Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 104



Only Krnovel

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Spain said in a press conference before the match that they were very conscious of Korea, which they would face in the quarterfinals.

“Korea’s offense and defense are solid. They are a team that excels at counterattacking and has a strong defense, so they won’t let their guard down. What country in the world would let their guard down against a country that has defeated the United States, France, and Egypt? I think Korea is a country that is not just a dark horse but a championship contender, so it’s hard to ignore them as a soccer fringe.”

These were the words of Spanish coach Santiago Denia. And the coach’s words continued.

“We are keeping a close eye on Korea’s performance. Korea is not at all lacking compared to other European countries.”

“There is a rumor going around that Spain lost to Japan on purpose to avoid France. What do you think about that?”

“That is an insult to Spain. We should stop thinking that East Asia is below Europe. We are now on equal footing. And I think Korea is a tougher opponent than France.”

“Is that because the goalkeeper hasn’t conceded a single goal since his professional debut?”

“To be honest, Kim is a bigger threat to us than Mbappe.”

Even if it’s just lip service, has there ever been someone who praised us like this?

“The day will come when Spain will recognize us···.”

It was Lee Jin-seop.

Perhaps, it means that the results we have achieved are threatening to other countries as well.

3 wins out of 3 matches. Opponents are the United States, France, and Egypt.

When Korea was put into Group A, many predicted that it would definitely be eliminated and that it would be a fight for 3rd or 4th place, regardless of whether it was domestic or international.

And that public opinion has been swept away after two evaluation matches and defeating the United States, and now, after defeating France and Egypt, they are no longer just a ‘dark horse’ but are even considered a championship contender.

‘And if we can beat Spain, it’ll really change the way we see things.’

You will never be taken lightly.

If Ukraine advances from the next port, they will give it their all as they have already lost to us once, and even if Brazil advances, they will not be able to dance around leisurely like they did at the last World Cup.

Because I’m going to make sure you never dance that dance again…

*

And we had our quarterfinal match against Spain just three days after our match against Egypt.

There were quite a few Korean spectators cheering us on, but most of them were cheering for Spain.

‘Oh. What is that?’

An Asian man I found while casually scanning the stands.

At first glance, I thought he was Korean, but he was wearing a Spanish uniform. I squinted my eyes and scanned the area, and I saw the Five-Star Red Flag. The Chinese flag.

‘That country again?’

They can’t even compete in the Olympics, so why do they come all the way here and ‘force’ themselves to root for Spain, Korea’s opponent? It’s frustrating for fellow East Asians.

By the way, when China hosted the Asian Games in Hangzhou, didn’t they specifically shout “Jjayo Jjayo” at our opponents?

*Jjayo (meaning fighting in Chinese)

‘It’s actually more stimulating and better.’

I can never make Chinese kids happy.

Anyway, there is no striker on the Spanish national team who can compare to Mbappe or Salah, so he is good enough.

There are quite a few players from big clubs, but most of them are second- or third-option players.

***

Eugene Ho nodded while watching the game.

‘As expected.’

It was going exactly as expected.

Spain was not as thoroughly prepared as France, but it was still just below that level.

Even though it is Olympic soccer, looking at the lineup of players selected, it is a lineup that Korea cannot dare to ignore.

And as expected, Spain came out with a thoroughly possession-based game.

There seemed to be no room for the Korean players to get the ball. We were just sitting back and playing defense instead of actively applying pressure.

‘The situation itself is identical to the French war.’

But the bench and the players on the field were also quite relaxed.

If during the France match, attacks poured in, breaking through the space without giving us a moment to breathe, now it was almost like a break.

“Those are really worth seeing.”

Give it down and then pass it up.

Give it to the side and then turn it back.

The Korean scrum was so dense that it was difficult to find a shooting angle, and while France had the attacking power to break through this defense, Spain could not.

When they took a shot, it would hit their body and deflect, and when they crossed, it would be kicked away or easily blocked by the goalkeeper, so Spain kept passing the ball around and looking for an opportunity.

“Hwaaam~”

For a moment, Yoo Jin-ho turned his head, thinking he had misheard. Then, the player sitting on the bench covered his mouth while yawning and smiled. There were tears in his eyes.

“Oh, this is, when I get too nervous, I yawn, coach. It’s true.”

“okay···.”

Eugene Ho turned his head again.

If it were my high school days, I would have been so angry that I couldn’t even pick up the bones, but not here.

And now, Eugene Ho has decided to refrain from such behavior.

‘If I think about it carefully, I was too emotional in the past. Why did I do that…’

Was it because of stress from work? Looking back now, Yoo Jin-ho felt embarrassed and ashamed of the harsh words and actions he had said during his time at Suyang High School.

But then again, you never know.

I’m thinking like this because I’m a coach with a parachute right now, but if I put on another hat, my true personality might come out.

Yoo Jin-ho, who had been lost in thought for a moment, looked back at the field. The situation had not changed at all.

The Spanish players passed it sideways, forward, up, back, and over and over again.

‘I feel like yawning···.’

Then, perhaps feeling frustrated, the Spanish attacker attempts a mid-range shot.

Liar-!

But it was a wild shot.

It was Santiago’s big shot that went wide of the goal.

Eugene Ho nodded his head, bursting into laughter.

It’s a time-limited fight.

We don’t need to go on the offensive too aggressively. Above all, we need to have defensive numbers because Kim Min-woo proved that he is not invincible in the last match against France.

‘Was it just a half step difference? Either way, it was fate.’

I looked at Director Choi. Director Choi must have felt my gaze as well, so he looked at Yoo Jin-ho and approached him.

“Coach Yoo. Will everything be okay?”

“Of course, coach. If we can draw, we will win in the end.”

Before the match against Spain, the coaching staff, including the manager, had a meeting about how to prepare for the quarterfinals.

Spain were a medal contender at the Olympics, except that their attacking edge was a bit blunt compared to France, so they had to devise tactics with a clear concept.

There were many tactical exchanges at the time, but since everyone was only thinking about ending the game within 90 minutes, Yoo Jin-ho boldly expressed his opinion.

“We have to think about going into overtime. Coach. And coaches. I have a strategy that will definitely win. Would you like to hear it?”

In my memory, Yoo Jin-ho was confident.

Coach Choi and the coaches were puzzled and asked what the strategy was.

“Have you prepared anything? What is it?”

“Director. I’ve been watching Minwoo for a long time.”

“I know. Why don’t you know? You made Minwoo play soccer? I’ve heard it so many times that my ears are already tinged with pain.”

“We need to utilize Minwoo.”

“Minwoo?”

“Yes. From what I’ve seen of Minwoo since his days at Suyang High School, I’ve found that Minwoo is particularly strong in penalty shootouts.”

“Especially strong in penalty shootouts?”

“Yes. We block well on the field, but we are really at an ironclad level in penalty shootouts. If it goes to a penalty shootout, we can say that we have won.”

“Hmm···.”

Coach Choi and the coaches all sat deep in thought for a while before nodding their heads.

“Well, with Minwoo’s level of defensive ability, he would really do well in a penalty shootout.”

“It’s a penalty shootout… So Coach Yoo is saying we should try to force a draw?”

“Why, if you look at the World Cup, Spain lost to Morocco in the round of 16 on penalties? Spain doesn’t have an attacking force like France, so if they go down, they won’t be able to break through. Even if they do, it won’t be at the level of Mbappe or Kim Min-woo.”

“Ma, then why don’t we just trust Kim Min-woo and go aggressive? Is there really a need to waste the kids’ energy by going to a 120-minute overtime battle?”

In his memory, Yoo Jin-ho glanced around to see the other coaches’ reactions, and it seemed like they agreed with Coach Choi’s opinion.

“Of course, that’s okay, but it can be dangerous to raise the line and go aggressive against Spain. You know, they’re good at tiki-taka, right? If they raise the line and break through the defenders and play tiki-taka in front of the goalkeeper, no one, not even Kim Min-woo, can stop them.”

Then, Yoo Jin-ho took out a pad, played a video, and pushed it towards Director Choi.

It was a video containing highlights of the Spanish Olympic national team.

“Spain is more of an organic attacking style than a striker with a clear shot. If we sit back and just play defense, we won’t score a single goal throughout the game. And-”

“Let’s see who wins in a penalty shootout, okay?”

“yes.”

“···hmm.”

After several meetings, Eugene Ho’s strategy was eventually accepted.

The team will be based on full defense, and will counterattack when the opportunity arises. However, the number of counterattack personnel will be limited to four.

This was because if too many players went up at once, there was a risk of a counterattack.

Korea’s counterattack in the quarterfinals was a thorough waste of time and not a means to score a goal.

And then, back again.

‘It’s going according to plan. As planned···.’

Spain had control of the ball throughout the game, but there were no major crises and there was no concern about conceding a goal.

Spain didn’t seem to notice yet, but they were given 120 minutes.

If we don’t score a goal there, we’ll win.

“Woooooooo-!”

Boos erupt from the stands.

It meant that the game was boring.

I didn’t care.

What’s important to us is not the fun of the game, but winning the game.

‘A bronze medal. I just need to get a bronze medal.’

Then Yongseok Choi will achieve complete success.

Of course, I know it’s not easy.

Since the Korean Olympic team’s best performance was a bronze medal, achieving the best performance was considered success.

But to Eugene Ho, it seemed like a very possible goal.

‘With Kim Min-woo, we’ll actually be able to win 30% of the games. If the leadership can come up with a good strategy, we can definitely achieve our goal.’

After failing to qualify for the Asian Games, most of the golden generation were serving in the military.

If you take off this shackle, Eugene Ho will never have to hear the sound of a parachute again.

A place has been created where I can truly demonstrate my will and abilities.

Boohoo-!

Corner kick from Spain.

He put his head on the ball and it looked like his header would go into the goal, but Kim Min-woo jumped up and easily caught it.

Eugene Ho smiled brightly and clapped his hands.

“nice!”

***

I had a rough idea of ​​how the game would go, but reality always far exceeded my expectations.

‘There are games like this.’

I’m telling you, it’s something you’ll only see if you live long enough.

Usually, there are differences in the game pattern depending on possession rate in a game.

If the ball possession ratio is 5:5, with a margin of error of 5 to 6%, then the game is likely to be a close contest between the two teams.

If the score was 6:4, it meant that the team with the ‘6’ possession percentage was superior.

It’s hard to generalize, but a team that has possession ‘6’ has a high probability of winning or drawing. Of course, there’s still a chance of losing.

However, if the difference in market share reaches ‘7’, the story is different.

70% and 30%.

In soccer, if there is this much of a difference in ball possession, it is evidence that one side has an overwhelming advantage.

It meant that the gap between the teams was at least two levels, a magic number that could practically be considered a win for the game.

And, the quarterfinal match between Korea and Spain was 2:8.

2:8 Karma means that the ball possession ratio is 2:8.

19% and 81%, to be exact.

Korea had 19% of the ball possession throughout the 90 minutes, while Spain had 81%.

This was a ridiculous difference.

We barely had control of the ball throughout the game, despite the difference in possession, and the spectators who were watching the game played so one-sidedly booed the entire game in the second half.

Spain couldn’t create any significant attacking situations and the score remained 0:0······ I don’t know for sure, but I wonder if the people watching in Korea are dozing off.

Beep- beep- beep-!

And the second half ended after extra time. The game went into overtime, but this is…

I headed to the locker room, stumbling along.

On the way to the locker room, Yoo Jin-ho was waiting for me, so he patted my head and said.

“Well done. Overtime should be like this too.”

“Are you trying to drag it to a penalty shootout?”

Yoo Jin-ho nods his head, closing his eyes slightly.

“Penalty shootouts are 50-50. What are you going to do if you lose like this?”

“Are you sure?”

“yes?”

“Are you sure about the quality?”

I blinked. No, if you say so…

“None, of course.”

End

ⓒ Doctor Am