Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 303



Only Noblemtl

Episode 303 Dramatic Situation

The result of the coin toss determined who would take the lead and who would take the back, and which goal would be played.

All the results were unfortunate for us.

The match was held in front of a goal full of Brazilian spectators, and we were the first to kick the ball.

‘I don’t think the first and second axles really have much meaning.’

I’m sure Son Heung-min will do it professionally.

There are only a few players in the national team who are free from the pressure of such a big stage. Among them, the most reliable one is Son Heung-min.

And we were taken to the slaughterhouse.

It was a slaughterhouse of victory.

If you push away your opponent, you survive, otherwise… .

I stood by the goal with my arms crossed and watched. My heart was pounding even though I wasn’t kicking it and I was just watching.

‘This is really it. If I’m this nervous, I wonder how nervous the players who are actually driving must be.’

If there’s any psychological comfort, it’s that I can stop a penalty shootout really well.

As I thought about it, this thought suddenly occurred to me.

How on earth did our seniors pull off this terrifying act in 2002?

Even back then, it was even more ignorant than it is now, and if you made one mistake, you might not be able to live in Korea.

Whether or not you succeed in the penalty shootout will determine whether or not you can live in Korea.

‘If I think about it like that, I’ll be even more nervous and won’t be able to do it.’

Perhaps the players’ shoulders were filled with the pressure of having to do it.

It’s a mindset that if you can’t do it, you’ll really fall behind.

It was a thought that briefly crossed my mind.

And then the referee blows his whistle.

I almost missed an important moment because I was thinking about something else.

Our first kicker. Son Heung-min.

Son Heung-min seemed to glare at Alisson for a moment… … !

Bam!

Fucking blocked.

Alisson blocks Son Heung-min’s shot with ease and clenches his fist with an air of confidence.

And the Brazilian crowd responded with a thunderous roar. It was a deafening, thunderous roar of incredible decibels.

‘Hmm. This is difficult.’

I swallowed hard. Son Hong-min met my gaze. He muttered something with his mouth, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. It was a loud cheer that drowned out all the nearby sounds.

I think it’s something like saying sorry.

‘Well, that could be possible.’

Yes. As humans, we can make mistakes. And I passed the baton to Alisson and stood in front of the goal.

Of course, Brazil’s number one kicker was Neymar. He saved a penalty kick. But if they faced each other again, I’m not sure if they would win or not.

I guess I’ll have to try it.

Preparations proceeded quickly.

The referee blows the whistle and Neymar moves slowly.

Once again, the trajectory appears and disappears as before. The second psychological war between Neymar and me.

Although I was fighting from an overwhelmingly advantageous position, that player knew what to do even in unfavorable situations.

‘Even without knowing that it is disadvantageous to you.’

Neymar watched my movements closely. He saw it. And then… …top right.

Neymar’s option was the top right.

I immediately stretched out my body and stretched out my left hand.

Crash!

I got eaten.

Once again, the Brazilian crowd’s deafening roar erupts behind them. It sounds like a bomb exploding.

It was a cheer that made you wonder if it would sound like this if you gathered all the sounds together into a circle and then popped it.

‘I know this but I can’t stop it.’

The opponent was smart.

I tried to hit it to the lower left, but ended up turning it to the upper right, so my arm length wasn’t enough. I lost the psychological battle.

Sure enough, Neymar was Neymar.

A man who has reached the level of Ronaldo and Messi.

And the man who didn’t receive the Ballon d’Or because of those two.

The man showed class even in the twilight of his football career.

‘He’s the second man to have scored a penalty kick against me.’

Congratulations, Neimaru!

On the outside, I laughed it off and pretended like nothing happened, but to be honest, I was a little scared.

I’m afraid that if I get hit like this one more time, the mood will change completely.

Not only was Neymar good at kicking, but he was also impressive for hitting it accurately in the top right corner.

It’s not something you can try easily because there are a few cases where it ends up being a home run if you try to do it that way.

Anyway, the next batter was Hwang Hee-cheon.

Hwang Hee-cheon will do it. Yes. Hwang Hee-cheon is one of those people with a strong heart that I acknowledge.

It’s rare to see a player take off his shirt as if he’s scored a penalty kick or a life-changing goal, right?

He’s a great player. Yeah.

Beep!

And Hwang Hee-cheon’s attempt.

A powerful shot aimed at the left.

This time, Alisson blocks it.

Ahem.

Is this a bit strange?

* * *

Kim Shin-ah felt her heart sink when Hwang Hee-cheon, following Son Heung-min, also failed to make a penalty kick.

It was exactly like that.

Shakespeare’s famous line from Julius Caesar, ‘And you too, Brutus!’

The surrounding Korean spectators were silent as if they were in a collective stun, as they never thought that the second kicker would be successful after the first.

Kim Shin-ah was one of them.

Even Kim Min-woo, who was blocking the penalty kick so well, ended up losing it to Neymar.

‘Well, that’s because Neymar is ridiculously good at kicking…’

It’s an emergency. It’s an emergency.

Super-powerful scorched earth emergency.

But now it’s time for Kim Min-woo to do it.

Neymar? Well, Neymar would be a bit tough.

Admit it.

But that won’t work anymore.

We failed twice.

It’s time to do it now. Kim Min-woo, do it!

We made full use of the meme that Son Heung-min created (the scene where he openly asked Kim Min-woo to do it).

“Kim Min-woo, do it!”

Not only Shin-A, but the Korean audience shouted in unison, “Do it, Kim Min-woo!”

And Kim Min-woo, who reacted to that sound… … conceded another goal. No, penalty shootouts don’t count as conceding a goal, so should we call it a failure?

≪Woooooooooooo↗!≫

Over there, on the other side, the Brazilian crowd cheers incredulously.

When Kim Min-woo showed an unprecedentedly shaky appearance, everyone cheered as if he was the reincarnation of Michael Jackson.

How can this be?

‘Brutus, you should have said that to my brother, not Hwang Hee-cheon.’

Brazil’s second kicker was Gabriel Jesus, a famous player that Shin-Ah is also familiar with.

The player must have learned how to deal with Kim Min-woo from Neymar, as he scored the penalty kick in almost the same way.

I was vague about where to hit it and ended up hitting it at the top corner.

‘And maybe the next kicker will be Vinicius. If he gets kicked in the same way again…’

Kim Min-woo can’t grab her by the collar and drag her away.

In that case, the kickers also have to do well to move on to the next step.

And the third kicker was, just like last time, Kim Min-woo.

“Kim Min-woo, do it!”

The crowd roared at the top of their lungs.

Two penalty shootouts failed.

The opponent has already scored twice.

If they miss here too, it becomes really, really dangerous. The Brazilian crowd was already confident of advancing to the finals after scoring twice and blocking twice.

Shin-ah once again prayed fervently for Kim Min-woo to create a miracle.

Finally, the referee’s whistle blows. With a beeping sound, Kim Min-woo runs without hesitation.

And like Neymar and Jesus, he hit it hard to the top right corner. Unlike them, he didn’t engage in any psychological warfare.

Just run and kick! Alisson tried running but it was no use. Kim Min-woo’s shot went so fast that it seemed like the net would tear and succeeded.

“That thing!”

“Wow!”

The Brazilian crowd was silent. In contrast, the small number of Korean spectators cheered.

Americans and neutral fans chanted “Korea” because they thought it was more fun to root for the underdog Korea in a crisis.

And then it’s turn again and the third defensive situation.

As expected, Brazil’s third kicker was Vinicius.

A young, capable, and talented black player.

But Shina did not like Vinicius.

It’s not that I hate him subjectively, but I hate Vinicius in the community that Shina runs… .

What did they say? Was it that you did a lot of unpleasant things?

‘So stop it this time!’

The whistle blew again.

Vinicius also used psychological warfare like Neymar and Jesus did. That short moment was really hard. Will it work? Is this the end of Kim Min-woo’s legend? That moment,

Boohoo!

Vinicius’ shot flew high into the air, as he was too focused on the top corner and ended up sending it into the air.

“Nice!”

The applause erupted once again. Shin-ah said with excitement.

“Okay, okay. Let’s turn things around starting from the third time!”

And Korea’s fourth kicker. Kim Jun-young. I’m worried because he’s such a young player, but I believe there must be a reason why the coach put Kim Jun-young in the penalty kicker position, so I prayed again with my hands clasped together.

Beep!

The whistle blows,

Kim Jun-young ran over and kicked the dog without seeming too nervous.

I was worried that it would be too easy to get tired of it… … .

Crash!

“That’s right!”

Easy to kick, easy to put in. Alisson must have misread the direction because his upper body just stopped in the center.

“Wow! It’s so cool! It’s just like that!”

Dad also seemed a little nervous as he spoke with a trembling voice. Mom covered her eyes, saying she couldn’t look… .

And Brazil’s fourth kicker.

Casemiro.

A key midfielder for Brazil who remains strong despite his age.

And Casemiro also tried to repeat his previous successful formula.

Neymar-style psychological warfare.

‘It seems like Minwoo Ham has figured this out.’

I’m anxious because I’m not sure.

And when the fateful moment arrived, Casemiro kicked with all his might.

“also!”

Kim Min-woo figured out and interpreted the Brazilian players’ intentions in that short period of time and blocked the attempt in a new way.

This time it was the top, but unlike before, it was successfully blocked.

The Brazilian crowd, which had been making something like heavenly sounds just moments before, fell into a profound silence.

“Hehe. Twist, twist.”

Then it was 2 to 2.

Put it in twice and block it twice.

Maybe, the fifth kicker could have decided the game. Shin-Ah also hoped that would happen instead of being dragged around for no reason and having her heart pounding.

And Korea’s fifth kicker. Lee Kang-im.

“Just a rough outline. Please….”

Older and more experienced players like Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-cheon failed, but relatively young players like Kim Min-woo and Kim Jun-young succeeded.

How about Lee Kang-im, who is right in the middle?

I don’t know, I wish you would just put it in.

Lee Kang-im looked at the goal with a focused expression. No, I don’t really know. How do you see the player’s expression here? It’s just a feeling.

Anyway, Lee Kang-im, who was in super-focus mode, glared at Alisson… … and when the referee blew his whistle, he ran at him without hesitation like Kim Min-woo and Kim Jun-young.

It was like a beast.

If Brazilian kickers were like hunters waiting with a trap set, young Korean kickers were like hunters who charged forward without looking back.

And Lee Kang-im’s attempt.

Boohoo!

The shot went wide.

Into the goal.

Alison read the direction and threw herself.

Lee Kang-im’s shot reached Alisson’s hand.

It felt like the world had stopped.

The shot hits Alisson’s hand and goes into the goal.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

We hugged and embraced each other.

The Brazilian crowd booed like something straight out of hell before Lee Kang-im could kick, but he did it.

I just threw away all that jeers and nonsense and put it away.

There was still Brazil’s fifth kicker left, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to enjoy the moment.

.

.

And the moment of joy passes by briefly.

The crucial moment has arrived.

‘If I don’t stop this, it’ll just keep getting dragged on. Ah. I can’t do that.’

Please end it here. Minwoo Ham. Please!

Brazil’s fifth kicker was Eder Militao, a defender, but from Real Madrid.

The Manchester United goalkeeper and the Real Madrid defender face each other on the same line.

I can’t help but feel nervous.

‘Even if you get eaten, it’s not defeat.’

However, if it were to be eaten, this penalty shootout would really become a labyrinth. Shin-ah hated such adventures.

I wish it had ended here.

Now, the referee’s whistle blows.

Eder Militao, like all Brazilian kickers, takes his time and approaches the ball slowly.

Kim Min-woo went left and right repeatedly―

Boohoo!

He flew like some kind of Spiderman and knocked away Militang’s shot. His reaction speed was unbelievable even when watching. It was an unbelievable save.

And, that’s the Kim Min-woo we know.

“Gyaaaaaaah!”

I screamed in happiness without caring at all about what other people thought. I won! I’m in the finals!

We beat Brazil and advance to the final!

Everyone was delighted by this unrealistic situation. Even foreigners who were not Koreans. The only ones who remained silent were the Brazilians in yellow uniforms.

Four years ago, you used to dance every time we scored a goal, right? You were so flirtatious.