Manchester City (1)
Ask any Manchester City fan about the club's golden age, and most will point to the Pep Guardiola era.
From 2016 straight through to the present day of 2036, he had been at the helm of Manchester City, conquering the Premier League alongside a constellation of star players.
Seven league titles under his watch. Three FA Cups. And the one trophy every Citizen had yearned for above all others — a single Big Ear, the Champions League crown.
Their form may have dipped of late, but Manchester City remained a side that could claim the throne of the league at any moment.
Their academy was no pushover either. They had taken the youth league title just two years ago.
"Their base formation is a 4-3-3. High press, high possession football. Their average possession across recent league matches sits in the mid-seventies — staggering numbers."
High possession didn't guarantee victory in every match, but when you held the ball longer than the other side, the advantage was hard to deny.
"We'll go 4-3-3 as well. But it'll look a little different from usual. Seungwook's out with a mild cold, so we're starting Jaewoo."
Seon Jaewoo — a year older than Ian at eighteen. As a striker, his shot power and finishing sat below average, but his link-up play was outstanding.
Benching Kang Seungwook, whose finishing and aerial ability were his greatest strengths, and slotting Jaewoo in instead meant they had no intention of using him as a conventional striker.
"Jaewoo's role is false nine. He drops a touch deeper to help build the attack and drag their defenders out of shape. Then Jeongmin and Minsang push into the half-spaces that open up."
The coach arranged red magnets into their formation on the board.
In attacking phases, both fullbacks would push high. Ian and Woojun, who normally operated a step behind the striker, would play as proper wingers.
Lee Jeongmin and Kang Minsang — the midfielders who had impressed against West Ham — would take on the mezzala roles.
The single midfielder shielding the back four was Lee Wonjun, operating as the anchor.
The shape that emerged was a perfect inverted triangle.
Maybe I should've just played mezzala myself.
The mezzala role had become one of the most widely used positions in modern football. Ian had played there often enough before his regression — and he'd been damn good at it.
Still, he was better as a winger.
As always, he stepped out onto the pitch.
Manchester City's home ground: the Etihad Stadium. Its scale ranked among the finest in Europe, a monument to their recent reign as kings of the Premier League.
Outside the stadium stood statues of their legends — Vincent Kompany, David Silva, and Sergio Agüero. The modern buildings surrounding the ground made it hard to tell whether this was a football stadium or a luxury hotel complex.
It looked glamorous from the outside. But that glamour was a trap.
A graveyard for visiting sides that rivaled Liverpool's Anfield — that was the Etihad Stadium.
The referee's whistle opened the first half, and possession, naturally, belonged to the home side.
"…Is it always like this?"
"Beats me…"
Among the dozens of broadcast staff, a male cameraman had rushed home for his father's funeral, and a female producer had been sent in as his replacement.
She had no particular interest in football.
So why had she boarded a plane and flown all the way out here?
It's that popular, and I still don't get it…
Because the variety show they were filming had set South Korea on fire. Insane booking power that landed them European big clubs — and players who actually beat those clubs. The whole production had the nation buzzing with anticipation for the 2037 U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands.
She'd heard the talk around her, and the moment an opening appeared, she'd jumped at it.
For her career. And for the sheer freedom of roaming Europe as she pleased.
But the shoot in England was turning out to be far less romantic than she'd imagined. One day of rest, then nonstop filming — she was grinding through brutal schedules.
The one thing that still brought her any relief… was the face of a certain young player named Seong Ian. That was the sole bright spot in her exhaustion-soaked days.
How is a person allowed to look that good…
Thirty minutes into the first half of a grinding chess match, a light sheen of sweat on Seong Ian's face was enough to pull her in — even knowing full well how many years separated them.
KOR v MCI
0 : 0
As mentioned, the early first half was pure reconnaissance against Manchester City.
Whenever the Korean side tried to manufacture a chance, City simply recycled the ball and kept possession, leaving them with nothing to do but press.
Then, in the thirty-fourth minute, the Korean team finally found an opening.
Lee Wonjun, the defensive midfielder covering the back line, scanned his surroundings and fed a pass to Kang Minsang, the mezzala on the right.
Tak!
Both wingers stretched wide, dragging the fullbacks with them. The gaps between City's center-backs and fullbacks — the so-called half-spaces — yawned open.
Kang Minsang drove into that half-space with the ball, then slipped it out to Woojun on the right to escape the City midfielder closing from behind.
Woojun beat his man down the flank and cut toward the box.
Tuk.
He threaded the ball through the City left-back's legs, then spun left around him in a single motion. He collected it again as the defender scrambled to recover.
At that moment, a cutback to Seon Jaewoo, lingering in the channel between the lines.
Jaewoo took it first-time and struck.
Whoosh—.
The ball curled right and sailed wide of the post.
"Sorry!"
"It's fine! Take your time!"
Woojun clapped and patted Jaewoo on the back.
Take your time, huh…
Whether that was even possible — even a producer who watched football once every four years could tell it wouldn't be easy.
Thump—.
City's keeper launched a long goal kick upfield. The ball arced over the halfway line and found City's striker hovering on the center circle.
One of the center-backs stepped up to contest the aerial duel and lost it.
City's striker collected the ball and surged forward. The man who stopped him cold was Lee Seungmin, the center-back holding the last line.
It was a risky tackle, but he got to the ball first, and it ricocheted backward. Joo Wonwoo, who had lost the aerial battle and been chasing the striker, gathered it and switched to the left-back.
Seo Jinyoung, the left-back, drove forward with the ball and, near the halfway line, laid it off slightly to the right.
Kang Minsang took the touch and immediately threaded a through ball back toward the left flank.
Tat!
Seong Ian met it with the outside of his foot — or rather, he didn't quite catch it cleanly.
Tok.
The ball, still carrying pace, rode up the back of his foot and settled against his back. He flicked his instep upward, and the ball popped into the air.
In one motion he spun and shifted under the drop. He cushioned it to the ground with his chest, then knocked it long and blew past the opposing right-back with overwhelming speed.
"He's going to cross from there…?"
The wind-up with his left foot looked so much like a cross that even the producers in the stands murmured the same thing.
But he never struck it.
His left foot planted dead beside the ball. He turned his body toward the box — and something flashed past in front of him.
Shhhraaak—..
It was Manchester City's fullback, Darwin Diaz, lunging in to block the cross.
Seong Ian tracked the sliding tackle as it scythed across the grass.
Did he just… smile?
He had. Unmistakably.
Ian nudged the ball right with his left foot and cut inside the box. The center-backs tried to close him down, but he toyed with them through a blur of skill and dribbling, then laid a cutback to Seon Jaewoo, who had arrived late.
Tang!
This time the strike was clean — but it cannoned off the post and spun out, looking for all the world like it would drop to a City defender.
Tuk—.
If Seong Ian hadn't stuck a foot into the scramble, that is.
City's goalkeeper had gone down in the direction of Jaewoo's shot. The rebound fell on the opposite side. Ian's foot found it first.
Shhhk—.
With a touch barely worthy of being called a shot, he poked home the opening goal.
Seong Ian sprinted toward the corner where the cameras were rolling. He jabbed a finger at the ground, leapt high into the air, and threw both arms wide.
"Siuuuuuuuu!!!!"
To a producer who didn't follow football, the sound meant nothing. He simply stood there with his arms spread open.
The producers watching him…
"Puhaha!!"
"He's actually insane. Last time he did this against Atlético Madrid — and now it's Man City?!"
"Well, Ronaldo is a Man United legend~"
Two clubs sharing the same city. Two brothers. Two bitter rivals.
The signature celebration of Cristiano Ronaldo — Manchester United's franchise star and one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game — had just been unleashed on this pitch as well.
The producers were flustered all over again. But they still had no idea what Seong Ian was going to do next.