Chapter 72 – After the Olympics (2)

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The power of Spain’s golden generation, who won the Euro U-17, U-19 and Youth U-20 World Cups in a row, was amazing.
Excluding a few players, it was virtually a team close to the 2nd team and eventually reached the finals.

After the invisible war of nerves between the directors, we sat in our assigned seats and waited for the interview to begin.
The media day for the finals is not a separate team interview, but a joint interview at the same time in the same place.

Of course there was an order.
The first interview was conducted in Spain.

“I’m Connaught Walter from the BBC. Coach Unai Simon. First of all, congratulations on reaching the finals.”
“Thank you.”

The Spanish coach responded calmly.

“Spain entered the finals in second place in their group and suffered only one defeat before reaching the final. That only loss was against Korea. How do you feel about meeting the team that gave Spain their only loss in the final?”
“Good.”

The Spanish coach, who answered briefly, brushed his rough beard for a moment before continuing.

“As I said in a previous interview, I was looking forward to meeting Korea again. Our players too. We weren’t at our best in the group stage, and this match will prove that.”
“It’s Cerro’s Catalina Onda. After losing 3-0 to South Korea in the group stage, the coach said, ‘The team didn’t lose, it was me.’ Could you elaborate?”
“It’s just like I said. The loss was just my mistake as the manager, not our players. We’ll prove that in this final.”

Listening to the interpreter translate, I think it’s so shameless.
Losing is losing, is the manager and the players separate?

This time, a Korean reporter raised his hand.

“I wonder what you think about the Korean team.”
“First of all, I would like to congratulate the Korean team for reaching the final. After the group stage, some people accused us of losing to an underdog team like Korea. But they were wrong. Korea is by no means weak. “I’ll make it clear here. Korea is strong, very hard, and very combative. That’s why we were able to make it to the finals.”

After drinking water and thinking for a while, the director opened his mouth again.

“Although there were some hardships, I am happy to be in the finals. But most of all, I am happy to be able to face Korea again. In the group stage, we were not at our best. If we think of us at the time, Korea has a big nose. It will get hurt. We will overwhelm Korea the moment the final starts.”

He’s a bitter man to the end.
That was my impression of the Spanish director with a determined expression. Overwhelming or not, no one can say it.

After a few questions, the last question came.

“Then, Director. I would like to ask what you think of Hong Min-joon, who scored a hat-trick against the coach’s team in the group stage and is currently at the top of the scoring rankings.”
“Hong Min-joon.”

Hearing my name, I looked away and the Spanish director glanced at me.

“That player is a really unpredictable player. When I first analyzed him while preparing for the match against Korea, he was clearly a half-player with only dribbling penetration. But at some point, I looked at the key pass He put it in well, and the movement itself changed in the last game.”
“Are you saying that Hong Min-joon is a genius, as people claim?”
“I don’t know. Did he hide his skills or did he grow in real time? If he was hiding them strategically, I commend the coaching staff for his strategy and the attitude of the player who resisted the desire to show his strength. But if… When it comes to running and growing in real time… He is an undisputed genius.”
“Thank you for your reply. This time, I want to ask Jorge. What do you think of Minjun Hong?”
“Genius. He’s a genius He is clearly a genius.”
“Better than you?”
“Not really. Because when you were at a low level, you can grow in real time by playing high level matches. That is why his growth was so rapid. But he’s now on the same level as me. It’s still a bit lacking though. So his growth will slow down. But that is no basis for diminishing his genius. Isn’t it? Among the many players who play the same game, has any player improved like that?”

* * *

The final stage, against Spain, was a slugfest.
As the last game with a gold medal, both teams gave their best.

Spain was the best 11 with no injuries or card issues, and our team unfortunately missed Pyo-sik Oh due to an injury.

Fortunately, senior Kim Dae-seong, who missed the previous game due to a suspension, will return.
Senior Kim Dae-seong, who unwillingly took a break from the game against Japan to save up his stamina, energized the midfield, but there were too many players who were discharged from the game in the first place.

Thanks to senior Kim Dae-sung running around like crazy, I was able to follow the tempo of Spain and create a fierce battle until the first half, but it was not enough alone.

In particular, Jorge’s performance was dazzling, and today’s Jorge was truly amazing, whether it was a lie that he was in poor condition in the last match against Spain.

‘Oh shit… Is that a human being?’

You seem to be doing better than me with the status bar.
He’s the same age as me, but what kind of monsters are there? What’s more crazy is that there are more monsters like that in the world. Right now, in Spain alone, aren’t there two more players of the same age as Jorge?

The enthusiasm that had been complacent flared up again, and he jumped like he was about to vomit, scoring one goal each alongside Jorge, and the first half was able to finish 1:1.

However, the second half started after halftime.
Was the 15-minute break rather poisonous? Fatigue, which was unknown when running fiercely, rose when the tension was relieved during the break, and our team collapsed quickly in the second half.

But it was the same for the Spanish players.
Spain advanced to 2nd place in the group and had a tighter schedule than us, and in the quarterfinals and semifinals, they met strong opponents Brazil and France one after another and constantly changed their starting members.

In the first place, Olympic football is a tight schedule with a small team, so everyone gets tired when they get to the finals.

Our team and Spain did their best despite being exhausted.
We were burning with the taste of the final, and Spain was burning with revenge to make up for the humiliation of losing 3-0 to the Asian team for a long time.

The moment came when I couldn’t hold on even with my mental strength, and even a simple pass started to make mistakes.
Passing, trapping, dribbling, and even chasing the ball, causing her legs to come loose and fall.

A series of simple mistakes that could not be considered professional led to a close match in a different sense.
Originally, if you make 10 mistakes in offense and do well once, it is a success, and in defense, if you make 1 mistakes in 10 times, it is a failure. In a game where mistakes are frequent, the mistakes of the defenders are more fatal than the mistakes of the attackers.

Jorge and I made several mistakes, but we used the mistakes of the defenses of both teams as a stepping stone to score successively.

It was a disappointing defeat with the gold medal just around the corner, but after the game, players from both teams were unexpectedly friendly.
The media reviews aren’t bad either. What… Since there were 7 goals, people watching must have enjoyed it. Above all, didn’t the aces of both teams run wild?

In the end, Spain recovered their pride damaged by their crushing defeat in the group stage, and although we unfortunately missed out on the gold medal, we proved our skills by engaging in a slugfest with comparable performance to Spain in the final stage.

It’s a win-win for each other.
Maybe that’s why the atmosphere after the game was warm, and the interview right after the match ended smoothly with good comments.

All that remains is to return home… I thought it was, but the return home was delayed.

“All other teams in our country are returning home, so why do we stay?”

Even if they fall in the middle of an event, some athletes remain until the end of the Olympics, but in Korea, they usually return home immediately after they fall.

We got to the finals, so our return home was delayed, but since the finals were over, we thought we would be returning home, but we’ll stay longer.

“You guys should get a silver medal. Aren’t you going to attend the awards ceremony?”
“Ah… That’s right.”
“And if you’re going to participate in the awards ceremony, I want you to participate in the closing ceremony as well.”

Such free time.
I was loitering at the inn, but I decided to make the most of this free time.

“Senior. Yoon Hyuk senior.”
“Why.”
“Busy?”
“No.”

In the final, he set everything on fire and seduced senior Yoon Hyuk, who was lagging.

“Are you bored, senior?”
“What else are you going to do?”
“Hmmmm.”
“…Woman?”
“…”

A silent conversation was exchanged through glances.

“How… The three musketeers, shall we unite once again?”
“The Three Musketeers. They’re sworn brothers.”

What is a brother-in-law
Because the director caught me, everyone was drinking alcohol.

In place of senior Oh Pyo-sik, who was unfortunately missing due to an injury, he formed a new trio with senior Seol Yo-han.