Chapter 184 – There Is No Number of Cases (6)

184

Experts and fans all claim with one voice.
Switzerland is a solid team.

Indeed, Switzerland is a very, very solid team.
It is the team with the highest average height in this World Cup, and as proof of this, it was also the team that enjoyed the most competition.

Football with strong physicality.
In particular, the central block centered on a large and powerful center back and central midfielder was famous as a place where many players struggled based on rough and skillful physical fights.

A large and strong squad and defensive tactics made Switzerland a ‘solid’ team.
But a solid team doesn’t mean a strong team.

This is evidenced by the fact that Italy barely got on the last train thanks to the fact that Italy got a spot in the European quota for the World Cup finals as the host country.

No matter how fiercely competitive it is in the world, if it was a really strong team, there would be no way they would have gotten on the last train in the European qualifiers.

Contrary to their solid defense, Switzerland’s attack was very dull.
His heavy physicality shined in the low defensive line and defensive tactics, but it resulted in dullness and lack of agility in the attack.

The brilliant defense of the minimum goal and the meager attack power of the minimum score are indicators of the identity of the Swiss team, but not as much as this game.

5 minutes in the second half.
Because Switzerland was conceding three goals without scoring.

“Ah, Bae Chan-shik’s good pass! Yu Man-gi takes over and hesitates, crosses as it is— Folds! The ball connects back to Bae Chan-shik, who is slipping backwards!”
“Very good move! Our national team, switching positions is very free and good!”

Before the start of the game, the relay team, who were worried about the physical strength issue in the same starting list as the last game against Argentina, increased their praises as if they were worried.

“It is an amazing performance proving that defeating Argentina, which was initially expected to be in the first round of Group E, was not luck, but that we won with skill, our Taegeuk warriors! Proud!!”

From the start, Korea played spectacular attacking football.
This was due to the fact that Korea’s second and third lines were composed of quality players.

Including Hong Min-jun, Bae Chan-shik and Yu Man-gi, who play in the EPL, and Yoon Hyuk, who has emerged as the Hamburg midfield ace.

Traditionally, the Korean national team has been overflowing with resources for the second line, but it is not an exaggeration to say that the resources for this second line are the best ever.

Needless to say, Hong Min-joon, who has been receiving attention from big clubs by winning Bundesliga rookie of the year, top scorer, best 11, and best player selected by the players, etc.

Also, the EPL duo, who were the aces of the existing national team, are not the best players, but they are good enough.

Bae Chan-sik, who has been playing as the right winger for the third season at Leicester City, as well as Yu Man-ki, who has been playing for the second season as the main central midfielder for Wolves, were enough resources to play an active role on the world stage.

Even though it is a team in the middle of the EPL, it is the EPL nonetheless.
Competing for the 1st and 2nd place in the European league rankings with Spain’s La Liga… No, in fact, the fact that he is a starting player for the first division team in a league that competes for first and second place in the world is a bit exaggerated and it can be said that he is ranked among the top 100 players in the world at that position.

If you add up all the first division teams in Europe’s five major leagues, there are less than 100, and isn’t it a natural evaluation if the first division team in the league located at the top of them is a starting player?

Switzerland, on the other hand, has not produced outstanding players this generation.

The only big leaguer was the goalkeeper who played for Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga.

In fact, in this way, Italy advanced as the host country and made it through to the World Cup with the remaining tickets, so it cannot be said that there is no achievement.

In the first game against Nigeria, they solidified their defense and scored no points, so it is not unreasonable to think that Korea’s offensive power could be blocked with their solid shield.

Only their own judgment, of course.

“The Swiss players are swayed by the movements of Bae Chan-sik and Yu Man-ki! But surrounded! You have to be careful!”
“Dangerous moment— Ah, Yoon-hyeok joins in appropriately and takes over the pass. Reverberation large. I accept Hong Min-joon.”

Hong Min-jun, who received Yoon-hyeok’s pass to the other side, shook off the Swiss player who was marking with a simple trapping.

Decompression that leads to smooth trapping like flowing water.
However, to this extent of surprise, the Swiss players have been subjected to magical play throughout the first half.

Despite the surprising depressurization, the Swiss defended as if it were natural.

“Hong Min-joon breaks through?! Slow down! Breakthrough— Ah, I saw Seulchan Choi entering!”

I couldn’t stop it this time either.
He was so focused on breaking through the magical dribble that he had shown throughout the first half that he missed the pass path toward Choi Seul-chan, who was digging into the back space.

Choi Seul-chan, who is Korea’s one-top striker, was given a good opportunity thanks to his high activity, participation in defense, and pressure rather than scoring, which led to a lower ranking in the defense team.

The left side of the goalpost.
The angle is not good, but it is a situation where you can shoot well enough.

“Seulchan Choi should shoot!! Shooting~!!”
“Ah… It’s floating in the air. Yes.”
“Sorry. Choi Seul-chan, who is starting as a one-top player for two consecutive games, but doesn’t have an offensive point yet, right?”
“Yes, it is. However, Choi Seul-chan, there is no need to be discouraged. Didn’t the national team’s performance revive thanks to Choi Seul-chan’s connection and forward pressure? If you keep running like you are now, chances will come soon.”

The broadcasters tried their best to make a positive comment, but Choi Seul-chan could not record an attack point until the end of the game that day.

While missing the chances given by the second-line players, who are being intensively checked by Switzerland, one after another.

『Korea Round of 16 confirmed!』
「The match against Switzerland on the 18th in the second leg of the World Cup Group E group stage.
In a situation where a one-goal match was initially expected, the Taegeuk Warriors exploded their firepower by scoring a whopping 3 goals.

The main character of this match was Hong Min-jun (21. Frankfurt).
Hong Min-joon, who scored two goals in the last game against Argentina and became the main player in the victory, was also selected as the MOM of the match, recording one goal and one assist.

Hong Min-joon continued his reputation as a “Record breaker” By breaking new records in this game following the previous game.

Hong Min-joon, who set the record for “The first Korean to score multiple goals in one World Cup match” With two goals against Argentina, added another goal against Switzerland on the same day, achieving his second consecutive World Cup record.

In the last 2018 Russia World Cup, he succeeded in scoring against Germany after Mexico, and was the second record after Son Heung-min, the first Korean to achieve consecutive World Cup goals.

In addition, Korea scored three goals in just two games, following Ahn Jung-hwan, Park Ji-sung, and Son Heung-min, and was named the all-time top scorer in the World Cup.

Whereas Ahn Jung-hwan and Son Heung-min scored 3 goals in 2 World Cups and Park Ji-seong scored 3 goals in 3 World Cups, Hong Min-jun, who scored 3 goals in the 2nd game in the first World Cup, how far is it? Whether or not it will continue has emerged as a matter of primary concern.

The current top scorer in a single World Cup is France’s Just Fontaine with 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. The second place was the 11 goals scored by Sandor Kotsis of Hungary in the previous World Cup, 1954 Switzerland World Cup.

However, after the 1998 World Cup in France, which was reorganized into the current 32-nation system, the competition for the top scorer took place in 5-6 goals after Brazil’s Ronaldo scored 8 goals in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.

Also, with two wins in the group stage confirming their advancement to the round of 16, if Hong Min-joon scores a goal in the round of 16 as well, he will become the player who scored both in the group stage and tournament after Ahn Jung-hwan and Lee Chung-yong.”

Korea defeated Switzerland and advanced to the round of 16 with two wins out of two matches.
In second place, Argentina won 2-1 against Nigeria.

Considering the goal difference and winner-to-win, Korea has virtually confirmed the first place in the group, so it was the first time in 24 years since 2010 that it has advanced to the round of 16.

This is the first time that an Asian country has advanced to the round of 16 by finishing first in the group stage.
Contrary to the previous Asian performance, where they managed to advance to the round of 16 with second place in their group, Korea overwhelmingly dominated the group stage and advanced to the round of 16. Support and jealousy poured out from Japan and China as well as all over Asia.

In particular, the reactions from neighboring Japan and China were as explosive as those from Korea.

—As expected, the only things Asia can trust are Korea and Japan
—China is bad, everyone is full and hopeless
-Shit… Why can’t we even make it to the group stage when the small countries next door advance to the round of 16?
—Isn’t Hong Min-joon of Chinese descent? The government should have actively promoted the naturalization of Hong Min-joon!!
—If you go back down the family tree, you must be a naturalized Chinese.
—Let’s give all our national university dogs and pigs and get Hong Min-joon

While China, which again failed to qualify for the final round, is full of self-deprecating envy,

—Wwwww lost to Joseon again this time
—We also advanced to the round of 16, so it’s still a draw
—Did soccer even get lost to Chop? Japan!
—As expected, Asia’s big brother
—Even if the right wing goes crazy, Korea will only move forward w
—Ah, is this Korean DNA…
—What the hell are these?
—We need to ask FIFA to investigate referees! Stop the cheating salesman!
—Hey, the right wing is going crazy again ww
—If you meet Joseon in the round of 16, you’ll be eliminated by Samurai Blue, ww

In Japan, a war was raging online, with half praising Korea’s victory and half raving with jealousy.