Chapter 80: Racism (3)

“But out of all the strikers I’ve seen so far, your shot is the slowest.

Why don’t you try harder?

From what I see, you’re at a third-division level.”

Hendricks spun around at my words, but I just kept smirking.

‘What are you gonna do, glare at me?’

Hendricks’s eyes sharpened, but that was all he could do.

In the end, the first half went just as I had expected.

Blocking Hendricks’s powerless shots one by one, our team finished the first half with a 1-0 lead.

He sent a furious glare as he returned to his locker room.

‘He shouldn’t be acting like that already.’

Because in the second half, he would completely deny his own position as a striker.

I would show him myself what true powerlessness is.

“Hey Taewoo, I did good, right?”

Guerrero approached me, his eyes sparkling as if a child seeking praise from a parent.

‘If he had a tail, it would be wagging furiously right now.’

“What did you do that was so good?”

“I gave those spectators a piece of my mind for you.”

Guerrero grinned proudly.

“Seriously, getting a yellow card and you’re proud of it.”

“No, Taewoo.
It’s not about the yellow card, it’s a matter of pride!”

Just then, Castillo, who was listening nearby, stopped Guerrero.

“Guerrero, you don’t have to step up anymore.
That expression you mentioned before, I think I saw it just now.”

“Don’t… don’t tell me that demonic…”

Castillo just nodded.

Guerrero, as soon as he saw me, unnaturally turned his head away.

“Hahaha… I think I’ll head back to the locker room now…”

“Let’s go together.”

“Heeik! I’m sorry, don’t hit me!”

“…”

No, what have I done for this big guy to act like this?

“Hey, what’s this about me being a demon all this time?
Have you ever seen a demon as handsome as me?”

Castillo and Guerrero looked at each other and then sent genuinely frightened glances.

Sanchez, who had been quiet until then, lowered his voice and spoke in a trembling tone.

“Taewoo… I’m sorry, but in all the movies, the demon is always incredibly handsome.
That’s what makes it scarier.”

“Aish.”

The moment I showed my annoyance, the hallway froze.

The expressions of all three turned pale as if they were filming a horror movie.

“…”

As I fell silent, the three of them clung to each other and trembled.

Guerrero, with his massive frame, was trembling like a scared puppy, and the other two weren’t much different.

‘No, so what on earth is that expression!’

I’m a sincere man who lives and dies by the law.

They’re acting like they’ve met a serial killer or something.

It’s so unfair.

***

Bang!

“I will never be satisfied with just one point.

Today’s match… will be a disaster that everyone will remember for years to come.

The reason… you all know very well.”

Coach Peter Guardian’s sharp voice echoed through the locker room.

In an instant, all the players’ gazes turned to me.

‘Uh… this is a bit burdensome.’

It was quite burdensome to have all the players in the locker room looking at me as if I were a wounded animal, but I knew they were worried about me, so I said nothing.

“Those bastards crossed the line.

Our Taewoo, who we are proud of anywhere in the world, may seem like a mature adult, but he’s still a kid not even twenty… How dare they insult our youngest like that?

This… is absolutely unforgivable.

Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, sir!”

The players’ thunderous response erupted.

“They don’t even know their place… kneeling before us even in the first half of the season.”

A cold anger was laced in the coach’s voice.

“I will now show you how to bring them to their knees.
And Taewoo!”

Lost in thought, I shot up at the coach’s sudden call.

“Yes!”

“Look!

Everyone, has our Taewoo ever jumped up like that at my words?

He may not say it, but he’s hurt.”

‘No, I was just lost in other thoughts…’

“You bastards, don’t worry about Taewoo.
I’ll create an environment for you to run wild today.”

“Uh… yes.”

I was about to ask, but seeing the coach bring it up first, he seems really angry.

‘I thought he was just speaking more strongly to boost morale, but he’s really pissed off.’

Our coach is the one who saw me at the Olympics and brought me to Man City.

He always thought it was a waste to let my attacking talent rot.

So, when all the players had perfectly mastered the current build-up tactics, we practiced another tactic.

The so-called ‘We dribble on the counter-attack.’

It was a combination of Coach Cheon Museok’s tactics, where only attack was considered and even the goalkeeper joined the attack, with City’s tactics.

To be honest, Coach Guardian didn’t want me to remain just a goalkeeper.

That’s why what he said to me after the first day of training is still vivid in my mind.

“Do you really have to be a goalkeeper?”

But I, who had to be in the goalkeeper position, refused the position change.

The coach was incredibly disappointed at that time.

Well, the more we played in the league, the less he said things like that…

Anyway, this tactic is one where I go on the offensive.

But it’s different from Coach Cheon Museok’s.

If Coach Cheon Museok’s tactic was a ‘one-shot’ tactic where all players were in the opponent’s half and I would suddenly go out only when a chance arose, with two defenders protecting our side instead…

This is a completely different approach.

Like a normal build-up tactic, the defenders maintain their positions and gradually move the ball forward.

But the decisive difference is my role.

I am no longer just a goalkeeper, but function as the team’s 11th field player.

Like an attacking libero, I leave the goalkeeper position and go up to the midfield to become a passing option, and sometimes I carry the ball myself.

If Coach Cheon Museok’s tactic was aimed at a surprise one-shot, this is part of continuous pressure and possession football.

The most important thing here is ball possession.

It’s okay to use fancy individual skills or dribble, but you must never lose the ball.

Because this isn’t about aiming for a one-off chance, but about me completely melting into the team’s basic tactical system.

This is a further evolution of the modern football sweeper-keeper.

It goes beyond simply clearing the ball behind the defensive line like Neuer, to actively participating in the build-up and sometimes going up to the midfield to become an additional attacking option.

It’s a high-difficulty tactic where mistakes are absolutely not allowed, but if successful, it’s an innovative tactic that can completely overwhelm the opponent.

Of course…

A tactic where the goalkeeper has to be better at shooting and dribbling than a striker, and have better passing sense than a midfielder, is absurd.

But for me, it’s possible.

The experience from when I was at the top as a striker, and the reaction speed that has become even sharper through training as a goalkeeper.

Through countless repeated training sessions, I became certain.

The current Jeong Taewoo has surpassed Kim Chan-ki.

Faster, more accurate, and more lethal than back then.
I have paradoxically reached a height I couldn’t reach even when I was a striker, by becoming a goalkeeper.

‘I wonder how many goals I’ll score?’

I’m curious myself.

***

My insides were boiling.

Taewoo…

That boy I cherish, being insulted by such vulgar bastards.

Taewoo, with his brilliant talent and pure passion, being treated like this by guys who don’t even come up to his toes.

If it weren’t for my daughter, I would give him everything.

The future of the team, all the football I have, and even my heart.

But now…

Such personal feelings are not important.

I can’t just stand by and watch those idiots insult my player, no, football itself.

“How dare a striker do something like racism when he can’t even attack better than Taewoo?”

So I decided to show them.

The tactic we had prepared.

A tactic that transcends the limits of a goalkeeper, no, the limits of football.

Hendricks, watch closely how the Asian goalkeeper you so despised devastates your defense.

And despair.

In front of the unbridgeable abyss of talent.

“I’m sorry about what happened then.
I reprimanded him in the locker room.”

Arsenal’s manager, Michael Brown…

He was neither good nor bad to me.

No, if I had to say, he was someone I was fond of.

I secretly respected him for his persistence in studying the so-called ‘long ball’ tactics that were ridiculed, and for sticking to his own philosophy amidst the criticism of others.

But now, he looked infinitely pathetic in my eyes.

An incompetent manager who can’t even properly control one of his own players.

He was just a scarecrow with the title of manager.

Managing the squad is a manager’s duty, just as important as tactics.

No, perhaps even more important.

He should have known that one player’s deviation can lower the dignity of the entire team.

Brown, where did the philosophy you so insisted on go?

If you had shown the same persistence in managing the players’ character as you did for your tactics, today’s disgrace wouldn’t have happened.

That’s why.

I said nothing to him.

I just stared at the field and stuck my hands in my pockets.

No words were needed.

Taewoo would soon show them.

What true football is, what a true professional is.

And it didn’t take long for Taewoo to show them what real football was.

“No, how…?”

A hollow voice from the side.

It was filled with a sense of despair, as if the very concept of football he knew was shattering into pieces.

“Hmm… Is Taewoo not in good condition today?
His dribbling is a bit stiff.”

The Arsenal bench stared at me incredulously at my words.

I could read the confusion on their faces.

A manager evaluating a goalkeeper’s dribbling must have been an incomprehensible sight to them.

The crowd fell silent in an instant.

The players, beyond shock, were shaking their heads, unable to distinguish whether this was reality or a dream.

‘Ha… yes, this is football.

This is true football.’