Dad was a Genius - Chapter 12
Only Noblemtl
My Dad Was a Genius Episode 12
Saturday, March 4th.
The 2013 K-League has finally opened.
Unlike overseas, the K-League, which only plays games on weekends, will run without rest until October.
And on the first day of the opening ceremony.
Pohang and Suwon, the two candidates for the league title, entertained the crowd with fierce matches, and other teams also announced a refreshing opening by scoring goals one after another.
And the next day, Sunday, March 5th.
It was my first debut match as a manager and also our Cheonan’s first match of 2013.
“Is everyone nervous?”
I sat in the locker room and looked at the players.
The tension was evident on their faces.
“Director… aren’t you nervous?”
The players each chimed in to respond to the question posed by goalkeeper Lee Kang-cheol, who is our Cheonan’s solid captain.
“I don’t know about other people, but I don’t think the director would be nervous.”
“You still look so calm.”
I smiled faintly and shook my head.
“Of course. I’m human too, so of course I get nervous.”
The excitement and anxiety of the first match.
No matter how much I tried to control my mind, I couldn’t help but feel the pressure of being a coach and the burden of my first match weighing on me.
but,
“But I’m really excited right now. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“… … ?”
“It’s finally time for us to fully display the results of our hard work and training.”
At those words, the players’ faces began to change little by little.
“As you know, during the preseason, we usually go overseas and play against other teams, college teams, or other amateur teams. But we’ve never been able to do that.”
During the pre-season when there are no official league matches, most teams invite foreign teams or go overseas to train and play matches.
Teams that do not have the means to travel abroad often play against amateur teams or teams assigned to the second division in the country.
But we’ve never had a game like that.
Because no one wanted to play with us.
The reason is simple.
A bottom ranked team, and a coach who was parachuted in there.
Furthermore, the K-League team was putting pressure on us and even threatened to completely cut ties with any place that would have a practice match with Cheonan, so it was even harder to find an opponent for the practice match.
“Not only that, experts and soccer fans are mocking us, saying that Cheonan will once again linger in the lower ranks and eventually be relegated to the second division, calling us losers.”
“… … .”
No one, not even the supporters who cheer for Cheonan, predicted that Cheonan would finish in the bottom ranks this time as well.
Knowing that, the players’ faces began to darken again.
“But with today’s game, we will prove them all wrong.”
They don’t know anything about us.
No, I don’t even want to know.
Even though we had a game scheduled for today, the opposing team didn’t even do much research on us.
I wonder what a young punk who came in behind my father’s back would know about tactics.
And I intended for them to think that way.
Right through the media.
“The media has been biting me and criticizing you here so much. They say you are a bad manager, a team that is not improving, a squad that is the same as last year. I know how much those arrows have hurt you.”
The media didn’t just rip me off, they also rip off the players.
Nevertheless, the players persevered until the end and completed the training.
“So now it’s time to give back what you’ve been given.”
13 clubs, excluding us, joined forces to attack Cheonan.
But we didn’t fall, and now it was time to get up and fight back.
“Our biggest strength is that our opponents are letting their guard down. Anything can happen in sports. And no matter how strong a team is, if they let their guard down, they will be bitten by a weaker team. We will be the team that bites the necks of those strong teams.”
“… … !”
“And the first sacrifice is our first opponent, Gangwon.”
I found out that Gangwon has not made any tactical preparations against us.
They just thought of us as a point vending machine.
“Please let out all the wildness and sadness that you have been suppressing for so long. Let’s show it to those K-League teams that ignore us. What they should be wary of is not the teams that are praised as championship contenders, but us, Cheonan.”
The players’ faces have definitely changed since the beginning.
The tension that had been evident on their faces was nowhere to be found, and their expressions looked like they wanted to run to the stadium as soon as possible.
“We are no longer a weak team.”
I stood up and said.
“We are now an unprecedentedly strong team in the history of the K-League. Let’s make that clear to everyone today.”
Then all the players jumped up and shouted.
“Yes, Director!!”
Their voices were more powerful than ever.
* * *
The match between Gangwon and Cheonan held at Cheonan’s home stadium.
Gangwon FC manager Yang Se-won looked at the crowd entering the Cheonan home stadium and said with a puzzled look.
“Was Cheonan’s home stadium originally this crowded?”
As far as he remembers, Cheonan’s stands were always empty even when they played at home.
Although diehard fans cheered with all their might, there were far more spectators rooting for the away team.
“Wasn’t the media attacking Cha Seong-eun severe this time? As a result, the general public has become interested and many of them come to see for fun how much of a mess the coach and the team are.”
Due to the constant attacks by the media, Cha Seong-eun was virtually cursed by the entire Korean people.
But that also sparked interest.
I was curious to see how the team was being run like a mess, and ordinary people who had never been to a soccer stadium or cheered for a team before flocked to the stadium because it was the weekend.
Even the ticket price was less than ten thousand won, making it more accessible.
“This is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”
This kind of thing can also be a hit.
The director acted as if this situation was just funny.
“Then we have to show the spectators who came to watch our game today how mercilessly Cheonan was trampled.”
The players behind him burst into laughter at those words.
“It’s a great fortune that we get to play our first game against Cheonan today. So, we have to win by a big score. Even if they’re a weak team, the elation of winning will affect the next game.”
“Yes, sir.”
There was no such thing as defeat in their scenario.
Because I think it is a game that I will definitely win.
So, coach Yang did not conduct a separate tactical analysis on Cheonan.
There was no suitable sample, and no particular reason to do so.
At that time, it would have been better to analyze the team that had the next game scheduled.
“Coaches of both teams, please move to your designated seats.”
When the players come out onto the field, the coaches shake hands before moving to their assigned seats.
However, Director Yang glanced at Cha Seong-eun and then frowned and turned away.
A firm determination not to shake hands with a guy like you.
“A handshake is like freezing to death.”
In that cold atmosphere, Cheonan supporters could be heard shouting together in the stands.
[The car is~!!]
It was calling Cha Seong-eun’s name.
But does that mean that you cheer for your own team’s manager as a supporter?
That thought lasted only a moment.
[get out!!]
Coach Yang burst into laughter at the fierce cheering.
“Tsk tsk. You shouldn’t have gotten involved in this situation so easily. You’re the son of a wealthy family.”
It was the first time that a supporter had heaped such harsh words on a manager who was about to make his debut.
Moreover, it seems that the cheering was fun and the spectators who came to watch the game out of curiosity also cheered along.
[Cha Seong, get out!!]
At this point, I wanted to see what Cha Seong-eun’s expression would be like.
I wonder how he will take this.
How can you be crying?
Director Yang looked in the direction where Cha Seong-eun was.
however-.
“… … ?”
Cha Seong-eun was surprisingly calm.
He was so calm that there was not a single hint of a frown or anxiety.
It was so loud that I wondered if he was really deaf.
“What is that guy?”
Rather, Director Yang looked flustered and impressed.
Beep-!
That’s how the game started.
‘It looks like you’re trying to act like shit, I’m going to destroy you.’
Coach Yang ordered his players to launch a strong attack from the start of the game.
The players who saw his gesture pulled up the line and advanced forward.
They advanced towards the goal with quick and concise passes, befitting the possession-based football style known as tiki-taka.
Breaking through that weak defensive wall, he scored in an instant… … .
“huh?”
The moment you think that.
The short pass was suddenly cut off.
“Tsk. Was that a mistake?”
At first, I thought so.
He said that he accidentally blocked the ball while passing it.
But as time passed, Director Yang realized.
This means that it is not someone’s mistake, but the opponent’s intended tactic.
“What, what is this pressure?”
When a Cheonan team player loses the ball, six players suddenly run from all directions to get the ball back.
A rapid counterattack followed.
The Gangwon team players, who had been deploying an extremely strong attack line, were startled and busy chasing the ball.
If you manage to block the attack and try to advance again-.
“Huh!”
Once again, we were caught off guard by the pressure from all sides and lost the ball.
and,
Crash-!
“!?”
Surprisingly, it was Gangwon, not Cheonan, that shook the goal net first.
[Koooooooool!!]
A goal that resonates through the stadium broadcast.
The crowd, who had never even imagined that Cheonan would score the first goal, roared thunderously.
“Wow, woooooooo-!!”
“What? Cheonan is a goal?”
“Aren’t we looking at the uniforms wrong?”
They came to see how badly coach Cha Seong-eun was playing soccer, but they are also citizens of Cheonan after all.
“Is this the Cheonan we know?”
“You said you couldn’t do Cheonan. But you’re really good at it?”
When Cheonan scored a goal, a part of their chest felt hot without them realizing it and cheers burst out on their own.
“Cheonan! Cheonan! Cheonan!!”
The silent supporters began to cheer by beating drums, and the audience joined in, chanting Cheonan’s name.
And Coach Yang, who was not in the scenario, raised his voice to the players while shaking his hands.
“What the hell are you doing!! What if you lose the ball there, you idiots!”
Gangwon players were dumbfounded.
Because it happened so quickly, they didn’t even know what had happened to them.
Beep-!!
Then the referee’s whistle sounds to signal the start again,
“Here it comes again, again.”
The Cheonan players were running towards the ball with their eyes burning like wild beasts facing their prey. Were they overwhelmed by their power, or was there something else that was the problem?
“What the hell is going on?”
Is this really the Cheonan that I knew?
It definitely feels like playing against a championship contender.
Coach Yang swallowed dryly and looked to the side as Cheonan’s attack swept across the field like a storm.
There was Cha Seong-eun still standing there with a cold and indifferent face.