Korea-Japan Match (2)
Korea-Japan Match (2)
068
"Eh~?! Isn't this photo of player Hong Min-jun and player Yoon Hyuk! I know player Hong Min-jun, but player Yoon Hyuk is unexpected. In what way is that?"
"If you look closely, the South Korean team's tactics are determined by the movements of this number 28, player Yoon Hyuk. If the pressure is strong, he drops down to form a back three, and when attacking, he handles the build-up in front of the defense, then momentarily moves up to the midfield line to form a 1-2-3-4 shape. Even when defending, it changes to 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1, or 5-4-1 depending on this player's movements."
"Then player Yoon Hyuk is truly the center of their tactics!"
"That's right. This player is the core of the South Korean team's tactics."
"Eh~~ So even the ace was a deception!! It truly is Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan!!"
The four characters for Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan are stamped firmly, thud thud, across the broadcast screen.
"Of course, player Hong Min-jun is also a core player. Unusually, the South Korean team's defensive line is very low. The pressing line is also low. Usually, teams that use aggressive tactics set everything from the defensive line to the pressing line very high, so this is a very unique case. Shouldn't the line be high so that even if they make a mistake, they don't lose the ball in the enemy's territory? That way, they can press immediately to aim for a counter-attack or buy time to transition to defense, but the South Korean team is unique in that they show extreme aggression when attacking, yet extreme defense when defending."
"Is that strange?"
"It is strange. What if they take an extreme attacking formation like 1-2-3-4 and lose the ball? They become very vulnerable to counter-attacks. On the other hand, when defending, the line is so low that even if their defensive power is good, no counter-attack can proceed."
"Now that I hear it, it is strange. Yet, what is the reason the South Korean team is strong?"
"It is precisely because of number 28, player Yoon Hyuk, and number 7, player Hong Min-jun. With the outstanding judgment and movement of number 28, player Yoon Hyuk, they reduce gaps in both offense and defense, and the presence of number 7, player Hong Min-jun allows the South Korean team to achieve good results despite the extreme offense and defense."
Hasegawa pulled out a panel from underneath again.
"This is what the South Korean team showed in their past matches. If you look, they are extremely concentrated when attacking, and conversely, when defending, the line is low and the players are very compact. This is a situation transitioning from defense to counter-attack. You see, because the line is low, there is only player Hong to counter-attack. Normally, such a counter-attack shouldn't have any power, but... player Hong pulls off such absurd plays, breaking through everything by himself, so it's impossible to stop. Even when attacking, they funnel the ball to player Hong, and since he doesn't lose the ball and takes it all the way to a shot, finishing the attack, there are very few cases where they get counter-attacked in the middle."
"Aha~ So in the end, it's the performance of Hong-san and Yoon-san! Then, should we just stop these two players?"
"That is not the case. Trying to stop these two players unreasonably is a bad move."
"Oho! Then what is Mr. Hasegawa's solution!"
"That is precisely...!"
The day of the Men's Olympic Football Semifinals.
One hour before the match started, the broadcast was already underway in Japan.
"Well~ there is one hour left until the match starts. Mr. Yoshitaro. As a former national team player and current coach, how do you see this South Korean national team?"
"Ah~ they are strong. Korea is strong. Especially Hong-san's terrifying scoring ability! It's amazing. He can truly be called the Kamamoto Kunishige of Korea!!"
"Heh~? Are you talking about the pride of Samurai Blue, the best striker in Asia, that Kamamoto Kunishige?"
"That is correct. In fact, Hong-san's track record is also following Kamamoto Kunishige. In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he recorded a whopping 7 goals, becoming the first and last Asian top scorer in Summer Olympic history."
"As expected of the best striker in Asia. The one and only Asian top scorer in the Olympics. However, I understand that player Hong Min-jun is currently ranked 2nd in scoring."
"Eh~ Hong-san is 2nd with 5 goals in 3 matches. 1st place is France's Gabriel Mendy, who is taking 1st place with 6 goals in 4 matches."
While the Japanese broadcast was focusing on Hong Min-jun, who is expected to be the most threatening, at the same time, the Japan national team coach Kotaro was also talking about Hong Min-jun.
"Believe in the sweat you shed preparing for today's match! Our efforts will never betray us! Now, I will explain one last time. The core of the South Korean team is number 28, Yoon Hyuk, and number 7, Hong Min-jun!"
Kotaro, who spent his youth in Europe and played in the K-League during his active years, was proficient in pronouncing Korean names.
"If it were a full-strength Korea, it would have been difficult, but right now, those guys are missing two starting players. Oh Pyo-sik and Kim Dae-seong. These two are the assistants to Hong Min-jun and Yoon-hyeok, and they are players who contributed significantly to Korea getting this far."
The players nod at Kotaro's words.
According to the analysis while preparing for the Korea match, Oh Pyo-sik's role was to draw aggro so that Hong Min-jun could run wild to his heart's content. Yet, he was a troublesome player who also had the ability to receive Hong Min-jun's passes and score goals, so he couldn't be ignored.
Kim Dae-seong was also a player who provided a lot of help behind the scenes.
It was a fact known to other teams that Yoon-hyeok was the core of the South Korean team. Teams that knew he played an irreplaceable role with his outstanding passing ability and judgment, especially in build-up, had applied strong pressure to Yoon-hyeok.
Yoon-hyeok, who lacked press resistance, couldn't shake off this pressure with his individual ability, and it was Kim Dae-seong who helped him with this.
He played the role of an unsung hero, moving nearby when Yoon-hyeok was pressured to increase passing options, supporting press resistance through 2:1 passes, and backing up the empty space left by the freely moving Yoon-hyeok.
"This is precisely the South Korean team's weakness!! Two players who played invisible but indispensable roles are out! No matter how outstanding Hong Min-jun and Yoon-hyeok are, there is a limit once those two are out! We will win this match!! Sakka Nippon Daihyo fighting!!"
"—That is what those Japanese bastards must be thinking."
The final tactical meeting before entering the match.
Everyone chuckled at the coach's words.
"Hong Min-jun!"
"Yes, Coach."
"This match... no, can I trust you in this match too?"
Everyone's gaze turned toward me.
The empty space created by the absence of player Oh Pyo-sik, who silently helped me so I could perform, and senior Kim Dae-seong, the unsung hero who took on all the dirty work.
Other players might be starting, but they couldn't fill the void left by those two seniors.
However, the solution was simple.
It was just a matter of being able to perform without help.
"Of course, Coach."
I looked at the translucent status window floating before my eyes and grinned.
Hidden stats require a whopping 5 points to raise by 1.
It's truly a rip-off price.
They are all abilities that are too good to discard—honestly, I only recently felt the use for Intelligence—so I had been planning to raise them someday, but because the point consumption is so high, I always hesitated and ended up investing in other stats.
While I hadn't been able to touch the hidden stats like that, bad news struck during the last quarterfinals: senior Oh Pyo-sik's injury and senior Kim Dae-seong's suspension.
Hearing the news that the two seniors couldn't play in the next match, the semifinals, I thought deeply.
'My goal is a medal. Even if we lose this time, there's a bronze medal match, and by then, I don't know about senior Oh Pyo-sik, but senior Kim Dae-seong should be able to return.'
'Then couldn't I save the points?'
How hard I had worked to collect these points. 49 points barely collected through female athletes who unreasonably participated in the Olympics after the Round of 16. Combined with the existing 13 points, I had scraped together 62 points.
I learned while collecting points this time that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to obtaining points.
To think I only got 49 points after doing it with 22 people. And since half of that came from 3 people, I started to think there might be conditions that give more points.
'Yeah. Let's just save them. It would be nice to win, but even if I can't... I just need to get a medal.'
What changed my mind was after the next match's opponent was revealed.
'What? Japan? Ah, shit... You shouldn't even lose to Japan in rock-paper-scissors!'
So I immediately used the points. On Technique.
[Cannot raise due to lack of Genius]
The problem was that Individual Skill and Trapping wouldn't rise anymore due to a lack of Genius.
So while I was debating whether to raise Genius first, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
'How much do I need to raise Genius? If I use too much on Genius and lack points for other stats...?'
It's a stat that consumes 5 points just to raise it by 1, after all.
I agonized over it and asked senior Yoon-hyeok.
"Senior. What do I need to win the next match?"
"Out of the blue? If you ask like that, there's too much."
"Then what should I do? What I'm lacking."
"That's easy. Soccer Intelligence."
"Huh? Not things like Finishing or Speed?"
"Those are already sufficient. Finishing is... a bit lacking, but anyway, what you need right now is Soccer Intelligence."
If it's the words of senior Yoon-hyeok, who is the most knowledgeable about soccer around me, it must be right.
But how do I raise Soccer Intelligence?
'...This Intelligence is the same Intelligence, right? It must be.'
So I raised it. The hidden stat, Intelligence.
【Technique】 【Mental】 【Physical】
Individual Skill 075 ｜ Vision 055 ｜ Speed 067
Dribbling 070 ｜ Anticipation 050 ｜ Acceleration 068
Trapping 075 ｜ Judgment 065 ｜ Balance 065
Short Pass 055 ｜ Concentration 056 ｜ Agility 065
Long Pass 050 ｜ Off the Ball 060 ｜ Reaction Speed 079
Shooting 045 ｜ Marking 045 ｜ Power 054
Free Kick 042 ｜ Composure 052 ｜ Jump 046
Header 038 ｜ Leadership 040 ｜ Stamina 055
Tackle 032 ｜ Teamwork 039 ｜ Recovery 065
【Hidden】
Genius 048 ｜ Charm 095 ｜ Intelligence 040(▲12)
【Height 175cm｜63kg】
【Points Held】 2P
I used a whopping 60 points to get it to 40.
'...Ooh!?'
"Yes, the starting lineup has been announced."
"Our South Korean starting lineup is... Huh? Player Hong Min-jun is... placed in the center?"