My Girlfriend Wants Victory - Chapter 21



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***

Monday, July 5, 2010.

It was a time when the excitement of the World Cup was still alive as South Korea advanced to the round of 16 for the first time ever.

I was proudly put on the U-19 national team training roster.

-Han Gyul-woo: Hey Son Jin-ho, you’re getting a placard again lol

And this time, as always, a placard was hung in front of the school gate.

Well, it’s familiar to me.

Because it’s not like I’ve been caught once or twice in my past life.

-Midwinter: (Son Jin-ho, the pride of Geumsun High School and the next captain of Arsenal. Called up to the South Korean U-19 national team!)

-Midwinter: It was like this, but if I don’t make it to the final list, I guess I’ll be a dogㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

But Winter seemed surprised to see my name hanging in front of the school gate. He took a picture of himself making a V sign in front of the placard and sent it to me.

I replied by saving Gyul-woo’s photo on my smartphone.

-Son Ho-woo: That won’t happen, so don’t worry haha

-Son Ho-woo: By the way, you look prettier today.

Hmm. That’s weird.

Clearly, 1 was gone. Why was there no reply? It was only that evening that I was able to figure out what had happened to Winter.

-Mother-in-law: ㅠㅠ Jin-ho, it’s winter for me ㅠㅠ My phone was stolen by Dam-tang ㅠㅠ I’m sorry I couldn’t reply ㅠㅠ

***

The roster of the U-19 national team, which we met after a long time, has not changed much.

‘Ugh… It’s a little disappointing without any tuna.’

Except for the fact that Dongwon Tuna, who was called up to the U-23 national team, did not show up.

Anyway, that day we were called together.

The U-19 national team players gathered in my room for a social gathering after completing light training, even though there was no Dongwon Tuna.

“So, scouts from Dortmund and Swansea are coming to see you?”

I answered calmly to Jo Hyeon-su’s question, who looked at me with envious eyes.

“Oh. The association gave me a good opportunity.”

He is a player who will be called Bithyunsu in the future, but he is currently the second goalkeeper behind Nodong-in for the U-19 national team.

“and….”

I looked at Jo Hyeon-su, who was exclaiming in admiration, and was lost in thought. What should I say? It felt a little strange.

It was also interesting to see faces from the senior national team again at a young age, and to see players who had been starters during the youth team era disappear from the national team roster, while players who had been reserves continued to appear on the senior national team.

While I was feeling a strange sense of regress, the other brothers started bombarding me with questions.

“But where is Swansea? I haven’t heard of them in the EPL.”

“It’s a second division team. Its home ground is Wales.”

It was still the season that Swansea City had not yet been promoted to the Premier League, and it was not a well-known club in Korea because Ki Sung-ryong was playing for Celtic. Even the president of the Korean Football Association thought of them as an English team.

“Huh? You’re from Wales, so why are you playing in the English league?”

“We’re in the same Commonwealth, you ignorant bastard.”

“No, Scotland has its own league, kid. Youngest. Doesn’t Wales have a football league?”

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In response to center back Lee Tae-beom’s words, I explained with a friendly expression like a tutor.

“The region of Wales is more interested in rugby than football. The professional league was not established until 1992. So Swansea, which had been in the EPL before that, remained in the EPL.”

Lee Tae-beom nodded his head sheepishly at my expression.

“Ah… I see. By the way, did your team coach allow that? Back when I was a kid, the coach would change the kids’ positions and make them play while preventing them from going abroad to study.”

“Yeah. He even actively suggested ideas and helped me study abroad.”

“Hmm… Your team’s coach is quite a different kind of person.”

I nodded.

Kihyun Shichi is a special kind of person.

“Ugh… Youngest, don’t forget what I said before. If you don’t call me on the holidays, I’ll write a post saying that you’ve really changed since you came out.”

I gave my playful brothers a serious look.

“Everyone, work hard at the stadium. You can also get noticed by scouts, just like me. Do you know? You might get noticed by scouts and go overseas?”

As I finished speaking, the eyes of some in the room changed. Well, there were some players who just ignored me as if they weren’t interested.

That’s something I can’t help. Doesn’t everyone have their own life that they want?

Anyway, I was smiling with satisfaction as I watched some of the players burning with fighting spirit.

“… But why does this kid speak informally so naturally?”

Striker Lee Ho-jong told an uncomfortable truth, and unlike before, the gazes of most people changed.

It was natural.

I got caught for this.

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“Actually, I’m older than you guys.”

I pointed my finger at my ominous brothers and said, and as a result, they were force-fed boring Confucian ideas.

***

Time passed and the day of departure for Vietnam arrived.

This time, unlike last time, all of the U-19 national team members were able to head to Vietnam.

‘Is it because the plane ticket costs less?’

Honestly, I don’t know why. Coach Han Kwang-jong may have strongly insisted on it to the association because he was concerned about the players’ morale. Or it may be because the flight to Vietnam is cheaper than the flight to the UAE.

Well, thanks to that, the mood among the players at Paju NFC was not bad. The players were neither overly tense nor slackened during training.

The reserve players trained hard to catch the coach’s eye and become starters, and the regular players trained even harder to avoid losing their spots to the reserve players.

That doesn’t mean the little kids can’t take my starting spot away from me, though. Well, I guess there will be a reward for your efforts someday.

“Don’t go and cry because you miss your older sister! And don’t be scared in front of the scouts!”

Anyway, I left for Vietnam, seeing off Gyul-woo, whose summer vacation had begun.

***

Saturday, July 24th.

Thong Nhat Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

“It’s fortunate that our rival is a championship team.”

Dortmund scout Jörg Frei, who visited the stadium to see Son Jin-ho, muttered with a bitter expression as he looked at the white scout from Swansea City in the stands.

“How did Dortmund end up like this?”

Jörg Frei recalled the past.

Due to their success in the 1990s, Dortmund emerged as a rival to Munich. However, the club management attempted to be the first German club to list on the stock market. The excessive investment to pump up the value of the stock led directly to financial difficulties as they were eliminated from the Champions League.

Eventually, Dortmund had to sell their home stadium and cut the players’ salaries by 20%, which led to the loss of players who had been part of their 1990s glory and even a loan from Bayern Munich.

Just four years ago, Dortmund was a club that had to worry about bankruptcy or relegation.

‘I’ll take you unconditionally even if you show me half of what you showed in the video.’

Manager Klopp said he was ready, but it didn’t matter if he wasn’t ready. He had to be 16 years and 6 months old to play in the Bundesliga anyway. That means he had to be ready for another year. Assuming that his skills in the video were real, the scouts all thought that he would have enough skills to play for the first team if he spent that year getting better.

“Or, since the existing restriction is too vague, we could ask them to lower it to 16, which would fit right into the DFL.”

Even as Jörg Frei muttered to himself, the game continued, and the scout from Dortmund’s heart began to beat faster as he watched Son Jin-ho intercept an Australian pass and then send a ground-splitting pass straight to the front line.

“I’m so thankful there are no Schalke guys here.”

***

Meanwhile, at that time.

Choi Ki-hyun, who was watching the broadcast, lit a cigarette in admiration at the pass that split the earth.

“Ugh… Kid. I can’t see your limit.”

Although his coaching career is not that long, after earning a living in soccer for 20 years, you can get a rough idea of ​​how big this player will be.

But I couldn’t get that feeling from Jin-ho Son.

What soccer player in the world would know the latest soccer tactical trends by heart?

‘That guy is one of two things.’

Either he’s crazy about soccer. Or he’s a guy who’s seeing the future because he’s only living his second life.

But honestly, does the latter make sense?

If he had seen the future from the beginning, he would have become a legendary investor. Where would you find a guy who plays soccer?

‘Well. If you’re from the future and still play soccer, you must be crazy about soccer.’

So anyway, that guy is crazy about soccer. He would be what is commonly called a madman.

Of course, it doesn’t mean anything bad.

Aren’t the people who have changed the world so far the ones who are not ordinary, the ones the world calls madmen?

– I came to tell you some good news.

Choi Ki-hyun thought of Son Jin-ho, who had come to visit him at dawn and talked about tactics. The faint madness in his eyes was the very image of the madmen in history books.

‘Didn’t all the previous coaches who worked with Son Jin-ho cause problems or neglect the kids? Personally, I hope that Coach Choi Ki-hyun, who knows Son Jin-ho the best, will go with him and take care of him.’

Director Choi Ki-hyun, who slowly took a drag from his cigarette, recalled the words of the association president. Giving up everything he had achieved and going to Germany. That is easier said than done. Who would readily say yes! I understand!

“Park Ji-song… No, because it’s Germany, a coach who discovered and took care of a player who surpasses Cha Bum-geun? It’s me.”

But strangely enough, Choi Ki-hyun wanted to walk that path. Perhaps, since he had to remain a player whose name the public had never even heard of, he might feel a sense of vicarious satisfaction by watching his disciple perform well.

‘Sigh… I guess I have to study German again.’

During my time as a player, I studied German without thinking, thinking that I would become a player who could surpass the German team by advancing to Germany with my head full of flowers. But I also regret that it was a waste.

-Wow, wow, wow!

Anyway, Choi Ki-hyun smiled broadly as he watched Son Jin-ho celebrate after scoring a goal and stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.

‘Whew. I heard secondhand smoke is that bad.’

For the future of Korean soccer, just quit smoking.

And soon after, Choi Ki-hyun regretted it.

‘… Ah. It was a pole, I should have just used that.’

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