Football: King of Penalty Area
Ch. 20 - Bochum

Facing the rumors of his classmates, Raynaldi only chose to remain reasonable and not easy to believe, but he also maintained a certain level of vigilance. However, because he also often saw his mother's work, Raynaldi could still see people who needed to be shunned or not.

On the training ground, almost all players of Team Yunior Leverkusen SC showed a happy and full face, after all the position of the team is now at the top of the standings of the northern region of the German Youth League. And the opponent they will face next is Team Yunior Bochum who is in the middle of the standings.

In this match, Raynaldi again got a position to be a starter. Timo refers to the performance of the players in the last 9 games and decides to try a different formation. Instead of using the single 4-4-2 arrow he used to play, Timo turned into three attackers, with Sebastian Huber as Center Forward, then Raynaldi and Herman Fuchs as Shadow/Second Striker.

The match was very attractive because the two sides attacked each other in turn. Raynaldi is clearly the biggest threat to Team Yunior Bochum, but as the defenders are too focused on Raynaldi it leaves the other two attackers with more chances to score.

Raynaldi could hardly get in position to shoot as there was always one player staring at him closely, and the moment he got away another defender would knock him down from the front. Despite trying to set the position and reduce physical confrontation, the opposing players always make tactical fouls that make it difficult to move.

In the first half of this game, Raynaldi who continued to try to get a gap, actually repeatedly opened the gap for his team-mates. Because Raynaldi was already aware that he was completely turned off at all costs by his opponent.

Raynaldi even felt that he might need to start being a pedestal instead of a front-line finisher in this match.

Finally in the 27th minute, Raynaldi managed to trick defenders into following him as he whipped a cross into the box that Herman perfectly completed to become the first goal of the game.

Head coach Bochum, who saw his team lose the ball, decided to turn tactics into attacks with a frontcourt press. Because his team has lost one ball, it does not matter if they lose more balls.

Bochum are a team with better attacking ability, so instead of defending a goal they can't defend, Head coach Bochum allowed the boys in his team to keep attacking and used this match as attack training for his team. Losing 1-0 or 5-0 is the same for him.

Raynaldi who was on the frontcourt was finally able to get a chance to shoot. Gabriel managed to snatch the ball from midfielder Bochum and sent a pass to Joshua's side which utilized his speed to break through the opponent's left side and then sent a cross into the penalty box. Sebastian Huber took advantage of his height and bounced the ball towards Raynaldi who immediately volleyed from inside the penalty box.

Raynaldi scored in 10 consecutive games and scored his 20th goal, turning the score back 2-0 to Leverkusen's men.

The match resumed with Bochum's attack, almost all Bochum players ran to Leverkusen's side as if they did not care about their defense. Sporadic attacks from Bochum finally succeeded in the 38th minute, their number 10 striker's shot hit Jan Peters' hand in the box and Bochum got a penalty. Player number 10 easily executed a penalty and again changed the score to 2-1 still with Leverkusen advantage.

In the 45th minute, Raynaldi again exploit the gap in the defense Bochum easily eyeing the corner of the goal to double Leverkusen's advantage again. The score changed back to 3-1 for Leverkusen's lead in the first half.

In the second half, Timo decided to change the formation again. He replaced Sebastian Huber and Herman Fuchs with Victor Ogbona and Ronald Bauer. Junior Leverkusen's side opened the second half with a new 4-2-3-1 formation, with Raynaldi left at the front as the lone spearhead.

The match again took place with the initiative of the attack being on the side of Team Yunior Bochum, in this second half Team Yunior Leverkusen turned tactics into defensive counter-attacks.

The game looks fun with the action of attacking each other between two teams. However, both Bochum and Leverkusen still failed to score again. At the same time Raynaldi who lost support in the front line also began to lose control of the penalty area, he was repeatedly dropped by opponents because of his thin physique and weak confrontation ability.

In the 73rd minute, Raynaldi managed to escape the offside trap. However, he was dropped by defender Bochum with the pull of a shirt. The referee awarded Leverkusen a free kick near the penalty and a yellow card for defender Bochum.

Raynaldi executed his own free kick. After receiving the referee's instructions, Raynaldi kicked the ball over a human fence.

Joshua managed to control the rebound ball, although the stop was less than perfect so Joshua directly faced one-on-one with full-back opponents. Joshua forced a breakthrough!

Seeing Bochum's chaotic formation, Raynaldi quickly infiltrated the left side of Bochum's penalty box.

After breaking the opponent's full-back defense, Joshua chose to pass the ball. Although his breakthrough was beautiful, space was also compressed making it difficult for him to shoot. Joshua had to pass the ball to the right end of the goal, in Raynaldi's position.

However, his pass was not good, and he rolled straight to the bottom line. Raynaldi wanted to curse secretly. His speed should be able to catch up, but there were not many ways to complete the attack. Joshua looked up and down. The other teammates were unable to catch up for a while.

At this moment, Raynaldi chased the ball and stopped the ball almost at the boundary line of the field.

Centre-back Bochum is moving forward quickly. The goal is very clear. In this position, the football can be kicked out of the baseline with just one touch. This is considered a successful defense! Faced with two fast and technically good attackers, this kind of defense is sure to be a success.

What would Raynaldi do? He doesn't care. The point is close to the goal. This defender has faced many times in training. As long as he was stuck in his position, the only option for offense was to pass back and break through? How to penetrate such a small space? Not to mention the shot, will definitely hit the goalpost, and the goalkeeper has blocked the corner kick close.

Defender Bochum found that Raynaldi was still facing the goal with a kick. The shooting posture is a bit strange. Raynaldi gouged the ball with his right foot and hung it in the sky. After kicking the ball, Raynaldi also fell to the ground in embarrassment.

The defender subconsciously stepped forward to block, and the ball floated above his knee, but he did not panic. Raynaldi's shot angle was completely gone. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a zero angle.

But when he turned his head, he happened to see the ball go through a strange bow and land on the left side of the goal. A goalkeeper who blocks in a close corner never expected that the ball could be kicked so high, just outside his control.

In essence, Raynaldi paid attention to the position of Joshua and the other teammates. In his position it will be very difficult to pass. It could be said that no matter how easily the pass was instantly interrupted, so at that moment, he shot and wished his luck well.

Taking a shot in the back corner of the goal, Raynaldi bounced the ball higher than the goal while spinning oddly, before the ball fell onto the grass then bounced off and fell into the goal.

"Suck, this can come in, too?" Defender Bochum cursed in his heart.

Joshua thought the same. "Wow, how cool, your luck is really amazing!"

Of course, Joshua is the Leverkusen player closest to Raynaldi. He could see Raynaldi shooting. It wasn't so beautiful. It could be said that his kick was very awkward: "Honestly, you, didn't you intend to pass Ray?"

"No, I really want to shoot this ball." Raynaldi answered with a laugh.

At the end of the game, both teams scored. Alex of Leverkusen ended the game with a header from a corner. Shortly thereafter, Midfielder Bochum scored a long shot to again turn the score into 5-2 for Team Yunior Leverkusen's win.