From the next day, we started full-scale training.
In fact, the national team session was ultimately a K-League session. Everyone from the manager to the coaches were Korean, but it wasn’t a European session.
It wasn’t as advanced as what I experienced in Hanover, but it wasn’t terribly backward either. Well, what should I say? It was just right.
‘Where is this that is not at the level of Suyang High School···.’
Since the training wasn’t at a level where I couldn’t receive it, I trained hard.
But it’s true that it’s quite loose, so I joke around with the players along the way to get to know them better.
In particular, Lee Kang-im and captain Park Seung-ho took great care of me because I was the youngest, and I was very grateful for that.
‘It’s a bit weird when the goalkeeper is out of the way, right? Communication is important.’
I took a quick break and looked at the defense line.
I didn’t think Jinseop hyung would be left off the list. I thought I wouldn’t see him in France…
‘In other words, there is no defender who can beat that guy.’
Wildcard Seol Young-wook is a defender by position, but he is a fullback, so it was a bit ambiguous. Well, he is said to also play center back, but I’m not sure…
And then I went back to training.
In fact, training with Hannover or the national team was just a process to improve my stats.
And I got one fruit.
[You are training hard. GK reaction speed increases by 1.]
Don’t train for this taste···.
“Hey, Minwoo. Why are you so enthusiastic?”
While Eugene Ho was coaching other players, he came up to me and said.
Why? I’m doing this to raise my stats.
Since I couldn’t tell him what was really on my mind, I just gave him a silent nod.
*
The national team has been gearing up for organizational training ahead of the final evaluation match.
It wasn’t just organizational training.
I spent all my time teaching the players Coach Choi’s Plan A tactics and also teaching them Plan B tactics.
I didn’t really care whether the national team’s tactics were Plan A or Plan B because what I had to do was the same.
I just have to be good at preventing dangerous things.
And occasionally participate in the build-up.
So the first of two evaluation matches is about to begin.
They were called up to Paris two weeks early for training, but the situation was similar in other countries.
Which country would come and prepare on the opening day? They would come before and check the timing and such.
“The first match of this evaluation match is against Ukraine. As you all know, Ukraine is currently at war. But you shouldn’t underestimate them. They are a great team that has advanced to the finals despite being at war.”
Coach Choi called us together just before the evaluation match and explained about Ukraine, the team we would be playing against.
It was certainly a great country.
Advancing to the Olympic finals even though the entire country was destroyed by war.
‘It’s even more surprising that the war isn’t over yet.’
Two years later, the war was still sluggish.
It is said that the foreign ministries of the two countries are making contact to conclude an agreement, but the armistice agreement remains distant as both countries only talk about their own positions.
The war will probably end depending on which grandfather wins the US presidential election this year.
“If there’s a player in Ukraine that we should be particularly careful about… Coach Yu? Turn the screen.”
“Oh, yes.”
The screen changes to the next screen.
And the one who shows up is Mikhael Mudrik, a player currently playing for Chelsea worth a whopping 100 million won.
In the year he signed, he was ranked as Chelsea’s worst signing, but starting the following season, his performance gradually improved and he has now become a very threatening player to Korea, who have to play against him.
“This player is the one who brought Ukraine to this Olympics. He is like our Kim Min-woo.”
Everyone turns to me with an “Ohhh” sound.
I pretended like nothing happened, but I couldn’t help but raise the corners of my mouth. This was essentially a physiological phenomenon.
“The defenders in particular need to be careful. Huh? Hey, he’s a cheetah-like kid who’s really fast, even in the Premier League. You all know Bale and Hong Min. He’s that kind of guy.”
Look at the explanation. If someone were to hear it, they’d think it was a drunken old man talking nonsense.
“And he uses both feet well, so he can jump well on either the left or right.”
And he also listed his shortcomings. He said that he lacks soccer intelligence because he is stupid, and that he misses the ball a lot because he lacks fundamentals. He used Son Heung-min as an analogy, but he said that comparing him to Son Heung-min is disrespectful to our Hong.
‘This isn’t a neighborhood fair or anything…’
There were other dangers listed for Ukraine, but none as many as Mikhail Mudrik mentioned at the beginning.
And Coach Choi ended the meeting by saying that if we can just suppress this mood well, we can win.
Director Choi asks formally if anyone has any questions.
I looked around to see if anyone was raising their hand, but of course there was none.
So the meeting was over and we prepared for the next match by refining our Olympic tactics a bit more rather than using Ukraine’s custom tactics.
*
And July 19th, Strasbourg, France.
There were no empty stadiums in Paris, so we came to a city in eastern France bordering Germany.
The venue where we will be having our friendly match against Ukraine is the Stade de la Meno.
As expected, there were hardly any spectators.
There were a few Korean expatriates and European spectators, but for me, who had played in front of tens of thousands of spectators in Hanover, they were a drop in the bucket.
of course.
“Kim Min-woo, senior! Please give me your autograph!”
Before the game, I would smile and sign autographs for the few fans who came to me with soccer balls or jerseys.
When fans were happy and excited to receive my autograph, I felt proud for no reason. Did it really feel like I had become a professional athlete?
“Hey! Minwoo! How long are you going to sign autographs?”
Of course, Yoo Jin-ho said something loudly behind my back, but when I put my index finger to my mouth, he just made an uncomfortable expression and didn’t step forward to stop me.
I saved Coach Choi and several other national team coaches. I took some time out for the fans, so this is expected. Right.
As I continued to stand up and sign autographs for the fans, other players came running and followed me. Suddenly, when the evaluation match was about to turn into an autograph session, Coach Choi finally came out and told us to focus on training, and we then focused on warming up.
And just before kickoff, Park Seung-ho, a former Sangmu player who became the captain of the Olympic team, gathered us in a circle and gave us some motivation.
“It’s not just an evaluation match. It’s the final evaluation match. After we meet Ukraine and Morocco, we’ll be in the real group stage. Everyone, let’s not be complacent and give it our 100%. Okay?”
“Okay, okay! Let’s beat Mbappe Ham~”
The players looked at each other with big smiles. Park Seung-ho also smiled and said.
“Okay, then I’ll start. Follow along. Woof! Woof! Woof! For military exemption!”
“Wow! Woof! Woof! For military exemption!”
And then they each went to their seats.
I moved to the goal and laughed out loud.
‘Oh, this is really a goal. What kind of chant is this?’
It’s the most worldly and vulgar chant I’ve ever heard while playing soccer.
but···.
‘Well, it’s true that all male athletes competing in the Olympics compete to be exempt from military service.’
There is a reason why they call it a military exemption buff.
Korean players who have received military exemption buffs may even be able to target Mbappe and even Messi.
Especially the Wild Card brothers, they must be even more desperate. They are working hard in the military···.
Beep─!
And then the referee checked his watch once and blew the whistle. I also went into the game with a good feeling of excitement.
*
It became clear from the start of the game that Coach Choi had to be careful about Mikhail Mudrik.
Ukraine was also sincere in its final evaluation, and when the entire country was engulfed in the devastation of war and crying out in pain, its sense of mission to do something for its homeland seemed great.
Beep-! Beep-!
Every time the game got heated, the referee blew his whistle, and the intervals were very short.
The Ukrainian players seemed to have forgotten that this was a friendly match and came out rough and aggressive, and my teammates, who at first fell like autumn leaves, were now fighting back.
And among them, Mikhael Mudrik, who played on the left wing, stood out.
Mikhael Mudrik, who started on the left wing, kept clashing with our wildcard Eom Won-seok, who started on the right wing, and the duel between the two ended in Mudrik’s victory after just 10 minutes.
Won-Seok Eom is also considered a representative player of Chidal in the K-League, but he seemed burdensome to Moudrik.
Simply put, if Won-seok Eom holds the ball and is in front of Mudrique, Mudrique will mark it well or even steal it from him, but if Mudrique holds the ball, Won-seok Eom will have to break through or foul it.
That was the difference between K-League and EPL.
‘Well, it can’t be helped.’
Ukraine, who had dampened Korea’s spirits with rough physical play in the early stages of the game (although we were also struggling without giving up), was led by Mikhail Mudrik.
“Young-wook! He’s coming!”
I pointed out another wildcard, Seol Young-wook, and shouted out.
Seol Young-wook started this match as the right stopper of the three-back, and Mikhail Mudrik happened to be coming into that area. He hasn’t come in yet, but he was supposed to.
In my opinion, that was the case.
Mikhail Mudrik, who received the ball with one touch from his teammate, penetrated into Seol Young-wook’s area as I expected. A straight penetration.
As seen in the video shown by Director Choi, it is a fairly simple yet aggressive movement.
‘It’s a wild card, so it won’t just break through······ Nimi.’
Coach Choi said, “Mudrik’s soccer intelligence is low, so he can’t play that intelligently.”
Coach Choi said, “Mudrik’s touch is bad, but his movements are predictable, so if he doesn’t panic, he can quickly take over the flow.”
But if there was something that coach Choi overlooked, it was that Mudrik’s football intelligence and poor ball touch were strictly EPL-only.
Because it’s the EPL, their soccer intelligence looks low, and because it’s the EPL, their ball touch looks bad.
But what if the opponent is K-League?
Silent.
“Jinseop! Jinseop!”
I desperately searched for you.
It was a cry that even you must not be penetrated.
Lee Jin-seop was hesitating between the opposing striker and Mudrik, who had entered the center of the penalty box, when I saw the trajectory.
I decided to take advantage of Lee Jin-seop’s position.
Mudrik failed to find the angle and passed the ball to the striker as a ground ball, and Jinseop Lee was passed over without being able to do anything.
It was an exquisite and breathtaking pass.
A pass that the last defender in front can’t do anything about.
And then the one-touch shot that follows. It’s as natural as flowing water.
‘Huh!’
I quickly stretched out both arms to block it.
Fortunately, the shot came into the center of where I was positioned, and I was able to block Ukraine’s threatening attack.
If they had fought the war this way, wouldn’t Russia be fighting the Siege of Moscow by now?
“Phew···.”
“As expected! Our Minwoo! I believed in you!”
I didn’t blame the defense for being weak and weak. What can I do? The opponent is a winger who shows great performance even in the EPL.
It was natural that players worth tens of billions of won could not afford players worth hundreds of billions of won.
‘So I have to do that much.’
This is what a Bundesliga goalkeeper should do when he has 18 clean sheets.
I got up from my seat, looked around, and then slapped Eom Won-seok.
Although he didn’t use the quick accurate kick, it flew to Eom Won-seok quite accurately, and Eom Won-seok neatly trapped it and started a psychological war with the opposing defense.
“after.”
By the way.
Teams like France, Argentina, and Spain are full of players like that, so what are we going to do? Really?
I had many thoughts.
And the conclusion of that thought was that Yi Sun-sin was great.
It is not easy to suddenly conclude that Yi Sun-sin was great during a soccer game, but our players did it. I was proud.
End
ⓒ Doctor Am
