The Ajax Match (1)
For a team to win, it needs a reliable striker.
No matter how well the midfielders pass, how solid the defenders are, or how brilliantly the goalkeeper saves — without goals from the front line, victory is impossible.
In that sense, the Blue Team's striker and our starting forward, Kang Seungwook, was a player with exceptional finishing. He had already scored once in the first half, and in the second he delivered again, adding another goal to his tally. The match ended 2–2.
"Hah… hah…"
I collapsed onto the pitch, gasping for air. Thirty minutes of simultaneous attacking and defensive work in the second half had left me twice as drained as usual.
…I miss Inho hyung.
Jeong Inho put in full ninety-minute shifts like this every single match. A respect I never knew I had for him suddenly bloomed.
"Guys~ great work!"
Eunhye approached with an icebox in one hand and an armful of towels in the other, handing them out one by one.
"Here."
"Thank you."
I took the drink and towel from her, wiped the sweat from my face, then tipped the bottle back and drained it in one long pull — making sure the logo faced the camera, of course. It was product placement, plain as day.
Plenty more of that was coming. Securing overseas clubs cost more than the network's budget alone could cover, so they had no choice but to load the production with sponsorships to make up the difference.
We took another short ten-minute break, filmed a little more, and headed back to the lodging.
Jong Ajax.
Ajax's reserve side, competing in the Eerste Divisie — the Dutch second division. Unlike the first team, which might be called up for national duty once the season ended, Jong Ajax simply took their rest and entered the off-season. A few of the younger players sometimes joined the youth national teams, but this year there was nothing special on the calendar.
Which meant that, aside from two or three players who had already left on vacation, Jong Ajax's squad was essentially at full strength.
"Hah…"
Even so, Jong Ajax's manager, Hendrik Jansen, let out a long sigh. He was in his second year at the helm, and the results had been scraping the bottom of the table. Sixteenth in the Eerste Divisie this season — nowhere near the promotion playoffs, and nearly relegated.
In the Dutch system, the champions of the third-tier Tweede Divisie earned promotion, while the last-place side in the Eerste Divisie — twentieth — dropped down. Jong Ajax had scraped clear of relegation by a mere seven points.
They hadn't always been this bad. At the start of the season they had been considered title contenders, expected to cruise into the top eight and the playoffs without much trouble. Then, in the opening match, their ace Dani Sneijder tore his hamstring. Season-ending injury. From there the results slid, week after week, until they found themselves in sixteenth.
Fortunately, Dani Sneijder would be available for the match against the Korean visitors. So why was Hendrik still sighing?
Because the drop in the standings had stripped the squad of its sense of purpose. Winning mentality mattered. Psychological stability and confidence were what unlocked peak performance. Without that winning edge, form could only decline — and declining form meant losing.
…We'll just have to hope Dani delivers.
Dani Sneijder was devoted to Ajax, and he was Jong Ajax's captain. Seeing a side that had lost its winning mentality would set that fiery temper of his ablaze. What that would do to the rest of the players was anyone's guess — but one thing was certain.
This match has to be the turning point for Jong Ajax.
A week vanished in a blink.
On the fourth day of training we even played a casual match against a local side, sharpening our touch and team cohesion. Then, at last, match day against Ajax arrived. The coach brought out the whiteboard and stuck magnets bearing our faces into place.
FW: Seong Ian, Kang Seungwook, Jeong Woojun
MF: Lee Jeongmin, Kang Minsang, Lee Wonjun
DF: Seo Jinyoung, Joo Wonwoo, Lee Seungmin, Baek Namgi
GK: Han Seungwoo
It was a lineup built from the players who had shone in the practice matches. Honestly, Baek Namgi's style was so awkward to deal with that I still couldn't figure out why he was only a bench player at Namsuh High.
The base formation was a 4-3-3.
"They're famous for Total Football, and they'll come out with it again today. The whole team attacks, the whole team defends."
The bus rattled a little, but that didn't stop Kim Taesik's explanation.
"Ajax has spent decades winning trophies on the foundation of Total Football. Being the second team doesn't change that. So what are we going to do?"
He dropped the three midfielders deep toward the defensive line, pulled both wingers — me and Jeong Woojun — all the way back to the third line, and shifted Kang Seungwook, our lone striker, into a central second-line role.
"This is our shape when they're attacking. Anti-Football. That's our tactic."
Anti-Football.
It was the approach Guus Hiddink — another of Europe's great managers, and Korea's eternal coach — had used when Chelsea met Barcelona in the Champions League in the 08–09 season. The name itself wasn't official; "Anti-Football" was a coinage the press had hung on the hyper-defensive Italian style. Hiddink's version earned the label because, against that dominant Barcelona side, he abandoned any ambition to score and poured everything into defense. Johan Cruyff watched it and declared that Chelsea were playing Anti-Football — and the name stuck.
No question… Anti-Football is the counter to Total Football.
The bus pulled up at the stadium. We climbed out and headed for the away dressing room. It was bare — red chairs and nothing else, not even a tactics board.
When it was time to take the field, the starting eleven pulled on red kits. The front of each jersey carried the logo of a well-known car manufacturer, H Company; the left sleeve bore the logo of the drink we'd been guzzling all week.
"Alright. We can do this. First match — don't feel the pressure. Just give it everything you've got!"
Nineteen-year-old center-back Joo Wonwoo, wearing the captain's armband, bellowed the words. We roared back and followed him out of the dressing room.
In the tunnel, we lined up on the right; Jong Ajax took the left.
"Hoi."
"Aangenaam!"
The Jong Ajax players, in white kits with a bold red stripe down the center — classic Ajax — greeted us in Dutch. We nodded back, then followed the club staff out onto the pitch.
What met my eyes was a sea of red seats, broken by white ones arranged into four letters and the face of Ajax himself — the hero of Greek myth. I had watched plenty of European matches from the stands before the regression, but standing on the pitch itself was a first.
Before kickoff we lined up on either side of the referee and shook hands, just like a real professional match.
"Don't freeze up — play the way you always do! Got it?"
"Let's go!!"
While we clapped each other up and fired ourselves for the fight, the Jong Ajax players gathered around the man wearing the armband.
"Geef Ajax z'n terug!"
"Oké!"
Whatever the captain shouted, the whole squad answered as one. They clapped and peeled off toward their positions. I kept my eyes on one player in particular.
…Yeah. That's an Ajax one-club man for you.
Number 18, Dani Sneijder, was lifting his armband and clapping his teammates on. In the future he would become Ajax's one-club ace. His love for the club ran deep; that fiery temper of his set the tone in the dressing room, and as a striker he always delivered.
A few other faces stood out too — players who would leave Ajax for bigger clubs. Steve Jensen, headed to Manchester United in four years. Viktor Johnsen, off to Liverpool around the same time. Facing future world-class talent right here, right now.
I steadied the hammering in my chest and settled my mind.
Tweet—!
The referee's whistle opened the first half. Ajax kicked off.
The moment striker Dani Sneijder touched the ball, the Jong Ajax players surged into our half. We dropped our line.
"Steve!"
The ball rolled to Steve — a defensive midfielder by trade, pushing forward on the attack. He feinted a look, then slipped it out to the flank. Jong Ajax's right winger took it in stride, used his pace to burst up the touchline, and whipped in a cross with his right foot.
The ball was arcing toward the 193-centimeter frame of Dani Sneijder, already rising high and lining up the goal.
But he wasn't the only one in the air. Our captain, Joo Wonwoo, met it with a header and cleared it beyond the line, snuffing out Ajax's rapid attack.
Corner kick. Jong Ajax's right winger delivered a sharp cross, but it never became a shot. Our right center-back, Lee Seungmin, claimed the ball.
"Ian!"
He played it to me.
And I began to warm the engine.
Ignoring Dani's Dutch shouts, I simply ran. Jong Ajax players flooded back to defend and closed around me, but I sold one of them a dummy and slipped past. An Ajax center-back who had stepped up met me next — I took him with a la croqueta.
"Hey!"
Kang Seungwook, surging up alongside me, cut into the open space. I lofted a through ball into his path, but as he took his first touch the Ajax keeper rushed out and claimed it.
"Great pass!"
Kang Seungwook gave me a thumbs-up. It had been a real chance to score early in the half — but that was fine. Plenty of time left, and more chances would come.
For now, in these opening minutes, Ajax needed to understand something.
We were not an easy side. And we could beat them.