Chapter 133 – Asian Qualifiers (3)
133
Next day. The director gathered us together and declared.
“We go with a three-back this time.”
That’s three hundred.
Wasn’t the national team’s basic formation based on four backs?
I wanted to suddenly change tactics, but after listening to my seniors, they said they had prepared three bags.
In fact, he even won with a three-back in the match against Oman, which was the 6th round of the final qualifying round… Even though he won the game, he returned to the four-back after that because his performance was not good.
The opponent won because they were arrogant, the weakest group in Group B, but the performance itself was said to be close to failure.
Then just use a four-back. Why change at this point?
I was in the position of the youngest member who had just been selected, so why not openly ask?
“I’m trying to make up for the weakness of the national team.”
He told me why.
What is the team’s weakness? There are many, but two are the most prominent.
The first is the side defense, which is considered the most vulnerable position.
Modern football has evolved to increasingly eliminate space and perform pressing efficiently. In other words, it has achieved tremendous growth in defensive tactics.
Unlike the remarkable development of each player’s skills and defensive tactics, the attacking side did not grow as much as the defense, and the fact that players who used to ‘carry’ alone in the past attacking midfielder position disappeared from modern football is all due to this effect.
No matter how good a player is, they can no longer withstand the pressure and defense from the center, so the center naturally shifts to the side.
At first, through cut-in play from the side, the inside forward, who came into the center from the relatively wide side, was in the limelight, and as defensive tactics developed again, the importance of the side defender began to be emphasized.
As with any position in modern football, especially the side defenders should not only be good at defending, but also good at attacking.
An all-around housekeeper who must attack the side to break the opponent’s dense defense and gain an advantage in numbers, and must be good at defense as his main job is defense.
But there is no such player in Korea.
Quality side defenders are precious everywhere. It is not a weakness unique to Korea, but the problem is the environment in which Korea faces.
Korea is a strong team only in Asia.
Except for Japan, Iran, or Australia, they are a strong team that is overwhelmingly ahead of them in terms of power.
As a result, the basic stance of Asian teams facing Korea is defense.
If you are watching the national team game, you will be familiar with the way the ball is turned meaninglessly from the back, only increasing possession, and the attack is ineffective.
Of course, it is the result of a combination of various problems, but one of the biggest parts is that there are no excellent side defenders. The flanks are important to break through dense defense, but that was not possible with Korean side defenders.
And the second problem of the national team is the lack of excellent technicians.
In order to break through the dense defense, the side was important, but in the end, we have to overcome the strong pressure of the opponents who are tightly packed in the defensive camp.
There are limits to passing and off-the-ball movement alone.
No matter how good the pass and off the ball are, if the opponent’s camp is full of players, the absolute space itself is insufficient.
In order to overcome this, the only thing that can be relied on in the end is the individual player’s ability.
You have to protect the ball even under strong pressure, and create space for yourself through de-pressure and personal skills.
No matter how important the defense is, this is the reason why the ransom of the striker is the most expensive.
“The tactical change to address this is a three-back.”
* * *
One hour before the Korea vs. China match in the ninth round of the final qualifying round.
“Yes, this is the Sangam World Cup Stadium where the ninth round of the final Asian qualifiers will be held!”
“Isn’t it a match between Korea, which is second in Group B, and China, which is third,?”
“That’s right! Korea Republic is second in the group with 16 points, and China is third in the group with 12 points. Both teams can go up or down through the ninth and tenth games, so this Isn’t Game 9 really important?”
The commentator gave a big nod to Caster’s question.
“Korea is only 1 point away from Iran, who are currently ranked 1st. Besides, since the last 10th match was against Iran, if we win the 9th and 10th matches, we can rise to the top of the group on our own. If we catch it, there is a very high chance that we will rise to second place in the group because our opponent in the last 10th match is relatively weak Uzbekistan.”
A CG-processed leaderboard appears in the center of the screen, and the game schedules of Korea and China are revealed on either side.
Both teams are in a state where the group standings can change after the 9th and 10th games.
“Anyway, as the 2nd place in the group is given a direct ticket to the World Cup finals, Korea absolutely needs to defend the 2nd place. On the other hand, it is clear that China will also expect to rise to 2nd place rather than 3rd place through the playoffs? Besides, 4th place in the group There is a possibility that we will come out aggressively in today’s game as we are one point away from Iraq.”
“Ah~ It’s a very important match for both teams. Maybe that’s why Sangam is now covered in red waves!”
The screen switched and I scanned the inside of the arena.
The huge stadium with a whopping 66,000 seats was filled with red waves so that it was impossible to find an empty seat.
“It would be nice if everyone were red devils cheering for Korea… Unfortunately, they say that a lot of Chinese supporters came, right?”
“Unfortunately, the color representing the red devils and Longzhidui, the supporters of both countries, is the same. Originally, the home team, Korea supporters, should wear red, and the away team, China supporters, should wear a different color… Didn’t the Chinese supporters make unreasonable demands?”
“It is said that they demanded that they wear the red uniform even though it is an away team.”
“Ah~ this is so… Anyway, there are rules. In the end, both sides wore red.”
At the words of the caster and commentator, the chat window went up faster.
— No shit… Are you guys real?
Haha
— I can’t find any manners…
ㄴ It’s so unique that I’m not surprised anymore.
“By the way, yesterday’s Media Day event, the Chinese director’s remarks are a hot topic, right?”
“Yes. Yesterday, Gui Jingjing, coach of the Chinese national team, emphasized the previous match against Korea and foretold victory.”
“Ah, wasn’t it really unfortunate that we lost in the last match against China?”
In the last game against China, from the beginning of the first half, the Chinese attackers put intense pressure on the Korean defense.
However, the Korean defense team turned the ball around to the point of disgustingly calmly, and pulled the over pace from the Chinese players.
There was pressure from the Chinese player, but originally there was a distance and it was not a threat at all.
However, the ball hit on the bumpy road unique to Chinese soccer games that were not managed caused an irregular bounce and led to an own goal.
Suddenly, it was 0:1 at the beginning of the first half.
I knocked hard to score a comeback goal, but I couldn’t break through China, who all went into defense, and had to lose unfortunately.
—Living and livinghahaSince when did China make a loud noisehaha
ㄴ Korean football is dead a lot… You bastards are so arrogant that you are kinghaha
—Oh, if you twist, you winhahaWho lost last time?
Arrest
ㄴXi Jinping, try mini-bralganna bastard
ㄴ UghhahaIt’s vulgar, the only thing I know how to be vulgar is cursing
ㄴ So, Xi Jinping’s Golden Mummy Bear, Free Tibet, Hong Kong.
ㄴI say everything I want to say when I say to follow this bastard.
—It’s really like shit. Please win this match… I don’t even want to imagine the ground
If I lose, I will never play football again.
This defeat had a big impact on the fact that the match against China is getting a lot of attention.
Fortunately, as soon as an own goal was scored, all Chinese netizens boasted loudly that they had won.
So, while the broadcast was organized an hour before the game and attracted viewers,
“Oh, they said the line-up was just submitted. So, can I get the starting line-up— uh? Is this… A three-back?”
“That’s right. Coach Kim Gwi-jong, in the match against China, pulls out a surprise card!”
“If this happens… Yoon Hyuk will be in the middle of the back three… Ah! Hong Min-jun will be in the position of attacking midfielder!!”
—…… ?
— Is this right… ?
—Suddenly distant three hundred; Even before arrogance, I shaved it like that;
—But Hong Min-joon only expected me?
—Ah really, if I lose to a jjanggae again, I will boycott the Chukhyeop
Replying to @DragonBall
—Hong Min-joon Am I the only one with high expectations? 2t
—Yoonhyeok Are you Central American? Are you a center back?
ㄴ Kim Gwi-jong started playing cartoon soccer again.
—Minjoon Hong Am I the only one expecting? 3t
* * *
After the pre-game photo shoot, the referee’s coin toss continued.
Our team’s starting axis was decided and I went to my place. Just below the two strikers.
‘It’s the middle… ‘
Not on the side, but in the center, and he is also a sluggish striker.
In that brief moment when the referee put his whistle in his mouth and looked at his watch, he stood on the ground and looked around.
The appearance of the ground is quite different from the scenery we always looked at from the side.
Looking at the Chinese camp, it’s not the 4-4-2 I expected… 5-3-2? Is it 5-4-1?
You’ll only know when the match starts, but it doesn’t matter what the formation is.
As per training… No, in this place where I can use my strengths to the fullest, I won’t be able to lose unless my opponent is China.
Finally, the referee’s whistle blows, and more than 60,000 spectators in Sangam cheer.
‘Back at first.’
The line of the pass that started with the line axis of the team flows backward.
The formation prediction failed, but the Chinese team is firmly holding their position without pressure as if the direction was right.
‘Both wingbacks advance like wingers.’
At the same time as the start, the Chinese players who had been crouching at the penetration of both wingbacks, who overlapped, finally moved.
‘The midfielder and senior Yoon Hyuk raise the line and occupy the opposing camp.’
The two midfielders come up aggressively, and even senior center-back Yoon Hyuk crosses the half line and joins in a numbers fight.
‘The two attackers move sideways and entice the Chinese centre-back.’
Then, in front of me, which was once dense, a wide space opens up.
Except for one player who marks me and center man with a firm expression.