Suk took it, popped the top, and continued to guzzle it down.

"I heard Locke went to the United Kingdom. What’s that about?" Suk asked.

"That guy can never sit still. He’s been like he has ADHD since he was a kid, and he’s still the same now. But he didn’t go to the United Kingdom, he went to the United States. First to Mexico, then he crossed illegally. The old Director doesn’t know, though."

Suk nodded. That style of doing things was very much like the adventurous Locke.

"What about Vini?"

"She’s working at the port."

Suk frowned subconsciously. Perhaps because of what happened with Oliveira, he didn’t think the port was a good place to work, especially for a woman.

Seeing Suk’s expression, Di Camoqi quickly said, "Don’t get the wrong idea. She’s working as an accountant. After all, she’s the only one of us who ever went to school."

Only then did Suk breathe a sigh of relief.

Di Camoqi sipped his beer bit by bit. Maybe because he’d had too much, he soon started to feel tipsy.

"The old Director always said we are all children blessed by the Lord. I agree with that. The ones who weren’t blessed are lying out there!" Di Camoqi said, pointing at the lawn outside.

A pained expression also appeared on Suk’s face.

"We were abandoned. We survived a war. We’ve been through so many hardships, so we have to live our lives to the fullest and show those bastards who gave us a hard time!" Di Camoqi grinned, laughing. "Just like that Chinese phrase you always used to say!"

Di Camoqi pointed at the sky and said in broken Chinese,

"My life is mine to control, not heaven’s!"

Suk immediately slapped his forehead.

"I love that line. It gives me the motivation to live. I don’t want to get revenge on anyone, but I have to live a good life and take my destiny into my own hands. That’s why we all need to work hard... HIC~"

Di Camoqi was clearly drunk.

Suk also felt his stomach bloating and wasn’t planning on drinking anymore.

He helped the dizzy Di Camoqi onto the bed, covered him with a blanket, and then went to lie down on the nearby sofa, ready to make do for the night.

「The night passed without a word.」

「The next morning,」 Di Camoqi woke up in a daze.

He looked around the room but didn’t see Suk. However, Suk’s backpack was still on the table.

Di Camoqi got up, left the room, and after searching for a moment...

He finally saw Suk on a patch of lawn near the entrance.

At that moment, Suk was standing on the lawn.

In front of him, foods like apples, bananas, cookies, and beef were arranged on a plate.

But the crucial thing was where the plate was placed.

Although it was now a patch of dense grass, seven or eight years ago, it had been the entrance to a cave dwelling.

During those turbulent years, eleven children had hidden in that cave and lost their vibrant lives in a frenzied massacre.

Not far from this cave was another one, which was exactly where Suk, Di Camoqi, Locke, Vini, and the old Director had hidden.

If those thugs had seen that cave first, Suk probably wouldn’t be alive today.

In a way, those eleven children had saved them with their own lives.

"I don’t know the church’s way of paying respects, so I used the way from my hometown!" Suk said, pointing at the food before him. "Bow. They saved our lives!"

Di Camoqi looked at Suk’s expression, a trace of sorrow also appearing on his face.

The two of them lowered their heads slightly and bowed.

After completing the offering, they both felt a little lighter inside.

"Do you have anything to do in a bit?" Di Camoqi asked.

Just as Suk was about to speak, a boy’s shout came from the hallway.

"Suk! Suk! There’s a phone call for you!"

Suk turned his head. "Looks like I have to go out."

...

Suk took a bus to Maximilien Park.

He waited at the bus stop for about five minutes before finally seeing Modric rushing over in a hurry.

"Over here!"

Suk waved, and Modric immediately locked onto his target.

"Let’s go, let’s go!" Modric said, anxiously pulling Suk along. "Hurry up, we’re going to be late!"

"Late for what?" Suk asked, looking confused as Modric dragged him away.

Modric said with an excited look, "The Dinamo Zagreb match! Today is Be?i?’s first game back."

"Be?i??" Suk was still completely baffled.

’Who’s that?’

"The Head Coach of Dinamo Zagreb. He was also my coach during my youth academy days. I respect him a lot. Come on, let’s go! We can talk on the way!"

At the mention of Dinamo Zagreb, Modric became incredibly excited.

Normally taciturn, he suddenly became a chatterbox, talking a mile a minute.

From Modric’s description, Suk gradually began to understand.

First, Be?i? was the Head Coach of Dinamo Zagreb. He had been dismissed last season due to turmoil in the upper management.

The Mostic brothers took his place, serving as Head Coach and assistant coach, respectively.

During their tenure, the two brothers began to clean house, getting rid of Be?i?’s loyalists. Those who wouldn’t obey were all sold off, and those who would, stayed. People like Modric were sent packing to the Bosnia and Herzegovina League.

But the good times didn’t last. In just over a single season, Dinamo Zagreb went from a team that had dominated the Croatian League for years to one on the verge of the relegation zone.

Faced with such a massive downturn, the upper management couldn’t take the pressure anymore.

Pressure from the fans, public opinion from the media, and more all put the Croatian giant in the eye of the storm.

And finally, in round 18, Dinamo Zagreb announced the dismissal of the Mostic brothers and rehired Be?i? to coach again.

Be?i? became the emergency coach, but by this point, Dinamo Zagreb had already been gutted.

The team was mostly filled with the Mostic brothers’ cronies. Their abilities were unknown, but it was definitely going to be an awkward situation for Be?i? to manage them.

Most importantly, their opponent for this match was their crosstown rival, Zagreb Railway.

「Christmas Eve!」

The last match before the winter break!

Be?i?’s return—all of these factors made the match incredibly explosive!

Many fans who had been utterly disappointed started to return, hoping Be?i? could lead the team to a morale-boosting victory.

Because of this, the entire Dinamo Zagreb stadium was packed to the rafters.

The stadium, with a capacity of nearly forty thousand, was filled, and the wild cheers and shouts rose and fell in waves.

This was a feverish atmosphere that the Bosnia and Herzegovina League couldn’t compare to.

The passion was so intense it felt as if it could melt the snowflakes drifting in the sky.