Football: King of Penalty Area
Ch. 105 - Last League Match, FC Rostock (1)

A week later, Koln Athletics returns to the home court to deliver the final battle. His opponent is FC Rostock who is ranked 11th. At this stage of the league, it can only be said that the overall situation of the league is clear.

Koln City Stadium, home team dressing room.

“You all listen, I just got information about the results of the other matches. The last round of the league, Leipzig Sport against 1.Mainz was won by Leipzig Sport 1-0, with a goal scored by Nkufu. So now the standings situation is Leipzig Sport (80 points), Koln Athletics (80 points), and 1.Mainz (77 points). We lost on goal difference to Leipzig Sport so we can only be second.” Thomas Sobek explains the temporary league situation.

“Our target at the beginning of the season was promotion and now we have achieved it. But! Are you satisfied with this result? We are just one step away from the championship! Even if it is only the second German league championship it will still be a good record in your career. Whatever the promotion as a champion and not, is a much different thing.” Thomas Sobek.

“So, in this match we will take the initiative to attack! We have to win this game and take the championship!” Thomas Sobek is full of enthusiasm.

“Ya!!” Cheers of the players at the same time.

. . . . .

The game starts at 5:00 pm German time with a kick off from Koln Athletics.

Kevin Kroos starts to set up attacks from midfield. Since he was trusted to replace the injured Raynaldi at the time, Kevin Kroos got more playing opportunities and was increasingly trusted by Thomas Sobek. His ability to manage attack and rhythm in the organisation is very frustrating for the coaching team. If it wasn't for his physique that wasn't strong enough, maybe Van Buren had been pressed onto the bench a long time ago.

Kevin Kroos saw the left side of the pitch have open space and sent a hull pass into that area. Raynaldi who was not far from there responded and managed to control the ball perfectly. But when he intended to turn around, the opposing full-back firmly dropped him before entering the penalty box.

Raynaldi won a free-kick in the first four minutes, but this time he did not take a penalty and gave it to Buhari.

Unexpectedly, Buhari scored his first direct free-kick of the season. FC Rostock has not yet entered the game. It is said that they had experienced traffic jams in Cologne before and had not warmed up.

In a big city like Cologne, although not as serious as Jakarta, congestion is still very common, this is actually a home field advantage. It is also a blessing for Koln Athletics who are chasing victory to win the title.

But the unexpected is FC Rostock who lost the ball in the first minute of the game began to play hard and became better. Finally before half-time, FC Rostock surprisingly scored 2 goals and turned things around to 1-2.

. . . . .

Thomas Sobek entered the dressing room with a grim face, this time he almost lost his patience given the poor performances of his players.

“What did you guys play in the first round?!” Ask Thomas Sobek grimly.

The entire room fell silent as they did not dare to anger this head coach. Although, usually Thomas Sobek is quite relaxed when coaching but he is also a sharp-mouthed person when commenting on the ugliness of his players.

“Remember! This is our cage! Our house! Remember the fans who have been supporting you for a whole year! Even when we play bad, they still come to support our game! Is this a bad show you want to show them? Lost the title in the last minutes?!” Thomas Sobek said loudly.

“Forget your first round, and play as hard as you can! We had to attack in the second half, this is the only way we thank the fans!” Thomas Sobek.

The players discussed in unison and then Danny Hooks began to explain the placement and tactics in the second half.

. . . . .

The second half of the game began with a kick off from FC Rostock, in line with the estimates of Thomas Sobek and Danny Hooks, FC Rostock who had led a goal slowing the rhythm of the game and strengthening their defence.

The game was slow and boring in the first 15 minutes of the game, as FC Rostock attempted to defend while controlling the ball through a short pass. Most of the time the ball is in the middle of the field.

Thomas Sobek who saw this scene finally shouted and gave direction to his players to press more and try to seize the ball with tight pressing. “Hey, press them try to grab the ball with tight pressing, don't let them feel comfortable while controlling the ball!”

Athletic Koln players who get direction from their head coach eventually start running more and interfere with the control of the opponent's ball with a greater number of runs.

In the 67th minute, Van Buren managed to seize the ball after utilizing the error bait FC Rostock midfielder. He sent the ball to Buhari who was already running to the side of the FC Rostock field.

Buhari who received the ball observed his teammate and began to set the attack back. Control the ball slowly while waiting for his teammates to catch up for the counter-attack. He saw Deschamp running on the right side of the pitch and sending a breakthrough pass to the wing.

Deschamp used his speed to fully grasp the ball and comb the entire right side of the field. In Deschamp's mind he knew what he had to do now was to draw as much attention as possible to the opposing defenders, as Koln Athletics had a strong terminator up front, he said, all he had to do was attract more people.

As Deschamp predicted the FC Rostock defence began leaning towards him, Raynaldi who saw the empty space in the middle of the box firmly left the player guarding him and took the empty points.

Deschamp sent a cross to where Raynaldi ran after swiping the opponent's full back.

The ball rolled into the empty spot, Raynaldi who escaped the guard mercilessly shot into the top right corner of the goal unattainable by the opposing goalkeeper.

“GOOOOL!!! RAY!!!” Andrei shouted in delight as Raynaldi scored his 29th goal of the season, just imagine a player who had just started his career but managed to score 29 goals in 18 games, even if it was only Germany's second league, he said, this result is still amazing.

Raynaldi took the ball straight from goal with no intention of celebrating, this was his last game at Koln Athletics. He didn't want this match to result in regrets, what Raynaldi wanted in this match was a win. Even if a draw is enough for the title, he still wants to deliver the final win of the season for the fans.