The local German commentators who were broadcasting the game raised their voices as soon as they saw Kim Min-woo’s save.
“What a fantastic save! Kim! A 17-year-old boy from Korea, successfully saves his first goal crisis in his debut match!”
“Hannover are in disarray very early on. Kim is getting angry at Corsic, and that’s perfectly understandable. Hannover’s defense was literally terrible in that scene.”
Alexander Müller and Benjamin Schmidt commentated again, checking the replay footage.
“Bright was so terribly penetrating from the side. Is it because he’s used to playing center back and not used to playing side back?”
“The problem is then. The gap between the two centre-backs is too wide. Adeyemi, who plays the wing forward role, came in exquisitely between them, and Kim made a perfect save.”
Muller and Schmidt, who were replaying the scene again, were amazed at Kim’s save.
“That’s an incredible amount of focus. In fact, it was almost a goal.”
“You kicked and blocked well. When Kim joined the team, he expressed his ambition to lead Hannover to promotion and ultimately defeat Munich to win the Bundesliga. It seems he wasn’t just bluffing.”
“It was a young man’s typical confidence, and an amazing save that backed up that confidence.”
***
“Fuck.”
I looked at the players who were right in front of me with a cold sweat. It was a corner kick. I can’t even remember how many times it’s happened.
Beep-!
Dortmund’s corner kick starts with a whistle. Fortunately, Corsic hears me and heads it far away.
But the crisis continued. Hannover was desperate to defend.
‘I clearly graduated from Suyang High School…?’
Why is it that even though the uniform colors are different, the flow of the game seems the same?
‘Here it comes again.’
There was no trajectory, but the Dortmund striker fired a shot towards the goal, and captain Werner headed it in mid-air.
There was no relief, because the ball had a trajectory before it hit the ground.
The opposing striker takes Corsic down in a physical fight and then runs towards the ball.
I dove again, and the ball bounced off my hand.
‘hurry!’
I shouted that in my mind and moved my body hurriedly. The increase in stats wasn’t in vain, as my hand was already holding the ball tightly.
And then the whistle blows.
When I came to my senses, it was a foul by the attacker. The referee gave a verbal warning to the opposing attacker, Adeyemi, who pushed the defender.
“Oh, it’s hard.”
I took a deep breath and approached Corsic with the ball in my hand.
“are you okay?”
“I think my bone is broken.”
“Get up, you’re not dead.”
When I held out my right hand, Corsic grabbed my hand and stood up. A professional match is really tough.
Especially since the opponent was a top-tier team in the Bundesliga, their offense was different. If they moved around even a little loosely, they would immediately be in danger of conceding a goal.
Even though there are a lot of non-mainstreams mixed in.
“Kim. You’re doing great! Just do that. Got it?”
It was Werner. I nodded and answered.
“Yes, Captain.”
***
Manager Jan Lytle watched the game, scratching the back of his neck.
This game was a throwing game. It was pre-arranged to be like that before the game, and the game pattern was definitely like that.
40 minutes into the first half. The score was 0:0, but the game was one-sided. The Bees had already made eight effective shots.
The director watched indifferently, but he acknowledged this one thing.
“If Tony had come in instead of Kim, you would have scored four goals by now.”
Elmar Barlemann, the head coach who was standing next to him, nodded as if he had heard Jan’s monologue.
“Even if Leo had come in instead of Tony, we would have scored two goals.”
“Oh? You acknowledge Kim too?”
“He is definitely a good goalkeeper. Just like the Korean goalkeeper who stopped Germany five years ago. Aren’t his motions flashy?”
Ian chuckled and nodded. But the head coach then went on to list Kim’s shortcomings.
“However, Kim is not ready to play yet. His saves are certainly excellent, but his defensive coordination is lacking. Among the saves Kim has shown so far, if only his defensive coordination had been better, there are many offensive opportunities that could have been cut off by the defenders.”
“So, does that mean Chiller’s position is still safe?”
“It won’t be easy for the current Kim to even look down on Leo’s position.”
“I think differently, Elma.”
Jan Rytl looked at the Hannover camp with his arms crossed. Hannover had the ball for the first time in a while, but it looked as if the rope was being pulled taut.
“After all, aren’t results the only thing that matters to a professional? Even if Kim’s ability outside of saves is lacking, if he doesn’t allow goals to be conceded, he’s a great goalkeeper. There are also some crises that he brought upon himself, but Kim blocks them all.”
“That’s not wrong, but I wonder. Do you think Kim will concede goals throughout this game?”
“Want to bet?”
“A bet?”
Director Jan Lytle answered as he did so, arching an eyebrow at Elmare.
“I’ll bet €100 on Kim keeping a clean sheet in this game. What do you think?”
The head coach smiled and threw in a sly joke.
“How did you know that my finances are so poor these days······I will gratefully accept it.”
“If we win the game, Kim will be Hannover’s second-choice goalkeeper from now on.”
There was talk of putting Kim in instead of Leo, the existing second option, when Ron Robert Ziller could not play, but the head coach readily accepted that as well.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Because that won’t happen anyway.
***
After the first half ended and it was halftime, we went into the locker room to drink some water or take a short break.
“eww.”
My hands were cold, so I took off my gloves and looked down at them. I felt the same way during the practice match in Hanover, but the pros are really different.
The speed of the flying ball was really fast, and even if I tried to block it, I couldn’t catch it.
If you block it five times, it seems to slip out of your hand three times.
‘This is not ordinary, really.’
My first experience in the world of professionalism. My debut. I looked down at my cold hands and thought back on the first half of my experience.
Although I was so busy trying to block it, there was one emotion that was engraved in my head, and that was ‘shock’.
‘These kids aren’t human. Even if I see their trajectory, I’m not sure I can stop them.’
Although there were many valid shots, I was confident that I could block them all when I was at Suyang High School.
But not here.
I had the feeling throughout the game that I could win even if I knew about it.
I’ve heard many people say that it’s possible to eat something even though they know it, because their bodies can’t keep up.
‘Even I, who can see the trajectory, have this thought, but are the other goalkeepers playing here······ real monsters?’
It’s halftime and my respect for the existing professional players is growing.
But Julian Werner must have felt sorry for me like this because he sat down next to me and spoke to me.
“Kim. Are you okay?”
It was in English. It was a short sentence, so I could understand it well.
“Yes, it’s okay.”
“How is it, isn’t it easy? Is it harder than the practice match?”
“Yes. Real life and practice are definitely different.”
“That’s true, but Dortmund is a top team even in the first division. It’s shocking. Is it hard?”
“No. I can run more.”
I said that out of the blue. I was afraid that Werner might take into consideration a rookie like me and suggest a replacement to the manager.
As if he had read my mind, Werner chuckled and patted my shoulder.
“Yeah. The second half will be harder. If we don’t score until the end, they might bring in their starting players.”
“ah···.”
Right. That’s almost a non-regular area, right?
I felt a sense of disappointment because I felt a huge gap between the first and second divisions, but isn’t the Bundesliga 1st division one of the best leagues in the world?
There’s no need to be intimidated. I’m up against some of the best in the world right now. I’ve been up against 5th-rate players, but now I’m up against 1.5th-rate players, so I need to be confident.
‘I can’t help it if I get hit. This isn’t a league of goblins. Getting hit is a given. Plus, my stats are really low…’
The difference in stats between second division players is huge, so the gap between them and first division players is ridiculous.
If Yashin’s eyes hadn’t improved since signing a pro contract, he probably would have conceded more than two goals in the first half alone.
I took a deep breath, blew it, and forced a smile.
‘If the director is expected to be more than one person.
Let’s take a moral victory for ourselves. Now, the shock from the first half has somewhat subsided. No, rather, a more pious feeling has welled up in me.
I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that it won’t work?
“I’m going to transmit new tactical instructions. Now, everyone, focus here.”
We heard tactical instructions from the coach at the end of halftime. It seems that the coach was shocked by the defeat in the first half, so the tactics were more focused on counterattacks.
*Gapae (locked up and beaten)
***
“Eww, it’s chewy.”
Suyang High School soccer team dormitory.
Players such as Kim Jun-young, Han Seung-woo, Lim Seung-min, Ko Young-jun, and others were gathered together in the early morning to watch the Bundesliga match.
Because they are huge fans of the Bundesliga?
No way.
This is because Kim Min-woo, a teammate who played with him just two months ago, is playing against a big name in Korea, Borussia Dortmund.
Moreover, it was their debut match. It wasn’t against Dortmund’s second team, U19, or anything like that, but against the real first team, so I had to watch it live.
“Why is it so one-sided···?”
“Well, Minwoo’s team is in the second division. Dortmund is a shitty name.”
“This is almost like a Demon King vs. Hero fight.”
While the seniors were laughing and chatting, Kim Jun-young also chimed in quietly.
“But Minwoo hyung, aren’t you tolerant of situations like that? You experienced it a lot in Suyang High School too… Ahem.”
“Kuhaha. Well, that’s not wrong. That guy really gained a lot of experience at Suyang High School.”
Kim Jun-young felt his heart flutter as he watched the game and occasionally saw Kim Min-woo on the screen.
It doesn’t mean that I’m excited by the opposite sex.
It’s exciting to see Kim Min-woo, the man who had been with me for only a few months, proving that he can do well in the professional world.
And the opponent was Dortmund, a team known as the Bees.
‘Even though the stone gate came out as a non-mainstream, this is still incredibly great.’
It was even more heartbreaking to see him block shots with such a precarious and difficult stance, just like Kim Min-woo from Suyang High School.
I should be there too. I should debut as a pro too···.
And they weren’t the only ones watching Kim Min-woo’s debut.
Kim Shin-ah, Kim Shin-ah’s friends, Kim Min-seok, Choi Sung-hee, family, and all kinds of acquaintances.
They were watching the first half like it was a World Cup match.
“My heart is truly swell. Is this the Kim Min-woo I know?”
“Shin-ah. You call me Kim Min-woo. You have to respect me.”
“My brother isn’t here anyway, Mom.”
“Your mom is here? Are you badmouthing your brother in front of your mom?”
“No, that’s not it. It was just an exclamation…”
“Be polite. Be polite.”
“yes!”
Coach Yoo Jin-ho, who has a deep connection with Kim Min-woo and virtually guided him into the world of soccer, was also watching this match.
It was dawn, but Yoo Jin-ho quietly admired the view while smoking a cigarette.
“Anyway, I say you have one outstanding talent.”
There was something about Kim Min-woo’s saves that made the viewers clench their fists or warm their hearts.
Eugene Ho was watching the game without realizing how much time had passed, and when he heard the final whistle, he was startled and looked away from the monitor.
“It’s over already?”
The first half was exactly like that.
A storm of blades rushing in and a steel door blocking it.
The steel door has dents here and there from being poked so many times, but it hasn’t been breached yet.
And although it’s still the first half, I feel confident after watching the game.
“I’ll wear the Taegeuk mark, kid.”
I was pleased.
I wanted to run to everyone and brag about it.
That kid is my kid.
I don’t know how hard I went to Germany.
Wheeing-
The phone vibrated. When someone checked, it was a high-ranking official from the association that had been putting in a lot of effort these days.
Eugene Ho quickly and politely answered the phone.
“Yes, sir. Oh, yes. I was watching the game too. Haha. But he’s my disciple, how could I not watch his debut? Yes, yes. Haha. Thank you.”
Eugene Ho talked to the association elders on the phone for a long time.
“Yes, please come in!”
Eugene Ho hung up the phone, put his cigarette back in his mouth, and let out a sigh. Halftime was over, and it was time for the second half.
“My baby, let’s see how well you do in the second half.”
End
ⓒ Doctor Am
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