Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 92



Only Krnovel

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The friendly match against Heidenheim has ended.

The match ended 2:0, Hannover winning.

The next match on the schedule was a friendly against Hamburg, an unfortunate team that was relegated to the second division, and Jan dropped me and brought in Leo.

It has already been agreed that he will participate in the Olympics, and Hannover may think that it is unlikely, but if Korea advances to the Olympic finals, Leo will have to play in at least one game in the Bundesliga 1st Division, so it seems that Leo will be allowed to participate.

Well, I already had my performance proven in the previous two matches that there were no issues.

This time, as with the previous games, it was an away game, and the fans gathered at the stadium seemed to think that Hannover was the reason they failed to get promoted, as they chanted all sorts of embarrassing curses every time Hannover got the ball.

Is this the European population?

‘Well, in Spain, they collectively call Vinicius a monkey and make racist remarks, so this is considered noble···.’

It might have been different if Hannover had a black ace, but Hannover was a team with a majority of white players. Other German teams also had a majority of white players on average.

Despite it being a friendly match, the Volksparkstadion was packed with tens of thousands of people, and they continued to sing along in unison, praising Hamburg’s outstanding performance.

I watched from the bench with my arms folded, not caring, but the voices of tens of thousands of people calling out at once got stuck in my ears and began to be interpreted in their own way.

“You are nothing without Kim!”

“If it weren’t for Kim, you wouldn’t have even made it to Division 1!”

“If Kim weren’t here, you guys would······.”

It’s childish.

But for Leo, that childish provocation must have been a subtle pressure.

Maybe it was because it was his first match in a long time, or maybe it was because it was an away match with tens of thousands of people gathered despite it being a friendly match, but Leo made a lot of mistakes.

‘The day will come when Corsic will shine…’

Our struggling Dominic Corsic.

I should have tried that too when I was there.

Anyway, Hannover’s defense was pretty good.

The back three of Phil Neumann, Corsic, and Ariumbi, who were in good condition, repeatedly frustrated Hamburg’s attacks.

I watched the defense’s defensive play with interest.

‘Why are you so good at this when you’re with me…?’

Is that really so? When you’re with me, you have a psychological sense of security that I’ll stop you no matter what you do, so you act a little more aggressively. When Leo’s around, you can’t trust the goalkeeper, so you’re careful about even your slightest movements, and things like that······.

‘If that happens in Part 1 too, it’ll be difficult.’

The game ended 2:2 after fierce attacks from both teams.

Considering that even teams in the first division occasionally lose friendly matches against teams in the second division, this is not that unusual, but it is inevitable that the schedule going forward looks uncertain.

‘I expected it, but it looks like they’ll do another show of force when they go up to Part 1.’

In the meantime, I believe Hannover will definitely sign players. Please···.

*

The South Korean Olympic team announced its final roster. The domestic players had already gathered a preliminary roster and were competing to be selected, but I was excluded from that competition.

Coach Choi Yong-seok was so dissatisfied that he had to compete with a goalkeeper who had kept 18 clean sheets in the Bundesliga 2nd division.

On my way to France, I reviewed my final list.

‘First of all, all the overseas faction members with names have been called in.’

A large number of players who were not selected for the last Asian Cup were selected.

PSG’s Lee Kang-im, Celtic’s Kwon Hyuk-goo and Yang Hyun-joo, and even Lee Hyun-jun, who is from the same league.

Not only that.

Coach Choi Yong-seok used all three wild cards, and although they were all domestic players, they were skilled players.

Jeonbuk’s Park Seung-ho, Ulsan Daehyun’s Seol Young-wook, and Gangwon’s Eom Won-seok.

Of course, all of these players had shaved their heads and enlisted in the military after failing to win a gold medal at the last Asian Games.

It’s so pitiful…

But I was also serious about being exempted from military service (I know it may seem vulgar, but it would be a bit odd to return to Korea due to military issues when I should be actively working in Europe), so I planned to give it my all.

‘The goal is a bronze medal, but is it possible…?’

3rd place after beating such great powerhouses as Brazil, France, and Spain? To be honest, isn’t it similar in difficulty to the World Cup, just different in level?

And the group stage was also a problem.

The U23 team is currently considered the golden squad of South Korea, but the opponents they have to face are all formidable.

“By the way, what are you going to do, son? France, America, Egypt in the same group···.”

On the way to France in my mother’s car, my mother took out her horse’s head like that to ventilate the quiet car.

“Okay, Mom.”

France, of course, deployed its full squad, including three wildcards, as the Olympics were being held on its home soil.

It wasn’t just Mbappe that was the problem there. Every single player was a bunch of crazy guys.

America? America says they don’t care much about soccer, but the FIFA rankings are rankings, and they are a team that performs quite well in international competitions, so they are definitely not an easy team.

And Egypt.

Egypt has made a bold move to send its star player Mohamed Salah to this year’s Olympics.

Originally, Salah was supposed to play in the Africa Cup of Nations, but after some kind of discussion, Salah gave up playing in the Cup of Nations and played in this Olympics.

And Korea was stuck in that gap.

Even though they are the golden generation, the number of people they have to meet is so strong that it feels like it’s a bit too much.

It’s literally the death knell.

They were put in a group where they had to be thankful just to advance to the tournament, let alone win a medal.

However, foreign media outlets were not simply viewing Korea as a point vending machine, and the reason was because of several star players (me and Lee Kang-im, to be exact).

However, it was clear that the odds of Korea making it through this competition and advancing to the tournament were extremely low, no matter what the circumstances.

“Maybe it’s because the Olympics are being held in Europe, but other countries are no joke either.”

Japan and Argentina also brought in a large number of players who were showing strength in their home countries.

Especially when I heard that Lionel Messi was going to the Olympics… Hmm. Wasn’t the last World Cup the last dance?

“People will want to see Mbappe and Messi in the final again, son. Are you ready to sprinkle some chili powder?”

“Uh, um······.”

“Huh? This is the first time I’ve seen my son so insecure.”

“No matter what, Mbappe and Messi are a bit···.”

“Isn’t that a bit much?”

Mom smiling awkwardly.

If it’s going to be like this, Korea should send Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-cheon, and even Kim Min-je.

Our wildcard is the tight-haired trio, but the other teams are just too much.

If I can make it through this competition and even make it into the top 3, I’m truly lucky.

Besides, it’s been half a year since the director took office.

“It’s just a little World Cup.”

I sighed and looked out the window.

I have to face Mbappe and Salah in the group stage right now. This is really tear-jerking.

And since there’s France, Korea’s best chance is to get second place, no matter how well it does. But if it does, there’s a very high chance it’ll face Spain.

And the next opponent will be Argentina, captained by Messi.

Argentina also used three wildcards, including Lionel Messi, Emiliano Martinez (goalkeeper), and Angel Di Maria, who were the main players in the last World Cup victory.

In many ways, Korea’s future was a thorny path.

What should Korea do in a situation where it is virtually certain that it will be eliminated in the group stage?

‘I don’t know. But I guess I’ll get a lot of stats.’

I tried to smile, but I couldn’t help but picture the Asian Games before my eyes.

*

While each country participating in the Olympics is uniting by sending out star players, Korea also assembled its own luxurious squad and gathered in Paris.

And this time I met Lee Kang-im, who I had welcomed as an event player last year, as a national team colleague.

The conference room, where all the players from the Korean national team gather.

“Why are you so depressed?”

It was Yoo Jin-ho who suddenly touched me while I was blankly staring. I responded with an ambiguous smile.

“I’m just tired from coming all the way here.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Yoo Jin-ho looked at me with snake eyes. I pretended not to know until the end.

‘I don’t really have many close friends. Most of the guys I was close with at the last Asian Cup were either left out of the roster or are just talking amongst themselves···.’

They were laughing and talking amongst themselves, so it was a bit awkward to step in and join in. I guess that’s why I was an outsider at Suyang High School.

Fortunately, Yoo Jin-ho became my conversation partner.

We chatted about this and that until Director Choi Yong-seok arrived, and we talked so much that we didn’t even realize how much time had passed.

‘A loneliness that even erases generational differences.’

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that all the national team players know about the relationship between me and Yoo Jin-ho.

A coach who is closer to his teammates than his peers. That doesn’t usually happen…

“Hello everyone!”

And then Director Choi appeared.

Director Choi came in smiling and wearing sunglasses even though it was indoors.

Then the local broadcast suddenly stopped. Everyone greeted the director with applause as if they had planned it, and the director smiled brightly but raised his hand as if to tell them to stop.

The national team players, who had been applauding a little more enthusiastically, stopped applauding only after the coach came to the front and carried their luggage.

The team atmosphere is good.

Perhaps the upcoming training and evaluation matches will determine whether this atmosphere will continue or whether it will fall into the abyss.

“As you all know, we have a very tough road ahead of us. Host country France, the fucking USA, Egypt. What? You have to deal with Mbappe and Salah.”

Everyone burst into laughter at the strong Gyeongsang dialect. Director Choi glanced in my direction and suddenly pointed at me.

“Our Minu Minu Kim Minwoo!”

“···yes!”

“Wake up.”

Even though my name was suddenly called, I didn’t panic and just stood up from my seat.

“Not only our national team coaching staff, but all the players are looking forward to Minwoo’s performance. Although he is the youngest, our Minwoo will push from behind, and now many seniors will lead from the front. You can’t just suddenly concede a goal and that’s it? There are many people here who want to be discharged quickly.”

And Director Choi, who was looking at the people from the business world. I burst out laughing but nodded.

And he shouted loudly like a soldier.

“I will do my best to prevent our seniors from being discharged from the military!”

“What? Hey! You shouldn’t stop the war, you should allow it to happen!”

When Park Seung-ho, a former Sangmu player who became the captain of the Olympic team, raised his voice, all the players burst into laughter.

“I still have a lot of opportunities left!”

Then, Director Choi came to me, chuckled, and put me in a headlock.

“You’re saying this, but you’re going to work hard to stop me, you little brat. Anyway, we’ve prepared various training sessions with our coaching staff to help you bring out your best skills, so I hope you’ll follow along! That’s all for now. Has everyone unpacked?”

“yes!”

“Okay. That’s all for today. Ah, Coach Yu. Did you all get your kids’ uniforms?”

“We plan to distribute uniforms after this meeting.”

Yoo Jin-ho answered with a look of military discipline. Director Choi nodded as if he was satisfied.

“Then I guess we shouldn’t waste any more time. Okay. Well then, let’s wrap up the first meeting here and go get your uniforms and soccer shoes.”

This is how our first meeting ended.

The team atmosphere was better than expected, and Coach Choi’s refreshing personality made us all stand up to receive our national team uniforms and various equipment.

And today’s schedule is over.

We had plenty of time as we were called up two weeks before the Olympics. Of course, there were two final evaluation matches before that, but there was still plenty of time.

“Hey, Minwoo!”

And then a voice calls out.

When I looked back, it was Lee Kang-im.

I nodded my head bewilderedly.

“Uh, yes.”

“Do you remember? Shoot in Love.”

“Do you remember?”

“Hey! Why don’t you remember? At that time, the goalkeeper became the national team’s goalkeeper! I’m really happy to see you!”

You remembered me···.

After exchanging a few more words with me, Kang-Im Lee even followed me back on Instagram right then and there.

With this, my Instagram followers have now increased to 3.

“Hey Minwoo. But why don’t you have anyone following you back?”

“Oh, this? I hardly ever use Instagram. I just don’t do it unless someone asks me to.”

“······Don’t you follow back players from your club team?”

“Yes. I’m not doing that.”

I don’t even know what Instagram they have, so what’s the point of following each other?

Then Lee Kang-im started looking at me with some pity.

“You’re not a bully, are you? How so?”

“···Huh? If I don’t follow you back, I’ll be ostracized?”

“No, that’s not necessarily the case. But usually, if you’re on the same team, you follow each other, right?”

“Uh uh···.”

I looked back on my memories.

Did your teammates ask you to follow each other?

I did.

Every time that happened, I flatly refused, saying I don’t use social media.

···Eugene Ho adds 1 win.

There are many reasons why you don’t have friends.

“Everyone gather here for a moment! Everyone, follow Minwoo and go! I saw you earlier? Why do you only talk to the coach and not the other players?”

“Huh? Uh, that’s, that’s….”

I couldn’t come to my senses because of Lee Kang-im’s one-two punch. No, how could he openly point out social issues like this?

Now it looks like I won’t be able to score, so why don’t you marinate it like this?

Because Lee Kang-im had such a big presence in the national team, all the players came here and followed me back.

The number of mutual followers that had been ‘2’ for a long time gradually increased by one. It went up to at least double digits.

“But it’s a bit strange to have two mutual followers. Don’t you have any friends? Don’t you follow your school friends back, let alone your club players?”

···Please stop.

Lee Kang-im, whether he knew or not, went on and on about Instagram and mutual following for a long time, and only left after following all the players on the national team.

What the fuck.

And since it has come to this, I have followed a lot of my club team players, Suyang High School friends, and my classmates.

It was a fast and furious ride.

I released my frustration and anger by sending a follow request.

And when it was all over······.

“This is a bit off.”

I felt like I had sent follow requests indiscriminately, so I quickly casted a weeding spell.

It seems a bit shameful to follow someone and then unfollow them, but just leave it alone…

End

ⓒ Doctor Am