After entering winter, strong winds began to blow throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The league's operation was also affected by the windy weather, especially for the players, who were already wearing thin clothing and had to engage in intense exercise, greatly increasing the probability of injury.
Kosopek suffered an injury in the 17th round match against Banja Luka Warriors, spraining his ankle and requiring some time to recover.
After Kosopek's injury, Suk, who had been pulled to the wing forward position, was forcibly summoned back to the center forward position.
Returning to the center forward position, Suk was happy, but also unhappy at the same time.
Unlike the wide range of movement of a wing forward, Suk's range of activity was limited here.
Under this restriction, Suk was unable to run around in a wide range, and was therefore always knocked to the ground.
At the same time, the opposing team was also deploying troops to target Suk's characteristics, determined to kill Suk, this attacking point.
The 'rookie wall' came so swiftly that Suk was also unable to resist.
Sometimes, Suk even thought about Kosopek recovering quickly so he could return to the wing forward position.
After all, at least there he could play football normally, instead of being knocked around like a sandbag.
But it must be said that in this harsh environment, although Suk did not carry out special strength training, his core and anti-confrontation ability gradually improved.
In the past, Suk would fall down as soon as he was hit, but now he can barely withstand a little bit of impact, and even if he falls, sometimes he can follow up with actions, allowing himself to get up and sprint at the first moment of falling to the ground.
Perhaps, this is a blessing in disguise.
As for the coaching staff, they were amazed by Suk's freakish body structure.
Generally, people like Suk would get injured after being fouled like this for a few games, and may even be out for the season.
But Suk stubbornly persisted until now, and there were no injuries.
This was very good news for them.
Kosopek was already injured, and if Suk had a problem, then they would really have no one available in the frontcourt.
But Van Stejak still underestimated the strong wind in Bosnian winter.
It not only blew away Kosopek, but also blew away Kelpic, Boban, and Masovic in the next few games.
Four main players were injured, the wave of injuries came rolling in, and Van Stejak had no defense at all.
After all, this was only his second year leading the team, and he lacked experience. Although his mind was flexible and he had many ideas, these things needed to be prepared in advance. Obviously, Van Stejak's attention was all focused on the running-in of the new lineup, and he didn't think about these problems at all.
Now the situation is that the substitutes are on top, and they are barely coping.
But even so, in the three rounds, they managed to maintain the situation with two draws and one loss.
Now the best news for them is that Sarajevo is also caught in a wave of injuries, and the situation is not so optimistic.
The punishment for Oliveira has also come out.
Because of suspected match-fixing, Oliveira was banned from Bosnian football for life, and a special team was established to go to Mostar Zrinjski for investigation. If the club's senior management is also suspected of match-fixing, the specific punishment will be even more severe.
Oliveira's incident caused a lot of trouble. Although he wanted to deal with it in a low-key manner, he couldn't be low-key in such a small town.
Neighbors and residents of the town have already spread the word.
For a time, Oliveira became an object of public condemnation, and even moved his family out of Mostar overnight.
For the players of Mostar Zrinjski, Oliveira's departure refreshed the atmosphere within the team.
Many newcomers are no longer suppressed, especially guys like Boame, who have been bullied for many years, and have turned over instantly.
The club also appointed Kosopek as the second captain and goalkeeper Kish as the third captain.
As for the first captain, he is still recovering from his injury. Suk is also quite curious about this captain who has never shown his face, but he heard that even if he returns, he will hold a retirement ceremony and then say goodbye to football.
So when the winter break is over, it is estimated that Kosopek will be able to serve as captain immediately.
The winter break of the Bosnian Premier League is very long, from December 05 to February 25 of the following year, a full three months.
This is also because winter in Bosnia and Herzegovina is really not suitable for sports.
Southern Bosnia and Herzegovina has a Mediterranean climate, and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina has a continental climate. The two different climates have the same amount of snowfall.
Crazy snowfall!
Yes!
The entire winter in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a war with snow accumulation.
Starting in mid-November, major cities and towns began to gather manpower to carry out snow removal work in a vigorous manner.
A small snow every three days and a heavy snow every week is by no means an exaggeration.
Sometimes, if the snow removal is a little late, it can easily cause road congestion and transportation is forced to be put on hold.
Under this harsh winter, let alone playing football, traveling is extremely difficult.
On December 05, the 20th round of the Bosnian Premier League, Mostar Zrinjski hosted Nemtel.
This day ushered in a weekly heavy snow day.
From the beginning of the game, snowflakes began to fall in the sky. Halfway through the game, the snow on the lawn had already covered the ankles.
"This weather is just too bad!"
Suk stepped on the snow with one foot deep and one foot shallow and returned to the locker room. A large number of staff had already begun to rush to the stadium with shovels, preparing to carry out snow removal work.
The accumulated snow on both sides of the stadium that had not yet been transported was as high as a two-story building.
"It's so cold!"
Suk took off his gloves, put on a down jacket to keep warm, and made sure his body wouldn't cool down.
The black hair on his forehead was wet and stuck to his forehead like seaweed.
His chubby face was red, like a ripe apple.
Thinking about the first half of the match, Suk was filled with frustration.
The snowy conditions of the match caused him great difficulty.
He was originally a center forward who excelled at running, passing, and organizing.
But in this harsh weather, Suk's performance was greatly reduced.
The ball would hit the snow and not bounce!
Even his dribbling speed was greatly reduced, and sometimes the snow would interfere, causing the ball to suddenly veer off in a strange direction while dribbling.
This prevented Suk from Play out his advantages.
And in this kind of weather, those static forwards were a major weapon.
They could withstand the opposing defenders, heading and kicking the ball with great enjoyment.
"Ben. Miles, come on in the second half."
Van Streaky entered the locker room and shouted directly.
Suk shrugged, he had already anticipated being substituted.
After all, this environment infinitely magnified his disadvantages, and his existence was not very meaningful.
But Van Streaky changed his tone and said, "Barton out, Modric falls back, Suk plays midfield!"
Suk's position is very flexible.
Central midfielder, winger, center forward, he can play them all.
According to different tactical requirements, he can show different performances.
Van Streaky directly used Suk as a jack-of-all-trades.
"In the second half, make more long passes, Modric, lob the ball to the frontcourt."
Having said that, he looked at Suk again and said; "Your job is not to organize, but to hide behind Ben. Miles, ready to move forward at any time."
In this environment, too delicate passing is useless.
It's better to use those simple and crude playing styles.
Van Streaky looked down on long passes and crosses, but he was not pedantic, and he adopted different tactics in different environments.
He saw Suk's embarrassment in the frontcourt, so he arranged a bodyguard for him, so that Suk could minimize his presence and wait for the opportunity to move forward.
Van Streaky reminded him; "The beginning of the second half is very important, the snow has been cleared a little, you try to move forward more and look for opportunities to score."
Once they score, the next step is to retreat to defend the whole line.
After all, in this environment, scoring is really too difficult.
During the halftime break, some of the snow was cleared.
The harsh environment did not diminish the enthusiasm of the fans, who still stood firm here.
When the second half of the match started, Suk found an opportunity to move forward.
The opponent's defensive forces were stretched by the forwards, creating a gap, and Suk immediately turned to look at Modric.
Modric also immediately kicked a long pass.
The ball flew high and fell towards the frontcourt.
Suk also sprinted with all his strength before the snow covered the field.
Without the hindrance of the snow, and with the good feeling of stepping on the grass, Suk's speed soared in an instant.
He advanced fiercely along a straight line from the rib area.
Although the players of Neumtal wanted to limit Suk, they couldn't keep up.
They barely caught up when Suk stopped the ball.
"Don't let him shoot!"
The opposing defender shouted.
Suk feigned a shot, but pushed the ball towards the center.
Ben. Miles was late, he was entangled by the opponent's central defender and failed to kick the ball.
"Damn it!"
Suk couldn't help but curse, turned around and sprinted back to defend.
With active defense, they once again stole the ball.
Suk also returned to the frontcourt again, but the snow on the ground began to increase again.
Although it wasn't to the extent that his ankles were sinking in like in the first half, it was still a bit slippery and didn't have that solid stepping feeling.
"We have to hurry!"
Suk looked solemn.
Without Kosovici, the high center forward in the frontcourt, their performance in this environment was greatly limited.
Suk once again quietly sneaked towards the rib area.
Preparing to try to rush again.
Modric decisively lobbed the ball to the frontcourt with a long pass, and the forwards also moved forward at a rapid speed, and for a while, the back line entered a melee stage.
Suk drifted on the outside, waiting for an opportunity.
He saw the opponent's central defender holding Ben. Miles in place, Suk had no chance.
Just when he thought the opponent was going to destroy the ball, he saw Ben. Miles accidentally slip and subconsciously grabbed the opponent's collar and pulled it down.
The central defender, who was originally preparing to head the ball, bent over, and the ball just hit his back and rolled backwards.
"Chance!"
Suk's eyes lit up, he immediately rushed out from the side and ran straight towards the ball.
At this time, the opponent's goalkeeper also abandoned the goal and came out, and the side defender also outflanked from the side.
The three were competing for speed.
But when it comes to speed, Suk has never been afraid.
Accelerate! Rush!
Suk suddenly accelerated the frequency of his feet, the long spikes pierced through the snow and stuck in the grass, constantly pushing Suk's body forward.
Whoosh!
Suk rushed forward diagonally before the two, and poked the ball out.
At this time, the opponent's goalkeeper stumbled forward in a mess, missed the ball, and also tripped his own side defender.
Having passed the goalkeeper, Suk looked at the empty goal in front of him, he easily turned back and slammed the ball into the net.
In the 61st minute, Suk scored a goal, and also ushered in his third league goal.
In 20 league rounds, Suk has scored a total of 3 goals and contributed 9 assists.