Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 120



Only Krnovel

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The local German broadcaster gave an exciting broadcast of the Augsburg vs. Hannover match.

Anything that has a narrative is interesting, and only if it’s interesting is it fun.

For someone who broadcasts sports, it is natural that broadcasting the situation is essential, but it is also a virtue to be able to interestingly unravel the behind-the-scenes stories intertwined between the two teams.

“Hannover and Augsburg are facing each other. Before Kim, who is now a regular starter, suddenly appeared, Ron-Robert Ziller was Hannover’s starting goalkeeper.

After much deliberation, Jan took the captain’s armband away from Chiller and finally handed Kim the starting goalkeeper’s spot.”

“Chiller eventually leaves Hanover and tries to show Hanover, Jan, and Kim who he is. This is not our opinion, it is Chiller’s opinion.

Chiller said in an interview the day before the match that he was excited to face Hannover, and that he understood Jan but could not help but feel disappointed, and showed his determination to win against Kim.”

“It can’t be anything but an exciting match. Ziller, who was Hannover’s captain and starting goalkeeper, will now be the goalkeeper against Hannover, while Kim will be guarding the goal opposite Ziller.

Will Chiller be able to pull off a decision win over Kim? Will this be a match Hannover regrets letting Chiller go?”

“The game is about to begin!”

And the game begins.

Augsburg quickly attempted to attack before the referee’s whistle had even blew.

A sudden attack that begins before the players’ bodies have even adjusted to the game.

The commentators raised their voices as they watched Hannover’s midfield and flanks being pierced.

“The game has just started and Augsburg are going for the moment when their opponents are least alert!”

“It’s not often that you get a chance to score right from the start of a game! Demirovic beats Neumann in a duel!”

“Cross! The ball hits the body and comes out, and Elvis takes the ball!”

“There is no mark! You can hit me anytime!”

But instead of charging, give it to the side. This will give you a wider and more certain shooting angle.

The commentators intuitively felt that this was a goal and raised their voices even more.

“Robert! You can’t even react to those around you-!”

And a powerful shot. The shot flies in a direction that would have resulted in a goal for any decent goalkeeper, hitting the corner of the right goal.

“And gooooo-?!”

“Ahhhh! Kim! Can you stop this!”

“What a frustrating Kim! Robert’s well-aimed shot, most of these shots would have gone in!”

“It was an angle that only Kim could block! Kim, who frustrated the attackers he faced time and time again! Korea also had a Great Wall of China!”

Kim blocked it by practically flying in the sky.

Kim on the broadcast screen was getting angry at his colleagues around him, and the jump Kim showed in the replay was definitely a jump he had accurately predicted would fly down that course.

“That jump right now is a confident jump. Confidence that it will definitely get there. That’s really great.”

“If Robert had seen the goalkeeper’s jumping motion in advance and folded once… then he would have been blocked by the surrounding defenders. That’s amazing. He could set a new club record for Hannover’s annual salary!”

“And now it’s a corner kick!”

A series of crises in Hanover followed.

And every time, Hannover’s goalkeeper shines. In times of crisis, the goalkeeper shines. That’s because of his position.

The commentators kept exclaiming in admiration while commentating.

“Kim, who is playing like he is in the second division even though he is in the first division. When on earth will he give up a goal?”

“It’s not possible to keep a clean sheet for your entire career. It can’t happen, and it shouldn’t happen. If it does, Kim will be labeled the greatest man in the world, regardless of the sport.”

“Yes. Certainly, it’s ridiculous for Kim to have kept a clean sheet throughout his career. But Kim kept a clean sheet even in the Paris Olympics, where there were many great players.”

“Kim has never conceded a goal before, and that is definitely partly due to luck. And Lady Luck doesn’t always smile on the same person. Even in this game, it is the fate of a goalkeeper to concede a goal at any time.”

“Yes, and again!”

Augsburg’s attack again, targeting Hannover’s goal. Kim looked particularly busy today.

***

An expedition is always a difficult journey.

And, actually, I thought I was on a growth trajectory after playing the last few games.

So, it’s something like world class, as people usually say.

‘···Literally, the world seemed funny.’

I thought as I wiped away the sweat dripping down my face.

After playing against such stellar players as Mbappe, Salah, and Messi, I must have unknowingly felt a sense of pride and arrogance building up inside me.

‘Yeah. After playing against those new players, it was funny to come back to the Bundesliga and see all these unknown players scattered around.’

How long can you keep a clean sheet?

I don’t know.

There was one thing I felt while playing this match, and that was that I was really lucky in the last Olympics.

‘It can be eaten at any time. And keeping a clean sheet until the end of a career… is close to a fantasy.’

It was impossible from the start.

It was a league where soccer balls were literally shot at lightning speed.

Even if you don’t often come across famous players like Messi, Mbappe or Salah, all the players in this league are the epitome of talent who have broken the mold to some extent.

But I believed it could be done.

I honestly thought I would never score a goal in my entire career.

‘It’s all based on arrogance. It’s impossible.’

I have no talent for soccer.

Before I got my hands on Football Manager, I was a terrible runt and had a wall around me with regards to sports.

But at some point, I started to think that my ability as a football manager was my own unique ability.

“Ugh!”

I blocked the opponent’s powerful flying shot with both hands like a gust of wind.

There’s no time to rest. It seems like a game worth paying for has finally arrived.

‘Anyway······What was I thinking?’

I just forgot because I was blocking that shot.

Ah! Pride.

Don’t be proud.

Isn’t that what my little sister says every day?

And I haven’t yet developed the skills to be able to abuse my power to that extent.

My current stats are far from being enough to be called a Bundesliga 1st division player. If the prophet’s eye hadn’t improved in time, I would have conceded a goal long ago.

I don’t know, but I think he did in this game.

The crisis that occurred early in the first half.

And the crisis continues even now. Phew···.

‘Yes. It’s a goal that will be eaten someday. But it’s possible to delay that moment depending on my efforts.’

As a goalkeeper, not conceding a goal until you retire is no different from not being born and not dying as a human being.

Even Qin Shi Huang didn’t want to die so he searched for the elixir of life, but he eventually died, right?

That’s what a goal is to a goalkeeper. It’s a fate that will come someday.

“Whew! The game was fun today! Isn’t it, Kim?”

Corsic said something after seeing my tense expression. I also relaxed my expression and nodded.

“Yeah. There should be days like this. It was always like this when I was in the second part. It’s nice to have old memories after a long time.”

Whatever it is, do your best in the present.

And, I’m going to make a mistake someday, but at least I didn’t want to eat it today.

‘Chiller. Sorry, but I won’t be the first to concede a goal against you!’

***

I was anxious.

As expected, Kim looked as expected.

An iron wall-like appearance.

A look that just won’t go in no matter how many times you hit it.

As the first half ended, half-time ended, and the second half began, Hannover slowly began to show their true form.

It might be more correct to say that he stretched.

Hannover’s new midfielders began to improve in the second half after being poorly played in the first half.

Augsburg did not slow down the tempo even after the second half began, using substitutions to remove tired players.

But even so, Hannover’s performance was gradually improving.

‘Damn. That’s the fucking pattern.’

Hannover’s winning pattern was emerging.

This is a picture of the opposing team, who had been beating Hannover too hard in the first half, gradually losing strength, and Hannover, who had been crouching down and conserving strength, turning the game around and grabbing the exhausted opponent by the collar and beating them.

It was also familiar to chillers.

Because it was a game we had seen a lot from the bench when Kim was guarding Hannover’s goal instead.

‘A style of play that can never be shown by a goalkeeper other than Kim···.’

Jan is blessed.

It’s so easy to plan out tactics with a goalkeeper who only comes once in a hundred years. No, once in two hundred years.

“Stick! Stick!”

Chiller gritted his teeth and directed the defenders’ movements. Now, it was his turn to experience what Kim had experienced.

It certainly will be so, because Yando Kim used to like that kind of tactic when he was guarding the goal.

A custom strategy that is only possible if Kim is the goalkeeper.

And the old teammates slowly move forward to threaten the goal.

The start was Henrik Fischer, the second captain of the team under Jan Rytl, who succeeded Chiller.

The guy crossed the ball straight into the middle of the penalty box.

‘Where!’

Chiller ran out as if it was funny and punched the cross away.

But that was just the beginning.

Hanover are starting to show signs of full-blown exhaustion.

Active pressure, active attack, continuous cooperation.

Increasingly, we were losing close combat in the Central Plains, and these minor but significant defeats in battles gave our opponents confidence and our allies a sense of crisis.

However, Augsburg had already exhausted a lot of their energy in the first half, so it was difficult for them to keep up with Hannover, who suddenly picked up the tempo.

“shit···.”

Here we go again.

New signing Alex Scott attempts a straight through pass.

I thought the defenders would naturally cut it, but the ball ended up at Daniel Becker’s feet.

Then a thought immediately comes to mind.

‘Fucked!’

Becker, a flashy dribbler with both feet, did not use his strengths this time and hit straight away.

Tae-aeng─!

And Becker’s shot hits the goalpost.

Because the reaction was one beat slower, even if it had been hit just 2cm to the side, it would have been a loss.

‘I’m too old to react to shots like this…’

No, it’s not.

Van der Sar was a monster who blocked all these shots even though he was older than me.

Age is just an excuse.

I watched Kim’s game videos every day, and I’ve actually watched them countless times.

‘Me too, I can do it like Kim!’

Chiller, whose eyes were shining brightly, blocked countless attacks that followed.

Daniel Becker’s volley.

Cedric Teutchert’s sprinting shot aimed at the shins.

Henrik Fischer’s side-rushing curler.

‘shit.’

Hannover’s attacks suddenly got stronger in the second half. But that’s okay.

‘Kim has kept a clean sheet in worse situations than this in the first half. I can’t do it either!’

Kim told them not to look to him for advice, but his words were meant as a warning that he might have competition.

Chiller learned from watching Kim and was able to figure out, to some extent, how he blocks threatening shots.

And in the midst of Hannover’s continued attack, centre-back Peiper committed a foul. With a little effort, the referee awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area, and Ziller was dismayed, but he thought he could stop this too.

“A little more to the left! To the left!”

Chiller quickly adjusted the defensive scrum without making a sound.

However, Hannover did not spare them, placing players next to the scrum to obstruct the view.

There is one kicker.

Alex Scott.

A young and handsome Englishman.

‘I will definitely stop it. I will definitely do it!’

Chiller made up his mind. The referee’s whistle blew, and Chiller concentrated all his attention.

And then there’s the popping sound and the flying shot from Alex Scott.

It was a shot aimed at the corner of the near post. Chiller flew. With all his might.

‘I blocked it…!’

And a shot that came in faster than the chiller. Reacted well, but should have been a bit faster.

Crash-!

By the skin of his teeth, Chiller failed to stop the goal.

Alex Scott’s shot unfortunately went just wide of Chiller’s fingertips and into the net.

The crowd suddenly becomes quiet.

“Wow!”

And some of my favourite spectators and old teammates from Hannover.

“···shit.”

I got up from my seat with a feeling of emptiness.

Is it like a magpie following a stork and losing its leg?

I thought I could stop it, but I couldn’t. I didn’t even think about saying things like, “If I were 10 years younger, I could have done it,” because that’s just an excuse.

I just···.

‘Because I am me. Because I am not Kim.’

Ron Robert Chiller.

At best, he’s a sub goalkeeper for a big club.

A goalkeeper who felt a huge wall at the age of Kim and ran away to Northampton Town and Hannover after seeing Van der Sar.

And now, he is an old man who feels inferior to the much younger goalkeeper.

That was me.

End

ⓒ Doctor Am