Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 205
Only Krnovel
Episode 205
# We Go America
After finishing the match against Uruguay, we were busy training in preparation for the match against Japan.
“Hey! Hey!”
“Here! Here!”
“hey!”
The field players repeated the same situation and tactics several times for the promised play, and the players worked hard with their smiles completely removed.
“Tchcha!”
Of course me too.
I had been making the promised play for the dozenth time, and I kept blocking the outcome of that promised play.
“Ah!”
Now the colleagues were in a state of confusion.
I’m going to stop after I get through this play.
At first, I also admired the efforts of the national team players and tried my best to block them.
… Rather than thinking of it as a virtual reality, I was also mistaken.
Let’s see how far it goes, something like that.
And now.
“Should we give up now, hyungs? We’re not going to finish today’s training by just doing this one thing.”
“No! It keeps going until you put it in!”
Hwang Eul-jo’s cry. Wow. No matter what, you can’t get through me. This is a goal that even Mbappe and Messi wouldn’t allow. How dare you?
“Okay. Good.”
I can do this all day today.
Let’s see whose patience runs out first!
.
.
“Fuck. I lost. I won’t do it.”
Seniors who collapsed on the grass.
I too was a little tired from the constant repetition, but not as much as my brothers who kept running around.
In this tactical training, I was basically the totem planted in front of the goal.
“But maybe it’s possible to succeed against a Japanese goalkeeper. He’s not Kim Min-woo, is he?”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re great.”
“Yes. I am good.”
Yeah, yeah, it’s surprising, but it’s true. I’m great… .
I checked the goalpost on the other side over there.
It was busy over there too.
Kim Jun-young was running around like a dog to somehow catch the coach’s eye and play in the match against Japan.
‘I heard you were really happy that your parents were coming.’
It must have been truly pessimistic to have family come to the stadium and have to sit on the bench and just watch instead of running on the field.
So that’s probably why he’s trying so hard to catch the director’s eye.
I felt sorry, but I didn’t sympathize.
In the world of professional sports, it is natural that those who laugh and those who cry are divided based on skill.
It wasn’t something that only Kim Jun-young was experiencing right now.
There are 26 players called up, but only 11 are on the field. Including the substitutes, there are 17.
Unless the starting lineup for the Uruguay and Japan matches is completely overhauled, it is inevitable that some players will play that way.
‘There is still some hope for Kim Jun-young, but the most unfortunate one is the goalkeeper.’
Especially the 3-option goalkeeper.
The second-option goalkeeper gets a chance to play occasionally, but the third-option goalkeeper is a player who is called up only for emergencies, so even if he is called up, he is unlikely to play in the game.
Junyoung is young and has a bright future, so I’m not too worried even if he can’t play in the next two A-matches.
‘Well, in the end, it all depends on the director’s intentions.’
If he did well enough on his team that the manager couldn’t ignore him, this problem would eventually be solved naturally.
“Coach! Can I have some water~”
I called out to Yoo Jin-ho, who was wandering nearby. Yoo Jin-ho nodded and walked over, bringing several water jugs and handing them out to the players.
This Korea-Japan match will be held in Sangam as a matter of course. It has always been the case.
A full-out Korea-Japan match is the biggest event in Korean football, but where would you go to have it?
Sangam or Suwon.
“Our Junyoung, you’re really working hard. Isn’t that right?”
It was Yoo Jin-ho. I nodded, gulping down the water.
“Yes, Junyoung, it’s a thorny path.”
“The road ahead for a professional athlete is always full of thorns.”
“Well, that’s true… .”
I smiled awkwardly.
How is our Junyoung?
Just before the transfer window closed, Manchester United announced the signing of a new player, and it just so happened that it was a striker.
The BBC said that they originally wanted to sign Bolanchi, but it didn’t work out so they suddenly changed to a striker. Hmm. Well.
Something feels like Manchester United haven’t quite lived up to their plan in the transfer market this summer.
Onana, who had been linked with a move to Germany, remained at Manchester United after his transfer fell through for some reason, and the rest of the players were not released or sold.
Is this too much of a hassle? Why can’t the board do their job?
‘Is it because the salaries are too high compared to the players’ skills?’
Because the salary is high, no one wants to buy him. Or they wait until he becomes a free agent.
Manchester United’s already messy wage system has become even more chaotic with my arrival.
A weekly salary of 1.1 billion including options! It was an unprecedented amount. It was an amount that could only be seen in Saudi Arabia, even if you looked around the world.
If I had performed below expectations, the players would have been lying down when renewing their contracts, saying, “Is that a weekly salary of 1.1 billion won?” But that hasn’t happened yet, and the team atmosphere is currently quiet as a result.
It was proof that I was doing my best to live up to the salary I was receiving.
“Did you know that the Japanese kids came over?”
“Yes. I saw the interview too. You said you came here to win?”
I’m not the type of person to pay attention to things like that, but I got to know about it thanks to our Speedwagon, Kim Shin-ah.
Eugene Ho laughed out loud at my words, then patted my head without saying anything and left towards the director.
It was a gesture by Eugene Ho showing that he believed in me.
* * *
It was like the calm before the storm before the match against Japan, but we went about our schedule as usual.
Public training in front of fans. Well, every time I moved I screamed and they filmed me with cameras, but it wasn’t a bad experience.
“Hey hey Minwoo.”
“why.”
Lee Kang-im comes next to me and whispers softly in my ear.
“Wave your hand once. To the fans.”
“yes?”
As I watched the fans watching the team training, I realized that they were all paying attention to us. Not the other players, but me and Lee Kang-im specifically.
As soon as I waved my hand as Lee Kang-im said, a response erupted in an instant. Shrieks of joy.
The reaction was funny. It was a refreshing reaction that I had never felt before in Europe.
From then on, I waved to the fans whenever I had the chance. The screams that erupted every time I did were really fun… .
* * *
Korea-Japan match.
A sports derby match between Korea and Japan.
The true and greatest rivalry in Asia.
Even if it is an unpopular sport, people’s interest increases significantly when it is a Korea-Japan match.
Korea lost 2:3 to Japan in the Asian Cup match (also known as the guillotine match).
And as fate would have it, the two countries met again on the road to the World Cup, and in the meantime, Korea, with a super-special goalkeeper in Kim Min-woo, crushed Japan 3-0 at their home stadium.
The last time they met at full strength before the Qatar Asian Cup was in 2011, so if you look at the recent record, it was 1:1.
In addition, the momentum of both teams was extraordinary.
Korea was quickly eliminated from the Asian Cup, but has since won one match after another, at least on a record basis, and has settled into 21st place in the FIFA rankings.
Japan also had only a handful of losses, aside from the 0:3 defeat to Korea at home, and was currently ranked 15th in the FIFA rankings.
Both countries had the best performances, enough to be called the golden generation, and each had one win and one loss, so this match was the time to determine who was truly the champion of Asia.
[… … Let me introduce you to the list of players selected by the Republic of Korea!]
Naturally, this big match was not one that you could watch just because you wanted to, so the stadium was packed with people.
Since Shin-A and her parents were part of the player’s family, they didn’t have much trouble getting tickets, but I heard that ticketing was done in 10 seconds?
This was an incredible ticketing, to the point where a trot singer who has recently received full support from the elderly comes to mind.
If you just browse the internet a little bit, you’ll see that every chicken restaurant in the country is screaming with joy at the time of the Korea-Japan match.
Every time the stadium announcer calls out the names of the starting players, the crowd cheers thunderously.
Especially when Kim Min-woo’s name was called, I seriously got goosebumps all over my body. 67,000 people were going “Wow” at once, and it gave me goosebumps…
“Huh? He’s not coming out?”
“who?”
My father looked closely at the scoreboard and said.
“That guy. That guy from Manchester. Minwoo’s junior.”
“… That’s right. Even though he’s playing as a reserve, he did pretty well when he was playing as a stopgap for the national team.”
The director was already receiving a lot of criticism from the community for that decision.
When Bento used Lee Kang-im, he didn’t use him because he didn’t fit well, but Leon was used well and he was cursed at so much that it made me frown… … Ugh.
And then there’s Japan’s starting lineup.
Shin-Ah wasn’t particularly impressed because she had already been confirmed by the community.
However, Japan, like Korea, pulled out all the cards it could in this match.
“It’s true that Japan has been playing like club football since they haven’t fired their manager….”
If Korean soccer is strongly influenced by the “do it!” of a few players, Japanese soccer is more organic and organized.
It literally feels like watching club football.
In the first place, no one knows how the last Korea-Japan match would have turned out if Kim Min-woo had not been there.
And then the players entered.
Because the importance of the game was so high, all the players had stern expressions.
After a few brief ceremonies, the Japanese national anthem was played. Some people responded with a “woo-woo” or no response at all.
And then the national anthem.
Everyone, including Shin Ah-ne, jumped up from their seats, put their hands on their hearts, and sang the national anthem.
Even Shin-ah, who would only nod when asked to sing the national anthem during school assembly, shouted out “East Sea and Baekdu Mountain~” in a loud voice today.
Then, the people around me kept glancing at me, so I quickly lowered my voice. As I said, you shouldn’t do things you’ve never done before…
After the national anthem was sung, the players moved to their respective camps.
Japan left for its own camp and each side moved to where they should stand, but Korea was different.
To be exact, it was Son Heung-min who called the players together.
The Korean players gathered in a circle and Son Heung-min said something passionately. Of course, they were too far away to hear anything, but the people around them responded with comments like, “Wow,” and “That’s cool.” Shin-Ah felt the same way.
The drone cameras around were also enthusiastically filming the situation. Shin-ah was curious about how other people were reacting, so she put on earphones and checked the broadcast screen on her phone.
[Wow. Look at Son Heung-min. Son Heung-min. Wow…]
Shin-ah tilted her head as soon as she heard the commentary. What the? This commentator is so annoying?
And Son Heung-min’s voice could be heard here and there. It was a voice that could be heard because the broadcast screen was sent out quite a bit later than what was actually seen.
[Listen carefully. Listen carefully. We’re going to show you everything we can do. We’re going to take Japan, and we’re going to America. There, we’re going to do exactly what we’re doing now. Got it? Let’s go!]
[Wow!]
Kim Shin-ah covered her mouth.
‘So cool… .’
Is this the EPL top scorer?
The commentators seemed to have the same thoughts as him, ending with a short statement, “It was Son Heung-min.”
‘What kind of cool game are you trying to show by doing this?’
Shin-Ah swallowed hard and looked at the stadium. The spirit was already different. They had already won.
Japan must have also come prepared mentally, but… … Just now, just from that one scene, we could clearly see how the players were taking this game.
And then I went into the community and said,
[Son Hong-min’s Go America Showdown ㄷㄷ (Video O)]
Looking at the reactions in the comments, everyone was reacting like the commentator earlier. Touched. Admiring. Worshiping… .
Shin-ah waited for the game to start quickly.
and,
Beep!
The referee blows his whistle to signal the start of the game.
With the cheers of anticipation from 67,000 spectators behind them, the Korea-Japan match finally began.
.