Revelation (2)
“What, what does that mean?”
“Amira said something like that? No, but why in the interview….”
Other teammates’ voices of surprise echoed through the room.
I understood. Even I, with my experience, was taken aback.
‘Why on earth would she say that in the interview….’
If there was such a problem, I should have been told first. And if it didn’t work out, well, I could just sell Amira to another team and sign a defender in the winter transfer window.
‘…Ah, I broke Amira’s leg. Then she wouldn’t be sellable, right? No, but then why didn’t I sign a defender? And why didn’t the other Muslims just play without a word? Why is this one….’
The coach who couldn’t manage the team and let such a story slip in the interview, and Amira who was pushed to the brink just because of religious reasons, I couldn’t understand either. And among them, the one I didn’t understand more was Diana’s side.
Honestly, I didn’t know much about Islam, but even when I was bored, death threats came via DM telling me not to play football with women, so I just thought there was one Muslim guy on the team.
But the coach, in a situation where there were still Copa del Rey and league games left, instead of trying to make up for the shocking comeback loss, said something that would create such a stir….
This could potentially divide the team into supporters of Amira and supporters of me, making it a mess.
‘Crazy bastard….’
But Diana’s outburst didn’t end there.
“Isn’t playing against a man that difficult? A player who earns over a million euros a month (about 150 million won) is only having trouble with such a problem….”
‘That crazy bastard….’
And seeing Diana point out the problem again, I realized it clearly.
‘…This guy is politicking right now?’
Honestly, if I had to point out the root cause of the comeback loss in today’s match, it was all Diana’s strange player management.
If I couldn’t be used alongside Amira at the same time, it would have been the right choice to put Amira in the league and me in the Champions League.
No matter how good my performance was compared to Arnal, Arnal was also a pretty good player, so she would have been usable against Valencia.
Moreover, today’s match was one where you could advance if you didn’t lose 3:0, so we filled the candidate list with defensive players, but in fact, that wasn’t the right choice. When it became 2:0, we should have brought someone like Luciana Cambla who could create variables.
In addition to that, if we gave feedback on each match, Diana’s strange tactics could be pointed out countless times, so Diana’s player management today was strange.
If I hadn’t brought up that word and just moved on, there would definitely have been articles in sports media starting from the miracle at the Allianz Arena, shocking comeback loss, and controversies about the coach’s qualifications, pouring out criticism of Diana.
But by bringing up that word, those criticisms would be swallowed. Because religious issues and gender discrimination weren’t just in the realm of sports.
Probably after this interview, some Muslims would curse me, but most of the blame would be directed at Amira.
“Amira, I didn’t think that way….”
“I really didn’t know. I thought Amira and I were quite close.”
“Ryu, are you okay?”
…Like the reactions of other teammates watching the interview with me.
And the club obviously couldn’t take this lightly. Firing a coach who stirred up religious issues meant abandoning not only the Muslims in Spain but also the Muslim fans scattered around the world.
From Barcelona’s perspective, they couldn’t abandon those Muslim fans either, so Diana’s chances of being fired were high. After all, there wasn’t much time left on the contract, so the money to let her go wasn’t a burden.
And if Diana was fired, there would definitely be an increase in public opinion treating Diana as a pitiful person.
‘…Did she aim this far?’
Diana may not have been good at tactics, but she clearly had innate talent for politics.
And I was worried about the aftershock this incident would bring.
Since there were still league and cup games left, we could aim for a double, but if Diana went this far and made a mess, the team’s atmosphere would naturally become a mess too.
‘…This is really troublesome.’
Still, I had to acknowledge Diana’s guts. She publicly said something like that in a situation where I didn’t know when an extreme Muslim would come to cut her throat.
“Of course, I don’t intend to shift all the blame onto the players. This is all because I’m lacking as the coach.”
Finally, a placating comment.
“Pfft.”
Just thinking about it, a smile came out.
“Ryu, are you okay?”
And Lucia reacted to my smile. Lucia also seemed to be pondering how to handle this situation as the captain.
Even though Lucia usually threw out low-level jokes, she was a player who reached the world’s top level with just one brain, and with that much football intelligence, there was no way Lucia wouldn’t have thought what I was thinking.
Basically, stupid people, or girls, can’t play football well.
“Yeah, well. It’s embarrassing, but… Amira probably didn’t have bad intentions. It’s just because religious doctrines are like that.”
While hiding my true feelings from such Lucia, I uttered neutral words. Here, to alienate the Muslims, there were Muslims among the players watching TV together, and even the team’s ace Alvarado was a Muslim, so there was no need to speak badly.
Actually, Alvarado’s parents were immigrants from that side, so he believed in Islam, but he himself was a fashion Muslim who ate ham made from pork, anyway, no need to make enemies by saying unnecessary things.
Moreover, seeing Camila’s expression, she was watching TV with an expression as if she would immediately rush at Amira, a girl who couldn’t fight, so I needed to calm such Camila down.
“Haah… You’ve all grown up already. I’m glad you’re mature, Ryu.”
“You’re not saying anything weird again, are you?”
“Ha, haha. Seeing that you have the leisure to joke, it seems you’re really okay. Tch. Diana’s coach is only half like you… No.”
Camila’s expression, which had been angry since earlier, softened a little at my joke. Camila with such an expression. She must have been very angry. Well, when I first heard the interview, I was angry too, so it wasn’t strange that Camila had such an expression.
“Ryu, don’t worry too much. I’m also a Muslim, but I don’t think that way. Amira is a bit devout, so that’s why. That guy probably didn’t say that to the coach with bad intentions.”
After that, other players who didn’t know I was okay gathered around me one by one to comfort me. While we were spending time like that, the players who played with Diana came in. Seeing Amira’s expression saying ‘I’m angry’, probably other players who saw the coach’s interview had said something in the locker room.
Or they might have fought.
‘Well, since the coach pointed out Amira to be scolded, fighting isn’t strange.’
Still, since there were no swollen-faced players, it didn’t seem like there was a fistfight.
“……”
“……”
Of course, even if there was no fistfight, the team atmosphere couldn’t be good.
So, we headed to Barcelona in a heavy atmosphere.
*
“Diana. You are dismissed.”
“I am innocent.”
“It is also the coach’s fault for not managing the players. And, by spilling such discord outside. And moreover! Turning 2 billion Muslims in the world into enemies! Fortunately, I didn’t sue you because of our friendship, Diana.”
In the president’s solemn words, Diana, who was called to the president’s office right after arriving in Barcelona, laughed inwardly.
After all, since we were eliminated in the quarterfinals with a comeback loss, there was no thought of re-contracting, and we had expected to be fired.
‘As expected, I was right.’
If I hadn’t exposed that fact in the interview, I would have become the only one to suffer a disaster and be fired, and then I wouldn’t be able to find a job.
But since this happened, I could get sympathy from football fans who were not Muslim. The coach who couldn’t manage the stupid coach and players. Among them, the one with the highest chance of employment was the latter.
‘I can’t go to places with many Muslims like Germany or France, but if there’s no Muslim, I can get a job anywhere. Well, if I can’t find any, I can turn to Asia where there are no Muslims. …Um, that’s not bad. China also pays a lot, so it would be okay there too.’
Thinking that if there was a famous coach who was the Barcelona coach, employment would be sufficient in the Asian countries, which are football backward countries. And if lucky, even the EPL side.
Because I was dreaming of such a future, the president was blushing and blaming himself, but Diana didn’t care at all.
“Well, if the club says so, there’s nothing I can do.”
After all, since I didn’t think about staying at Barcelona after the exposé interview, there was no regret.
“Diana!”
“Then let’s end our relationship here. But, the president must not forget that there must be no discrimination within the ground.”
So, Diana uttered words as if she had become a human rights activist and left the president’s office.
“What a crazy bastard….”
President Mariana muttered curses at Diana’s words, but the voice didn’t reach Diana’s ears.
“Ha, a coach who can take over in April….”
Firing was already spilled water. President Mariana, thinking hard, quickly started thinking who the coach who could come to Barcelona now was. After all, the Champions League was out in the quarterfinals, but Barcelona’s season wasn’t over yet.
Of course, the Champions League was the most important tournament, but league and Copa del Rey were also important tournaments, and since the probability of winning in both was high, we couldn’t just end the season like this.
But no matter how I thought, no suitable coach came to mind that could come to Barcelona now. Coaches who would be deployed as emergency measures at such a time were mostly coaches with flaws somewhere.
‘A coach who can fix the atmosphere of a messed up team and understand our philosophy….’
The first thing that came to mind was Maria who was active at FIFA, but Maria was a legend among legends in the football world and was too stubborn, so it was hard for her to swing as she wished. Moreover, she was too old too.
‘And it had to be a coach who understood the team’s philosophy….’ Well, then only internal promotion….’
President Mariana recalled the coaches who could be promoted to first team manager in her mind. And the first one who was eliminated among them was Giovanna, the coach of Athletic.
Giovanna had quite a long coaching career, but she couldn’t leave a big legacy as a player, so she lacked charisma.
What was needed now was a legendary coach who could fix the atmosphere of a messed up team.
Then, the remaining one was only Vanessa, who was in charge of the youth director Angela’s coach.
Angela and Vanessa were legends who led the golden age of the team together, Angela in Maria’s Dream Team era, Vanessa in the Tiki-Taka era that dominated the football world.
But Vanessa had only been retired for 5-6 years, so she hadn’t fully matured as a coach yet.
Then, there was only one left.
Bee, bee, bee.
President Mariana pressed the phone in the president’s office and called her secretary.
“Yes, President.”
“Angela. Call Angela.”
“Angela….”
“This bastard… Ha… The only Angela to call in this situation is Angela Lopez, the youth director! Hurry up and call!”
“Ah, yes, yes!”
‘Yeah, if it’s Angela, she can overcome this crisis. Since almost no player among the La Masia players in the team has not had Angela’s touch, it would be easy to take control of the team.’
So, President Mariana prayed inwardly that Angela would perfectly handle this crisis.