Olympic Group Stage (4)
Olympic Group Stage (4)
058
The Coach-nim in front of the large TV continued his explanation passionately.
"Basically, Spain is good at utilizing the Third Man and the Free Man, so we especially need to mark this Third Man—"
Hmm. Hmm.
Third Man, huh.
I know it too. Tactically, that... whatchamacallit, that... anyway, that thing.
"The player we need to be most careful of is Jorge Garcia. No one here doesn't know him, right? As everyone knows, he's the most notable prodigy in Spain. He debuted at 18, and this year at 20, a transfer to Real Madrid is considered likely."
Hmm. Jorge Garcia. I know him, I know him.
...Huh?
"Gasp! Jorge Garcia!?"
"That's right. Jorge Garcia. Do you have something to say, Hong Min-jun?"
"...No, sir."
"You were dozing off quite well. Did hearing Jorge's name wake you up?"
"Of course. Jorge Garcia is my rival."
The strategy room went cold at the confident answer.
...What is this?
"Bwahahaha! A rival! He said a rival!! Kuhahaha!"
"I heard he was a crazy bastard, but I didn't know he was actually this crazy. Good job, Min-jun."
"This punk is really something else. Hey, do you even know who Jorge is before you say that?"
I felt a surge of frustration at the seniors laughing here and there.
"Wow, you guys are too much. Of course I know! Jorge Garcia! He debuted at Bilbao at 18, scored 9 goals in his first season, and scored 16 goals last year at 19!"
"You know him and you say that?"
"What? A rival~? A rivaaaal~~~??"
"Quiet."
At the Coach-nim's one word, the seniors finally stopped teasing.
"If it's Hong Min-jun, he's a genius on Jorge's level."
"...Huh?"
"Coach-nim?"
"Hmm. What is it? Why are everyone's reactions like that?"
Yoon-hyeok sunbae muttered while flipping through the analysis data.
"Strange. Suddenly the reliability of the data has dropped."
The only one who recognizes me is the Coach-nim!
As expected of our Coach-nim, being a European leaguer, his eye for talent is no joke.
Watching the TV screen on repeat, a question suddenly popped up.
"But Coach-nim. Seeing that, a question came to mind. What if we put active pressure on the Spanish kids?"
"I don't know either."
"...Pardon?"
"We'd have to try it to know... but Morocco did that and got absolutely shredded."
The Coach-nim scratched his chin.
"Since it's hard to build teamwork due to the nature of the national team, defensive tactics usually rely on Zone Defense or pressure based on individual player ability... but as you can see, those Spanish guys are acting cocky. It's the confidence that they can overwhelm in terms of individual player quality."
Since the national team has little time to get in sync, it's hard to expect good teamwork like a club team.
In soccer, teamwork shines more in defense than in attack, and pressure is something that requires team-level organization rather than individual ability.
In other words, organized pressure is difficult for a national team.
The Spanish national team was using this to play on the premise that their individual press resistance ability was superior to their opponents.
"Can you guys stop those Spanish kids' press resistance?"
"......."
Seeing the silent players, the Coach-nim gave a bitter smile.
"Attack is the best defense. For this Spain match. Our team's concept is attack."
"...What? Coach-nim, what does that mean...?"
"Hong Min-jun."
"Yes, sir!"
"The center of this tactic is you. Use this opportunity to show the whole world that you are by no means inferior to Jorge."
At the same time, the Spanish Olympic team was also in the middle of analysis.
"Our next opponent is Korea."
"Yay~ Korea!! But what country is Korea?"
"Jose, you idiot! You don't know Korea? It's the country next to India!"
"No, you idiots. It's the country next to Indonesia."
"Oh~ Pedro! As expected of our brain!"
Unai Simon, the coach of the Spanish Olympic team, did not stop the players chatting noisily. It wasn't because he looked down on Korea, but because this was his way.
Unai Simon is a coach who values creativity. And creativity comes from freedom rather than a stuffy, disciplined atmosphere.
That's why his team always had to be free.
"Alright, alright. Gentlemen. Korea is a country in East Asia."
"Oh! East Asia! I know! Japan!!"
"That's right. The country above Japan is Korea. So, shall we start the power analysis?"
However, freedom and indulgence must be distinguished.
It was Unai Simon's philosophy that discipline is necessary during training, and power analysis, which is conducted mainly through audiovisuals, is also an important part of training.
Having served as the Olympic team coach for nearly two years, the players knew his methods well.
As soon as the video started playing, the players who were busy chatting all shut their mouths and began to focus on the video. Unai Simon smiled with satisfaction.
'It's a shame that Rodrigo and Raul are missing. If only those two were here, we would be 1st in the group right now.'
Now that one game of the Group D preliminary has been played, South Korea was still in 1st place in the group, and Spain was closely following behind.
It was because of a single goal difference, even though they had the same 3 points, because South Korea won 4:0 and Spain won 3:0.
Unai regretted the absence of Rodrigo and Raul.
Those two players were 2 of the trio who led Spain to victory in the last U-17 Euro and U-19 Euro with overwhelming skill.
The current young Spanish players are called the 'Golden Generation'.
And at the center of it are the trio of Jorge, Rodrigo, and Raul.
Among them, Jorge is evaluated as the most outstanding, but the other two are also excellent players who wouldn't be surprised if their rankings changed at any time.
If all three of the trio who were the main players in the last Euro Youth World Cup had participated, it wouldn't have been strange if the victory against Morocco had been 6:0, not 3:0. It was only 3:0 due to a lack of goal-scoring ability, because there were countless decisive opportunities.
However, unfortunately, there was no mandatory call-up rule for the Olympics, and clubs did not welcome the call-up of the prospects they cherished.
It makes sense, as the period when the Olympics are held is July-August.
Isn't that the period when the transfer market has just ended and the pre-season is in full swing?
Pre-season is a very important period.
It was a period to build physical strength and condition to endure a season that can be called a marathon, to get in sync with new transfers, and to learn tactics.
However, if you participate in the Olympics, you lose the entire pre-season.
You have to unreasonably pull up your physical condition, which should be raised slowly at the beginning of the season, and there is no time to match the team's tactics or new transfers.
Naturally, from the club's perspective, Olympic call-ups wouldn't be welcome.
Unai Simon requested call-ups for all three of the trio representing the Golden Generation, but he had no expectation that anyone would respond. The fact that Jorge participated is, in a way, unusual.
'They say he's transferring to Real Madrid this time. It's confirmed to the level where he just needs to sign the contract himself. That must be why.'
Young Jorge was enthusiastic about the Olympics. Whether it was out of patriotism or the recklessness of youth, Jorge wanted to participate in the Olympics, and his agent also wanted to raise his value even higher based on his performance at the Olympics.
Athletic Bilbao, the team that could stop this, didn't bother to stop a player whose transfer was scheduled, and Real Madrid, while not pleased, couldn't stop the player's own will since the contract wasn't finalized yet.
All of this meshed perfectly, allowing Jorge, who is rated highest among the trio of the Golden Generation, to participate in the Olympics.
"Now, gentlemen. Our opponent, Korea, has gained momentum with a 4:0 big win in the last match against Honduras. In fact, they are even above us in the rankings."
"That's only because they haven't played us yet!"
"That's right! Let's crush them in the next match!"
"It's good to see everyone so confident. If so, to crush Korea, we need to dig into their tactics and capabilities. Now, this is Korea's movement when defending."
Unai explained to the players the analysis he had done while watching the last match against Honduras.
Of course, neither Unai nor the players were in a serious mood. No matter how much they don't let their guard down, to them, Korea is still a soccer backwater that needs a lot of development.
"You saw what happened to Morocco, who tried to press actively in the last match, so Korea will come out mainly with Zone Defense. The player to be careful of is number 28. His name is... Yoon-hyeok? Yoon-hyeok? The pronunciation is difficult. Anyway, this player needs to be watched."
Unai said while playing a video that only edited Yoon Hyeok's movements from the Honduras match.
"Technically, he's nothing special, but he's a player with excellent movement. He has good anticipation, so you can often see him intercepting. Also, he's a friend with decent long-pass ability, so it's important to press as quickly as possible when we lose possession of the ball."
After a few players passed by, a player with jersey number 7 appeared on the screen.
"Whoa~ What is this boy. Is he a model?"
"Boss! Is this scrawny guy a soccer player too?"
"Puhaha. He looks very pretty, doesn't he? Shouldn't he be sent to the women's game?"
"Wow~ He's really handsome. Slurp."
"...Jorge?"
The atmosphere turned cold for a moment.
"Focus. This player is Hong-Min-Jun... is that how you read it? Koreans have difficult names. He's a young player, 20 years old this year. He plays as a left winger and led the team's attack by succeeding in several good key passes in the last match. His ability to find empty spaces and move is not bad either."
A video edited around Hong Min-jun passes by.
"Now. Is there anyone who feels something strange here?"
Among the players who were just staring blankly at the coach's question, one raised his hand.
It was Jorge.
"Yes, Jorge. What's strange?"
"He looks very cool even when he's sweating."
"...I see. Anyone else?"
"His posture is just like a dribbler's."
"Correct!"
The coach, who then played the video, pointed out the points one by one.
"Let's look at this scene. Movement to receive a pass. First touch. You can tell by the direction of his body and his gaze at this time. He's a typical dribbler. In this match, he played mainly with passes for some reason, but you can see him unconsciously trying to dribble when receiving the ball."
Unai, who turned off the video shortly after, said.
"Korea's tactics are not difficult. The center of the attack is clear. In the midfield, watch out for number 28, Yoon-hyeok? Yoon-hyeok? And in the attack, just be careful of Mr. Hong's surprise dribble, number 7. The other players' on-the-ball ability is not that great. Fernando."
At the coach's call, a player with a bushy beard raised his hand slightly.
"Position-wise, it's you who will mark Mr. Hong. Can I trust you?"
The player called Fernando smiled, revealing white teeth from behind his bushy beard.
"Boss. I will erase Mr. Hong in this match."