Chapter 101 - 15: What the Hell Is This Burst?

Chapter 101: Chapter 15: What the Hell Is This Burst?

The Croatian League has a total of ten teams, and the season is structured as a quadruple round-robin.

This means each team plays every other team four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 36 league matches.

Across the entire Croatian League, the three strongest teams were Zagreb Railway, Dinamo Zagreb, and Hajduk.

Hajduk was last season’s champion.

Zagreb Railway, on the other hand, had absorbed a large number of players from their crosstown rivals, causing their strength to skyrocket in a short period.

They even defeated Dinamo Zagreb three times last season, greatly boosting their momentum.

As for Dinamo Zagreb, their former dominance had been reduced to a lingering aura of intimidation, and many were skeptical of this newly assembled, youthful squad.

Although they had played an outstanding match, the league had just begun. Whether these young players could withstand the test of a long season remained to be seen.

Of course, given Dinamo Zagreb’s pedigree, they remained the most threatening football club in the entire Croatian League.

Because of this, when Dinamo Zagreb played away against Hibbenik, their opponents were in an extremely tense state.

Even though Dinamo Zagreb was mostly made up of youngsters, Davor Suker alone was enough to make their opponents feel suffocated.

Sabikovac Stadium was a venue that could hold 10,000 people. The stadium wasn’t large, but its facilities were quite complete.

It had separate locker rooms for both teams, as well as a small space with some training equipment for pre-match warm-ups.

Suk was warming up by pedaling on a stationary bike.

Next to him, Modric was lying on a yoga mat, receiving a pre-match massage from an assistant coach.

The others were also actively preparing for the match.

Suk rode for a while, feeling his legs gradually start to get fired up. Only then did he wipe away his sweat and get off.

"Starting players, change into your jerseys! Get ready to head out!"

Head Coach Be?i? clapped his hands and shouted.

Suk and the others immediately changed into their away game jerseys.

Once everyone was ready, Be?i? looked at the players and said, "Remember, our goal is a draw!"

The words had barely left his mouth when the faces of Modric and the others tensed up, their expressions screaming ’unconvinced’.

Suk, however, just listened quietly while stretching his arms.

"The left wing is still our main attacking route..." Be?i? looked at Suk and said, "Don’t track back too deep!"

Suk grinned and immediately nodded.

Be?i? continued, "Defense is key. You must pay attention to their winger, Guzic. He’s great at breaking through, and he’s especially good at shooting after cutting inside. Don’t commit to a tackle rashly. I think you all should have plenty of experience with this!"

The two full-backs, Planic and Serna, grinned sheepishly.

During internal training matches, they often had to face Suk’s breakthroughs on the wing. After being repeatedly tormented by him, their corresponding defensive abilities had improved significantly.

"You must pay attention to your positioning and covering for each other. I’m always stressing this one point: play as a single unit, understand?"

Everyone shouted, "Understood!"

"Alright, get ready to enter the pitch!"

After Be?i? finished speaking, Suk went to find Davor Suker.

"Boss!"

Davor Suker turned his head.

Suk looked at him and said, "When I have the ball and break through, get ready to make a run forward!"

Davor Suker nodded. "Then you need to get the timing of the through ball right."

"No problem!"

Suk nodded immediately.

Davor Suker’s shooting after a forward run.

Suk’s breakthroughs along the edge of the penalty area.

After honing these skills in training matches, the two had already begun to develop a good on-pitch understanding.

"Also! Don’t always hog the ball!" Davor Suker said sternly. "Pass when you should pass. In fact, you should pass more often!"

Davor Suker had seen the fate of too many players who liked to hog the ball.

Despite having excellent Dribbling skills, they also had to bear an enormous risk of injury.

Once they were targeted by resentful defenders, it wasn’t unheard of for players to pay with their careers.

Davor Suker hoped Suk would change his playing style—pass more, use his Dribbling for breakthroughs more selectively, and prolong his career.

He didn’t want to see this rising star of Croatia have his career cut short by injury.

"No problem!"

Suk agreed readily, but he didn’t take it too seriously.

’With so many Status Recovery Cards in my system inventory, it’s practically impossible for them to cripple me.’

...

Starting Lineups:

Hibbenik (4-3-3):

Goalkeeper: Rotrich.

Defenders: Yaklim, Pedra, Bastekro, Milenkic.

Midfielders: Bashelich, Kapetan, Tia Mass.

Forwards: Guzic, Marin Pecic, Desic.

...

Dinamo Zagreb (4-3-3):

Goalkeeper: Grestec.

Defenders: Serna, Jarni, Stimac, Planic.

Midfielders: Modric, Vukojevic, Duimovic.

Forwards: Suk, Davor Suker, Valeric.

Dinamo Zagreb was sticking with the same starting lineup from the last match.

Apparently, Be?i? believed this was the most stable starting eleven they had at the moment.

In the stadium, the Hibbenik fans had already taken their seats, numbering around 7,000.

Compared to the explosive atmosphere of Mark Mihel Stadium, Suk felt like he was back at Mostar Zrinjski.

It wasn’t even as lively as it was there!

A considerable number of Dinamo Zagreb’s traveling fans had arrived—a full 2,000 of them, filling the rest of the stadium.

After their victory in the last match, the interest of the Dinamo Zagreb fans had been piqued.

Watching this youthful team’s passionate breakthroughs and relentless attacks, they could hardly contain their excitement.

Although about 2,000 traveling fans were at the game, a huge number of supporters were glued to their TVs, watching the match from home.

And in the commentary booth, Klauzovic was commentating with a passionate voice.

"The players from both teams have lined up, and Dinamo Zagreb will kick off the first half. We see both Suk and Davor Suker are already in the center circle. We’re all familiar with the renowned Davor Suker, and after the last match, Little Suqi has clearly garnered a great deal of attention!"

"We’re looking forward to another brilliant performance from Little Suqi in this match!"

In the center circle, Suk was constantly doing high knees and bouncing, keeping his body in an energized state.

At the same time, his eyes were scanning ahead.

’Their formation isn’t as compact. Compared to the last match, the conditions for a breakthrough are better.’

"Nervous?"

Suddenly, Davor Suker asked.

Suk turned his head, surprised. "What’s nervous?"

Davor Suker smoothed his heavily gelled, slicked-back hair and chuckled, "Keep that attitude."

At that moment, the referee backed out of the center circle and blew his whistle!

Amid the sharp sound of the whistle, Davor Suker passed the ball.

Suk took a step forward to trap the ball, turned, passed it back, and simultaneously ran to a position on the wing.

However, Suk didn’t push too far forward, instead waiting near the midfield line.

He glanced over at the opposing full-back, Yaklim, who had pushed up his position slightly but wasn’t following too closely. Instead, it was their defensive midfielder who was marking him tightly.

’They’re trying to create a buffer for their defensive line.’

’But the space between their defensive midfielders is too wide.’

Suk’s head was constantly turning as he scanned the field, taking everything in.

Suk made horizontal runs, occasionally providing a passing option for Modric.

However, Suk would always use a single touch to immediately pass the Ball away.

This prevented the tracking defensive midfielder, Bashelich, from finding a good opportunity to tackle.

Suk kept running, knocking the ball back time and again.

But he just wouldn’t turn to face the goal.

The opposing defensive midfielder, Bashelich, was happy to have an easy time.

Bashelich thought smugly, ’This Little Suqi fellow must be afraid of me; that’s why he doesn’t dare to turn.’

In the stands, the Dinamo Zagreb fans were also watching in confusion.

Why isn’t he turning?

Why isn’t he taking them on?

Many of the people here had come specifically to watch Suk’s thrilling dribbles.

"Take them on, Suk!"

"Just like the last match!"

"Smoke the other team’s full-back!"

"Go for it, Suk!"

"Don’t be afraid!"

The Dinamo Zagreb fans urged him on loudly.

Suk was speechless as he listened.

’My Dribbling and breakthrough ability is good, sure, but it’s all about timing.’

’Right now, Modric is clearly controlling the tempo, trying to get the players into a passing rhythm. If I just blindly rush forward to dribble past someone, not only will I be isolated, but I might even disconnect the midfield from the attack.’

So, Suk waited patiently.

After about ten minutes of passing, the Dinamo Zagreb players had clearly found their touch.

Hibbenik’s defensive line, in the face of one horizontal pass after another, had also relaxed slightly.

At that moment, Modric finally began to push forward, distributing the Ball to Valeric on the other wing.

Valeric dribbled towards the byline, and after drawing enough defenders, he passed back to Modric.

Without trapping it, Modric hit a long-range switch.

On the left wing, Suk calmly brought the Ball under control.

"I’ve got him!"

The opposing full-back, Yaklim, shouted, then immediately ran to Suk’s side, planting himself to block his path to cut inside.

Suk observed his opponent’s stance. ’Legs bent, center of gravity low, weight on the front foot, the one closer to the byline.’

’That’s to make it easier to accelerate.’

’But can he really keep up?’

Without any fancy moves, Suk simply pushed the Ball forward. His formidable Explosive Power kicked in as he dug into the ground, shooting off like an arrow released from a bow.

"So fast!"

Yaklim exclaimed internally. He spun around, ready to give chase immediately.

But by the time he had turned, he discovered there was already a body’s length of distance between him and Suk.

"What kind of monstrous burst is that?!" Yaklim cried out in his mind. He realized he couldn’t catch up.

"Suk breaks through! Oh~~ My God!! Insane Explosive Power! He created separation in an instant! Suk cuts past! Suk sweeps a pass across the penalty area!! Ahhh! Davor Suker couldn’t get there in time! Dinamo Zagreb fails to capitalize on the opportunity!"