Asian Cup Focus. (1)
“Hello! Coach! I am Lee Hee-sook, the head of the Power Enhancement Committee of the Korea Football Association.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Diena Catiel.”
Is this the aura of a master?
Standing before Diena, the former coach of Barcelona who had led them to two league titles against Real Madrid—currently the world’s strongest team after three consecutive Champions League wins in the Spanish La Liga, widely regarded as the most prestigious football league in the world—Lee Hee-sook felt a subtle intimidation.
'Why is a coach of this caliber even in our country...'
While pondering the purpose of today’s meeting, she still harbored doubts. When the Korea Football Association meets with a coach, the reason is always the same.
It was to discuss the vacant position of the South Korean senior national team coach.
In fact, reaching the quarterfinals in the World Cup qualifiers was an achievement that would be etched in Korean football history forever. Yet the Korea Football Association could not pursue a contract renewal with Coach Lee Young-hee.
Four years later, when the next World Cup was scheduled, Lee Young-hee would be in her late sixties, and the tactical shortcomings she had shown in the quarterfinals felt regrettably incomplete.
The quarterfinals run that had once ignited a grand wave of national pride in the country had, after the euphoria faded, sparked murmurs that perhaps they could have gone even further to the semifinals. Experts within the football association were now arguing that, had they played with the same aggressive style seen in the group stage and round of 16, they might have reached the semifinals.
Moreover, opinions were circulating that constantly switching tactics every match—only syncing for a few months at most, or at best two to three weeks—had left the national team players confused, as they were used to far less breathing room.
Caught between the age issue and these various problems, while considering the contract renewal with Coach Lee Young-hee, Diena—who had been playing freely on the world stage—reached out to the Korea Football Association. Diena, the captain of the super-giant warship that was Barcelona!
In fact, after the World Cup quarterfinals, many foreign coaches had contacted Korea, but most had been coaches who had been kicked out of big leagues after failing there and forced into minor leagues, or coaches who had been “old” for years and were taking a long break.
But Diena, though currently unemployed, was not a coach dismissed for tactical shortcomings or failure.
The reason Diena had been ousted from Barcelona was the failure in managing the players.
From Lee Hee-sook’s perspective, however, that was not the issue. The player management failure was tied to Ryu Ha-neul, the son of her close junior Ryu Ji-hye and the new football hero of Korea. Most Koreans naturally had to side with Coach Diena.
Instead, Diena enjoyed such high popularity among Korean football fans that she was almost like a national hero, affectionately called “Diemoney” by them.
Lee Hee-sook, being Korean herself, had also sided with Ryu Ha-neul and pushed back firmly in the press conference, evaluating Coach Diena highly. Even setting that aside, a coach of Diena’s caliber—who had managed in Barcelona until just a few months ago—coming to the football backwater of Korea meant that, no matter the personal flaws, they had to be hired.
Yet the only blemish in her career had been the incident where she wrapped around the ace Ryu Ha-neul.
Lee Hee-sook had no choice but to rush to Spain, setting aside all schedules.
“I have received good inspiration from the performance of the Korean team led by Mrs. Lee. You are a good coach. Thinking about taking over as her successor, my heart is racing.”
'Even this humble.'
Moreover, the actual Diena she met was a humble coach who respected Korea. A coach this humble with such a good personality would reveal personal matters in an interview. On the other hand, it pained her heart to think about the resentment Ha-neul might have endured in Barcelona.
“Thank you for the high evaluation.”
“And I was deeply impressed by Ha-neul’s play. But I also thought—if it were me, I believe I could help Ha-neul play a bit more freely.”
But even that discomfort was fleeting. The way Diena pronounced Ha-neul’s name precisely—“Ha-neul”—sparked one particular imagination in Lee Hee-sook’s mind.
The destructive power unleashed by the combination of Ha-neul, the Barcelona rival, and Diena, his first professional league mentor at Barcelona, sweeping through world football.
Now, in Korean football, the era of Yoon Seo-hee was coming to an end. Yoon Seo-hee had signaled retirement from the national team after the 19th Asian Cup, and Korean football would flow around Ryu Ha-neul for the next ten or twenty years.
And deep within Ryu Ha-neul’s body lay the Barcelona DNA. Even playing alone, he could turn any team into something like Barcelona. That fact had already been proven in the youth World Cup.
But what if Diena, who had commanded Barcelona’s first team, came as coach?
Perhaps that destructive imagination could become reality.
“So, first, please look at this PPT. If I become the coach of Korea……”
And the more she spoke with Diena, the more she felt the imagination could become reality.
“The problem is the salary. … Coach Diena, the salary you proposed is a salary that our football association cannot match.”
But there was one issue. The value of Coach Diena. It was not at the level of the highest-paid coaches in club teams, but excluding Arab countries with plenty of money for national team coaches, it was demanding almost the world’s highest salary level.
“Oh, I don’t know the situation there well. But if we agree, I am willing to lead Korea even by reducing my value. In fact, money isn’t that important to me. I just want to breathe with Ha-neul again. He is the world’s best football player. And as a coach, I only want to breathe with him as much as possible.”
“…I see.”
Lee Hee-sook was moved by Diena’s words and almost teared up. This person was simply someone who cherished Ha-neul’s football talent purely.
'Yeah, that’s why she could cleanly kick out the Barcelona coach position.'
Clearly, before revealing, Diena probably knew that exposing the team’s internal problems could lead to being kicked out of the Barcelona coach position.
But Diena had willingly walked into the fire exposing the talent of a football genius trapped in a cage of prejudice in order to protect it.
Reaching that point, Lee Hee-sook thought she had to absolutely hire Diena.
“Then, can I call the chairman first? If it’s about the amount you offered, we can somehow match it.”
“Oh, it’s fine. Do as you like.”
With Diena’s permission, Lee Hee-sook immediately called the chairman of the Korea Football Association, who sponsored most of the money flowing into the association.
And Lee Hee-sook’s desperate persuasion, the grand nationalistic spirit of the World Cup quarterfinals, the name value of “Diemoney” as the top-tier coach in the current market, and Diena’s popularity in Korea were enough to paralyze the chairman’s mind,
“We can somehow make it up to 6.8 million euros (about 1 billion won).”
“Haha, it’s not that money is important. Anyway, thank you.”
The money spent from the chairman’s own pocket was five times the budget for coach selection.
“Then, do you have any preferred coaches, Coach?”
“It’s fine. I have all tactics and training processes in my head. Ah, but.”
“But?”
“I want to appoint Ryu Ji-hye as senior coach. Ji-hye must know my football philosophy well since she played in Barcelona, and she also knows the situation in the Korean football world. With Ji-hye, I think she can play a sufficient bridging role between me and the players.”
“Ji-hye is currently leading the U-20 national team……”
“Oh, that’s a bit inconvenient. It seems hard to find someone as well-versed in Spanish and Korean football as Ji-hye……”
“Then, I will persuade Ji-hye well.”
“Then, once Ji-hye’s work is finished, let’s finalize the contract.”
The reason for nurturing the youth national team was for the future adult national team. But since there was no possibility of a player more talented than Ryu Ha-neul, Lee Hee-sook, as the power enhancement committee chair, made a decision. To bet everything on the certain present rather than the uncertain future.
“Then, please take care.”
“I will take care of you from now on too.”
With that, Lee Hee-sook and Diena shook hands and smiled. But the meaning of that smile was slightly different.
'Eventually, Korean football has no choice but to flow around Ha-neul. If there’s a coach and mother who can make Ha-neul comfortable, not only the Asian Cup win, but also the World Cup semifinals, or perhaps even more…!'
Lee Hee-sook smiled at the rosy future that would unfold in the Korean football world from now on,
'Sigh… The job hunting path in the Middle East, which are Islamic countries, or in big leagues is blocked, but to receive the most money, Korea is the only option. Well, it’s troublesome, so leave it to Ji-hye and organize the team around Ha-neul, and we can definitely dominate Asia. Then, if we just put the World Cup to around the round of 16, we can aim for the Chinese market, the larger Asian market.'
Diena, the coach, smiled while thinking about the money that would be poured into her account.
South Korea, 4-year contract with former Barcelona coach Diena!
Diena is scheduled to be contracted until the 2022 World Cup and with a salary of about 1 billion won...
“Wow.”
After the World Cup ended, upon returning to the team, the news that came from Korea was quite shocking. That Diena was becoming the national team coach.
“Eh? Ha-neul, why?”
“No, did you see the article? Diena is becoming the national team coach?”
“Really? Good. Coach Diena must have felt pitiful.”
“Pitiful? What.”
“Hey, Ha-neul, even for you, she did that.”
“Ah, that guy is not that kind of guy.”
“Is that so? But, well, the person has ability. Ah… I also want to be a national team player.”
“Then, you know this season is really important, right? There, you have to really do well?”
But there was no time to worry about such news. Because now it was the farewell party for Yu-ri going on loan to Deportivo.
Deportivo had not only recruited Kim Chae-ri but also sent a message that they would loan Yu-ri, and from my perspective, it seemed like a choice conscious of the Asian market where my uniform sells a lot.
But no matter how, for Yu-ri, a loan offer in the first team league was a big opportunity.
“I can do well.”
And Yu-ri, who hasn’t played in the first team in Barcelona yet, but has enough ability to play in La Liga, would definitely not miss this opportunity. No, she had to.
“Okay, do well and come back.”
While hoping that Yu-ri would settle in Deportivo and return to Barcelona with honor, I hugged her tightly so that my spirit could be transmitted to her.