Chapter 56 – Olympic Group Stage (2)

056

Beep, beep, beep!
The match started with the referee’s whistle.

The game started with our team’s lead.
Senior striker Yoo Ji-ho, who was standing with his feet on the ball, lightly passed a pass to me, who was standing next to me.

With one touch, I immediately turned the pass toward the defensive camp and moved toward my left flank.
It was around the time the ball reached the waist line that the Honduran players, who had been watching the leisurely passes from our defense and keeping their positions, began to show a change.

Honduras’ pressure began when the friendly centerback duo exchanged passes a couple of times before handing the ball to senior Yoon Hyuk, who played as a defensive midfielder.

‘According to the analysis data, the pressure line is not high.’

A movement where there was pressure from the opposing striker, but was not active.
Senior Yoon Hyuk, who was relieved of the pressure with a 2:1 pass with the side defender, glanced at me and sent a pass straight away.

Since the enemy’s defense is strong, it’s not a space pass toward the enemy camp, but a pass toward my feet. Rather than waiting for a pass to come, I ran lightly and looked around.

‘One of the players sticking to me. Two players trying to block the pass path.’

Because it is a pass made in the friendly camp, the enemy’s pressure is not very strong.
The moment I received the pass, I instinctively assumed a good dribbling stance, but I stopped flinching.

‘Right.’

What the coach said before the game started.

“Until I signal, refrain from dribbling and try to solve tactical moves.”

I don’t know why, but the director’s specially mentioned instructions.
It’s still early in the game, so there’s no need to break the coach’s instructions. I glanced at the director, but he just crossed his arms and watched.

I stopped trying to dribble and lightly sent the ball back.
I could confirm that the dark Honduran player who was approaching me was again widening his distance.

‘The defense method is zone defense rather than interpersonal mark. A method of keeping the space assigned to each player and sticking to them when the opposing player who catches the ball approaches.’

I looked at the opponent’s movements and compared them with the contents of the analysis report.
The movement when there is no possession of the ball is according to the contents of the report. So far, I was moving according to the director’s analysis.

“Raise the line!”

After the game started, the team, which had been passing the pass in our camp for about 2 minutes and grasping the opponent’s movements, began to move forward actively according to the coach’s gesture.

It started with Seol Yo-han, a wild card who played as the captain and left defender. The pass continued to senior Seol Yo-han, who overlapped to a higher position than me, who played as a left striker.

“Stick! Stick to me!! Stick to me so I can pass!!”
“Go to the center!”
“It’s empty here!”

Sweat began to flow from the faces of the players on both teams who were moving leisurely.
Faster tempo. I also dug into the half space in line with the tactical move.

The pass from Seol Yo-han to me, Seol Yo-han and Yu Ji-ho was cut off by Honduras’ active pressure.

‘Shit. Honduras is a good counterattack team.’

I move according to the training I did while preparing for the match against Honduras.

‘The starting point of the counterattack is Reyes.’

The opponent’s tactic, which was confirmed time and time again through analysis data.
When I turned my attention to Reyes, who is the core of Honduras and serves as a link between air and defense,

“Counter! Enter!!”

Senior Yoon Hyuk appeared before he knew it and cut off the pass that was heading for Reyes in the middle.
In an instant, each other’s camps were entangled and confused, but the body started running towards the empty space on the left as it was trained.

‘If it’s senior Yoon Hyuk, I’ll connect you this way!’

A situation that I experienced many times at Hojin University.
Trusting in senior Yoon Hyuk, we ran towards the former camp with all our might, and the moment we looked back, our eyes met.

‘Come!’

Bang!
A pass fired at high speed with a cool sound of kicking the ball. There was no player to mark me as neither our team nor the opposing team were able to take a seat in the successive transfers of offense and defense in the opponent’s camp.

Trap the ball leisurely and unconsciously check the space to dribble.

“Hong Min-joon!! Here!!”

I saw Oh Pyo-sik, the right striker, quickly running towards the opponent’s penalty box.

It was difficult to pass because he was in the position to dribble. It will be too late if you hold your posture and pass. It will be caught offside.

After a very brief moment of hesitation, he hit the ball with his right foot out front.
After kicking the ball in an unstable position, he lost his balance and stumbled, but he quickly kicked the ground before regaining his balance.

It wasn’t a pass from a proper stance, but it didn’t hit exactly, but thanks to that, the exquisitely bounced ball passed through the feet of the opposing defender who was trying to kick it and rolled around.

“Shoot! Shoot!!”

Oh Pyo-sik, who seized the golden opportunity, kicked the rolling ball straight away.
Bang!!

The ball flew towards the goalpost with a strong shooting sound.

* * *

“Yes, our players have to solve it calmly and calmly.”
“Ah, the moment I tell you, the pass misses! The ball cuts off, ah! It cuts off again! Player Hyuk Yoon! With exquisite positioning, he regains possession, uh! Hong Min-jun! Hong Min-jun runs!!”
“It’s fast, it’s fast! Player Hong Min-joon who digs into the space on the left!!”
“Yoon Hyuk passes as it is! Connected!!”
“Hong Min-Jun! This is Hong Min-Jun! Hong Min-Jun Outfront Pass!!”

Seeing Oh Pyo-shik’s move into the penalty box, Hong Min-joon hesitated and sent an out-front pass with his right foot. It was an exquisitely curved pass, but it seemed that the Honduran defender standing in the middle would easily clear it.

“Hong Min-Jun’s pass is, uh, bound! It bounces on the ground and shows erratic movements!!”
“It’s connected! The ball is connected to Oh Pyo-shik!!”

However, the low-flying ball bounced to the ground and showed erratic movement.
The defender’s foot, which was swinging his foot to kick it, unfortunately brushed the ball, and the ball that rolled as it was was connected to Oh Pyo-sik, who was digging into the penalty.

“Oh Pyo-sik! Oh Pyo-sik, Oh Pyo-sik Shuuu!!”
“Shooting!! Ah! Goal! Goal— Ah, Minjun Hong!”

A golden opportunity that came from irregular bounces and errors in the opponent’s defense.
As soon as Oh Pyo-shik, a member of Japan’s J-League Shimazu, who was selected as a wild card, caught the ball, he planted his foot deep and hit the shot with a dynamic form.

Bang!!
A powerful shot was fired with the sound of leather bursting through the microphones installed around the ground. It was a shot aimed at a corner that the goalkeeper could not block, but unfortunately the moment it bounced off the post.

“Hong Min-jun caught the second ball, shot! No, it was folded!”

Hong Min-joon, who passed and ran like crazy, caught the second ball that bounced off the post.
When he caught the ball that hit the goal post and bounced all the way to the penalty line like a powerful shot, the opponent’s defenders were already blocking the front.

As soon as he caught the ball, the Honduran player right in front of Hong Min-joon threw his body at Hong Min-joon’s stance, which seemed to be followed by a shot. His swinging foot suddenly loses power and gently bounces the ball to the side.

Hong Min-joon, who passed a defender and moved the ball from the corner to the front, stepped deeply as if he was going to shoot again, and the defense kicked off one after another.

“Again Shu, again, again folded!”

Hong Min-jun, who passed the defense who collapsed on the ground and waved his hands in vain, quickly kicked the ball in half a beat.

“Breaked through, shot! Schwout!! Goal! Goal!”
“Hong Min-jun! It’s a goal!! Hong Min-jun’s wonderful opening goal has been scored!!”
“Wowah! Goal! It’s the first goal !!”

The moment the powerful shot shook the net, the caster and commentator, who were half-assed in their chairs, jumped up and screamed.

“The player who scored the first goal was Hong Min-jun!! Hong Min-jun!!”
“Ah ~ the mysterious player is showing a very impressive performance in his debut!”
“There was a lot of talk after coach Gong Jeon-seong’s surprise selection, but Hong Min-joon shows it with his skills.”
“That’s right. Ah, the replay screen appears.”
“Hey~ This is amazing. In that desperate situation, he calmly shot and faked it! With a series of fakes, he beat two defenders and scored a goal!”
“Yoon Hyuk is also amazing. He doesn’t have any offensive points, but he even passes after a decisive cut. Both players, who had a lot of controversy, are proving it with their skills!!”

[Korea 1:0 Honduras — 13 minutes in the first half]

-Goal!! Goal!! First goal!!
— And fuck… Tired
— Crazy lol Who is that lol
ㄴThe caster is shouting for a hoarse voice, and he says you’re Minjun Hong.
Hong Min-joon? That Hong Min-joon?
ㄴ Yoonhyuk is also fucking good
What the fuck are these two doing well?
—? : I will prove it as a result
—Kyaa~ I love social networking soccer
—But really, I get tired of watching Hong Min-Jungol again.
—What is this bastard? How good are you?
Hahathe camera was tricked toohaha
ㄴㅋ Even the camera director was tricked and the screen swung around every time she faked it ㅋㅋ
ㄴWhat the fuckhaha
—Zhang Zhang! I believed in communal power~!!
— Take off your panties and scream!!!

* * *

The opening goal came in the 13th minute of the first half.
Honduras rapidly increased the tempo to score a comeback goal.

‘Honduras is a typical Latin American team. If you get in the mood, you show more than your skills, but if you lose momentum, you collapse like a grain of sand.’

As the coach briefed, after the opening goal, Honduras, which had been fiercely driving, was quite a threat.
However, Honduras, who had not been able to shoot properly until halfway through the first half, began to get rougher and worse.

13 minutes into the second half.
As the pattern play practiced during training, the play of exchanging the ball from the right side and then switching to the left side for a long time created a one-on-one situation with the opponent’s defense. Passed to

In the first half, Oh Pyo-sik missed an opportunity by hitting the post, but made up for it with a free kick.

[Complete Match — South Korea 4:0 Honduras]

[Group D results: Wins, draws, losses, points, points]

1. Republic of Korea 1 0 0 4 0 3
2. Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2. Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4. Honduras 0 0 1 0 4 0