Chapter 57 – Olympic Group Stage (3)

057

[Stunning victory of the all-time great!]
[Great victory in Australia!!]
[The skill of the Olympic team finally revealed!]

After the victory in the match against Honduras, an article of praise appeared.
Public opinion is like a reed, but I never thought it would change so quickly. Wherever all the people who mocked and criticized the national team went, from news articles to soccer websites, they were blowing trumpets drunk on the victory over Honduras.

‘It’s only a moment to become a real hero.’

If that’s the case, isn’t it just an instant to become a rebel? … I have to do well.
I skimmed through the news headlines and clicked on one.

[A landslide!! Taegeuk Warriors were strong!!]
—The results of the match between Korea and Honduras at Central Coast Stadium in Australia on the 28th at 5:00 pm local time were surprising.

4:0 landslide victory.
The all-time great dominated the Central and South American ambush Honduras throughout the game, ending the controversy with a landslide victory of 4 points and 0 conceded.

During the preparation period, the Olympic team went through a lot of pain both inside and outside.
The first was the sudden resignation of former coach Kim Gwi-jong (59). Head coach Kim Gwi-jong, who had been preparing for the Olympic finals by leading the under-23 national team for about 16 months, had to put down the baton earlier this year due to a sudden health deterioration.

A sudden incident that occurred half a year before the Olympic final stage.
Moving quickly The Football Association put up various leaders, but there was no leader who wanted to take charge of this national team, which is called the Valley Generation, half a year before the Olympic finals.

As the coaches who were called by the association withdrew one after another, the confusion over the Olympic team coaching job only grew, and the coaching job, which seemed to be moving toward the head coaching system that had been assisting coach Kim Gwi-jong, was returned to an unexpected person.

It was the current coach Gong Jeon-seong (40).
Coach Gong Jeon-seong played 315 professional games on the stage at home and abroad during his active career, and played 31 games for the national team.

Coach Gong, who retired at a relatively young age of 30 and started walking the path of a leader, obtained a coaching license in Europe and was active as the head coach of La Liga’s Malaga C.F B team in Spain. Took over as captain.

Coach Gong Jeon-seong, who was appointed as the head coach, sounded an alarm to the members of the Olympic team, who were called the “Valley generation” And had been showing sluggish performances.

Instead of the members who played as the main players, they called in numerous players for a short period of time to test them and set out to find a new face.

But public opinion was cold.
Even with the Olympics just around the corner, public opinion was shaken by coach Gong’s experiment, which failed to pick a starting member, and a second crisis came.

Straight up fire.
Starting with rumors of discord with the existing national team members, and rumors of discord with the Football Association, public opinion, which had deteriorated after the announcement of the final list, reached the worst point that it was useless.

Various titles such as networking soccer, president Hojin University, and test bed were poured out, and coach Gong, who held a press conference amid endless controversy, suggested breaking through head-on, saying, “I will prove it with results,” And only then did public opinion calm down.

The first qualifying match in Group D was held in a risky atmosphere where even a small spark could rekindle it at any time.

Coach Gong proved it.
Gong Jin-seong-ho succeeded in changing the atmosphere by defeating Honduras, a traditionally difficult Central and South American ambush team, 4:0.

However, the next opponent is Spain, which is called the Invincible Armada.
Attention is focusing on how far the emergency of the revolution will continue.

That’s true
If I’m going to praise it, I’ll keep praising it. At the end, I wonder how far the emergency will go by mentioning the match against Spain? If we lose against Spain, there will be a lot of uproar.

Fortunately, the team atmosphere improved after the victory over Honduras.
It wasn’t like the media made a fuss, but the team members, who were sensitive to public opinion, regained confidence with this victory, as expected of young players under the age of 23.

Maybe that’s why, this morning, the day after the game, everyone is full of smiles while going out for recovery training.

“Hey~ who is this? Isn’t it Hong Min-joon who scored 1 goal and 1 assist yesterday?”
“Uhm. Isn’t that the top scorer Oh Pyo-sik?”

Oh Pyo-sik was the first to come out and warm up, as if the two goals from yesterday relieved the pressure.
One of the reasons the manager was criticized was that he only used 2 out of 3 wild cards. One of them was senior Seol Yo-han who would hold the defensive line, and the other was senior Oh Pyo-shik.

Oh Pyo-sik, who plays for Shimadzu in the Japanese J-League, is a 28-year-old veteran striker. He was a versatile player who could play on both sides as well as in the center.

“Ugh. Since I scored two goals from the first game, I think I’m going to live a little. I thought I was dying because of the pressure.”
“Hyung, I’m looking forward to the match against Spain. This time I have to go for a hat trick.”
“Hey! Don’t burden me!”
“Huh? Are you burdened?”
“Don’t do it dude. Aren’t you nervous?”
“Nervous? What is it? I know soy sauce… Are you eating it?”
“Ao this is a nasty baby.”

As I was laughing and chatting with Oh Pyo-shik, the team members appeared one by one.
As we played yesterday’s game, today’s schedule is focused on light training. After recovery training in the morning and having lunch, power analysis and simple tactical training in preparation for tomorrow’s game are scheduled in the afternoon.

“Ugh. Another game tomorrow? It’s very bloody.”

Senior Yoon Hyuk, who was sitting on the ground and massaged his legs, grumbled.
I played yesterday, and the next game is tomorrow. The next game is in 2 days.

A murderous schedule that lasts three days apart.
Although it is unavoidable due to the nature of the Olympics, it was not easy to run games every three days.

“Senior Yoon Hyuk. You were replaced in the second half. That’s after the 75th minute, which is said to be the hardest.”
“You talk like you’re not losing? You were substituted with me in the 75th minute.”
“That’s why I’m not saying it’s hard.”
“Hong Min-joon, come to work. Let’s get along.”
“Huh!! Hit me? If you hit me, you’re turning women all over the country into anti-fans?”
“Everyone catch him.”
“Lord, claim? Ugh, ek, wook!”

After lunch, we headed to the audio-visual room under the guidance of head coach Han Ji-woo. Time to analyze strength in preparation for the next match against Spain.

‘So-young’s older sister’s father.’

The coach who handed out the data book opened his mouth with a grumpy face, probably busy preparing for the game.

“The next opponent, as everyone knows, is against Spain.”
“Wow, I think I’m tired already.”
“The lineup is insane.”
“Quiet, quiet. I’m studying while looking at the data until the director comes.”

Spain.
Contrary to our national team members, who are ridiculed as the valley generation, Spain’s Olympic-age players are famous for their golden generation.

Well, many of the athletes who are said to be the leaders of the golden generation did not participate in this Olympics… Still, Spain is Spain. Isn’t it a country where there are so many talented prospects that they can be kicked?

“Expand the 3p. The Spanish team’s tactic is possession football based on short passes.”
‘Well… Their tactics are the same every time.’

About 20 years ago, Tiki-Taka opened the golden age of Spanish football.
There was a tikitaka craze for a while in Spanish soccer, which dominated the world soccer world, led by Barcelona. Korea is no exception, and director Cho Kwang-rae tried to follow suit. Of course, cartoon soccer was a big failure with ridicule.

Twenty years from the golden age of Barcelona and Spanish football.
Now that many years have passed, Spanish football has changed in many ways from Tiki-Taka back then. Because it was a tactic that once commanded the world, it was known as it was known, analyzed as it was analyzed, and numerous destruction methods appeared.

Healthy competition makes each other better.
Today’s Tiki-Taka has changed in many ways from the past. However, like the name ‘tiki-taka’, it is the same in that it is a possession soccer based on short passes in the end.

“Spain’s tactics are largely the same as they were now and 10 years ago. But what’s really scary is that they’ve maintained their prestige with similar tactics for decades.”

The coach flipped through the materials.

“If you look at the next page, there is a list of the Spanish national team. There are simple pros and cons for each player, so be sure to read it.”
‘Well.’

There are a lot of letters

“Then, each player’s playing style and characteristics, dominant foot and frequent patterns and habits. Be familiar with these as well.”
‘Hoo.’

There are too many densely packed letters.

“Open page 13. There will be an analysis of the current Spanish coach Unai Simon. The coach’s tendencies, tactics, and expected changes are written, so make sure to check this too.”
‘Oh, my God.’

The preparations are thorough.

“Lastly, there is a pattern play that the opponent likes to use and how to deal with the expected air defense situation.”
‘Well. Well.’

I looked at it carefully, and I’ve already read it all.

‘… I don’t know a thing.’

How the fuck do you memorize this?
Looking around, everyone is looking at the data with their eyes lost. In terms of the atmosphere, I read the letters while flipping through the data book, and the white ones are paper, and the black ones are letters.

“It’s a bit late. Have you read the materials? Um. Let’s start the strategy meeting right away. Coach Han. Play the video.”

At the direction of the director, the large TV screen connected to the laptop turned on.
In the screen, the scenes of the Spanish national team’s match were edited and played.

“Can you see it? This is what Spain looked like during their last game against Morocco. Basically, they take a 4-3-3 formation and place many players in a small space to avoid being pushed back in the battle for possession in the midfield.”

The Spanish players in red and the Moroccan players in blue were intertwined.

“The current Spanish Olympic team shows a different strategy from the adult national team. In order to add strength to the midfield fight, it uses an inverted fullback that comes inside, or the striker actively moves into the midfield camp using the false nine. That’s what comes down.”

The movement of the Spanish national team was seen in the video being played.
A defensive line that rises high enough to be overlooked, a relatively narrow width densely packed inside, and a one-top striker that descends to the midfield.

“This is more like the Barcelona tactics of the past, when Messi was active, rather than the current Tiki-Taka. It’s the Tiki-Taka of the past.”

The following video was a video showing the similarity between the tactics of Barcelona in the 10-11 season and the tactics of the current Spanish Olympic team.

Well. Well.
I do not know.

This feeling is not unfamiliar… This feeling is definitely… It was clear how I felt when I was taking classes at school.
… I’m sleepy.