Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 288
Only Noblemtl
Episode 288 Trick
The host country, the United States, was left with a sense of disappointment when the first match against Norway, which they had expected to win easily, ended in a draw.
To make matters worse, the opponent in the second match is Korea.
They are highly rated in Europe, having beaten Poland and the Netherlands on their European tours and have not seen any red in their recent form.
What about the players?
The offensive line was full of players from the big leagues, and the players supporting them were all top-notch players.
The national team players from the Middle East, who were commonly seen, were currently in a state of dry spell.
With the first game tied and the second game uncertain to even end in a draw, let alone a win, the United States was anxious that they might be eliminated in the group stage, let alone the tournament.
Paparazzi and sports reporters in the United States monitored the Korean national team’s every move. They surprisingly made a fortune.
“I heard Kim got injured!”
The whole story was like this.
The crosswalk that had been blue turned red, and an old woman passing by couldn’t walk quickly enough.
In the meantime, the car moved, and Kim, who was nearby just before it hit the old woman, ran and saved her like a hero. It was a pretty cool and gentlemanly story.
As befitting the era of social media, the incident was widely spread through photos and videos, and there were even rumors that Kim had been hit by a car.
Although it was not confirmed, it was official that Kim had gone to the hospital, and the Korean national team remained silent and made no comment on the incident.
But up until this point it was a stage where we couldn’t be sure.
This is the so-called ‘Gundulgap’.
*Geundulgap (baseless fuss)
So, for more accurate information, the Americans moved more quickly. They bought information by throwing money at the hospitals Kim visited.
It wasn’t like I was mistaking Kim for another Kim. Even Americans aren’t that stupid.
Kim of Man utd.
Goalkeeper Kim!
He definitely went to the hospital and got checked out, and even got word from a reliable source that he had stretched his ankle ligaments.
An injury of this severity would have made it impossible for him to play in the game against the United States, let alone the third game.
The United States, which had found out about this, cheered loudly and spread the news around the world.
[Kim, who won four titles at Man Utd, was unable to play in the match against the United States!]
There is no good fortune like this.
A goalkeeper who has never conceded a goal in every game he has played in is not playing in the game against the United States! How can it be this good?
There is not even Hwang from Wolverhampton or Kim from Bayern Munich.
When I asked the Korean national team a question, they looked embarrassed and avoided answering, not saying anything.
It was a response that showed them how sudden and unexpected the situation was.
[The Korean national team is now in a state of panic! ― New York Times]
That day, the New York Times carried a large picture of Son Heung-min’s face in despair.
Most other newspapers also put such photos on their front pages.
A truly vicious newspaper even posted a picture of Son Heung-min crying after being eliminated from the World Cup.
Anyway, time passed and the whole world was ablaze with the issue of Kim’s injury.
The most talked about topic was Kim’s injury, and more importantly, how long it would last. The injury itself was official in the first place.
The US was laughing at Kim’s injury, while Norway was also controlling its expression.
The only country in Group I that was in the worst shape was Côte d’Ivoire, which had already lost to Korea.
There will be no misfortune like this for them.
Korea needs to get ‘one win’ against every country fairly, but if this happens, Côte d’Ivoire’s strategy will be completely ruined.
Naturally, there was chaos in Korea.
The concern is not small because the goalkeeper, who is considered the backbone of the Korean national team or the team itself, is out due to an injury.
Moreover, the anxiety has been amplified because it is not known whether he will not be able to play in the second game, or the third game, or when he will be able to play at all.
The Korean national team remained silent for quite some time in the face of the world’s attention, and later dismissed the issue, saying, “It is true that there was an accident, it is true that he was injured, and it is true that his participation is uncertain, but we cannot say for sure that he will not be able to participate.”
However, Leon, the head coach of the Korean national team, seemed to be fed up with the continuous barrage of questions and made an official statement.
“That’s right. Kim will miss the game against the United States. I can’t say anything about the third game yet. We are currently focusing all our efforts on the second game.”
The US danced around in excitement at the official announcement from the national team coach. Even those who had doubted the outcome were delighted, saying, “We won the second game!”
Some villains even spread conspiracy theories.
As is typical of America, where there are all sorts of conspiracy theories, there have been all sorts of conspiracy theories surrounding this injury, but the most plausible one is…
[Isn’t this a deliberate move by the US government to avoid an early exit from the World Cup?!]
It was.
Of course, it was a conspiracy theory that most people around the world hardly believed.
So, time passed little by little.
The American media has already reported that the Korean national team is experiencing internal strife.
There was talk that the team was fighting amongst themselves ahead of the game as one of its key players was injured and it was unclear when he would return.
And every time such news was heard, Americans enjoyed munching on popcorn.
So, on the day of the second match.
1 hour before the game.
The South Korean national team announced its starting lineup.
[Goalkeeper – Kim]
Kim was promoted to goalkeeper.
Americans who were shocked by the announcement of the list were relieved after seeing on social media and in the media that among the sub goalkeepers, there was a goalkeeper whose last name started with Kim, and that Kim is a very common last name in Korea.
And it didn’t take long for it to be proven to be a misunderstanding.
So, it was a misunderstanding with a different meaning.
It was not Al Shabab’s Kim Seung-gu who was supposed to play, but Manchester United’s Kim Min-woo who was supposed to play.
It was shocking news to Americans who had assumed that it would be impossible for them to compete.
“Voila! It was a trick!”
Following the 2018 World Cup, Korea surprised the world in the 2026 World Cup as well.
Who would have thought that Shin Tae-yong’s trick show would open again after 8 years?
* * *
“That’s an incredible recovery speed. Kim Min-woo has a truly amazing recovery speed.”
That’s what the national team doctor said after seeing my fully recovered body.
I felt awkward at the compliment.
Actually, it wasn’t that surprising.
I went to the hospital because the national team staff were making such a fuss, and although I had a slight injury, it wasn’t a serious enough injury to prevent me from playing in the game.
‘Adrenaline, which has the injury prevention property, is useless in everyday life, but the injury was definitely not severe enough to require adrenaline.’
And, saving the old lady at the crosswalk wasn’t something I did because I thought, ‘I have to save her!’
I instinctively jumped in when the situation was critical, and it was fine until then, but then I felt pain in my feet and realized, “Oh no.”
I didn’t hit the car, but I twisted my foot in the process.
So, at the time, I decided that I couldn’t play in the upcoming match against the United States (I was swept away by the fuss made around me), and the medical staff also decided the same.
I was told that if I was lucky I would be able to play in the third game, so I decided to recover as quickly as possible and play in the Norway game! However, my injury was not as serious as I thought, so I recovered quickly.
“Well, what’s good is good! Minwoo! America acted like we won before the game because you weren’t coming out, so let’s show them!”
“…Yeah, what.”
I just scratched my chin at Lee Kang-im’s shout.
This second match will be held at a stadium called Lumen Field.
It was quite a distance from where our base camp was.
First of all, the ‘subject’ was different.
It was in Seattle, Washington.
Of course, the atmosphere was different from the first game.
Unlike the first game held in LA, which was known as the ‘Special City of Los Angeles,’ this stadium was a stadium solely for America, by America, and of America.
American flags are fluttering everywhere, and there aren’t any Asians, let alone Koreans.
In the 72,000-seat stadium, all you can see are the American flag and Americans.
We entered the stadium under this pressure, and the funny thing is, the American players who entered with us had shit-eating expressions on their faces.
‘You didn’t know I was coming out, did you?’
Well, not only these players here, but everyone in the world probably never dreamed that I would come out.
Even Sophie, Manchester United officials, Hannover officials, and even her family didn’t know and just comforted her.
In particular, Kim Shin-ah’s reaction touched me more than I expected. She told me that the guy who usually teased her did something good, so she shouldn’t blame herself and should just focus on recovering.
And when I was confirmed to be in the race, the guy
[Kim Shin-ah: 5252!!!!!!!!!!!!]
[Kim Shin-ah: What the heck!!!!!!!!]
[Kim Shin-ah: I didn’t believe you!!!]
[Kim Shin-ah: Damn, I have to worship today too―]
They made all kinds of fuss.
He even said that he would not come to Seattle and would continue to stay in LA even though I did not compete.
‘Coming all the way to America to watch TV. How romantic.’
And before the game, coach Leon Harpers gave me a lot of advice.
“Kim. Never overdo it, and if you feel like it’s not going to work out, just tell me. Losing this second match doesn’t mean you’re out. You know that, right? There are more important matches ahead of this one.”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’m not saying you should tell me if you feel like you can’t handle it. I’m saying you should tell me if you feel like your body is straining you.”
Even if we lose the second game, in the worst case scenario, it is unlikely that we will advance to the tournament.
Starting with this World Cup, even the third-place teams can advance to the tournament if conditions are right.
Well anyway.
“You act like you’re a freeloader, so should I stop you?”
You guys, let’s take some damage.
* * *
Greg Berhalter is the head coach of the U.S. national team.
He has been leading the team since 2018 and has been leading the US national team for the past 8 years. Despite some ups and downs, he was recognized for his contribution in advancing to the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup and successfully renewed his contract, which led to his re-election for the upcoming North and Central American World Cup.
Although they were not evaluated as tactically outstanding, their tolerance was decent, and based on their performance up to this point, the US was evaluated as someone who would do quite well in this World Cup.
Until the first game.
After a fierce battle and a 2-2 draw in the first game, Greg Berhalter’s vision darkened ahead of the match against Korea.
Korea had a goalkeeper who combined the talents of Messi, Ronaldo and other legendary soccer players.
A monster who hasn’t allowed a single goal since his debut.
So we absolutely had to win the first game, but I was really frustrated with how things turned out.
So I was so happy when I heard the news that Kim was out due to an injury.
At least we wouldn’t have to face France right after we advanced to the tournament.
And that joy didn’t last long.
This is because Kim was suddenly decided to play on the day of the match.
It was a matter of seconds before joy turned to despair.
And as the mood is contagious, the mood on the team dropped significantly before Greg Berhalter could do anything about it.
The president’s words of encouragement were meaningless, and the current atmosphere of the national team was really bad. All we heard was that one player from the opposing team had returned.
The game started like that, and it was a fierce battle, similar to the first game.
And every time the United States had a crucial chance, it failed to score.
Everything that seemed like a goal was blocked.
There were various ways to block it.
Either the goalkeeper saves it superbly, or he runs out and kicks it as if he knew in advance that the goalkeeper would break the defensive line.
The frustrating game continues.
‘We have to win. Damn it.’
Watching the game made my brain feel like it was burning.
In a situation where morale was already low, as the opponent continued to make ridiculous super saves as rumored, the national team’s morale began to drop even amidst the overwhelming support in the stadium.
And the opponent didn’t miss that opening.
It was a counterattack.
The opposing midfielder, who had just crossed the halfway line, ran around and kept looking around before sending a cross to the Man Utd striker.
Kim, who played as a winger in the first game but played as a top player in this game, received the arcing cross with his head.
There were American defenders around him, but they were unable to react to the cross that occurred in an instant and allowed a header.
And the Man Utd striker headed the ball into the corner of the left goal. The goalkeeper reacted, but it was 0.2 seconds too late.
The ball hits the ground once and goes in.
It was a mistake.
“Fuck.”
The stadium is suddenly engulfed in silence.
The US created more threatening scenes, but they were all blocked, and they only managed to score the first goal after failing to block a ‘click’ header.
Sometimes there are games like this, and whenever they happen, I really want to give up on soccer.
And Korea is a team that plays this kind of soccer every game. It was bitter, but on the other hand, I envied the opposing team’s coach.