Sarajevo, Grbavica Stadium.
This is the stadium of FK Željezničar Sarajevo, a team founded and maintained by a group of railway workers.
As their name suggests, the team's fans are mostly working class, giving them a relatively strong fan base.
The stadium has over 30,000 seats, with close to 10,000 fans in attendance for the match.
Amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the fans, the match between FK Željezničar Sarajevo and HŠK Zrinjski Mostar is in a tense stalemate.
30 minutes in, the score remains 0-0.
FK Željezničar Sarajevo is playing defensively, focusing on counter-attacks.
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar has more possession, and their attack is more aggressive.
However, Suk is finding it very difficult to play in this match.
"Suk is down again! Since the start of the match, Suk has been subjected to continuous fouls. FK Željezničar Sarajevo is paying close attention to HŠK Zrinjski Mostar's attacking playmaker, especially Vrhovac, who is causing Suk a lot of trouble."
Suk got up from the ground, spitting out grass clippings from his mouth several times.
He turned and glared at Vrhovac.
That guy looks like an ape.
Vrhovac is causing Suk a lot of trouble. As a center-back, he has a very agile body and isn't slow.
Suk's several forward runs and turns have been disrupted by him.
Several times, Suk was about to break free, but Vrhovac caught up and knocked him to the ground.
Vrhovac is not slow. Compared to a target man like Bošnjak, he has an agile body and quick feet, allowing him to keep up with Suk's speed and disrupt him.
And for a defensive player, that's enough.
After all, Suk relies on his explosiveness and speed to quickly shake off defenders and break through.
But Suk is also well aware that if he fails to shake off his opponent, or if he doesn't do it immediately, these guys can use their bodies to suppress him and knock him down.
His physical ability is still lacking!
This is Suk's biggest weakness!
People fear fame like pigs fear fattening!
Suk deeply feels the truth of this saying.
Previously, no one paid attention to him; to everyone, he was a nobody.
There wasn't much research on him, so many of Suk's choices would be in the opponent's tactical blind spots, which made his performance outstanding.
But since the match against FK Sarajevo, Suk has become famous.
Now, Suk and Modrić are known as the 'Mostar Twins,' and with this reputation, opposing teams are doing more research and applying more restrictions on Suk.
No one would have paid so much attention to me before!
Their primary targets were either Kosopec or Modrić.
But now, Suk is also high on that list, possibly even circled in red and marked as a key target.
"Well done!"
Bošnjak felt secretly pleased seeing Suk knocked down.
In previous matches, he had been repeatedly embarrassed by Suk's high-speed forward runs, but now that Vrhovac has returned, he can keep up with Suk's acceleration and put pressure on him, greatly reducing Suk's threat.
Of course, it's not just that simple.
As soon as Suk got up, someone was immediately on him.
This is a young midfielder from FK Željezničar Sarajevo. Suk doesn't know much about his specific abilities, but he must be very disciplined.
Why do I say that?
Because this guy has been harassing Suk for a full 30 minutes. Every time Suk touches the ball, he is interfered with and restricted.
And when he breaks past this guy, Vrhovac immediately follows up and further restricts him.
Under heavy defense, Suk's performance naturally won't be great.
"Suk is being marked!"
Assistant Coach Vandir frowned.
Many young players experience a 'rookie wall' after a season.
The so-called rookie wall is when a player performs well one season and terribly the next.
The key reason for this problem is that the 'newcomer' has been studied and targeted.
That's what's happening to Suk right now!
And the rookie wall has come even faster.
This is mainly due to Suk's strengths and weaknesses coexisting and being severely polarized.
At this time, the first half is about to end.
Van Stijak also looked down at the time and said, "Let's talk about it in the locker room."
Beep!!
The sharp whistle sounded.
The first half ended.
The score is 0-0.
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar was more inclined to attack in the first half, but there weren't many dangerous shots.
On the other hand, FK Željezničar Sarajevo caused HŠK Zrinjski Mostar no small amount of trouble with their limited counter-attacks.
Inside the HŠK Zrinjski Mostar locker room.
"I'm being marked!"
Suk said with a frustrated expression.
The others nodded; they had clearly seen this.
Throughout the first half, Suk didn't know how many times he had been fouled.
Although FK Željezničar Sarajevo paid the price with a yellow card, they ultimately completed their defensive task very well.
"We need to think of a way to free Suk!"
Kosopec said seriously.
The main reason the attack wasn't fluid in this match was that Suk, one of the attacking outlets, was in trouble.
Without Suk organizing in the attack, it's really difficult for them to create attacking opportunities.
"We need someone to push forward to help Suk and draw the opponent's defensive attention."
"I can push forward appropriately."
"Luka can't. Luka needs to stabilize the overall tempo."
"What about the full-backs pushing forward? Like we played before?"
Everyone was expressing their opinions, wanting to solve the problem at hand together.
And the fundamental problem was freeing Suker.
"No need to free Suker!"
At this moment, Vanja suddenly said, "If they want to limit Suker, then let them limit him. If their attention is too much on Suker, others will have more opportunities."
After a pause, he continued, "In the second half, Suker should attract Vrhovac's attention as much as possible. You don't need to pass or receive the ball, just attract the opponent's center-back Vrhovac and that marking midfielder."
"Full-backs push forward, Modrić also pushes forward appropriately, Boban will carry out the ball distribution from the back to the front. Of course, you and Modrić can do more cross-running!"
Everyone immediately understood the coach's meaning.
This was to use Suker as bait, pulling the defense, creating opportunities for others to push forward.
This is a thankless task!
Sure enough, when they looked at Suker, this guy's cheeks were puffed up, his face full of displeasure.
But there was no way, this was the tactic issued by the coach, and he had to execute it.
And this was also a key factor in winning the game.
Suker had to be the bait, and create gaps for his teammates.
"Second half, it's up to you!"
"Krpić, if Kosopec doesn't have a passing position, you can pass to the far post more often, I don't have that much pressure here."
"The midfielders can also rush in to meet the ball, I can also try long shots!"
After the tactics were set, everyone except Suker was happy.
After all, they got more offensive opportunities.
Suker could only accept his fate, sacrificing himself for the happiness of others.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides to fight.
After the stalemate in the first half, both sides were thinking about how to carry out effective attacks and score goals in the second half.
Mostar Zrinjski had a clearer goal, while for Sarajevo Railway Workers, their goal was still to watch Suker.
"Follow him!"
"He's running towards the left!"
"Follow up! Follow up!"
"Give it to me!"
"He can't run away!"
Suker was pulling sideways again and again in the opponent's half.
His heart was aggrieved, and the way to vent it was only to run horizontally again and again, pulling the opponent's defense.
Sarajevo Railway Workers did not realize this. They only thought that under their defense, Suker had no chance to receive the ball, so he could only run around like a headless fly again and again.
But they didn't know that as Suker ran left and right in the frontcourt, a sharp look had begun to appear in Modrić's eyes.
Now!
Modrić flicked the ball sideways, shaking off the opponent's pressing player, and rushed towards the frontcourt.
At this time, Suker also stopped immediately.
"Be careful, Modrić is going to pass!"
The Sarajevo Railway Workers' 14th youth midfielder immediately stopped. His body was tightly pressed against Suker. As soon as Modrić passed the ball, he would knock Suker down, or at least push Suker so that he could not hold the ball.
But he waited for a while, Modrić did not pass the ball, and was still striding forward.
At the same time, Suker suddenly pulled to the left.
Based on habit, the youth midfielder subconsciously followed Suker's footsteps.
But this follow immediately gave way to the central axis.
A huge gap appeared in the middle!
"Danger!"
Vrhovac exclaimed, he immediately pressed forward, it would be terrible if Modrić continued to press forward.
At the same time, Suker and Kosopec were also directly rushing towards the center, one in front and one behind, pulling the opponent's defense.
In this way, there was a 3V2 situation on the left.
On Mostar Zrinjski's side, there were three offensive players, Kosopec, Suker, and Biljar.
Sarajevo Railway Workers had center-back Bosnjak and the full-back.
"Left! The left is leaking!"
Bosnjak shouted, but at this time the defense's attention was drawn to the right.
Krpić pushed forward from the backcourt, quickly dribbled to the vicinity of the baseline, and crossed.
At this moment, Kosopec immediately moved forward.
Seeing Kosopec move, Bosnjak was also forced to follow.
Suker stood with the opponent's full-back.
Seeing Suker being covered tightly by the opponent, Biljar immediately pushed forward and came directly to the center.
Seeing this scene, the opponent's full-back had to abandon Suker and chase after Biljar.
At the same time, Krpić finally crossed.
This cross had some height, the ball speed was extremely fast, directly crossing Kosopec and Biljar and flying towards the back point.
And there, Suker watched the ball fly towards him, he subconsciously jumped slightly, locked his neck, leaned his body slightly back, and looked at the goal when the ball touched his forehead.
Suker's header!
Suker looked at the goal with surprise, and at this moment, a pair of big hands appeared in his vision.
The opponent's goalkeeper slapped the ball out.
But the danger was not eliminated. The ball that was slapped out happened to roll in front of Biljar.
Biljar immediately started quickly, sprinted with all his strength, and poked the ball before the opponent's full-back.
Swish!!
The ball went into the net.
64 minutes into the game, Mostar Zrinjski ushered in the first goal.