Chapter 89: An Even More Special Victory (4)

[Park Seojun’s long-range shot! Ah, it goes just over the crossbar. Unfortunate.]

As expected, the offense was the same, but problems began to appear on the defensive side.

Our defenders all have strong individual personalities, so when they get too focused, they sometimes stray from the defensive line.

Normally, I would position them, but the second-string goalkeeper who went in now, Lucan, was moving passively, wary of the defenders.

Lucan is a 28-year-old goalkeeper and a veteran in his own right, but he had never played in a first-team match, so he couldn’t help but be wary of the first-team defenders.

His head was probably full of thoughts like this.

The pressure that if he didn’t perform well in this opportunity, he might never get a chance to play in the first team again, the worry that if he gave instructions to the defenders and an argument broke out, it would be disadvantageous for him…

That’s probably why he’s keeping his mouth shut.

But that’s actually counterproductive.

That’s how the goalkeeper position is.

If you want to do well, you have to be more vocal.

Even if the defender can’t completely block the attacker, it’s the goalkeeper’s destiny to guide the ball in a direction they can handle.

‘I have a feeling something bad is going to happen if this continues…’

My premonition was not wrong.

Chelsea’s attack began, and it took less than 5 minutes for our defense to make a typical mistake.

The left-back broke the defensive line significantly while trying to follow an attacker, and the center-back created even more chaos trying to fill the gap.

Normally, it was a scene I would have prevented by shouting in advance.

But Lucan still couldn’t say a word and just watched the scene unfold.

The defenders trusted each other and charged, but that actually created a bigger gap…

In the end, Chelsea’s attack didn’t miss that gap.

Park Seojun’s sharp pass came through the defense, and Mount hit a left-footed shot.

Lucan threw himself late, but the ball had already passed his fingertips and was shaking the net.

0-1.

It was a moment when our undefeated streak was in danger.

[Ahhh! Chelsea takes the lead against the champions, Manchester City! It feels like a long time since we’ve seen this scene, City conceding a goal!]

As the camera focused on Jeong Tae-woo sitting on the bench, the commentators’ voices grew heavier.

[The camera is on Jeong Tae-woo. Seeing this scene makes Jeong Tae-woo’s absence feel even bigger.]

Watching City concede a goal from the bench was even more frustrating.

‘I could have saved that.’

If it were me, I wouldn’t have even given Seojun-hyung that kind of passing angle in the first place, and I could have easily saved that last shot.

“But Lucan could have saved that too. If he had coordinated the defensive line himself…”

Lucan has better reflexes than ordinary people because he’s a goalkeeper, but for a goalkeeper, they’re not that amazing.

The reason he could play for Manchester City, and in the second team at that, was because of his ability to coordinate the defenders.

Like a veteran, he had excellent football intelligence, and to be honest, I knew he was even better at defensive coordination than I was.

But even if I wanted to tell him, there was nothing I could do.

‘Please, let the first half end without any more major incidents…’

It seemed I would have to step in and help to bring out Lucan’s true skills.

***

[Ah, what a disaster. The first-half score is Chelsea 3, Manchester City 2. It’s a one-goal difference, but the number 3 for conceded goals will be quite unfamiliar to City fans.]

[That’s right. Since Jeong Tae-woo’s transfer this season, City has never conceded more than 2 goals in a single match. This 3-goal concession today will be a game that makes them realize once again how precious a resource Jeong Tae-woo is.]

[Ah, the camera is on Lucan, who came in for Tae-woo this time. He’s hanging his head…]

We had been losing in the first half quite a few times, but we had never conceded this many goals.

Perhaps because of that, everyone came into the locker room with their heads down.

Stained and sweat-drenched uniforms, breathing that still hadn’t calmed down.

That sight represented how fiercely they had played…

But football is not a brilliant place where everything succeeds just by trying hard.

It was a place where ruthless indifference that mocked even that desperate effort and success coexisted.

The manager came into the locker room with a grim expression for the first time in a long time.

“It was a real mess, Castillo.”

“Yes…”

A deep sense of guilt was on Castillo’s face as he hung his head.

“I really respect your passion. I respect you for always running and falling more than anyone else for the team. But that play just now… was no more and no less than an amateur who just runs around a lot.”

“You’re right.”

“That’s not your kind of play. Get your head back in the game and show us what you can do.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

After finishing his conversation with Castillo, the manager turned his gaze to Lucan, who was staring blankly at a photo.

“Lucan.”

At the manager’s call, Lucan put the photo in his pocket and looked up.

“Yes.”

“Your performance didn’t show any of the strengths I had seen in you.”

“…”

“After the game, people will say, ‘Bring in Tae-woo’… that the loss was due to my arrogance in not starting Tae-woo.”

At that moment, I felt puzzled.

‘Why is he acting like that…’

It was uncharacteristic of the manager, who was always calm and rational.

Normally, his style was to point out the mistakes accurately and suggest improvements.

“Still no words. The response I wanted from you when I said this was for you to stand up and shout. ‘No, I still have a lot to show. I’ll show you my real skills.’ Wasn’t that what you said when you met me?”

At the manager’s words, Lucan’s expression changed subtly.

He didn’t seem angry, but he didn’t look happy either.

“Curious why I’m saying this?”

“…Yes. I thought you would substitute me from the second half and put in Tae-woo.”

“And you’d go back to the second team?”

“Yes…”

The manager put his hand on his head and shook it.

“With this lack of confidence… do you know what I felt after properly watching your game?”

“I don’t know.”

“Regret.”

“Huh?”

“Regret for my own foolishness in being so obsessed with Tae-woo that I failed to recognize a player we desperately needed right beside us.”

Was it an unexpected remark? Lucan’s eyes widened slightly.

“I felt it from the first time I saw you. Your game analysis and situational judgment are truly special. But today… the play you showed was just you scrambling to chase Tae-woo’s shadow.”

“…”

“I know you’re different from Tae-woo. You know that too, right? You don’t need to be Tae-woo. You just need to be Lucan. You can contribute to City as Lucan. Next season, and the season after that. Show the fans who you are.”

Lucan gripped the photo in his pocket tightly.

The look in his eyes began to change little by little.

“Oh, and you have a son. He’ll be arriving at the stadium around the start of the second half, so do well.”

“Oliver is?”

“Yes. Show your son how cool his dad is. He dreams of being a football player too… how proud he’ll be, seeing his dad play at City’s home ground.”

After finishing his words, the manager left the locker room.

After a moment of silence, the sound of sobbing could be heard from somewhere, but we all pretended not to know.

Because everyone here knew better than anyone what he was feeling as a football player.

‘As expected of the manager, he had a plan all along.’

To think he would even bring his son. A great manager is different… but is there no strategy for the second half?

Squeak-

“Ahem… on second thought, I didn’t tell you the strategy for the second half.”

“…”

Well, a person needs to have that much of a human touch.

***

Lucan had been a football player who had only ever heard that he had no talent since he was a child.

His first hope was to be an attacker.

As young children often do, Lucan started playing football with the dream of being an attacker.

But the words he heard were always the same.

“You have no talent.”

But his love for football never wavered.

In the end, he used his tall height to change his position to a goalkeeper, and he steadily improved his skills by analyzing games and studying tactics.

That’s how he was able to play for Manchester City.

Even though it was the second team…

Was it that my talentless efforts had moved the heavens?

The heavens gave me a special gift.

My beloved son, Oliver, a fifty-fifty mix of my wife’s and my blood.

Oliver grew up watching football by my side.

He was a child who grew up watching his dad’s back as he headed to the training ground every morning, kicking a football, and watching game videos together.

Perhaps that’s why it was so natural for Oliver to dream of becoming a football player.

But when my child said, “I want to be a goalkeeper like Dad,” my heart was complicated.

I was proud, but on the other hand, it felt heavy.

Because I wondered if being a second-team goalkeeper for Manchester City was something to be proud of.

To the fans, there was only one goalkeeper for Manchester City, Jeong Tae-woo.

Even if my son said, “My dad is Lucan,” most people wouldn’t even know who that was.

Then one day, an opportunity came.

With the news of Jeong Tae-woo’s injury, news came that manager Peter Guardian would be coming to watch a second-team game.

I did my best to show everything I had built up, and I was finally able to be chosen by the manager.

But the first team was different.

In the first half, I was completely overwhelmed by the tempo of the game.

I couldn’t properly show the game analysis and tactical understanding I had honed, and I just became a goalkeeper who stood in front of the goal.

I thought I would be substituted, of course. I thought my place in the first team was over.

It was when I was even thinking about giving up on my career as a football player.

“I know you’re different from Tae-woo. You know that too, right? You don’t need to be Tae-woo. You just need to be Lucan. You can contribute to City as Lucan. Next season, and the season after that. Show the fans who you are.”

The manager’s words echoed in my ears.

It was ironic.

When I didn’t believe in myself, other people were believing in me.

Instead of the words ‘You have no talent’ that I had heard my whole life, I was acknowledged for the first time that ‘You have your own talent’.

‘I will never lose.’

For the manager who believed in me, for Oliver who would be watching me somewhere in the stadium, and for my teammates who were cheering me on with their warm gazes without saying a word.

To contribute even a little to Manchester City with this talent that might seem insignificant to some.

I decided to stand up once again.