BEEP! ! ! — —
A sharp whistle sounded.
"The match begins."
As the crowd cheered, the forwards of Mostar Zrinjski surged forward, approaching in their respective directions.
Koso Pechi charged straight towards the ball passed to the defensive line, while Biljal and Suker also flanked from the sides.
Boban, Kamenar, and Modrić also pressed forward.
Mostar Zrinjski showed incredible aggression after the kickoff, revealing a strong intention to press.
"They're coming!"
"Pass it!"
"Don't stop the ball!"
Ivan Križanac shouted loudly at his central defender partner, Biščević.
However, out of habit, Biščević paused for a moment, and this gave Koso Pechi an opportunity to accelerate forward.
"Crap!"
Biščević also felt a sense of foreboding, and in a panic, he passed the ball towards the wing.
But because he was too hasty, the pass lacked power.
The ball was slow, and full-back Jurić had to step forward to meet it, but just then, he heard fierce footsteps beside him.
He turned his head and saw a small figure rushing towards the ball's landing point.
"Damn it!"
Jurić was shocked and quickened his pace, but his opponent was too fast.
Suker stared intently at the ball, pushing his speed to the limit, his whole body like a small cheetah sprinting forward.
Swift footwork became the driving force for his forward dash.
Da da da da da da da! ! !
This footwork sounded like the devil's whisper in Jurić's ears.
"Disrupted them! ! !" Commentator Basso Dačić also exclaimed in surprise. The match had just begun, and Mostar Zrinjski had already disrupted their opponent's rhythm.
And Suker was sprinting towards the ball's landing point.
"Can he make it?"
Under everyone's gaze, Suker actually lowered his head and accelerated again.
He can make it!
Whoosh!
Suker poked the ball away in advance, leaving his opponent behind.
Jurić landed flat on his back, and when he turned his head, he saw Suker already shooting.
Bang!
The ball flew quickly towards the bottom right corner. Sarajevo's goalkeeper immediately made a horizontal dive, his fingertips lightly touching the ball, deflecting it out of the baseline.
"What are you doing! Wake up!"
After getting up, goalkeeper Ivanković roared angrily: "Do you want to see me concede a goal? Bastards!"
Any goalkeeper would be angry if the opponent pressed and stole the ball right from the start.
They were too lax.
Ivan Križanac, as the captain, first comforted goalkeeper Ivanković, and then consoled his other two teammates.
In other matches, this rhythm would be fine.
But Mostar Zrinjski's opening surge really scared them.
Usually, the opening is a probing phase, but they didn't expect Mostar Zrinjski to be ready to fight to the death this time.
"Corner kick! Corner kick!"
Suker shouted, pointing to the corner area.
Modrić immediately ran forward to the corner area.
Koso Pechi was also preparing to compete for the header.
Modrić took the corner kick, the pass aimed directly at Koso Pechi.
Koso Pechi jumped up fiercely under the pressure of two people.
"Go in for me!"
He still managed to head it, but under the constraint, the power was insufficient, and the goalkeeper caught the ball in his arms.
Goalkeeper Ivanković ran forward a few steps. Seeing his teammates preparing to counterattack, he knew this was a good opportunity.
"Counterattack! ! !"
Ivanković threw the ball forward with force, roaring loudly.
Just as he was expecting his teammates to perform, he first saw two figures in yellow away jerseys rapidly retreating.
Suker and Modrić.
The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, sprinted back towards their own half.
Their speed was astonishing. Suker was the first to reach the defensive position, initially blocking Tolister in front of him.
He didn't even think about pressing, but he had to slow down the counterattack.
Tolister didn't expect the opponent to retreat so quickly. He slightly dribbled the ball, wanting to create a passing gap, but Suker immediately stepped in sideways.
The meaning was clear.
Don't even think about passing!
Tolister had no choice but to pass the ball to the wing, and Suker immediately turned and rushed over.
At the same time, Modrić also arrived at his defensive position and directly pressed against the opposing winger, Tiđmančić, who had the ball.
"Damn it!"
Tiđmančić felt uncomfortable.
Mainly because these guys were too fast in their pressing and closing down. Although he had an advantage in physical confrontation, being messed with like this was also very annoying.
Modrić suddenly started pushing, which made Tiđmančić quickly step on the ball, pulling it further away from Modrić, while resisting his opponent.
While waiting for his teammates to move forward and receive the pass, the opponent arrived one step faster.
"I'm coming!"
The voice came from below. When Tiđmančić looked down, he saw Suker already in a sliding tackle stance, directly tackling the ball from under his feet.
"Bastard!"
Tiđmančić was about to chase after it when he suddenly felt someone pull him, preventing him from starting smoothly.
He had been tugged by Modrić.
After tugging at him, Modrić immediately followed behind Suker, advancing forward again.
"Another midfield steal! Mostar Zrinjski's pressing awareness is excellent in this match."
Commentator Basso Dačić said with an excited expression: "We all know that Mostar Zrinjski's coach, Van Stejak, is a Dutch coach, and his tactical philosophy is total football. In this tactical system, high pressing is a very crucial aspect!"
"So-called high pressing is a tactic of pressing from the opponent's half, disrupting the opponent's attacking system, and increasing one's own ball possession rate and counterattacks. It is a tactic that turns passivity into initiative, advocating that the best defense is offense."
"At the beginning of the season, Mostar Zrinjski also used this tactic many times, and now they are once again using this tactic to put Sarajevo in trouble."
"This is not good news! In the slow-paced and central defender ball possession lacking Bosnian and Herzegovinian league, once this style of play takes shape, it will be a huge earthquake for the entire league!"
"So, can they succeed?"
On the field, after completing the steal, Suker did not directly launch a counterattack. Seeing the opposing defenders retreating and positioning themselves, Suker passed the ball back to Modrić, and he himself returned to the wing position again.
At the same time, Kerpić, who was in the full-back position, was also eager to move, ready to move forward at any time.
However, Modrić's idea was more direct.
He exchanged a glance with Suker and slightly turned his head towards the opponent's penalty area.
'Break through him!'
Suker immediately understood.
After Modrić shook off the opponent's press, he used his left foot to send the ball into the gap between the full-back and the center-back.
Suker also started immediately at this time.
Suker and the opponent's full-back Jurić started at the same time.
But Suker's speed and explosiveness were obviously faster, opening up half a body length in a few steps.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Jurić immediately reached out his hand to try to hold Suker.
At this time, Suker squeezed towards the center.
Jurić's outstretched hand was squeezed back, and his footwork was even more disordered. At this time, Suker adjusted his feet and sprinted again.
The second acceleration directly threw Jurić off.
"Threw him off again? ! ! !"
Basso Dačić opened his mouth slightly.
Although the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team is not a strong team, they are, after all, national team players!
Jurić has been a key national team player for many years and plays for the national team, so his strength is beyond doubt.
But now, he has been thrown off by Suker twice in a row.
Suker's performance is even better than expected.
Even Suker himself didn't expect that just a squeeze would actually move him.
He was ready to be knocked over.
At this time, throwing off Jurić, Mostar Zrinjski's attacking form once again brought a crisis to the opponent.
Koso Pechi and Biljal have already flanked into position.
Modrić also completed the follow-up.
Suker was near the bottom line on the left, attracting the attention of Sarajevo's captain, Ivan Križanac.
At this time, he saw that the positions of Koso Pechi and Biljal were blocked.
Suker could only pass to Modrić.
Just as he turned sideways, Ivan Križanac suddenly took a step forward to intercept.
Suker was shocked, reacted quickly, and lightly tapped the ball with the foot that was about to pass, leading it forward.
"Feint? ! ! !"
Ivan Križanac panicked, and he rushed towards the goal, while the goalkeeper also rushed towards Suker.
At this time, Suker adjusted his feet, stepped on the ball with his left foot and pulled the ball back.
The opposing goalkeeper lunged into thin air, and at the same time, he flicked it diagonally backward with his right foot.
The ball accurately arrived in front of Modrić.
Facing the empty goal, Modrić shot angrily.
Whoosh! ! !
The ball went into the net!
The ball went into the net, and the more than 10,000 Sarajevo fans at the scene instantly fell silent.
They conceded a goal?
How did they concede a goal?
Even now, they can't believe they conceded a goal.
But soon, commentator Basso Dačić's exclamation resounded throughout the stadium.
"Goal! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! — —"
"A goal from Croatian genius Luka Modrić, this is a wonderful counterattack combination after a brilliant midfield press by Mostar Zrinjski."
"Suker used his speed on the wing to overpower Jurić, and near the bottom line, he used continuous feints to completely disrupt the opponent's defense. Suker is too calm, this is the psychological factor that an excellent player should possess most."
"Mostar Zrinjski scores an away goal!"
"This match, HSK has shown us a different style of play. They are telling everyone with their performance that this time they are here for revenge!"