Chapter 304 – Final Quenching for the World Cup (3)
304
Asia is still a bit out of the way in world football.
It’s developed a lot to be a periphery, but it’s not enough to be a center… For example, if Central and Western Europe were the center, South America, North, and Eastern Europe would be the outskirts, and it would make sense to say that they belonged to the outskirts again.
Even though it is Asia, the second-class region of world football, it was not easy to become the best even here.
As of 2037, Korea is the leading soccer powerhouse in Asia, but how much effort did it take to achieve this status?
It is not that long ago that Korea became a country representing Asian football.
In 2002, not long after the 21st century began.
Korea had established itself as an Asian powerhouse both in name and reality by achieving the semifinals in the Korea-Japan World Cup, but in fact, the infrastructure itself was extremely poor.
Is that why?
It started to catch up with its nasty neighbors, and in the 2020s, it was clearly inferior.
Now, Korea is the strongest in Asia, but a few years ago, until the early 2030s, it was Japan that represented Asia.
Light soccer fans were surprised and angry, but those who knew the current trend in the soccer world had no choice but to agree and say, “Something has come.”
That’s also true, compared to Korea, Japan’s soccer infrastructure, scale, funding, and popularity… Everything was wide open.
Isn’t Japan twice as many as Korea in terms of the number of men’s professional teams?
While the number of youth registrations in Korea has been around 30,000 for the past 20 years, Japan has constantly increased and now surpasses 800,000.
This was not far behind the 1 million youths of France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, etc., Which are advanced countries in soccer, so it is natural that Korea is behind.
The Korean Football Association’s budget alone is 100 billion won, while Japan’s budget is well over 200 billion won.
What… Compared to England with 700 billion won, Germany with 550 billion won, and France with 430 billion won, even Japan is far behind, but that’s because the formula of “Overseas soccer = Europe” Is rooted in Japan, too.
However, Japan succeeded in making a jackpot in broadcasting rights after hard work.
If the annual broadcasting rights fee for Korean soccer is only 6.5 billion won, Japan’s is 220 billion won a year.
Football popularity?
The average number of spectators in the first division is less than 7,000 in Korea, but close to 20,000 in Japan.
Infrastructure, money, popularity… No matter what you compare, in a situation where Japan is overwhelming, no matter how far you grind your teeth, can you not catch up?
After all, at some point, Korean soccer showed a clear inferiority to Japanese soccer.
Around the time, there was a widespread consensus that it would be difficult to beat Japan now, not only in the adult national team, but also in the national team by age group.
An opportunity to become a turning point in Korean soccer has arisen, and it is the reappearance of the genealogy of ‘excellent players who pop out of nowhere’, which can be said to be the peculiarity of Korea.
The genealogy of Korean soccer legends, which led to Cha Beom-geun, Park Ji-sung, Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in, was unfortunately cut off at some point, which led to the stagnation of Korean soccer.
But the 2032 Sydney Olympics.
One player who appeared like a comet changed everything… Yes, that’s me
I am Minjun Hong.
The light, hope, dream, and future of Korean football… Korean football itself!
It’s not a lie, it’s the truth
Didn’t he record a hat-trick in the semifinals against Japan, who had been defeated every time he met, and lead Korea to a runner-up victory with a 5:0 victory?
How long has it been since they won a victory against Japan, which cannot be defeated even at rock-paper-scissors?
Moreover, it was not just a victory, but a 5:0 overwhelming victory in the Olympic semifinal stage.
After that, I won the top scorer in the 2034 World Cup and succeeded in recreating the legend of the semifinals again, and I truly became the light and future of Korean football. … Really.
Since my appearance, Korea has been reigning as the strongest Asian football player in name and reality.
It’s not just a rise in status.
Practically speaking, it has never been this easy during the World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Although Korea has been reigning as an Asian powerhouse in the past, it was eventful enough that there were more cases where it was necessary to calculate the ‘number of cases’ even in the Asian regional qualifiers, but this time it was different.
Very comfortable… He broke through the preliminaries in the Asian region with a winning streak that could literally be said to be Simmons’ bed.
As anyone who has watched the Korean game can tell, ‘Hong Min-jun”s performance was outstanding.
In the 4th year of his national team debut, the number of his A match matches his has already exceeded 50, and the A match score has already reached 97 goals.
‘Ballon d’Or Winner’ Hong Min-joon’s performance, which brought Asian countries to their knees with an overwhelming scoring streak, gave Korean soccer fans a sense of pleasure.
By the way… I barely put it up like this… Are there any guys who are free to board the feat of Korea, the status of Korea that I have achieved with sweat?
‘I’m in a bad mood~ Aren’t I in a bad mood~?’
What can I do?
I can only show you the spicy taste.
“Hello, Minjun Hong. It is an honor to meet you like this.”
“Ah yes. What else is glory?”
“No, no. Really. Isn’t Hong Min-joon a miracle of our Korean soccer? Furthermore… You know the president of our company well….”
A media room at the National Football Center (NFC) in Cheonan.
An Internet newspaper owned by Harin, the reporter sister became the president before she knew it, and she was leading many young reporters.
Well… Well, it’s weird if I don’t grow up with my exclusive interviews so often.
I was going to have an interview with the reporter sister and meet the reporter sister after a long time… Because the interview was not originally planned, the reporter’s older sister was out of the country.
She was forced to interview her own reporter, but what… Doesn’t matter.
But unlike when I was with the reporter noona, I should be careful with my words and actions.
It’s annoying and cumbersome, but I dared to accept the interview proposed by the Livestock Cooperative… Probably because of my eyesight.
I owe quite a lot to the president of the livestock association, so it’s a bit difficult to refuse even such a trivial request… I was indebted to a lot of things when I was tearing up and repairing the livestock cooperative.
This was not the plan from the beginning.
It’s the Football Association, father-in-law… So Harin was able to exercise influence indirectly through his father.
From generation to generation, the Korea Football Association has grown with the support of the Hyundai family, and the Hyundai family has a close relationship with the father-in-law, the head of a conglomerate family that is counted among the top 10.
However, it was impossible to repair the livestock cooperative only with indirect influence, and in the end, the intention of the president, who is the absolute power of the livestock cooperative, was important… It came off surprisingly easily.
Hyundai, who likes football, liked me very much, so we contacted each other privately, and through this, I directly put my complaint.
For example, when the ‘Chairman’ told me openly about the situation of things under him that he did not know well, the image and direction of the Football Association that the public wants, or the direction of improvement that active players feel, he surprisingly coolly pointed a scalpel at the Livestock Cooperative.
What did you say
An undisputed football genius has finally appeared in Korea, and as a manager, you can’t miss this opportunity.
No matter how much the deceased figures of the Chukhyeop are known for their personal connections, regional ties, and academic ties, they are at best football figures.
Can you stand up to the president of one of the top three conglomerates in Korea, who has been serving as the chairman of the livestock cooperative for generations?
As the chairman of a conglomerate, he practiced the maxim of ‘everything is good for everyone’, as befits a person who jumped from the forefront of management, wiped out the evils and filled the cooperative with competent people… I was told
Well, I don’t know if those who were swept away were really incompetent evildoers or people who got on the wrong line, but anyway, it’s clear that it’s getting better because the chukhyeop is fast.
Thanks to that, I’m pretty satisfied with the Chukhyup these days… Now again, this guy’s national team players are trouble.
“Yeah~ The hard work of overseas players is great. I knew it would take a long time to travel, but hearing it in person is even more vivid. Then Minjun Hong, how about this—”
I’m interviewing in an indirect way… Unlike my older sister, I have to be careful when I say it, so it’s annoying.
“You became Asia’s first Ballon d’Or winner. How are you feeling?”
“Good.”
“Five! You are chic. So, can you tell us about the difference between a club and a national team? I think the atmosphere and training sessions will be very different.”
“It is similar to Newcastle and Korea. It’s all up to me.”
“Oh clothes! Indeed… ! You must have seen the interview with former Park Ji-sung!”
“Yes? Senior Park Ji-sung? … Ah yes, what… I saw. He is a senior I respect.”
“Can you tell us your usual thoughts about the national team?”
“The national team is an honor.”
“Is it over?”
“Yes.”
Most of the answers were short, but the interviewer, the young reporter, smiled as he kept arguing about what he liked so much.
Well… I’m sorry.
To be honest, it’s annoying and annoying, but I can’t focus on the interview because I’m thinking about disciplined by the national team players.
‘It’s probably because I’ve been so good to you.’
The team’s biggest problem.
The tension is gone. No, beyond that, he became arrogant.
But. It’s time to let go of the tension.
4 years since the last World Cup. It’s been 4 years. The time when you practiced education against Asian teams.
This World Cup Asian regional qualifier is probably a win… Did you go a little crazy?
Asian rivals, including Japan, Iran, and Australia, have been beaten very evenly.
Even half a year before the World Cup, this hell-lele atmosphere must have been caused by the excessive winning streak.
The winning streak was not just a winning streak, but a series of very one-sided Yanghak matches, so it must have been solved this way.
To deal with this, the national team players must be reminded of the reality.
That Korea without me is not so different from the old Korea.
However, no matter how good it is, I gathered the national team players and said, “Why are you so crazy!? Don’t you know that you’ve won everything thanks to me? Without me, it’s nothing!” Can you say?
I am not the national team captain, vice-captain, or top referee.
I’m just a mid-level player who has only been in my 5th year as a pro and 4th year in the national team. There are still a lot of players who are older than me in the national team.
At a time like this, how effective will it be if you come out and wake up and do your job?
When I told them that I was doing well, my seniors would only curse at me for going wild without claiming.
The world is like that.
No matter how good your skills are, you cannot ignore authority, experience, or seniority.
Even if they ignore it and go on a rampage, will they say that they will know it in front of them, or will they follow it in their hearts? Conceit is something you have to feel and correct yourself.
This is an incurable disease that neither the director nor the great president can cure.
The only cure is to realize it in your own heart.
So, this is the prescription for it.
‘The Asian preliminaries must be over, the World Cup will be half a year away… The timing is perfect.’
I consulted with the director and asked the president of the National Federation of Livestock Cooperatives in particular.
Ask them to play against strong European or South American teams in both A matches.
I’m going to lie down in pain, so take care of yourself.
No one can complain when I think of how hard it was for me to convince the coach and ask the president.
So hit it well.
… By no means was he annoyed by my increasingly bland treatment. It’s absolutely not because I want the people and the athletes to realize the importance of me once again.
“Hey, Minjun Hong? Why are you laughing so suddenly…?”
* * *
The next day, I received a call from the reporter sister.
Did the article already come out?
“Eh? No, when did I say this?”
Isn’t this a 99% pure hoax?