Chapter 70 - 68: Challenger

Chapter 70: Chapter 68: Challenger

For a full two weeks, Suk and Boamei had been training on their passing and receiving.

Suk’s consistency with his curved passes had improved somewhat. While he couldn’t deliver them as effortlessly as De Bruyne, it was serviceable.

To improve further, he would need a certain amount of natural talent and the experience of real matches to hone his skills.

As for Boamei, after nearly two weeks of "ball-retrieving" drills, he had gotten very good at reading the trajectory of Suk’s passes.

Perhaps from seeing it so many times, whenever Suk sent a pass, he could roughly predict where it would land and start his run instantly.

After these two weeks of training, Boamei was confident that he was the one who could best sync up with Suk’s passes.

"Let’s call it a day!"

Suk ended practice early.

Boamei shot Suk a surprised look. The guy usually trained late into the evening, but today, he was the one to call it quits.

"The second half of the season starts in two weeks. From now on, we’ll focus on recovery training," Suk said. "We need to reduce the intensity appropriately."

Training required a balance of work and rest. Mindlessly doing high-intensity workouts wouldn’t lead to good results in the end.

Besides, muscles needed to rest. Good form was something you gained from rest, too.

So, Suk planned to ease up on his training intensity.

Since Suk wasn’t practicing, Boamei, his training partner, was effectively off the clock.

Still, he had gained a lot from their recent joint sessions. Now, he just had to perform during the matches.

After putting away the equipment on the training ground, the two of them headed toward the dorms.

After climbing the stairs to the second floor, Suk saw that the door to his dorm room was open.

As he walked over, he saw Modric was already inside.

"Suk, I’m back."

Seeing Suk, Modric broke into a huge grin.

Stelk, who was also there, smiled and said, "With you two back in Croatia, I’ve been bored to death these past two months."

Suk looked at Modric. "When did you get here?"

"This morning," Modric said with a smile. "I saw you were training, so I didn’t want to disturb you."

Suk nodded.

Just then, Boamei walked in. He greeted Modric, then his eyes darted back and forth between Suk and Modric in slight surprise.

"What is it?" Stelk asked, looking at Boamei.

Boamei blinked, comparing Suk and Modric again.

"Look at their heights..."

Boamei pointed at Suk and Modric.

Stelk turned to look as well and was surprised to find that the height difference between Suk and Modric had become almost unnoticeable.

Back in August, there had been a good half-a-head difference between them.

But now, standing together, there was hardly any noticeable gap.

Stelk said, "Suk, did you get taller again?"

’Huh?’

Suk whipped his head around.

This was something he was very concerned about.

Stelk pointed at Modric and said, "You guys are almost the same height now!"

Suk immediately sidled up to Modric. When he stood up straight, they really were nearly the same height.

Suk was overjoyed.

The last time Suk had checked his height, he was 161 cm.

But during his vacation in Croatia, he hadn’t paid any attention to it.

Suk immediately checked his attribute panel.

[Name: Suk]

[Height: 165 cm]

[Weight: 55 kg]

[Speed: 78+15]

[Flexibility: 85]

[Power: 70]

[Explosive Power: 90]

cm!

Suk’s heart filled with joy. He was only five centimeters away from 170 cm.

Ever since joining Mostar Zrinjski, leaving behind the days of an empty stomach and consistently getting enough nutrition, Suk’s body had been madly absorbing nutrients like a dry sponge.

How could he not be happy about this?

Of course, Suk still hadn’t surpassed Modric in height, as Modric was still a few centimeters taller.

Modric had now grown to about 168 cm.

To the naked eye, however, there was almost no difference between them.

And it wasn’t just his height; his other attributes had also increased significantly.

Along with his growth spurt, Suk’s Speed, Weight, Flexibility, Power, and Explosive Power had all improved by leaps and bounds.

Compared to the first half of the season, Suk was now faster, stronger, and more explosive.

He’d gone from a player who would fall over at the slightest touch to one who could hold his ground in a collision.

’Rounding up, I’m practically 170 cm tall.’ Suk’s mood instantly brightened.

"Let’s go! Lunch is on me!"

Suk declared with a grand wave of his hand.

Stelk let out a cheer.

"Boamei! You’re coming too!" Suk said, pointing at him. "If you don’t come, you’re disrespecting me. I’ll mess with you just like Oliveira used to!"

Boamei was about to refuse, but after hearing what Suk said, he could only fall silent.

Having spent time with him recently, Suk was gradually getting to know Boamei’s personality.

The guy wasn’t a bad person, but years of being picked on had made him obstinate.

There’s a difference between being obstinate and being stubborn.

The latter, "stubborn," often describes a tenacious personality—an unyielding perseverance toward a goal. Suk and Modric were like that, refusing to admit defeat and possessing a strong will, but they also had a degree of flexibility. It’s mostly used as a compliment.

But "obstinate" was different.

It implied a pig-headed willfulness, a tendency to get bogged down in trivialities, and to struggle not just against others, but against oneself.

Boamei’s personality was the type that if you put him in front of a dead end, he would try to run straight through the wall.

Still, the guy’s talent was decent. He was young, had plenty of stamina, and when it came to a high press, he applied even more pressure than Billiar.

When Suk treated, he always chose Buckqi’s bar, to the point that Stelk suspected he was drumming up business for the man.

But to be fair, in a small town like Mostar, Buckqi’s cooking was actually quite good.

The four of them ate together. Usually, it was Suk and Stelk who did the talking, while Boamei and Modric didn’t seem to have much desire to speak.

"Did you guys see the Serie A match yesterday? Juventus vs. AC Milan. The ’Ukrainian Nuclear Warhead,’ Shevchenko, scored a last-gasp winner against Juventus in stoppage time! The entire San Siro Stadium went wild. I can’t even imagine how much AC Milan fans must love Shevchenko!"

Serie A was still known as the "Little World Cup" back then, and the league’s internal intensity was arguably the highest of the Five Major Leagues.

Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Naples, Fiorentina, Parma, Sampdoria—the "Seven Sisters" of Serie A were all forces to be reckoned with.

"Serie A’s intensity is definitely high, but I’m a Ronaldo fan!"

Boamei suddenly chimed in.

Modric raised his hand. "I like Ronaldo too!"

Suk: "+1!"

Stelk: "Am I the only one who likes Shevchenko?"

Suk: "To each their own. Shevchenko can be your one true love, but that doesn’t stop you from having Ronaldo on the side!"

Stelk blinked. ’Guess there’s nothing wrong with that.’

Suk just smiled. In that era, Ronaldo was everyone’s idol, a true global superstar.

"What do you guys think it would feel like to play in the Five Major Leagues? Playing in front of tens of thousands, clashes between powerhouse clubs, intense Champions League matches..." Stelk said with a look of longing. "I really want to know what it feels like to be a superstar!"

Modric had already finished eating. He put down his fork and said, "I don’t know what it feels like to be a superstar, but my mentor once said that the path to stardom is never easy. For many average players, just making it to one of the Five Major Leagues is the ultimate goal they can achieve by giving their all. To go any further, you need to have the talent to back it up."

"The level of football we’re playing now is actually pretty average in terms of intensity."

"Be?i? said that if you never make it to Serie A, you’ll never understand what a chain defense is, and you’ll never truly develop."

"If you don’t go to La Liga and get tempered by its ’short, quick, and precise’ style, you’ll never realize how poor your technique really is."

"If you don’t go to the Premier League, you’ll never know the meaning of intense physical battles or lightning-fast transitions from defense to attack!"

His words cast a brief silence over the group.

Suk also put down his fork and wiped his mouth.

"We’re challengers looking toward a distant horizon. We have to dream about the future, but we also have to keep our feet on the ground."

"No one can say for sure what the future holds. But if we don’t fight for it, if we don’t try to take on these challenges, then we’d be letting down all those days and nights of training. We owe it to ourselves."

"What we’re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg of the football world. I believe there are even more amazing things waiting for us to discover!"

...

「February 20th」

The players began to trickle back, arriving just as the holiday break was ending.

After a three-month break, their bodies were well-rested and back in shape, and any injuries had become a thing of the past.

Players like Kosopech and Boban also returned one after another.

This meant Mostar Zrinjski still had the potential to challenge for the championship in the second half of the season.

That’s right.

This season, Mostar Zrinjski was no longer content to be a supporting player. They were determined to take center stage.