Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 112

Needless to say, this was the first time since the founding of the Republic of Korea that a soccer team won a gold medal at the Olympics, so the Olympic team became heroes.

In particular, the national joy was doubled as the gold medal harvest in other events was extremely poor and there was a huge upset in an event where no medals were expected in the first place.

[Kim Shin-ah: Soccer final viewership ratings 40% ㄷㄷ]

[Kim Shin-ah: At this level, even people who aren’t interested in soccer would know Kim Min-woo.]

[Kim Shin-ah: In fact, if you include things like internet broadcasts that don’t even have viewer ratings, I’m saying that most people have seen it.]

[Choi Sung-hee: Son. Congratulations on the gold medal!! You came to Hanover by plane, right?]

[Kim Min-woo: Yeah. I think we’ll move on without even having time to reflect.]

As expected, my mother dropped me off at the base camp before the Olympics and then returned to Hanover.

It doesn’t make sense for my mother to stay in France for the entire Olympics, and she didn’t go back to Korea either. I think my mother may have done some self-development during that time, given her personality.

[Kim Shin-ah: Now, even his younger sister ignores Kim Min-woo because he won the gold medal. Wow! His character level is amazing!]

[Kim Shin-ah: Kim Min-woo’s eyes are glued to his head because he gets an annual salary of 6 billion won]

[Choi Sung-hee: And son! Congratulations on your military exemption ^^! So son, you’ve completed your military service now? Haha]

[Kim Min-woo: Hahahahaha]

[Kim Shin-ah: The military service-filled high school student’s appearance is crazy ㄷㄷ]

[Kim Shin-ah: A high school student who has completed his military service and ignores his younger sister’s messages until the end]

“No, really, did I eat that wrong?”

I was going to say something sharp, but since he’s the type of guy who would go on to verse 2 or 3 and all the way to verse 12 if I just said something to him, I just ignored him until the end.

Then I guess I’m just tired of it and won’t say anything.

[Kim Min-seok: Hey.. Tsk.. Since ancient times, men have had to go to the military! Huh?]

[Kim Shin-ah: tsk tsk]

[Kim Shin-ah: Dad, you dissed me by saying, “Is the military really the military these days?”]

[Kim Shin-ah: When I was young, we couldn’t even use cell phones and our monthly salary was only 10,000 won.]

[Kim Min-woo: I could do that in my time]

[Kim Shin-ah: Seriously lol]

[Kim Shin-ah: I respect those who served in the military during that time]

[Kim Shin-ah: I saw an old military video on YouTube recently. The food served was really bad.]

[Kim Shin-ah: The plates are plastic plates; they are really bad for the environment.]

[Kim Min-seok: When I was younger, no matter how much I cleaned the plates, the smell wouldn’t go away. It was dirty and had a lot of scratches on it.]

Oh my… this is really the double-edged sword army.

And although he didn’t say anything, the poor conditions of the military at that time wouldn’t have ended at that level.

If the level of poverty and absurdity is 100, then the issue of the food tray would probably be around 0.1 in military life. I think it must have been a really bad day back then…

[Kim Shin-ah: But Dad! Where did you not use the dog food bowl as a plate? ㅋㅎㅋㅎ]

[Kim Min-seok: Back in the 4th Republic, they really used dog food bowls]

[Kim Shin-ah: I’ve heard of the 5th Republic, but when will the 4th Republic come? LOL]

[Choi Sung-hee: Enough with the stories about the days when I wore rubber shoes -_-!]

If we go back to that time, isn’t it a time when even old grandfathers are very healthy?

[Kim Shin-ah: Well anyway, congratulations on your military exemption and gold medal! Since you won the gold medal, do you get a pension as well?]

[Kim Min-woo: Pension? Ah]

If you win a gold medal, the country will also provide you with a pension. I hadn’t even thought about it because I was focusing on exemption from military service.

[Kim Shin-ah: Wow… With an annual salary of 6 billion won, the pension given by the king is meaningless? Then give it to me, lol]

By the way, pension. How much do you get?

Luckily, my mom answered this question for me.

[Choi Sung-hee: If you win a gold medal at the Olympics, you get 1 million won a month. And the prize money is over 60 million won, haha]

[Kim Shin-ah: It’s pocket money for Min-woo, right? Right? What do you think about giving your younger sibling pocket money ^_^?]

[Kim Min-woo: I think it would be better to just donate]

[Kim Shin-ah: ?????????]

[Kim Min-woo: Mom. So, I’ll get 1 million won a month until I die?]

[Choi Sung-hee: Yes]

[Kim Min-woo: Wow..]

Even if my life goes wrong and I become penniless, I won’t end up homeless.

[Kim Shin-ah: What the heckㅋㅋㅋ A person who receives 10 million won a month every year, money that he can’t spend until he dies!]

That’s true.

Well, even if you receive a lot of money, who would refuse if someone offered to give them money for free? Especially if the recipient of the payment was the country.

I stretched out and thought about my hometown team. I wanted to take a break from my journey to the Olympics, but I had to go to Germany and participate in the league without even having time to catch my breath.

‘Because Yan is screaming that he’s dying without me right now…’

Chiller left and Leo was the goalkeeper who took my place.

How anxious must manager Jan be to put Leo, who was a sub-keeper in the second division, in the first division?

‘But then why didn’t you hire one more sub-keeper…’

I don’t trust Leo. Tony is far from good. Then, all they need to do is recruit another reliable sub-keeper, but Hannover didn’t do that.

They chose to strengthen other positions at the expense of bringing in one more goalkeeper, and whether that was the right choice will be determined by their future course of action.

“It’s going to be a huge divide this season too.”

I think I would play in almost every game if I didn’t get injured.

It’s a good thing we had a winter break, if it was the Premier League I would have fainted from overwork.

***

The day after the Olympic final, Hannover prepared for their first match against Union Berlin.

Like Hertha BSC, which they faced in the second division, they were a team based in Berlin, but while Hertha represented West Berlin, Union Berlin represented East Berlin.

“It’s so hot.”

Jan muttered quietly.

This is the heart of Union Berlin, the Stadion an der Alten Foersterei, or Alte Foersterei for short.

The largest soccer-specific stadium in Berlin.

The players all looked nervous, as if they were already feeling intimidated. Especially Leo.

The sub goalkeeper who started in this match as a replacement for Kim. I didn’t expect him to do well, I just wanted him to do as he usually does.

“It’s quite a heat, isn’t it, Jan?”

Head coach Elmar Barlemann said the same thing to Jan. Jan nodded, crossing his arms.

“We’ve been using this stadium for over 100 years, so of course it should be like this.”

Division 1 has only 18 teams, the same as Division 2.

And the first division was dominated by West German teams.

The only East German teams were Union Berlin and Leipzig, and even Leipzig was a club founded with a large influx of capital after reunification, so it was difficult to even consider it an East German team.

Anyway, Union Berlin was a ray of hope for the football scene in East Germany that had fallen into ruin after reunification.

Among the many clubs in East Germany, each with its own history and tradition, it was the only one playing in the Bundesliga, and the fans at Union Berlin were chanting as if they were going to crush anyone who was their opponent.

“Kim should have been there at this time.”

It’s a shame, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

Kim, who had been defeating his opponents one after another with amazing performances, finally received the gold medal and was returning to Hanover.

Since he couldn’t compete in Berlin anyway and had to recover from the travel fatigue, Jan ordered Kim not to come to Berlin and instead rest in Hanover.

This match has to be played without Kim somehow.

‘He’s still very young, but since he won the gold medal and his military service issue was resolved, his salary is higher… Ah. There was a buyout, right?’

If Kim can replicate the form he showed at the Olympics in the Bundesliga, I can confidently say that he will be on the final 30-man list for the Ballon d’Or.

Well, since they won’t be able to participate in major competitions like the Champions League or Europa League, they’ll probably just end up as ‘candidates’.

If he can maintain his growth trajectory, won’t he become the next goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or after Lev Yashin?

‘There have been at most six goalkeepers who have been ranked in the top three of the Ballon d’Or.’

One of them was Lev Yashin, who actually won the award, and the other five were all very famous goalkeepers.

Dino Zoff. Ivo Victor. Oliver Kahn. Gianluigi Buffon. Manuel Neuer.

Each and every one of these incredible goalkeepers dominated their respective eras.

But if you think about it the other way around, players like Oliver Kahn, Buffon, and Neuer ultimately failed to overcome the limitations of the goalkeeper position and thus failed to win the Ballon d’Or.

Just one person.

Only Lev Yashin, who is called the goalkeeper himself, won the award for the goalkeeper position.

‘Can Kim really surpass Yasin?’

If Yashin can perform at that level, isn’t it basically like Michael Jordan reincarnated as a goalkeeper?

Then what······ will soccer shoes with Kim’s name come out, and various sports brands pop up like that?

Jan, who smiled faintly, focused on the game as the referee blew his whistle.

If you want to score points in this tough terrain, you’ll need to keep your wits about you.

*

There is something called momentum in soccer.

Momentum leads to flow, and flow leads to initiative.

And the initiative ultimately leads to victory.

Hannover were very disorganized in the first half.

Pre-season, the arrival of new players, and the inevitable chemistry between players who don’t quite fit together.

In addition, Union Berlin’s sharp attacks were supported by the enthusiastic support of the home crowd.

Hannover were forced to concede the opening goal to Union Berlin, and then suffered a second blow from their opponents with their clumsy and slow movements, ending the first half 0:2.

Jan’s impression after watching the first half was a sigh.

“It’s a day when I miss Kim so much.”

If Kim had been guarding the goal, Hannover’s performance might have faltered, but they would not have conceded a goal 0-2.

However, it cannot be said that this score came about because Leo was bad. The defense was so wide open that it was impossible for anyone other than Kim to block the shot.

Leo was ordinary. Jan was so intoxicated by Kim’s specialness that he forgot for a moment how ordinary a goalkeeper he was, and this was the result.

And the locker room.

The players were in a dark mood, unable to come to their senses due to the great crisis they had been experiencing for a long time.

Coming up to Part 1 and already getting beaten up like this, you might be confused and frustrated that this is the wall of Part 1.

But here we need to set the mood well.

How did you get to Part 1? You can’t have a brilliant season and then go back to Part 2.

“Why are you all acting like you’ve already lost? It’s only 2-0. Just like they scored two goals in the first half, we could have scored two goals. Or more. Stop acting like losers!”

Of course I understood the players.

Not only was their goal score low, but their possession rate was also low, and they have not shot at the opponent’s goal even once, so they must be very disappointed.

However, if we do not encourage these players and send them out in the second half, then defeat will be a certainty.

As a director, Jan could never stand to see that happen.

So, during half-time, we used this short time to get the players’ minds moving and applied some different tactics.

And the second half.

We got one goal back early.

“Good!”

Yan smiled brightly and gave his head coach a big high five. The score was 2:2. We caught up!

Hannover, who had caught up with the score, moved organically to score a comeback goal and continued to create chances.

But it got blocked every time.

We just needed to score one goal, but we missed that one.

Until the very end, Hannover was targeting Union Berlin’s goal, and then······.

Union Berlin took the lead again after a classic counterattack goal.

Jan threw his head back as if he was about to fall backwards in despair.

They all came. Damn it!

It was a split second before Hannover’s corner kick led to a counter-attack opportunity, with the opposing winger passing to the striker who then beat the goalkeeper.

What a pity. If the goalkeeper in this scene was Kim instead of Leo…

But, it is impossible to express what is on your mind.

As the commentators said, extra time had already run out by the time the ceremony was over.

The referee blew the whistle immediately for a quick departure, and Hannover ended up suffering a painful 2:3 defeat.

ⓒ Doctor Am