Chapter 24: Keep That Up and You’ll Crap Blood (3)

[“Goal!! It’s a goal!!!! In the 20th minute of the first half, South Korea scores the first goal against Spain. This player is not a striker, but goalkeeper Jeong Tae-woo!”]

[“He’s truly a… a tremendous player. How can a goalkeeper play like this?”]

– I think Lee Chun-soo was about to say ‘crazy’ just now 

– You’ve finally matured! Chun-soo. For that Chun-soo to hold back a curse.

– But it’s really fcking awesome. How is a goalkeeper better at dribbling than a striker?

– So why is he playing goalkeeper?

– But he’s so dmn good at attacking and also so d*mn good at goalkeeping, the coach’s head must be aching.

“This isn’t just any goal.”

Yoo Jung-hwan continued speaking while watching the replay of Jeong Tae-woo’s play.

[“If you look closely here, after a 2-on-1 pass with Park Seo-joon, I think he was about to pass. But if you look at the Spanish players’ movements, they try to block the passing lane, not pressure Jeong Tae-woo.

So he went in further. It’s like, ‘Huh? I’m Jeong Tae-woo, and you’re not blocking me? How arrogant.

Then I’ll just go in.’ But if he got tackled here, it would have been big trouble, yet he broke through all of that with unbelievable individual skill and even scored.”]

[“Hahaha, commentator Yoo Jung-hwan is very excited.”]

[“Actually, it’s impossible not to get excited about this. In the first place, the tactic itself relies extremely heavily on Jeong Tae-woo.

I don’t know the specifics yet, but Jeong Tae-woo has to cover the areas the defenders are supposed to block, and no matter how much they raise the defensive line, if it’s breached, it’s basically like telling Jeong Tae-woo, ‘Block it yourself.’ But he did it.”]

Yoo Jung-hwan’s voice grew increasingly animated.

[“As everyone knows, Pedri is a player who is doing incredibly well at Real Madrid. But he stole the ball from that player, dribbled past him, and even scored a goal. A goalkeeper! This is truly an unbelievable scene.”]

– Jung-hwan hyung’s prospect-hyping disease has relapsed.

– But honestly, listening to it, it really does seem crazy.

– Cheon Mu-seok: If you’re a goalkeeper, it’s natural to be good at both defense and offense, right?]

– No, since when was that natural lol

[“After scoring the goal, Jeong Tae-woo savors the moment for a bit and then runs towards where the fans are.”]

[“Jeong Tae-woo knows. How important the fans are. He’s truly perfect, with both skill and character.”]

[“No, Jung-hwan hyung, your eyes suddenly have hearts in them?”]

[“Yes, there won’t be many scenes where we can see Jeong Tae-woo’s celebration. What kind of celebration will he do?”]

[“What is that? Kuhahahaha, turns out I was an internist. Hahahaha”]

[“Ahem… Chun-soo, surely if it’s Jeong Tae-woo, there must be some meaning to it.”]

[“That?”]

– The man who is endlessly positive if it’s a player he scouted, Yoo Jung-hwan

– The only man who speaks the truth, Lee Chun-soo

– For real

[“Wow… He jumps high and a V-sign while smiling during a very cool landing. It was a fatal celebration that only Jeong Tae-woo could pull off.”]

– Lol, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Lee Sung-joon flustered.

– But even though he’s doing that ridiculous celebration, why doesn’t it look tacky and actually looks cool?

– His face carries it. Isn’t it a foul to be that good-looking and good at sports? Honestly, he’s probably small, right?

-He’d have to be small… That’s the only way it’s fair

-I’m in the same class as Pungwol High’s Jeong Tae-woo. We went to the public bath together, and the result was insane.

-It’s so f*cking unfair, sh*t

While the Korean commentators were speaking in an agitated mood, a long silence flowed from the Spanish commentary side.

[“Good heavens… What just happened?”]
Commentator Antonio Camacho muttered, forgetting he was on air.

[“Yes, in the 20th minute of the first half, the player who scored the goal was not a striker, but South Korea’s number 1, Jeong Tae-woo. For a goalkeeper to create such a scene… It was truly an astonishing moment.”]

A sense of bewilderment still lingered in Camacho’s voice, but he tried his best to convey the situation calmly.

[“Honestly, when we first saw it, we definitely judged that the South Korean coach’s tactic was too dangerous.

Because we judged that if our Spanish players just got the ball into the opponent’s half with that tactic, a goal would definitely result. Of course, South Korea’s Jeong Tae-woo showed good saving ability in the preliminaries, but when he’s out like that, a normal goalkeeper can’t do anything.

However, this player, Jeong Tae-woo, seems a bit different.”]
Guillermo Amon added.

[“Yes, but the Spanish players must not panic. They showed signs of panic due to the aggressive pressure just now, but South Korea’s tactic is physically very demanding, so they need to remain calm.”]

[“That’s right. Since South Korea has currently pushed their line up extremely high, they will also be expending a lot of stamina. As time goes on, it will become more advantageous for Spain. Spain can do it.”]

However, as the game resumed, the mood of the Spanish commentators worsened.

***

The game resumed.

Spain attacked us with a tremendous offensive, but our tactics didn’t change.

The core of Coach Cheon Mu-seok’s tactic was ‘block attacks with attacks.’

“Pressure them!!! Block the passing lanes thoroughly!”

When offense clashes with offense like this, what determines victory or defeat is the presence of an ace.

Spain, of course, has many outstanding players, but South Korea has, besides me, a monster named Yoo Hee-sung, the protagonist of this novel.

I defended as if I were running all over every part of our formation, and at the same time, I directed the defenders to vacant areas and blocked the ball.

‘Maybe because it’s a real match, it’s harder than training. If the Football God hadn’t given me that gift, it would have been touch and go.’

And when I finally stole the ball, my eyes saw Yoo Hee-sung running into an open space, trusting me.

Yoo Hee-sung’s movement seemed to be telling me.

‘There’s no way you wouldn’t see this path. Pass quickly.’

‘I knew you’d be looking too.’

Naturally, I had already seen the path Yoo Hee-sung was running.

Quickly assessing the positions and movements of the Spanish players in front of me, I found the optimal passing route that could penetrate their defensive net.

Taking a deep breath, I kicked the ball with all my might.

“Whoosh-!”

The ball made a sharp sound and flew accurately towards Yoo Hee-sung, like a guided missile.

The Spanish players, with surprised expressions, rushed towards Yoo Hee-sung, but it was already too late.

Yoo Hee-sung received my pass accurately and began to sprint forward, skillfully dodging two Spanish defenders as if mocking them, and created a goal.

“Swish~”

“Man… U!!!”

In the 36th minute of the first half, with an unexpected result, we took a 2-point lead.

***

32nd minute of the second half.

A sense of fatigue permeated the entire stadium.

The players’ movements were noticeably sluggish, and the once tense roars from the stands gradually subsided.

Our team changed strategy at the start of the second half.

Under Coach Cheon Mu-seok’s instructions, we stopped the Wave Pressing and switched to a more conventional 4-3-3 formation.

However, perhaps due to the intense pressure of the first half, the shadows of fatigue were cast deeply on our players’ faces.

The Spanish players were no exception.

They too seemed to have overexerted their stamina trying to counter our strong pressure.

Even star players like Pedri were gasping for breath and running with difficulty.

However, unlike them, my expression was very calm.

I even had a slight smile.

‘This is even more of a cheat than I thought.’

At first, I thought only my stamina had improved, but now it seemed my stamina recovery rate had also increased.

It felt like my stamina recharged instantly just by catching my breath for a moment.

‘Of course, regardless of that, there’s not much for me to do anyway…’

No matter how much stamina I had, there was nothing for me, the goalkeeper, to do right now.

There was no reason to take risks and go out when our team was leading.

‘It’s going to end 2-0 like this.’

It was then.

The Spanish goalkeeper received a pass and kicked the ball hard.

The ball flew rapidly in a parabola, heading straight for Lee Tae-yang’s face as he was pressuring a player.

‘What, why is it going there?’

In an instant, the ball hit Lee Tae-yang squarely in the face and bounced back towards the goal from the impact.

“Ugh!”

Lee Tae-yang screamed, clutching his face.

And that ball flew like a clothesline into the right corner of the goal, as if it were a power shot.

“Swish!!”

“Waaaaaaaaaah!”

I doubted my eyes.

‘No way, it goes in like that?’

Lee Tae-yang, who had been dazed until just a moment ago, suddenly started striking a pose.

“This is it! All planned!”

Lee Tae-yang was showing off as if he were a world-class striker, even with a double nosebleed streaming  his face.

“This is me, Lee Tae-yang! Muahahaha! You Spanish guys, you’ve never seen a shot like this!”

‘No, that idiot…’

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Lee Tae-yang’s shamelessness in packaging a complete accident as if he had planned it was absurd and funny at the same time.

“That’s going to be a meme again.”

Imagining Lee Tae-yang being made fun of in the gallery after the match, I racked my brain on how to tease him.

‘This one’s good for a month.’