Chapter 187 – Red Light (1)

187

In the past few years, the adult national team has recorded 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses against Japan.
Even if you can’t say it’s good just by looking at the results, you can think of it as a ‘worthy opponent’.

Although it is slightly behind, it is because of the unsatisfactory performance apart from the result that Korean soccer fans have been engulfed in a great sense of crisis in spite of the record that can be seen as close.

Against Japan, which traditionally pursues meticulous passing football, the Korean national team has been playing football with fast speed through the side and strong physicality of the best in Asia.

Japan is the best in Asia in terms of ball handling skills, but Korea’s weak physical strength is comparable to that of Southeast Asia, which is considered the weakest region in the world. To be honest, it was a factor that made me struggle every time with the rough play that I was willing to foul.

However, this situation changed when the Japan Football Association signed an agreement with the German Bundesliga.
Japanese players playing in the J-League at low prices… No, it was actually transferred at a bargain price and made the Bundesliga clubs scratch the so-called ‘lottery’.

There were many pros and cons to this policy of the Japan Football Association, but one thing is clear: it gave many players the opportunity to experience European football, which leads world football.

In particular, the Japanese national team players, who lacked the aggressiveness to avoid the competition itself beyond simply weak physicals, were nurtured in the competition and made them not fall behind in the game against Korea…

“Japanese players are actively running! Recently, the Japanese national team has lost a lot of avoidance like before in this competition situation, right?”

However, it definitely did not mean that it had a physical advantage over Korea.
Still, Korea was a team that boasted the best physical level in Asia.

“Hey, Yoon Hyuk! Just bounce off the stuck Sakamoto player! It should be there! Such a fighting spirit in the Korea-Japan match! Positiveness! You have to show that!”

Yoon Hyuk lightly shook off the Japanese player who rushed at him passionately and spread the ball for a long time.
Yoon-hyeok is not far behind in the German league, which is famous for his great skill. If he could break through with only his will, he would not have been able to become a midfield ace in Hamburg.

A long pass stabbed at once from deep within the ally’s camp heads to the side of Japan.
Japanese football has changed a lot from the past, but there is one aspect that still exists… Obsession with passing football right away.

High possession football based on passing inevitably results in a centralized tactic.
Possession football is eventually created through endless passes, but if you lose in a number fight in midfield where the most passes are connected, the pass success rate itself will drop drastically.

As a result, Japan, which placed many players in the center, had no choice but to have an empty side by nature, and the Korean national team was the team that showed the greatest power in fast attacks through the side.

“Seol Yo-han! Seol Yo-han caught the overlapping… Put aside! Minjun Hong!”

Although the opening goal worked, Japan did not change anything in particular.
As prepared without raising the line or focusing on the attack, he focused on the Japanese-style tiki-taka, aiming for an opportunity while calmly increasing his share in the midfield.

Since the opening goal was scored so early, the decision was made to play as prepared rather than carelessly concentrating on the attack.
However, this time as well, Japan, which had only high possession in the midfield and was unable to create decisive chances and suffered from a lack of finishing, became more urgent as time passed, affected by the opening goal.

In the meantime, Yoon-hyeok cut off the unreasonable development of the attack as it was, and as soon as Yoon-hyeok caught the ball, left fullback Seol Yo-han, who bounced out like a bullet with a spinal cord reflex, was able to receive the ball according to the prepared tactics.

As soon as he confirmed that a marksman was attached to him, he gave the ball to Hong Min-jun, who passed by, and while he was widening it to the outside, Hong Min-jun boldly tried to break through the dribble.

“Are you coming in? Hong Min-jun, this is Hong Min-jun! Wrong leg… Ah, not easily fooled— Ravona! Rabona Pass!!”

The Japanese defender, who seemed to have prepared thoroughly, staggered at Hong Min-joon’s brilliant step-over with the ball in front of him, but kept his position.

Then, just before the Japanese team returned from the attack and surrounded them, Hong Min-jun turned to the side and sent a pass with his back foot.

It happened before the Japanese player who was trying to block the front could react.
The Rabona kick, which is sent with his back foot by crossing his legs, is obviously a pass that is difficult for defenders to predict, but it is also difficult for allies to predict, and his unique twisted posture makes his pass inaccurate.

But this time it was different.
Japan’s penalty box is already teeming with Korean players thanks to the bold strategy of putting as many players as possible into the vicinity of the penalty box while almost emptying the midfield during a counterattack.

Thanks to this, many Korean players were able to run towards the ball passing over the penalty box slightly inaccurately.

“Choi Tae-sik heading!! Bounces out!! Second ball… Yu Man-gi, shooting as it is!! Goal!!”

Choi Tae-sik, the national team captain and center back with the most A-match experience, took advantage of his overwhelming height of 191cm to win the header, but Yu Man-gi, who was standing near the outline of the penalty box, hit the ball that bounced off the Japanese goalkeeper’s save, and hit it.

“Goal!! Korea’s second goal will be scored!!”
“It was a very beautiful counter-attack with 3 passes! As soon as Yoon-hyeok cut it off, Seol Yo-han ran out, connected it with an accurate long pass, and returned to Hong Min-jun. And Hong Min-joon’s high pass leads to a goal!”

The national team players who were cheering all of a sudden started running on the ground lightly as if jogging with serious expressions.

“Ah… Is this a walking ceremony?”
“This is the ceremony Park Ji-sung showed at Saitama Stadium. Hee hee, I don’t know who came up with the idea, but it’s a very heartwarming sight.”

As the ceremony was so famous in Korea, the Korean fans who noticed it quickly raised their voices even more, while the Japanese fans in the cheering seats on the other side became as quiet as a library.

“This is the national team that creates a 2-goal difference in the 29th minute of the first half.”
“Ah~ Actually, isn’t Japan famous for technical soccer and pass soccer? On the other hand, we have a strong speed and physical image. But not anymore. Japan has grown so much that it has not been pushed back in the competition, but our national team is no longer inferior to Japan technically.”
“You’re right. In particular, isn’t Hong Min-joon a famous technician who is one of the few players to be compared with, even if he expands his gaze not only to Japan but to the whole world? Proud of you, our players.”

A short period of time before play resumes.
The relay staff did not miss the opportunity to come and praised the national team enthusiastically.

It was a skillful injection of gukppong that made even viewers who were cynical about gukppong naturally nod as they were ahead by two goals in a deep rivalry between Korea and Japan.

* * *

The media predicted that the match against Japan would not be easy based on their recent opponent record.
But it’s wrong.

From our point of view, the easiest opponent in the round of 16 was Japan.
Because once you get used to it, it’s big.

The World Cup is a big stage.
No matter how experienced a veteran player is, the World Cup round of 16 will be hairy and he will run for the first time.

How many players are not nervous about playing the World Cup round of 16 in an unfamiliar country and unfamiliar stadium?
First of all, I think I’ll be nervous around the World Cup final… The rest of the players, big or small, were nervous ahead of this game.

However, if the opponent was an unfamiliar European or Latin American team, they would have struggled to increase the tempo in the beginning.
The opponent was a team that was very familiar with Japan, so I was able to melt into the atmosphere of the game relatively quickly.

Of course, the same goes for opponents.
But the crucial difference between Korea and Japan is… The ability to create ‘goals’. The difference is whether or not there is a player with such ability.

Regardless of whether you have a high possession rate or a high passing success rate, soccer is a sport in which you win by scoring goals.
In that sense, Japan’s ability in pass play is certainly superior to our team’s… In terms of experience, it was a team that was better at pass play than most European teams, but it used to go wrong in Japan’s special finish.

On the other hand, we had a clear goal getter or a player who could feed the goal… It was me.

“Me, Nanit!?”

When the second half started, the Japanese players were more aggressive on the attack than before, but the urgency rather angered them.

The foundation of pass play is, after all, a high pass success rate.
But when you’re in a hurry, you always make mistakes.

‘What kind of rice cake is this!?’

There was a miss in Japan’s pass play, which continued with a short pass.
The player who gives the pass gave it to his feet, and the player who receives it finds an empty space and enters.

Maybe because I was trying to be aggressive, someone made a mistake… It’s me. Thank you.
After running and snatching the ball, he dug into the Japanese camp without hesitation.

The moment he sent a pass to senior Bae Chan-shik, who was running on the opposite side, without overdoing it at the sight of the Japanese players urgently building a defensive wall.

“After senior!!”
“Keah!!”

A rough Japanese back tackle that entered the moment senior Bae Chan-shik was trapping the ball.
Beep beep!!

The referee rushed in and immediately took out a red card and took a picture of the inside of the penalty box, but Bae Chan-shik, who was holding his ankle and rolling, could not stand up.

『Korea defeated Japan in the round of 16 of the World Cup! But why can’t I just laugh?”