The Knuckleball That Defied Gravity
Ryu Ha-neul had no shots.
This season, the player who had scored thirty goals in twenty-nine matches for his club team found it strange to hear that he had no shots, but it was already a widely known fact in the football world that Ryu Ha-neul had no shots.
His shots, except for the knuckleball, were the kind that any professional goalkeeper could save.
That was why the Swiss goalkeeper Sabina was certain she could stop Ryu Ha-neul’s shots.
Frankly, if they wanted to pick the top performer for Switzerland’s run to the round of sixteen, it would have been the ace Andrea. But the player who had also shone brightly was the goalkeeper Sabina.
Sabina was a goalkeeper who had taken the starting spot at twenty-six years old at Borussia Dortmund despite the difficulty of the position, and she was always on the list when scouts picked the next generation of goalkeepers.
So when Ryu Ha-neul shot, Sabina could only feel a wave of relief that she had managed to clear the attack this time.
“Left!”
Ryu Ha-neul’s breakthrough had been so impressive that even the one watching from behind could not help but admire it, yet the trajectory of the shot was obvious.
Ryu Ha-neul scored a lot of goals, but most of them were rolling shots. Excluding those, the goals he scored while facing the goalkeeper or in unexpected situations like volleys or bicycle kicks were the ones that stood out.
That was why Sabina had not expected Ryu Ha-neul to score from that distance even when she launched herself forward.
But at that exact moment, the trajectory of the ball Ryu Ha-neul had struck began to waver.
“Whoa…!”
Was she moving too hastily? With Ryu Ha-neul’s shooting speed, she could have read the trajectory better and still not been too late…
That moment of regret flashed through Sabina’s mind. Yet even as the thought crossed her thoughts, the wavering shot of Ryu Ha-neul was already falling. Sabina stretched her arm in mid-air without giving up, but she could not save the shot with just a slight touch on the fingertips.
Eh, Ryu Ha-neul who made the tying goal with an amazing shot! Saving South Korea once again from crisis!
Was that a no-spin shot? Usually seen in free kicks, but shooting like that from close range, amazing shot technique. Ryu Ha-neul!
‘What is this…?’
From such a short distance, with just that much of a step, shooting a no-spin shot… This was an unbelievable shot technique that one could not understand why a player with such shot power was scoring so many goals.
‘Why didn’t I shoot such shots until now?’
Instead of anger at conceding the goal, Sabina’s mind was filled with questions about why this player had been hiding such shots until now.
But Ryu Ha-neul had already jumped over the defenders who had fallen in front of him while trying to tackle and was running toward the celebration, so he could not ask the question that had popped into his mind.
“Riiiiuuuuuuuu!!!!!”
And Ryu Ha-neul’s signature celebration erupted, filling Sabina’s mind with embarrassment rather than questions. Does this guy know? Every time he does this celebration, his important part is dangling?
‘……Who should I tell about this? …Yeah, I can’t say it either.’
Who could tell a young man who had not even become an adult that his private part was too prominent during this celebration and to stop it?
-Riiiuuuuu!!!!!!
Moreover, seeing the spectators cheering Ryu Ha-neul’s name in response to this embarrassing celebration, it seemed like one could understand why this guy had been pushing this embarrassing celebration until now.
‘…It would have been perfect if he hadn’t done it against his own country.’
Thinking that, Sabina who had been away from reality due to Ryu Ha-neul’s amazing shot and embarrassing celebration returned to reality. Ryu Ha-neul was writing a story that was too much even for a human victory, and the shot he just scored also evoked admiration, but this was the World Cup stage.
‘Next time… I will definitely save it! Since I know about the no-spin shot, I’ll watch the trajectory of the ball to the end…’
Sabina stopped her momentary escape to reality and inputted Ryu Ha-neul’s new repertoire into her mind. And like Sabina, other Swiss defenders also began to engrave the fact of ‘Ryu Ha-neul’s new shot’ in their minds.
…Without knowing that the more one thought about it, the more deeply they sank into the trap Ryu Ha-neul had dug.
*
-Riiiuuuuu!!!!!!
‘Heh…. It seems the steady pushing until now has paid off. Yeah, this is hard to hold back.’
The spectators filling the stadium shouting Ryu Ha-neul’s name in one voice was quite a spectacle. Since this image was being broadcast worldwide, in a few years even kids who did not know football would imitate his celebration and enjoy it.
Ronaldo had also increased his followers with this, so I thought I could increase my followers quite a bit too.
But there was still no end to the game. Now was the time to focus on the game. I erased all random thoughts from my mind and moved my steps toward our side.
‘Phew…. Still, it went well.’
At the moment the shot impacted, I thought I had hit the exact spot, but there was also an uneasy feeling. The no-spin shot was a shot whose outcome was unknown even to me.
A no-spin shot was a good shot to trick goalkeepers with good reaction speed, but the reason I had not attempted such shots until now was because the probability of scoring was too low.
This time it was lucky to go in, but actually, no matter how good I was, most shots with no-spin would miss the goalpost, so I did not want to waste a precious attacking opportunity as a low-probability gamble.
But today was different. Looking at Switzerland’s defense today, it was a situation where I had to take a gamble. If I had pushed the ball like usual as before, I would have missed the shooting timing with a tackle coming from behind.
And as with gambles, the return value increases only if successful.
By planting in my mind that I have shots, the game would definitely become a bit easier.
Pee-!
And according to my thoughts, cracks began to appear in Switzerland’s defense.
Of course, leading 1:0 and tying 1:1 were different situations, but basically it was clear that the way Swiss defenders were defending me had changed. The Swiss defenders who had been giving space were now trying tight pressure so that I could not advance even one step.
And sticking to me meant entering my space. Breaking through a defender holding the position was difficult, but peeling off a defender who came into my space first was too easy for me.
Tap, tap.
After breaking through Swiss defense with one light flip-flop, I ran forward. If it had been before scoring, the guy would have waited for his teammate, but the pressure felt like urgency.
After peeling off one, the Swiss defenders who were holding their area felt like gathering toward me.
And at that moment, I sent the ball to the right, and Seo-won who caught the ball in a free state dug into the penalty box and shook the defense again.
‘Pass!’
I signaled to Seo-won like that, and Seo-won looked at me and passed exactly. The distance to the goalpost was about twenty meters. Normally, a shot from around here would not have been threatening, so she would not have been on guard for my shot, but due to the aftereffect of the first goal, there was clear tension when the ball came to her.
And excessive tension made reactions slow.
I pretended to shoot and broke the body balance of the guy blocking in front of me, and swung my leg widely. It looked like a shot to anyone. But, after releasing the power from the foot at the moment of impact, I pushed the ball to Kim Seul-gi.
Pang!
And the Swiss defenders who had their eyes on me could not stop Kim Seul-gi’s shot, and the EPL starting striker did not miss the chance created so perfectly.
“Seul-gi-ya!”
“Nice!!!!”
“Shit! This is it!”
“Ha-neul! Good pass!”
It was only ten minutes after I scored the tying goal.
-Waaaaaaa!!!!!!
-Dae~! Korea! Dae~! Korea!
Familiar language echoed in the unfamiliar Russian land. The emotion in that echo was joy.
But we did not get carried away by that great joy.
“10 minutes! Let’s hold it for 10 minutes!”
“Concentrate! Concentrate!”
Now only about ten minutes left. Senior Seo-hee and Kim Seul-gi, who were not much help in defense, left the field, and Kim Yu-jin, a fullback, took Seo-hee’s position, and Hong Yae-eun, a defensive midfielder, took Kim Seul-gi’s position, and our tactics changed to a 4-1-4-1 form.
To be precise, 4-1-5-0 form.
We used a two-line defense as practiced with ten minutes left, and if we stole the ball, we immediately connected it to me and kept the ball to waste time.
‘Haah, haah….’
At the time when my mouth was dry and my heart was about to burst,
Peeik! Peeik! Pee-ik!
Finally, the whistle sound signaling the end of the game was heard. Thanks to pouring everything out for ten minutes, I did not want to stand anymore, so I heard the whistle and lay on the grass as a bed.
“Quarterfinals!!!”
“Ha-neul!”
“We did it!”
“Coach!!”
And voices of excited teammates rang in my ears.
Looking at the blue sky of Russia while hearing the voices of my teammates echoing in my ears,
‘Ha…. Quarterfinals? I could not even step on it once in my previous life…. Coming up like this. Sigh, is this a blessing in disguise?’
…It was quite beautiful.