Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 170



Only Krnovel

Putting my career on the line

* * *

After I went to Korea, I rested for just one day and then went to Paju.

It was inevitable that I took a day off because it was the day I returned home.

As I did last time, I signed autographs and took pictures with fans in front of the Paju Training Center, had a Q&A session with reporters, and then went inside the facility.

It was like deja vu, I hugged Yoo Jin-ho at the main gate and went straight to meet the director. I had a lot of questions to ask, like how the hell was going on and if he was really going to exclude me from the starting lineup.

Leon Harpus was noticeably happy to see me and hugged me.

“I saw your last game well, Kim. You did well, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Thank you, Director. If you had just told me, I would have gone to see you.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Leon, I got straight to the point.

“By the way, coach? I would like to ask you a question regarding my participation in this preliminary round.”

Leon nodded at my words.

“What question?”

“Will I be banned from playing in these games? Of course, it is the manager’s sole discretion to use a player, but I just wanted to ask.”

Leon is silent for a moment. Then a smile breaks out across his face.

“I guess you told me.”

Here, “You” refers to Yoo Jin-ho, not me. I waited for Leon’s answer without saying yes or no.

“Kim. As a senior in the soccer world, I would like to give you a piece of advice.”

“Advice?”

Leon lowered his head and seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment. Then he looked at my face again.

“If you are dissatisfied with the manager and express it right away, it may not be good for your future career.”

“Yes? No, I’m not saying I have a complaint with the director―”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you should think about it again when something like that happens.”

Ah. In another sense, this guy is not easy… .

I’d rather have Yoo Jin-ho. But Yoo Jin-ho doesn’t tease Bebe and speaks directly.

“Back to the original question, will you not be able to compete? Well, I don’t think that’s an easy question to answer. As you know, the other Kim is also in peak form right now.”

He added,

“I guess it’s because a lot of star players are transferring to the Saudi league. He’s playing against Ronaldo, Neymar, and Benzema, and he’s showing off his peak skills even though he’s in his mid-30s.”

“… I heard that the coach watched my game in person, so I don’t think he would say something like that. And I proved it against Mexico and Japan.”

I opened my mouth. The last words were stuck in my throat. What I really wanted to say was, ‘Are you trying to tame me now?’

But I held back because I thought that if I said those words, I would end up in a meaningless war of attrition with this gentleman. There are reasons for that, right? Like, he intentionally doesn’t employ me well, or something like that.

It was the same during Bento’s time. Even Lee Kang-im, who is now full of smiles, must have had a hard time back then.

“I understand what you mean, Kim. I also saw you play against Leverkusen. You were really good. Of course, if you compare you with Kim from the Middle East, the gap in skill is obvious. That’s why it hasn’t been decided which goalkeeper will play in the next games.”

Leon Harpers’ thoughts were as I had guessed. I am already a completely sure-fire starting goalkeeper and I can show a sure performance in any game, so he is going to check the performance of the remaining 2nd and 3rd options.

I was offended by that logic and said, ‘Then why don’t you just exclude me from the draft?’ So, in my imagination.

Let’s calm down. Let’s try to convince her as logically as possible.

“Well, coach. Isn’t that kind of check supposed to be done based on how well your club is performing? And above all, these matches aren’t friendly matches, they’re World Cup qualifiers?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Korea will never be eliminated from the World Cup. If we just finish in second place, we’ll be guaranteed a spot in the finals, but aren’t Japan and Korea already competing for first and second place in our group?”

“I know we lost to the UAE in the first game. We might not make it to the top two. And the other Kim played in that game.”

“oh…….”

Leon Harpus, the smile disappearing from his face. He can see that I am starting to get annoyed with him as I keep talking back and joking around.

So what? You’re not going to hire me? How can that be?

“I get your point, Kim. Are you really that eager to play?”

At one point, I was about to criticize him like I did with Yoo Jin-ho, saying, “Where else can you find a player like that?”, but I quickly changed my mind and corrected myself.

“Well… I’m a bit like that.”

Once I play in a match, I get stats no matter who the opponent is. I didn’t want to be called to Korea and sit on the bench and do nothing. It would be embarrassing to my family who came to see me.

“Okay. I understand, so I will accept it. You may leave now.”

Why does it sound like I’m telling you to turn it off… .

Ahem.

I nodded, carefully closed the door, and left.

‘Looking at that guy’s expression and the way he speaks, I think he’ll keep me out of at least one game.’

I don’t want Korea to lose, but if it happens, I hope they win with a shaky performance. I don’t think that’s likely with the national team’s performance these days…

* * *

Of course, I was alone in the coach’s office, but the conversation I had with the coach was soon spread to the entire national team.

It doesn’t seem like he knows every single sentence, it just seems like it was spread like this: Kim Min-woo said this and that to the director.

so.

“Hey, Kim Min-woo! The director is attacking you?”

It was center back Kim Yang-kwon who scored goals in succession at the World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

“Hodaldal. Minwoo hyung is scary! If I say something wrong, won’t he eat me?”

This person who speaks playfully is Lee Kang-im.

“Minwoo. I like your style. I have the same style as you.”

This person who speaks seriously is Jo Gyu-seok… .

Besides that, many of the national team members playfully throw it around, but who the hell spread it?

And then time passed and it was time for open training for outsiders to come in.

“Gyaaaahh …

“Brother Kim Min-woo! Look here!”

“Please sign this! Thank you!”

I did what my fans (who are more than 90% female) asked me to do.

He asked me to take a picture, so I took one, and he asked me to sign an autograph, so I signed one.

And a lot of fans reached out to me.

“Hey, this is it! It’s a letter! Please read it!”

I’ve received many heartfelt letters before. Of course, there are no love letters here. There are only touching words written from the perspective of a fan.

Of course, there were also a few posts saying things like, “You’re handsome, let’s get married,” etc. directed at me…

‘They say that if you’re famous, people will applaud you even if you take a shit. It’s probably a bit like that.’

And I vaguely know how these popularity changes in an instant depending on the scale of ability.

Even if they are popular with fans, if they can’t play football, their popularity will fade. What are the Barcelona trio, once famous and popular, like now?

One of them was so intoxicated by the popularity that he was supported that he went down the path of ruin, returned to Korea and played in the K1 league for a while, then gradually moved down to K2 and K3, and is now playing in an amateur league that he doesn’t even know where he is.

Naturally, he was forgotten by everyone, and the popularity that supported him disappeared like snow melting in spring.

The other two weren’t as badly damaged, but they were once the ones everyone had high hopes for, but now they were just plain dull.

so.

‘Don’t put too much strength into your shoulders.’

If the football manager who suddenly appeared suddenly disappears, I don’t know when I’ll fall into the abyss. I might get into trouble if I put my shoulder to the wheel with something that isn’t my ability, so I’ll keep a humble attitude.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

I kept expressing my gratitude to my fans, giving them autographs and pictures and showering them with gifts. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, perhaps because I was so strange.

I said, looking back at him reflexively.

“Thank you… … ?”

“Why are you so grateful? Life is a gift or something?”

Captain Son.

I held my stomach and laughed forcefully at that unfunny joke.

“Hahaha! This is so funny!”

“Whoa!”

And the fans loved seeing our strange chemistry.

It’s amazing… .

* * *

Finally, the day of the game arrived.

Two consecutive wars against Vietnam and Iraq. Naturally, our first opponent is Vietnam.

The starting lineup was announced, and I was the first to hear the news from Yoo Jin-ho.

“You’re a starter.”

“is it so?”

“Oh. Aren’t you happy?”

“It’s okay to be happy… .”

I answered nonchalantly and then asked a question as if it were nothing.

“What about Iraq?”

At my words, Yoo Jin-ho made a face as if trying not to laugh.

“Well?”

“Ouch….”

“It’s not decided yet, Emma. There’s a few days left. I’ll let you know when it’s decided.”

“Okay, then.”

“Anyway, I said you have a cute side.”

Yoo Jin-ho pats my cheek and leaves. Oh no. Did he wash his hands? Something feels off.

* * *

South Korea’s military power against Vietnam was naturally top-notch.

It was no different from when we faced Japan.

Philippe Troussier, a member of the Vietnam national football team, bit his lip after checking the list.

‘Damn it. Didn’t you say some of the starting players weren’t going to show up? Anyway, you can’t trust rumors.’

Well, even if the opponent is a weak team, it doesn’t make sense to not use the starting players in an important match like a World Cup qualifier.

Philippe Troussier sighed and recalled his memories.

It was an exclusive meeting with the President of the Vietnam Football Federation.

The chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation issued a warning, somewhat threatening, saying that his feelings towards the people were becoming increasingly negative and that his poor performance in the preliminary round was making him worry.

Philippe Troussier was truly resentful of the monopoly. Although the Vietnamese national team has been at the bottom of the group stage with 1 draw and 4 losses in the third preliminary round, it was actually a miracle that a team of Vietnam’s size even made it to the third preliminary round.

Vietnam’s realistic goal is to somehow finish in the top 3 or 4 and advance to the playoffs, rather than securing a direct qualification to the main tournament.

Of course, with the current performance, we would have to hope for a miracle just to make it into the playoffs… but the weight difference is at a level that even the octopus head of the EPL would have a hard time overturning.

“I will be watching the upcoming match against Korea closely. I am not saying that you should win. I am saying that you should show a meaningful performance, even if you lose. At least a performance that will not be embarrassing in front of the people!”

“…I’ll try my best―”

“It’s not something that can be ended with effort.”

Tran Quoc Tuan, the chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation, spoke firmly.

“You’ll have to risk your career. I’ll watch over you. But aren’t you the famous coach who once led Japan to the round of 16 in the World Cup?”

“… … .”

That’s how the memory ended.

It’s already been 23 years since that happened.

Philippe Troussier was the manager who took Japan to the round of 16 in the 2002 World Cup, a country that had never made it to the round of 16 in a World Cup before.

So, he was clearly being treated as a great general, but the problem was the neighboring country, Korea.

‘Hiddink’s Korea advanced to the semifinals, and the sparks flew to me.’

Just thinking about that time still makes me angry.

When they advanced to the round of 16 and were eliminated, the Japanese people treated them with great fanfare, but then their neighboring country, Korea, suddenly advanced beyond the round of 16 to the quarterfinals, and even defeated Spain to advance to the semifinals.

Then, public opinion in Japan changed and they criticized Korea saying, “Korea had a more difficult matchup than us and appointed a coach later, but they made it to the semifinals. And you got eliminated in the round of 16?!”

This was the reason why Philippe Troussier was still upset with Japan.

‘How public opinion changes faster than turning over the palm of one’s hand.’

Considering Japan’s strength at the time, advancing to the round of 16 was nothing short of a miracle, but they were expressing their inferiority complex on themselves when a neighboring country reached an even higher level than them.

After that, Trussier failed repeatedly and eventually became a Vietnamese coach. Even thinking about it, it was a truly regrettable career.

And the chairman of the Vietnam Football Association said that he would only keep the coach if he showed a meaningful performance against the Korea team that gave him such a nightmare time.

‘What a tough relationship.’

23 years ago, Korea gave me unforgettable memories, and this time, it’s Korea again.

My relationship with Korea didn’t end there.

Since taking over as Vietnam football coach, he has constantly been compared to his predecessor.

This is Park Hang-seo, a Korean coach who is credited with taking Vietnamese football to the next level.

In many ways… … .

“This is a country that gives me a hard time.”

Philippe Troussier sighed deeply once again. If he gets cut off in Vietnam this time, where should he go? Should he retire now that he is old enough?

It was a day when my worries deepened.