Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 16



Only Krnovel

Kim Jun-young and I, who made a brilliant debut in the high school league, rose to stardom in an instant.

···That’s what I’m saying. It’s not like someone is supporting me or saying “wow wow”.

At least, this means that its status within Suyang High School has risen by leaps and bounds.

Aren’t professionals proven by results?

Although they are not professional players yet, everyone here aspires to become professional players, so in the end, skill is everything.

“I talked to your parents.”

“Your parents?”

As usual, Yoo Jin-ho called me into the director’s office and chatted about this and that, but today the topic was his conversation with his parents.

“You didn’t tell me? You said you couldn’t afford the expenses for playing soccer, but this time, after watching your game, they said they’d pay for it right away. Originally, they were going to cover it with my money.”

“···Yes? The coach was going to pay for my soccer expenses?”

Eugene shrugged his shoulders.

“Why? Did you just hear me say that you would succeed?”

“No······ No matter what, I think it’s the first time I’ve heard of someone spending their own money to have someone else watch soccer.”

“So what? If I keep growing like this, I’ll make my pro debut, and then I can pay it back. Even with the interest.”

“···What if I can’t make my pro debut?”

“That won’t happen.”

Eugene Ho asserts. I asked because I was curious.

“I might not be able to debut if I get seriously injured.”

“If you invest and the company gets delisted, you’ll just lose your money.”

“You’re not asking me to pay it back separately?”

“···Just consider it a subsidy. And since your parents said they would pay, it’s nonsense.”

Talking about money felt a bit awkward and embarrassing to be recognized like this, so I quickly changed the subject.

“I proved it once this time, so am I a regular now? Until I disappoint the coach?”

“No. Not yet.”

“···Still? What more do you want me to show you? Haven’t you done enough to prove it?”

“Yes. You’ve done enough to prove it. You’ve done enough to make the parents stop complaining.”

“But why?”

Eugene Ho closed his eyes for a moment and spoke in a dejected voice.

“You didn’t join the soccer club the normal way, did you?”

“So what?”

When I responded bluntly, Yoo Jin-ho’s eyes opened. He frowned.

“Hey. You need to work on your speech. When you talk like that, you won’t be able to fit in with the other kids on the soccer team. Do you always talk like that? Don’t you have any friends?”

······No, this guy.

I looked down at the anger and thought deeply.

Now that I think about it, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard something like this.

Haven’t you ever had your own younger sister get angry at you because of the way you talk to her?

I don’t know what the tone of voice was, but I nodded, biting my lip.

I felt like if I didn’t accept it now, I would probably be criticized like this for the rest of my life.

“···I’ll try to fix it.”

“Yeah. Go to some public speaking school or something. Anyway, you’re not a regular player yet.”

“Why?”

“If we only use you because you are so skilled, what will the other goalkeepers think?”

“I guess you’ll be dissatisfied.”

“Yeah. That’s the problem. And are you going to embrace them alone?”

“···sure?”

“Their parents will be dissatisfied too! You don’t know, but they made a fuss about hiring you by posting something on the internet and reporting it to reporters.”

“It’s such a trivial reason that I don’t think the reporters will even listen.”

My tongue moved again. I tried to hold it back, but it was hard. Fortunately, Yoo Jin-ho didn’t point it out.

“Yeah, I think they’re being sarcastic, but I need a more solid excuse.”

“Is there a more certain justification than skill?”

“Yes, it is. Yes, it is.”

Is there a more certain justification for a soccer player than skill? I genuinely tilted my head in confusion.

“What is that?”

“Comparison.”

“Comparison?”

“Yes. From now on, I’ll alternate between you and the other goalkeepers. Then there’ll be a comparison. If you don’t concede a goal and the others concede a goal, even they’ll have to admit it.”

“In other words, you’re asking me to prove it again.”

“Is that so? Hahaha!”

Eugene Ho laughed heartily in front of me, then suddenly stopped laughing. Then he spoke seriously.

“Anyway, this is really the last one. Just prove it one more time and you’ll be the starting goalkeeper for Suyang High School. And this youth soccer has a lot of competitions. There’s a Geumgang Banseok Soccer Tournament coming up this May, right?”

“yes.”

“It’s held nationwide. You can think of such competitions as taking place every month from now on. Suyang High School will want to participate in all of them as long as their schedules don’t overlap, right?”

“yes.”

“If you do well in all those competitions, you’ll definitely catch the eye of pro scouts who only look at promising players. Then you’ll make your pro debut. How’s that? Easy?”

“······haha.”

“ha ha ha!”

How to beat Muhammad Ali.

1. Avoid Ali’s fist.

2. Attack Ali.

3. Repeat from step 1.

Number 4. Victory!

···I don’t know if it’s any different from saying that winning the World Cup makes you the best coach in the world, but I nodded anyway.

If you keep whining, won’t you only hurt the director’s feelings?

*

It’s May.

There was only one high school league match scheduled in May, the rest were training or non-league cup matches.

In particular, the Geumgang Banseok Competition, which runs from early to mid-May, was a fairly large competition with 40 teams from all over the country participating.

This was a competition where teams known as soccer powerhouses participated in large numbers, and teams that made you wonder, “Does that school have a soccer club?” also participated in large numbers.

Which of them is Suyang High School?

I will not comment.

Anyway, in early May, we went through recovery training, physical training, and various other rigorous training to prepare for the competition.

And I’ve been benched for the tournament starting Sunday, May 7th.

‘Are you saying you won’t bring me up first?’

Honestly, I felt a little bad.

The Geumgang Banseok Football Tournament is a group stage followed by a tournament format, and like the World Cup, only the top two teams from each group can advance to the tournament.

There are four teams in each group, and they play each other once to determine which team will advance to the tournament.

We are 9 trillion.

The assigned teams are Suyang High School, Ayeon High School, Donghaeng Soccer Center U18, and Seoul Noru FCU 18.

Surprisingly, Seoul Deer FC is a team in the K4 League and also operates a U18 team.

‘You said it like it was nothing special, but the competition is of a high standard.’

People from all over the country came to see me play, and it seemed like there were more spectators than at the last high school league.

Moreover, the venue of the competition is Gangwon-do, and we took a bus for quite some time to get here.

“Okay, everyone, don’t be nervous.”

Coach Kim, who said that, seemed the most nervous.

Before the game, the manager and coaches were enthusiastic and gave tactical instructions. At a rough count, there were about 70 people watching the game from the stands.

I tapped Kim Jun-young’s side while he was listening to the tactics.

Kim Jun-young turns his head and glances at me.

We gave each other a faint smile.

‘Brother, brother, you were sitting on the bench?’

‘You’re on the bench too, you punk.’

Kukuk.

We held back laughter from each other.

Our first opponent is Donghaeng Soccer Center U18.

I don’t know if you’ll come with us to the tournament or if you’ll cast Go Up First, but I’d like you to win if you’re going to do it.

But now we’re on our team.

***

Eugene Ho sat on the bench, crossed his arms, and watched the game intently.

We were already down by one goal.

Score 0:1.

22 minutes in the first half.

However, it was the first game and I was disappointed that they used 19-year-old Lee Seung-hyun, who was the starting goalkeeper, although he was not as good as Kim Min-woo.

I had to look at the current situation, but the part where I kept getting kicked in the face kept coming back to me in my head.

‘The gap in defense was too wide as we were marking the opposing midfielder who was moving to the side. The opposing attacker took advantage of the gap and passed the center back to create a 1v1 situation-‘

The goalkeeper stands still and watches the ball go past him, conceding a goal.

If I had just narrowed it down as soon as I saw it was open, I would have blocked it.

However, Seunghyun Lee showed limited movements like Minwoo Kim did and conceded a point.

‘If it had been Kim Min-woo in that situation…’

It must have been blocked. It must have been blocked for sure.

That was really disappointing.

Should the director have just used his authority to press ahead and hire Kim Min-woo?

It’s a competition for the starting position and it’s bullshit, but Kim Min-woo has already shown what he can, so should I have told him to shut up and do the second or third option?

“Phew···.”

Still, Lee Seung-hyun is not a bad goalkeeper. He is enough to be the gatekeeper of Suyang High School. The problem is that the alternative is too overwhelming.

The game continued, and just before the end of the first half, Seungwoo Han broke through the side and shot.

“oh my!”

It was a regrettable shot that made me tilt my head back.

Why did you have to hit the goal post!

Eugene Ho’s head turned to the side again.

Kim Min-woo sits on the bench, blankly observing the situation.

Kim Jun-young, next to him, is watching the game intently.

‘I feel sorry for Han Seung-woo’s partner…’

Just like when he was a goalkeeper, if Kim Jun-young was on the field, the picture would have been different.

Something, something is missing. It feels like the tactics I’m drawing up are 2% lacking and not working.

After the first half of extra time, halftime arrived.

Eugene Ho called the players together and changed the positioning of the pieces in front of the tactics board in a flashy manner.

Suyang High School’s tactical formation was changed from 4-1-4-1 to 4-4-2.

He also gave new instructions.

“Don’t attack through the center, attack through the flanks. Got it? The flanks are the opponent’s weak point!”

It was a natural tactical instruction, as the shot made by Han Seung-woo in the last minute of the first half also came from a side breakthrough.

and······.

‘Partner Seungwoo Han.’

Should we just put Kim Jun-young as the top two?

The image he has shown so far is also good, and unlike Kim Min-woo, there is no need to compare Kim Jun-young to him.

Eugene Ho, who made a decision in an instant, changed one of the front-line tactics.

“Kim Jun-young! You will be brought in as soon as the second half starts. You are a weak striker, and your goal is······.”

Instructions given with passion. Kim Jun-young nods with his eyes sparkling.

Kim Jun-young and the guy who will change looked extremely disappointed, but they don’t have the time to worry about that right now.

We have to win.

*

Surprisingly, the results of Kim Jun-young’s investment were immediate.

There was another side.

Lim Seung-min successfully connected with Kim Jun-young through the tight space between two defenders, and Kim Jun-young broke through and shot without hesitation to split the opponent’s net.

The goal came almost as soon as the second half started, so Yoo Jin-ho clenched his fist, but that was it.

Suyang High School’s problem was their fucking defense.

The defense was too shaky.

So, tactics like giving me your left arm and stabbing me in the heart were not possible.

If you do that, only your left arm will be cut off and your opponent will be able to hold on firmly with a shield.

If time passes like this, Suyang High School will die from shock.

Because of the unstable defense, they couldn’t go all-out on the offensive, and without a reliable man like Kim Min-woo, both teams had to be satisfied with a 1:1 score in a balanced game.

Yoo Jin-ho thought as he shook hands with the opposing director.

‘The next match is definitely going to be Kim Min-woo, fuck.’

Kim Min-woo I’ve used it a few times and now I feel like I’m going to die from frustration because I haven’t used it once.

End

ⓒ Doctor Am

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