Chapter 331 – One Last Step (4)

331

The start was as expected.
Japan gradually increased its market share and tapped here and there without haste.

After active Europeanization, the Japanese national team players, whose overall level has improved a lot, have created a power that is comparable to that of many soccer powerhouses. In particular, in terms of technology, which is one of his strengths, even leading European teams admired him.

It can be a rear build-up.
Because Korea’s pressure line is low, the pressure applied to the goalkeeper and defensive midfielder is that loose.

However, as if examining Korea’s weakness, stable pass play while crossing dangerous areas from time to time proves how excellent Japan’s capabilities are.

‘Now that my stats have gone up, I know for sure. I like the ability over there.’

The power of the first team of the Japanese national team is considerable.
To be honest, I think the average is higher than the Korean national team.

‘The gap isn’t so big that I can’t catch up. Right. If Japan excels evenly, in Korea, is it possible that the exceptional minority raises the average?’

If Japan’s characteristics are relatively uniform, Korea’s is more jagged.
Maybe that’s why it felt like if Japan was well-organized as a team, Korea was relying on the performance of a few players in charge of carry roles… It’s understandable when you think about the monster-like players that pop out of Korea.

From Cha Beom-geun to Lee Kang-in.
It’s because genius-like players used to come out of nowhere.

However, this alone makes no sense for the disastrous record against Japan in the 2020s.
It’s not a sport where you win unconditionally just because each player is slightly better.

The crucial difference is—

‘The organizational power is amazing.’

Japan’s team organization was beyond imagination, perhaps because of its relatively homogeneous ability and obsession with pass play that it has consistently pursued for decades.

It’s not a club team that always gathers to practice, but it’s like this in the national team that gathers irregularly and puts their feet together for a while.

I’m not talking about technical capabilities such as passing and trapping that are immediately visible.
A series of movements that move teammates to make passing easier. Dummy run, route creation, penetration, fake… Movement, which is the organizational power that really breathes well, is the core of Japan.

Indeed, there was a reason why I reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup one after another without a non-standard player like me.

In other words,

‘I don’t know because there is no non-standard player like me.’

That I can see everything

Pass play in Japan is not simply giving and receiving passes based on excellent skills.
The core of it is that fellow players open the pass, protect, check, and create a path.

Obviously, their movement and organizational skills are excellent, but… It’s not for a ‘genius’ player who can see through it all at once.

‘It’s about time to come this way…’ Yes. Number 8 dummy launch, number 10 opens the screen, and the center back approaches the back to create a pass path… Now!’

Soccer is a sport where non-verbal expression is more important than you think.
Even with just dribbling, things like which direction to hit and whether to fake are not expressed in words… The so-called non-verbal, the part that can only be grasped with the ‘hundred sense’.

According to sports scientists, it detects a series of minute muscle movements and blah blah, but anyway, in that short, less than 1 second moment, how does the muscle movement analyze and move?

It moves through the feeling of the ‘sixth sense’ that has been embodied through various experiences.
That’s why, to them now, my movements might have looked like loose pressure, no different.

Not many players know that this series of movements, which seem ordinary to those around them, are blind to the person receiving the pass.

So that-

“Muraka!!”

Calmly even as I sneak up on you from behind… No, it was the cry of a colleague who was horrified at Muraka’s calm and leisurely pass.

Late.
Muraka, who belatedly realized my existence, hurriedly tries to handle the ball, but at that moment, he shakes his upper body slightly.

A movement as if trying to run towards the ball.
Hesitation intervened in Muraka’s actions, which should have been warned against my unbelievable instantaneous acceleration, and at the moment of urgency, that small hesitation was enough. For him to make a trapping mistake.

“… Ah!!”

Muraka, who ran away quickly, looks desperate as the ball bounces far away.
It was because a person of interest in Korea had rushed to the place where it had bounced off.

South Korea’s number 10, Yoon Hyuk.
If it wasn’t for me, it would have been that nobleman who inherited the lineage of Korean aces in this generation.

It is said that Dortmund is also treated as a key player, but the senior, who is expected to show off where he will leap after this World Cup, did not miss the scene that will appear in the highlight this time. He is really the best in Korea when it comes to soccer intelligence.

As soon as he saw his senior, he stopped trying to follow the ball and set his foot straight towards the Japanese camp.
I kick off my step foot and accelerate, one step at a time, and with two steps, the sound of a strong wind blows in my ears. And when he took his third step, I was already penetrating the Japanese camp like a gust of wind.

‘Shibure… I can really feel it after raising my stats.’

* * *

After the opening goal, the game went as predicted by the coach.

Tacticians divide soccer into four stages.
When we have the ball, when the opponent has the ball, we switch from attack to defense, from defense to attack.

The recent trend is to mix the individual steps rather than clearly distinguish them, but the key part when these steps exist anyway is ‘transition’.

In particular, our point in this game starts with drawing out the opponent’s pressure.
After the opening goal, Korea took the tempo very slowly. To put it simply, he is kicking a ball from the rear and is casting ‘Ah, if you twist it, come out and take it away’.

It’s the opponent who is in a hurry, so it’s like a fuck that can be cast… No, it’s a nasty play, but the more crazy part is that it has to be dragged out as we intended.

If you succeed in inducing pressure from your opponent when your teammates have the ball… Of course, Japan’s line has no choice but to be formed high overall.
Nothing happens when the offense, midfield, and defense lines are far apart.

It is not 1+1=2 in modern football.
The purpose of the directors is to create maximum synergy through concentration and dispersion. Therefore, the Japanese line comes up to press us, and now we use our numerical superiority to withstand the pressure as much as possible.

“The goalkeeper and the two centre-backs will form the basis of the build-up. The double pivot from the front, you two always keep your distance. Both full-backs should use straight movements to open the opponent’s half, and position them wide to create a pivotal pass line that will suffer under pressure.”

As directed by the coach, we placed a large number of people in the back to make it difficult to press.
In particular, when me, who never takes it away, and senior Yoon Hyuk, who always creates a pass path, become the main pillars and constantly neutralize the pressure from Japanese players…

“The opponent’s active pressure should lead to individual pressure. You have to make it like that Frustration, resentment, anger, whatever it is, the moment when Japanese kids are no longer a ‘team’, but individual pressure… That is the moment when Japan’s greatest strength, organizational power, collapses.”

The moment when the Japanese players, who rose as much as they could, came under individual pressure mixed with anger, rather than the pressure that was completed as a team that they had shown so far.

As if our team had waited, they switched to attacking all at once.

“Simply put, having four players in front when transitioning into an attack is the most advantageous for momentary advances. In particular, the presence or absence of this one person is a big difference for teams that face three opponents in front, such as the recent 4-3-3.”

The attacking team quickly switched from 4-4-2 to 4-2-4 and poured into the Japanese camp.
As if the Japanese players had predicted this, they rushed to Senior Yoon Hyuk, who was in charge of Korea’s pass, but—

“The question is who will be in charge of these four people. This is different for each team. It would be ideal to have a number 10 and an upfront striker and two wingers involved, but… In the past, Guardiola would sometimes put De Bruyne in the number 10 spot. Klopp gave the goal to Salah, who moves in an inverted form, rather than Nunez, who has good pressure. We are Minjun Hong… You have to take on the role of number 10.”

I am the one who decides the direction of the team’s attack.
I am Hong Min-joon, the playmaker for today’s game.

* * *

“Ugh, the Korean players who go straight to the offensive! Ah, the Japanese players surround Yoon-hyeok. I have analyzed it correctly. The person in charge of Korea’s rear build-up is Yoon Hyuk— Huh? When did Minjun Hong come down here? Hong Min-joon, who received a pass from Seol Yo-han, immediately changes direction with a long pass!! Kim Ki-soo shooting! Unfortunately, it misses the goal.”
“It’s okay though. It was a good try, right? Anyway, Japan, which is one goal behind, has to continue to be aggressive, but if our players do as they are now, opportunities will continue to come.”
“The moment I speak, Korea attacks again! This time, it’s Minjun Hong!”

It was a game that was more exciting than ever for some,

“Once again, South Korea’s number 7 shows a terrifying pass!!”
“Breaking through here— eh—!? Honto!? Why are our players paving the way like scarecrows!!”
“When attacking, you have to be faster and fiercer than anyone else, and when defending, you have to be hard like a stone and soft like water!! We need to look back on the spirit of Poongrim Volcano!!”
“Baka!! We have to block Korea’s number 7— er… To? Ha, Korea’s goal… “

The stage of the Korea-Japan match, which would be the most devastating for some, was the quarterfinals of the World Cup.