The arrival of the Croatian prodigy made the home games of Mostar Zrinjski a bit livelier.
Matches that usually had an attendance of around 600 suddenly surged to over 900, almost filling the entire stand.
Most of the residents of the Mostar area came for the sake of the so-called "Croatian prodigy's" reputation.
Suk also bought a ticket to watch Modrić's debut in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier League out of curiosity.
In his memory, Modrić's playing style was tough, and he ran actively. Despite his slender build, he still shouldered the defensive work in midfield. He was also the organizational core of a team, possessing extremely strong organizational and leadership abilities.
However, in this debut match, Modrić's performance was somewhat disappointing.
Bearing the title of "prodigy," many people expected him to dominate the game and have an even more outstanding performance.
But in the 90-minute match, Modrić's performance was mediocre. Occasionally, there were bright moments, but there were also times when he took wild shots.
Overall, he didn't give people the impression of being a super prodigy.
In Suk's perception, compared to the clean and clear organization and handling of the ball in the future, Modrić was now more sluggish in terms of rhythm and also had a kind of irritability.
That's right! It was irritability!
Suk didn't know if it was his own problem, but several of Modrić's passes weren't that accurate.
Either he passed to a strange position, or he passed too quickly for his teammates to catch up.
Of course, Modrić was still very sensitive in terms of his sense of open space, but his teammates didn't share the same understanding.
In this case, Modrić's debut failed to yield any goals or assists.
Although Mostar Zrinjski ultimately won the game thanks to the goal from the high center forward Koso Pec, the whole game was slightly dull.
After the game, Suk saw Modrić silently packing his luggage, turning, and leaving alone, not leaving with the others, looking somewhat lonely.
The hype surrounding the Croatian prodigy quickly dissipated.
For the town of Mostar, they were very interested in new things, but they also forgot them quickly.
From Mostar Zrinjski's second game onwards, the attendance dropped to around 700, and by the third game, it had completely returned to its previous state.
People no longer talked about the so-called Croatian prodigy and quickly put the matter out of their minds.
In two weeks, Mostar Wanderers also played two rounds of matches.
Suk gained nothing in both games.
Mainly because he began to be frequently harassed by the opponent in recent games, and some teams even started to send people to specifically mark Suk.
This was completely star treatment, and it also showed Suk's threat.
Suk was somewhat happy about this change, but also very helpless.
He was happy that his performance made others value him, after all, mediocrity is not envied, but on the other hand, it became more difficult for him to score goals.
Currently, in addition to his awareness, Suk lacked the ability to get rid of confrontation physically.
After all, his slender body was still a disadvantage.
To this end, Suk began to drink milk more desperately to supplement his nutrition.
Inside a restaurant in Mostar Town, Suk sat at the dining table, holding a huge steak and began to devour it.
The steak was a whole circle bigger than his head, overflowing with grease, soft and delicious.
Paired with special sauce and rice, it was absolutely delicious.
Suk took a mouthful of rice and a mouthful of beef, eating with incomparable sweetness.
The bald goalkeeper Bakic propped his chin, watching Suk.
He was very curious how this small body could stuff all this food into his stomach.
Smack! Smack!
"Next... match, I will definitely make that chimpanzee look bad!" Suk muttered indignantly with his mouth full of beef and rice.
The bald goalkeeper Bakic shook his head. "He's not a chimpanzee, his name is Dilak, his skin is just a bit darker. And he didn't commit any malicious fouls against you at all, it's just that you can't compete with him."
Glug, glug, glug...
Suk raised his head and drank all the milk in one gulp, even licking the milk stains from the corners of his mouth clean. He turned his head and squinted at Bakic. "Which side are you on? Please go to the other side in the next game, I'll shoot you to pieces!"
Immediately, he muttered again, "If you hadn't let in one less goal, we wouldn't have lost the game."
Bakic was immediately a little embarrassed.
In fact, even when Suk was closely marked, he still created a shooting opportunity for them and assisted Mlinar to score, leading the opponent.
But in the second half, Bakic's butterfingers acted up again, repeatedly fumbling twice, allowing the opponent to score on a rebound, and they were eventually reversed.
"Okay, it's my fault. Or should you find another goalkeeper?" Bakic shrugged.
Suk said unhappily, "With our team's pitiful salary, who would be willing to come?"
Most of the players of Mostar Wanderers are residents of the town and the surrounding villages. They can't even be called professional players. Although they are recorded in the Football Association's list, they all have their own jobs, and football is just a part-time job.
Mlinar is a carpenter, running a woodworking shop in the town.
Bakic runs the current restaurant, is a cook, and his ball-stopping skills are the same as his job.
Delicious!
Coach Oripe is a sports teacher in the town, moonlighting as the team's coach.
To be honest, Suk even suspected whether Oripe had a football coaching license. This guy's ideas are obviously contrary to the current football philosophy.
In the football field that pursues explosive power and quick transitions, Oripe always emphasizes the importance of physical fitness and even believes that physical fitness is the only element to win the game.
This also caused him to prefer mules with amazing endurance over swift horses.
His tactical philosophy is, "As long as the opponent's physical fitness is exhausted, victory belongs to us!"
Suk continued to eat, finishing the last bit of rice with beef gravy, and then said with a bitter face, "Forget it, let's work hard next season. There's no hope of promotion this season."
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Second League had just started running, and there were currently only seven teams, playing a three-cycle match.
Therefore, there were only 18 rounds of matches in a season.
It had now reached 14 rounds. With only four rounds left in the league, Mostar Wanderers had a full 15-point gap with the team in first place. Even if they won all four rounds and the opponent lost all four rounds, they still wouldn't be able to win the championship, and they wouldn't be promoted.
This meant that they would still have to play in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Second League next season.
"There will be even less chance next season; the captain won't play next season." Bakic sighed.
Suk suddenly widened his eyes. "Won't play? Why?"
Mlinar is their midfield core, and also the key to Suk's only reliance on passing.
Mlinar's retirement would cause Mostar Wanderers' offense to decline sharply. If no one passes the ball to him, how can he score a goal?
"The captain is already 35 years old, what else do you want?" Bakic shook his head and said. "Next season, you will lead us to victory."
"Lead my ass!" Suk cursed directly. "When the contract expires this season, I'm running away!"
Bakic was speechless.
However, he believed that Suk could really do this kind of thing. To facilitate the flow of players, the contracts in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Second League are signed for one year, which has no binding force on the players at all. Whether they stay on the team is entirely voluntary and based on emotional strategy.
Once Mlinar doesn't play, Suk may really leave directly.
"Where are you going? A 150 cm center forward, who would want you?" Bakic shook his head.
Suk pursed his lips. "Go to Sarajevo, sign a contract with Sarajevo FC. Anyway, I scored so many goals for them, they know I'm useful. The most important thing is, it's a big city, the football coaches are more professional, they understand my value better, so... so..."
As he spoke, Suk became a little less confident.
Bakic had a smiling face. In the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina football circle, they favor tall, strong, and fast players. It is no exaggeration to say that if Inzaghi lost his fame and ran to Bosnia and Herzegovina, he might not have a ball to play.
Suk drooped his head, extremely depressed.
Why is it so difficult to play football?
Through the reflective glass, he looked at his figure, sitting on the bench, his legs couldn't even touch the ground.
Suk was even more depressed.
Pa da!
Suk jumped off the bench, turned, and walked out of the shop.
"Hey! What about the money for the meal?"
Bakic hurriedly shouted.
Suk turned around, walked into the kitchen, took out two iron basins, and walked out of the restaurant with them.
"Lend them to me first. I'll go make money and give you the money for the meal tonight!"
Entering April, the weather in Mostar became warmer.
Under the midday sun, the air was warm.
It is the season of recovery for all things, and the tourist season in Mostar is also coming. Every day, the town welcomes a batch of tourists, boosting the local economy.
This season, the town became noticeably livelier.
Mostar is most famous for its ancient bridge.
It is also a city named after this bridge.
The Neretva River runs through the town of Mostar, dividing it into two. The famous Old Bridge of Mostar connects the two sides.
The entire ancient bridge is arched, with the highest point being 10 meters above the river.
This ancient bridge is a beautiful sight in the town, and it is the most attractive place for tourists.
The sides of the bridge were full of tourists. The weather was very nice today, with clear skies—a perfect day to play in the water.
Bang! Bang! Bang! ! !
Suddenly, a loud sound broke the silence of the town.
The tourists turned their heads to look over, a puzzled expression slowly appearing on their faces.
They saw a young boy, looking around 13 or 14 years old, trying to hit the two iron basins in his hand, attracting their attention.
When everyone looked at the boy, he said two sentences in clumsy English.
"Give me money!"
Immediately, he pointed to the river under the ancient bridge and said, "Jump!"
Everyone looked at the boy in surprise. His face was childish, and his body was a little thin.
They turned their heads again to look at the ancient bridge, more than ten meters high. Just looking at it from above gave them a feeling of acrophobia, but this little guy was about to dive from there?