Olympic Group Stage (2)
Olympic Group Stage (2)
056
Beep, beep, beeeep—!
The match began with the referee's whistle.
The game started with our team's kickoff.
Yoo Ji-ho-sunbae, the center forward who had been standing with his foot on the ball, lightly passed it to me as I stood beside him.
I immediately passed it back toward our defensive line with a one-touch and moved toward my position on the left flank.
The Honduras players, who had been holding their ground firmly while watching the passes being exchanged leisurely in our defensive zone, started to show signs of change once the ball reached the midfield line.
As our center-back duo exchanged a couple of passes and then handed the ball to Yoon Hyeok-sunbae, who was playing as the defensive midfielder, Honduras's press began.
'The press line isn't high, just like the analysis said.'
There was pressure from the opposing forward, but the movement wasn't aggressive.
Yoon Hyeok-sunbae, who had leisurely escaped the press with a 2:1 pass with the fullback, glanced at me and sent a pass straight away.
Since the enemy's defense was solid, it wasn't a space pass toward the enemy's territory, but a pass to my feet. Rather than waiting for the pass to arrive, I lightly ran and scanned my surroundings.
'One player sticking to me. Two players trying to block the passing lane.'
Since the pass was happening in our own territory, the enemy's pressure wasn't that intense.
The moment I received the pass, I instinctively assumed a posture good for dribbling, but then I flinched and stopped my movement.
'Right.'
What the coach said right before the match started.
"Until I give the signal, refrain from dribbling and try to work it out with tactical movement."
I didn't know the reason, but it was an instruction the coach had specifically mentioned.
It was still early in the match, so there was no need to disobey the coach's instructions for no reason. I glanced at the coach, but he was just watching with his arms crossed.
I stopped what would have been a dribble and lightly sent the ball backward.
I could see the dark-skinned Honduras player who had been approaching me backing off again.
'The defensive method is zone defense rather than man-to-man marking. They guard a certain space assigned to each player, and then stick to the opposing player who catches the ball if they get close.'
I observed the opponent's movements and compared them to the contents of the analysis report.
Their movement when they didn't have possession of the ball was just as the report said. So far, they were moving exactly according to the coach's analysis.
"Push the line!"
About two minutes into the match, the team, which had been passing the ball around in our territory to gauge the opponent's movements, began to advance aggressively following the coach's hand gesture.
The start of it was Seol Yo-han-sunbae, the wild card player who started as the captain and left fullback. The pass went to Seol Yo-han-sunbae, who had overlapped to a position higher than me, the left forward.
"Stick! Stick to him!! Stick so I can pass!!"
"Going to the center!"
"Open here!"
Sweat began to flow down the faces of the players from both teams who had been moving leisurely.
The tempo quickened. I also dug into the half-space in line with the tactical movement.
The pass that had been connecting from Seol Yo-han-sunbae to me, back to Seol Yo-han-sunbae, and then to Yoo Ji-ho-sunbae was cut off by Honduras's aggressive press.
'Damn. Honduras is a team good at counterattacks.'
I moved according to the training we did while preparing for the Honduras match.
'The start of the counterattack is Reyes.'
The opponent's tactics that I had checked over and over again through the analysis materials.
When I turned my gaze to find Reyes, who was the core of Honduras and played the role of the link between offense and defense,
"Counter! Get in!!"
Yoon Hyeok-sunbae, who had appeared out of nowhere, intercepted the pass heading toward Reyes.
In the sudden transition between offense and defense, the territories of both teams became messily entangled, causing confusion, but my body started running toward the empty space on the left as trained.
'If it's Yoon Hyeok-sunbae, he'll connect it this way!'
A situation I had experienced over and over again at Hojin University.
The moment I trusted Yoon Hyeok-sunbae and ran at full speed toward the enemy territory, then looked back, our eyes met.
'It's coming!'
Ppeong!
A pass shot at high speed along with the cool impact sound of kicking the ball. Since both our team and the opposing team hadn't settled into their positions due to the successive transitions in the enemy territory, there was no player marking me.
I trapped the ball leisurely and subconsciously checked for space to dribble.
"Hong Min-jun!! Here!!"
I could see the figure of Oh Pyo-sik-sunbae, the right forward, running quickly toward the opponent's penalty box.
Because I was in a posture to dribble, it was a difficult situation to pass. If I set my posture and passed, it would be too late. I would get caught offside.
After a very short moment of hesitation, I struck the ball with the outside of my right foot.
I stumbled and lost my balance after kicking the ball in an unstable posture, but that was only for a moment; before I could even recover my balance, I quickly pushed off the ground.
It wasn't a pass made from a proper posture, so it didn't connect properly, but thanks to that, the exquisitely bounced ball passed under the feet of the opposing defender who was trying to clear it and rolled away.
"Shoot! Shoot!!"
Oh Pyo-sik-sunbae, who had caught a golden opportunity, kicked the rolling ball as it was.
Ppeong!!
The ball flew toward the goalpost with an intense shooting sound.
"Yes, our players need to play calmly, calmly."
"Oh, as I say that, a pass miss! The ball is cut, ah! Intercepted again! Yoon Hyeok! Regains possession with exquisite positioning, uh-oh! Hong Min-jun! Hong Min-jun is running!!"
"Fast, he's fast! Hong Min-jun digging into the left space!!"
"Yoon Hyeok passes! It connects!!"
"Hong Min-jun! It's Hong Min-jun! Hong Min-jun's outside-foot pass!!"
Seeing Oh Pyo-sik's movement digging into the penalty box, Hong Min-jun hesitated and then sent an outside-foot pass with his right foot. It was a pass that curved exquisitely, but it seemed like the Honduras defender standing in the middle would easily clear it.
"Hong Min-jun's pass, ah blocked, bounce! It shows an irregular movement as it bounces on the ground!!"
"It connected! The ball connected to Oh Pyo-sik!!"
However, the ball flying low bounced on the ground and showed an irregular movement.
The defender's foot, which had been swung to clear it, unfortunately grazed the top of the ball, and the ball that rolled as it was connected to Oh Pyo-sik, who was digging into the penalty area.
"Oh Pyo-sik! Oh Pyo-sik, Oh Pyo-sik shoooot!!"
"Shooting!! Ah! The goalpost! The goalpost— Ah, Hong Min-jun!"
A golden opportunity that came from an irregular bounce and the opponent's defensive error.
As soon as Oh Pyo-sik, who belonged to Shimazu of the Japanese J-League and was selected as a wild card, caught the ball, he planted his standing foot deep and took a shot with a dynamic form.
Ppeong!!
A powerful shot fired along with the sound of leather bursting that could be heard on the microphones installed around the ground. It was a shot aimed at the corner where the goalkeeper couldn't block it, but the moment it unfortunately hit the goalpost and bounced out.
"Hong Min-jun catches the second ball, shoot! No, he dribbled!"
Hong Min-jun, who had run like lightning after passing, caught the second ball that bounced off the goalpost.
When he caught the ball that had bounced back to the penalty line like a powerful shot, the opposing defenders were already blocking the front in layers.
At Hong Min-jun's posture, which looked like he would lead to a shot as soon as he caught the ball, the Honduras player right in front threw his body. The foot that had been swung suddenly lost its power and softly bounced the ball to the side.
Hong Min-jun, who had moved the ball from the corner to the front direction while getting past one defender, planted his standing foot deep again as if to shoot, and the defenders threw their bodies one after another,
"Shoot again, he, he dribbled again!"
Hong Min-jun, who had passed the defender who had fallen to the ground and was waving his hands in vain, kicked the ball half a beat faster.
"He broke through, shoot! Shooooot!! Goal! It's a goal!"
"Hong Min-jun! It's a goal!! Hong Min-jun's wonderful opening goal has burst out!!"
"Wooooah!! Goal! It's the opening goal!!"
The moment the powerful shot shook the goal net, the caster and commentator, who had been half-risen from their chairs, jumped up and screamed.
"The player who scored the opening goal is Hong Min-jun!! It's Hong Min-jun!!"
"Ah~ A player who was veiled in mystery is showing a very impressive performance in his debut match!"
"There was a lot of talk after Coach Gong Jeon-seong's surprise selection, but Hong Min-jun is proving it with his skills."
"That's right. Ah, the replay is coming up."
"Wow~ This is amazing. In that urgent situation, a calm shooting fake! And with consecutive fakes, he gets past two defenders and scores!"
"Yoon Hyeok is also amazing. No attacking points, but after the decisive cutting, the pass. Both players who were controversial are proving it with their skills!!"
[South Korea 1 : 0 Honduras — 13th minute of the first half]
—Goal!! Goal!! Opening goal!!
—Wow, fuck... that was insane
—Crazy lol who is that lol
ㄴThe caster is screaming until his throat goes hoarse, it's Hong Min-jun lol
ㄴHong Min-jun? That Hong Min-jun??
ㄴYoon Hyeok is also fucking good damn
ㄴFuck why are those two so good??
—??? : I will prove it with results
—Kya~ I acknowledge Gong Jeon-seong's nepotism soccer
—But seriously, Hong Min-jun's goal is insane even watching it again
—What is this guy?? Why is he so good??
—ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋEven the camera was fooled, right?ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴㅋㅋThe camera director was fooled too, so the screen kept whipping around every time he fakedㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴWhat the fuck lolㅋㅋㅋ So funnyㅋㅋㅋ
—Damn! I trusted Gong Jeon-seong~!!
—Take off your pants and scream!!!
The opening goal that burst out in the 13th minute of the first half.
Honduras rapidly raised the tempo to score an equalizer.
'Honduras is a typical Latin American team. They show more than their skill when they ride the momentum, but they crumble like sand when they lose it.'
Just like the coach's briefing, after the opening goal, Honduras, which had been pushing fiercely, was quite threatening.
However, Honduras, which hadn't been able to land a single proper shot on target even past the middle of the first half, gradually began to get rough, gave away a foul in a dangerous area, and their momentum was shaken after being hit by an additional goal from the free kick of Oh Pyo-sik-sunbae, who was selected as a wild card.
13th minute of the second half.
Following the pattern play we practiced during training, we exchanged the ball on the right and switched it long to the left, creating a 1-on-1 situation with the opposing defense. I remembered the coach's instruction while trying to dribble through, and passed to Oh Pyo-sik-sunbae, who was infiltrating from the other side.
Oh Pyo-sik-sunbae, who had missed an opportunity by hitting the goalpost in the first half but made up for it with a free kick, lightly shook the goal net this time as well, widening the score gap to 3 points, and Honduras collapsed just like that.
[Match End — South Korea 4 : 0 Honduras]
[Group D Results Win Draw Loss Goals Conceded Points]
South Korea 1 0 0 4 0 3
Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0
Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0
Honduras 0 0 1 0 4 0