Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 287



Only Noblemtl

Episode 287 Portrait

At half-time, when the first half was over, Coach Leon unusually approached me and praised me for my counterattack.

“Kim. Right now, I feel like I want to kiss you. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes, I will decline.”

Let’s review the scoring situation. First of all, it was true that I saw the angle well. However, if you look closely, even though I created it, the attackers received it well.

If you think about the fact that there are players all over the world who can’t accept it even if you make it that way, our offense is definitely sharp.

Especially Son Heung-min.

Since it didn’t seem like there would be a difference, the decision was made to hand it over to Lee Kang-im right away. Oh my. A veteran is not a veteran for nothing. To make such a decision at that split second.

In terms of goal share, I would be around 0.4, Kim Jun-young 0.3, Son Heung-min 0.4… … Hmm. That’s over 1.

Anyway, we succeeded in scoring because all the players who participated in the creation process did their part.

It wasn’t just me who did well.

If I hadn’t thrown it with my hand and immediately started a counterattack. If Kim Jun-young hadn’t aimed for it himself or passed it to Son Heung-min immediately. If Son Heung-min hadn’t kicked it himself or passed it to Lee Kang-im. If Lee Kang-im hadn’t kicked it with his left foot in the opposite direction of the goalkeeper.

This goal would not have been successful.

‘Praise our team~’

This is a team.

Naturally, the team spirit was very encouraging.

“You all did great! You did so well! Every single one of you did so well! You all did more than your share!”

Captain Son Heung-min shouted that right away. There was a time when he was feeling a bit frustrated, but Son Heung-min must have felt the most relieved when he broke it all down with a single counterattack.

‘This is why I like corner kicks.’

The chances of conceding a goal are much lower than in other situations, but it is also very easy to counterattack.

In addition, Ivory Coast seems to have analyzed us thoroughly, and since we have not recently led a counterattack by throwing with our hands, we may have been caught off guard.

It’s not that I can’t use it, just that I haven’t used it often lately~

So we returned to the field with renewed spirit.

Now, if the opponent wants to take even one point, they will have to change their tactics and raise the line a little.

If that’s the case, then things will be different from the frustrating first half.

Otherwise, we would have to open our eyes and give up 3 points, but no country would do that.

The second half began with the referee’s whistle.

Unlike the first half, I expected a heated and fun game.

The second half started with Côte d’Ivoire leading the way.

As time passed, about 5 minutes passed.

‘… Is that you?’

Cote d’Ivoire, who are still wary of our attacking ability rather than trying to score by raising the line.

I didn’t expect it to turn out like this even though I had conceded a goal, so I felt a sense of relief.

‘Why are you so nervous? Is it because it’s the World Cup? Or is it because of the atmosphere in the stadium?’

The atmosphere at SoFi Stadium still felt like it was Korea’s home. This was because most of the Koreans living in the city came here, and many people from Korea also came over to visit the stadium.

Anyway, amidst this one-sided wave of support, Côte d’Ivoire played the game as if they were only trying to prevent additional goals.

What about us against him?

Although they did not set up the game as sharply as in the first half, they maintained a certain level of offensive power as if they had no intention of giving up the lead.

‘I might not be able to play in today’s game… .’

Well, it’s better. Did I get unnecessarily nervous before the game? It seems like the opponent was really nervous about my achievements. They played against Korea like they played against France or Brazil.

It’s really a different world. I feel like days like this all come.

* * *

Kim Shin-ah clenched her fist as she watched the second half.

The first half was clearly a winning momentum, but the opposing team’s defense was so tight that I thought, ‘Huh? Could this be happening?’ Fortunately, thanks to Kim Min-woo’s super crack, we scored the first goal.

And the second half seemed to follow the same flow as the first half.

Cote d’Ivoire raises its guard, and Korea takes control of the game with ease.

‘I was worried because Hwang Hee-cheon was out, but it seems like the team won’t be in complete trouble just because one person is out.’

If Kim Min-woo had been missing instead of Hwang Hee-cheon, I really don’t know what would have happened in the game, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

Also, my brother is a steel king. Should I say that he recovers quickly even when he gets injured?

Meanwhile, Kim Shin-ah checked the community’s reactions in real time.

[If this kid is really good at soccer, I’ll recommend him]

◆(Photo of Kim Min-woo looking straight ahead wearing the national team uniform) First of all, me

[“Kim Min-woo”]

◆(Composite photo of Kim Min-woo carrying a delivery vehicle)

[When I close up Kim Min-woo’s face, I feel like shit]

◆You’re so handsome

[Kim Min-woo’s Instagram followers are increasing at a fast rate.MP4]

◆5,000 people per refreshㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[(Korea v Ivory Coast) Leon is going crazy kekekekekekeke]

◆(Video of Leon throwing an uppercut with great excitement)

→Leverage!

→No but this is the first time I’ve seen someone like this lol

→I thought it was Tuchel lol

→Leverage, I just realized it now

[Official) KakaoTalk is exploding lol]

“Hiya… .”

There are many.

But these are not the reactions I want.

I turned the page diligently.

[(Korea v Ivory Coast) Korea Lee Kang-im’s crazy first goal ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ]

◆(Video of Korea scoring first goal)

→Son Hong-min, Lee Kang-im, Kim Jun-young, Kim Min-woo, they’re all just fucked up

→This is a big club

→Wow

→This is soccer, f*ckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ This is so annoying

→Daeminwoo Daejunyoung Daehongmin Daegangim

→Who will stop Kim Min-woo, Lee Kang-im, and Kim Jun-young?

→Who doubted the King God Light Nation?

“Hmm. It’s okay.”

After the game is over, we’ll have to review it later.

And then I focused on the game again.

Time flew by and we were already approaching the 25th minute of the second half. The score was still 1:0.

As was the case throughout the game, Korea’s attack continued, but a contest occurred in the opponent’s box and the ball was stolen.

Fortunately, Lee Ja-seong succeeded in the tackle and the ball went into the Ivory Coast box, but the Ivory Coast defender who caught the ball without possession kicked it far forward.

Naturally, the kicked ball became the starting point of a counterattack.

Celta Vigo’s Jonathan Bamba latched onto the ball and ran down the flank, only to be chased by Kim Min-je, who suddenly collapsed on the ground.

“Huh, huh!?”

Everyone who was watching jumped up from their seats and let out a voice of shock.

The side is hollow.

Even though there were two defenders and the ultimate weapon, Kim Min-woo, there was still a psychological threat.

Above all, this was effectively Côte d’Ivoire’s first opportunity to attack.

“What should I do, what should I do!”

Mom is screaming and grabbing Dad’s shoulder from the side, and Dad just says, “Ugh,” not knowing what to do.

In this urgent situation, he spoke as if nothing had happened, trying to keep his composure.

“It’s okay. Whose son is the goalkeeper? Look carefully. I’ll stop him now.”

And Jonathan Bamba, feeling like he had no chance of passing, tried to dribble through it himself. As it turned out, it was a bad attempt.

Kim Min-je’s partner Kim Ji-seok narrowed the shooting trajectory, and Kim Min-woo neatly blocked the shot.

Her heart pounded, but as expected, Shin-ah let out a sigh of relief when Kim Min-woo blocked it.

“Whew. You see? What if you still feel uneasy after seeing Kim Min-woo like that?”

And like other children of Shin-ah’s age, her mom and dad also clap their hands and say, “Wow~”

But a problem arose.

Kim Min-je, who had fallen down while defending, was unable to get up.

“Ah, shit… .”

Following Hwang Hee-cheon, now Kim Min-je is also injured?

Kim Ji-seok quickly ran to Kim Min-je, checked his condition, and immediately sent a signal to the bench. It was a simple signal that even the audience could recognize.

[X]

People sighed at the sight of the sign. The manager consulted with the coaches and immediately replaced Kim Min-je.

Kim Min-je left and was replaced by Jeong Seung-heon. He is a defender who is evaluated as having excellent defensive skills and the ability to read the game.

However, he was a defender who had no choice but to be pushed out because one of the two centre-backs was from Munich and the other was from Brentford.

After that, the game resumed, and just like before, nothing special happened and the game went smoothly.

First of all, it was a big problem that Côte d’Ivoire did not actively launch an offensive.

We were already one point ahead and had three points to go with this win, so there was no reason to continue to be aggressive like in the first half.

In addition, with Kim Min-je out, the defensive stability fell even further, and so the Korean national team began to pass the ball around and waste time.

As the game entered a lull, Kim Shin-a became increasingly worried about whether Kim Min-je would be able to return for the next game and what the future of the World Cup would be like with two key players missing.

‘It seems like we have this game under our belt, but the future is the problem.’

The next match is against the United States. They are ranked 11th in the FIFA rankings, they are the host country, and we are missing two key players.

It’s pretty bleak, but that’s okay.

As long as Kim Min-woo is there, we may not win, but we won’t lose either.

Time has passed quickly and now extra time has arrived. Extra time is 5 minutes.

As Korea started to openly pass the ball and manage its stamina, Côte d’Ivoire also seemed to feel a little tired and gradually raised its line and became more aggressive.

And yet, it didn’t look threatening.

Korea also continued to drag it out as if they were trying to solidify the score at 1:0.

like that.

Beep— beep— beep!

The final whistle blew.

Game 1 1:0 win!

The score wasn’t as high as expected, but it was important to win the first match of the World Cup.

‘Has Korea ever won the first match in a recent World Cup?’

I suddenly got curious and looked into it, and it turned out that there were exactly two such cases.

The 2002 match against Poland. And the 2010 match against Greece. So today’s victory will be the first victory in 16 years.

“Somehow, it’s a bit lower than the performance we showed in Korea… … But still, this is okay!”

Hwang Hee-cheon wasn’t there, right? Let’s have a drink~

* * *

South Korea’s first World Cup POTM was Lee Kang-im’s.

Because he showed flashes of brilliance throughout the game and was the only one who succeeded in scoring a goal.

Lee Kang-im was selected for POTM and given an interview, where he continued to give humble answers, typical of Koreans.

“… … In fact, if I could, I would cut this POTM trophy into pieces and give it to each of my national team members. They did such a great job. I don’t think I received this award because I did so well alone.”

“Today’s match ended 1-0, and we had a very good start to this World Cup. The upcoming second match is against the host country, the United States. How will Lee Kang-im prepare for the next match?”

“Just like the first game, we will all prepare well together so that we can win the second game like this one. Hwang Hee-cheon is out, and I don’t know if Kim Min-je will play or not, but I think the remaining players will fill in the gaps left by those players.”

A clean and uncluttered answer.

Unlike the usually playful Lee Kang-im, he appeared quite normal at official events.

‘Well, if you do an interview like you normally do, you’re really crazy.’

The record of Group I after all the first rounds were as follows.

1st place. South Korea. 1 win. 3 points.

2nd place. USA. 1 draw. 1 point.

3rd place. Norway. 1 draw. 1 point.

4th place. Côte d’Ivoire. 1 loss. 0 points.

It was a report card that made me feel good just looking at it.

Even if they don’t win the second game, if they get at least one win, it’s almost certain that they’ll advance to the round of 32.

The Ivory Coast coach was asked by the press why he continued to play defensively after conceding a goal, and he singled me out as the reason.

“We decided that attacking was pointless. Our best was a draw, the next best was a loss by a few goals. The worst was a loss by a lot of goals. You could say it was a defeat, but we took the next best objective.”

“But coach? If Korea loses to the US or Norway, that strategy will be useless.”

“Do you think Kim will concede a goal to the US or Norway? He is a goalkeeper who has not conceded a single goal against the best teams in the world since his debut.”

“……that.”

Although I was taken aback by the sudden surprise worship, it wasn’t wrong.

I understand what the Ivory Coast coach’s intentions are and what he’s aiming for, but this world is a place full of uncertainty.

Especially on a big stage like the World Cup.

The Ivory Coast coach had to see the article the next day saying I was injured.

There was also a sentence saying that it was unclear whether he would be able to participate in the second match against the United States.

“… …Fuck.”