Preseason - 2
After Son Jinho's opening goal, the flow of the game completely shifted to Dortmund.
This match's star was none other than Son Jinho, no matter what anyone said.
"Wow! Son Jinho is running so much!"
"Indeed. Even in a friendly, he's showing insane work rate."
Son Jinho was dead serious about the game, literally deleting the Olympic team's midfield.
Ki Sung-yueng, playing for Celtic, tried his best to hold onto the ball, but shaking off Dortmund's high-intensity, organized pressing was no easy feat.
"Ki Sung-yueng loses the ball! Son Jinho cleanly takes it away!"
"In situations like this with Dortmund's heavy pressing, players need to actively move to receive the ball!"
In the end, Dortmund stole the ball once more.
The ensuing Dortmund counterattack.
"Son Jinho spots Lewandowski breaking into the box! Lewandowski shoots!!"
Son Jinho, having won the ball, immediately passed it to Lewandowski.
"Ah! Lewandowski's shot just clips over the crossbar!"
Lewandowski's shot unfortunately didn't find the net.
"Sigh—! The Olympic team's defense keeps getting rattled. Facing world-class attackers seems to be shrinking them."
The Olympic team's defenders began to shrink under Dortmund's threatening attacks.
Then, at the 33rd minute of the first half.
Lewandowski dragged the U23 Olympic defenders to the left side of the penalty area before cutting back to the center.
"Uwaaaaaah—! It's in! Son Jinho! Son Jinho's multi-goal!"
Son Jinho slipped through the crumbling defense and calmly placed his right foot on the ball, which ripped straight into the net.
"As you can see, all eyes were on Lewandowski, so they missed Son Jinho breaking into the box."
"Yes. And Son Jinho's finish was top-class too."
"Exactly. That final shot, proving he's a passer at heart, calmly nudged it past Jeong Seong-ryong into the far corner. So composed for such a young age."
Son Jinho, upon scoring, sprinted to the corner flag for his celebration.
"Ah! Son Jinho! He's starting the reverse lap!!!"
"That's right! If you're celebrating on one side, it's only fair to do the other too!!"
For fair fan service, Son Jinho began his reverse lap.
"Waaaaaah—!" "Adeba-hooooo—!"
The crowd at the opposite corner flag roared in response to Son Jinho's fan service spirit.
Reaching the far corner flag at full speed, Son Jinho pointed to the fans with his right hand and unleashed his Hoo celebration.
"Oh! Fans in Son Jinho's old Geum-sun High jersey are going wild!"
The broadcast camera quickly panned to the stands, where fans who'd supported Son Jinho since his Geum-sun High days had gathered.
"Haha, come to think of it, Son Jinho's fan service has always been exceptional since his prospect days."
"Yes. Unlike most prospects who get shy around fans, Son Jinho's pro-level service made him a hot topic."
Kkurehoo, a named user in the Hoo Gallery infamous for trolling—excluding the Manchester United doctor—had come to Seoul World Cup Stadium with the gallery's early members to see gallery owner Son Jinho.
From kickoff, Son Jinho put on a dazzling show against the Korean Olympic national team.
"Kuh, our bro's in insane form."
The early Hoo Gallery members let out gasps at Son Jinho's markedly grown form compared to his Geum-sun High days.
Unlike their awkward first meeting, two years and shared passions had turned them into besties.
Wearing Son Jinho's signed jerseys from his Geum-sun High days, when he smiled, pointed at them, and celebrated...
"Waaaaah, our bro didn't forget us! Hooooooo—!"
Recalling their first live match two years ago, they bellowed Hoo.
After the Hoo celebration in front of those who'd come to his Geum-sun High games, time flew by.
K-League All-Star games and tours by famous overseas teams were mostly events to create new fans and draw crowds.
But the Olympic players wanted to take it seriously, and I obliged.
With my insane work rate that burned everything away...
Just before halftime, I volleyed a pass to Marco Reus slicing into the space behind the Olympic team.
"Waaaaaah—!"
The crowd roared at the fantastic volley pass.
It was a necessary choice to beat the offside trap, but no doubt a flashy treat for the fans' eyes.
The ball evaded offside and reached Marco Reus, who accelerated into the Olympic team's penalty area.
"Jeong Seong-ryong, what the hell! Rush out and block it!"
Was it Marco Reus's blistering speed? Seong-ryong hyung seemed stuck in a hesitant spot with iffy judgment.
Thwack—!
Confirming the keeper's position, Marco Reus's chipped shot arced over his head and into the net.
"Hoo—!"
Marco Reus bolted straight to the corner flag and did the Hoo celebration.
Since this preseason was in Korea, we'd agreed players would do my celebration on goals.
With Marco Reus's slightly off-key Hoo done, the first half ended at the agreed time. I left the pitch to Korean fans' applause.
The second half followed.
"Gooooooal—! Korea's Olympic team scores a consolation right at the death!!"
Dortmund and the U23 team traded goals and ended 4-1.
With me still having business in Korea, the rest of the Dortmund squad headed back to Germany.
Yeah, various incidents aside, Dortmund's preseason wrapped up successfully. I decided to quickly finish my Korean errands.
What I had left to do in Korea was founding an esports team.
I knew how massive esports would get. Not jumping in made no sense.
Later on, sports stars ran one or two esports teams each. League of Heroes had launched in Korea last year, quickly gaining popularity and even holding a league. It was prime time to get ahead with solid roots.
With a bit of nervous anticipation for the moment I'd been waiting for, the cafe door opened.
Bathed in light, the figure of a future legend appeared.
"...Whoa. It's really Son Jinho. Is this a glitch?"
It was Dae-sang Hyuk, the man who'd become esports legend "Ggul-sang Hyuk."