Chapter 157: Coordinated Performance

Words : 1427 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

"Goal? Goal!!!!!!!—" After a brief hesitation, commentator Krausevich's deafening cheer shook the air. Even when Suker broke into the penalty area, he hadn't expected to score. He never imagined the goal would come so quickly—especially against Roma. But everything happened so abruptly. It caught everyone off guard. Yet it was exciting enough! Goal! They scored! Facing the formidable Roma, they managed to score just three minutes after kickoff. Such a valuable goal marked a perfect start in this away match. Oh my God! This was an away goal, scored first! This gave Dinamo Zagreb a huge advantage! In bars all around Zagreb, fans hadn't even had a few sips of their drinks before the goal arrived so suddenly. At that moment, even without the effects of alcohol, their heads felt dizzy. They cheered and jumped instinctively. The match against Real Madrid had already given them enough surprises, but this one stunned them even more. A goal right at the start! What an incredible beginning! Inside the Olympic Stadium in Rome, the home crowd fell utterly silent. They couldn't believe the goal had come so unexpectedly. Just one interception, one counterattack—Dinamo Zagreb turned it into a goal. What the hell, this makes no sense! Suker was ecstatic and started running toward the corner flag to celebrate. But after a few steps, he stopped abruptly. Looking up at the stands, he saw enraged Roma fans with clenched fists gripping objects, ready to throw. He immediately stopped and turned around. He knew if he ran over there, he'd be pelted by a storm of projectiles. So instead, he ran toward Mandžukić and jumped onto his back. "Hey! You made a great 'wall' out there!" The plan was the plan, but executing it so smoothly was still a delightful surprise for Suk. They had strategized for the opening phase of the match. But at the time, the idea was just to apply some pressure and take more control. No one expected it to turn directly into a goal. Now, they'd completely disrupted Roma's rhythm. With this goal, Roma had to respond. At the very least, they couldn't let the tempo slow down—they needed to equalize. That would only benefit Dinamo Zagreb further. On the sideline, Coach Bešić applauded continuously. He too was pleasantly surprised by the goal. As Suker had said, they had prepared an opening design, but they never expected it to work so flawlessly. Italian chain defense is, essentially, a tactic of using "lines" to cover "points." If the players are the points, then the open spaces are the lines. When the point is pressured, the line naturally collapses inward toward the source of pressure. A single line is easy to break. Therefore, Italian teams often build another line of defense in front of the backline. Dinamo Zagreb put pressure on the central axis, using two physically strong strikers as pivots. This forced the defensive line to collapse inward, and then they used Suker—a fast blade on the left wing—to slice through that line. Of course, that's all theoretical—but these kids pulled it off. That made Bešić ecstatic. Now, they had the lead and controlled the game. From here on out, the match would get a lot easier. "Roma has... conceded!" The Italian commentator clutched his head in disbelief. But quickly, his face turned to fury:"We warned them! The first Champions League group stage match wasn't a fluke. You can't underestimate Dinamo Zagreb. Their attack is relentless—they can break through Roma's defense!" "Delneri must take responsibility for his complacency!" To concede at the start of a match—it's an unacceptable disaster. At this point, all fingers pointed at Roma's coach Delneri. In fact, Roma had already gone through three coaches in just four months. The first was Prandelli. After Capello left to coach Juventus, Roma invited Prandelli, formerly of Fiorentina, to take charge. But fate intervened. After just three months, Prandelli's wife became seriously ill, and he had no choice but to resign to care for her. Caught off guard, Roma brought in Rudi Völler, the former coach of Germany's 2002 World Cup team. But Völler failed to win over the squad or control the locker room. He resigned less than a month later, on September 26th. Roma then turned to Delneri as an emergency coach. Meaning—Delneri had only taken charge three days ago. This was his first match in charge. And now, just three minutes in, Roma conceded. The goal delivered a heavy blow to both Roma and Delneri. "Stay calm! Stay calm! Have Totti drop deeper to receive the ball!" Delneri was clearly flustered, trying to compose himself and rely on the Roman "Wolf King" to stabilize the situation. But there's only one Wolf King—and on the other side was a pack of snarling wolf pups. Totti was frustrated. Extremely frustrated. The Croatian team was using Dutch tactics—it made him very uncomfortable. They had faced Dutch teams before and experienced high pressing. But Dinamo Zagreb's persistent, dogged pressing was something else entirely. From the moment they started attacking, these guys never stopped running. Take that number 10, for example! That little brat stuck to Totti from the moment he received the ball, not letting him play comfortably or pass forward. If Totti passed sideways, the kid and his teammates instantly swarmed. And if a pressured teammate passed back to him, the guy came back and stuck to him again. Watching Modrić practically cling to him, Totti was driven mad. He reluctantly turned and passed the ball backward. All forward lanes were blocked—they had to regroup. But that backward pass was a mistake. The moment it left his foot, Zagreb pressed up again. "PRESS! PRESS!" "GET HIM!" "COVER!" "I'm here too!" "TRAP HIM! TRAP HIM!" What does 'death by a thousand ants' look like? This is it. Watching his teammates scramble to recover, Totti dropped deeper again. "Pass it to me!" As he called for the ball, someone closed in again. It was that damn number 10. Sticking right next to him, clearly looking to intercept or tackle. Totti's eyelid twitched—he wanted to slap this annoying kid. "It's chaos! Roma's formation is falling apart again!" Krausevich roared with excitement. Dinamo Zagreb's high pressing was still working perfectly. Under relentless pressure, Roma was completely on the back foot. Whap! Dujmović seized the moment when an opponent was double-teamed and snatched the ball from the side. He didn't hesitate after winning it. "SUKER!" Dujmović shouted. He immediately passed through the gap between left-back and center-back. Suk instantly burst forward. "SUKer IS OFF!" Suker's speed was incredible. His explosive power was overwhelming. In a flash, he gained half a body length—and the gap widened. As Suker surged forward, fullback Ferrari reacted. He reached out and yanked Suker hard. Suker was pulled backward instantly, even lifted into the air by the force, crashing down onto the ground. TWEEEEET! A sharp whistle blew. Ferrari stared in disbelief. Yes, he pulled—but Suker went down way too easily. It was like Suker cooperated with him. "I—" Ferrari tried to argue but couldn't find the words. Suker's fall wasn't a dive—it was clearly caused by someone pulling him from behind. He was helping sell the foul to get Ferrari booked! Ferrari started to panic. "Ref, I—" Before he could finish, the referee flashed a yellow card at him. "I saw you pull him." The referee was firm. A pull from behind—he was lucky not to see red. Ferrari went silent. Arguing would only make it worse. Suker got up and glanced at Ferrari. "You did that on purpose!" Ferrari snarled. Suker tilted his head: "???" The guy spoke in Italian—Suker genuinely didn't understand. Suker pointed to his jersey. "YOU pulled ME!" Ferrari pursed his lips. Yes, it was his foul—but he never expected Suker to be so... easy to pull. As he watched Suker pat his butt and walk away... He felt deeply frustrated. A yellow card! This is bad! "Ferrari's booked. He can't keep up with me. Keep hammering the left side," Suker said."Either he gets a red, or he can't chase me at all." Modrić nodded immediately. A booked fullback—especially a left-back—was worse than conceding for Roma. If Dinamo Zagreb kept pressing the left flank, Ferrari would be under constant pressure—or get destroyed outright by Suker. With their strategy now clear, Dinamo Zagreb's tactics became even more aggressive.

Chapter 157: Coordinated Performance

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