Aiming for the Asian Cup. (2)
Barcelona-born Diana! Revealing her ambitions.
Meanwhile, the new commander of the South Korean national football team, Diana, said, “We are a team that can fully compete on the world stage and lead a good team, and we are grateful. When there was a bad incident, the support of Koreans led me here. I will do my best to repay that support.” and revealed her new ambitions...
After Diana's words, applause and whistles echoed. Looking at the players' faces, they were all smiling, it seemed they had high expectations for Diana.
It was inevitable. Just a few months ago, it was unimaginable that the coach of a super giant club like Barcelona would come to the Korean national team. So, before Diana arrived, other players had asked me with expectant faces about Diana.
Of course, in my heart, I rated Diana as not being a coach material, but I didn't want to cause any trouble, so I had no choice but to smile and say that she was a good person.
Moreover, since Diana was supposed to be fired for exposing me and then cut, there was no need for me to badmouth Diana as ungrateful.
Given the situation, seeing the players' happy faces, I wasn't sure whether I should be happy or sad, so I just clapped as well.
'Maybe it was my misunderstanding that she was fired just to save herself.'
I still didn't understand what judgment led to that exposure since I wasn't Diana.
That kind of action is something a coach shouldn't do, but if I think of it in the best way, if she did that to protect a young player with talent to become the world's best in the future because her sense of justice was too strong, it could be somewhat excused.
Since it was just me being demoted to the second team, there was a possibility that I would hold a grudge and look down on Diana, so the only thing I could do now was hope that the new commander of the national team would do well.
“Senior coach Ryu Ji-hye is here. I will help Diana, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”
And happily, it was a pleasant surprise that my mother had joined the national team. The ‘coach’ Ryu Ji-hye who had faced me in the youth World Cup was quite a capable person. Since my mother was also from Barcelona, the synergy between the coach and senior coach sharing philosophies was quite good.
However, seeing my mother's expressionless face, it seemed she was still angry about stepping down from the youth national team coach position about a year before the tournament. According to my father, high officials from the football association had come to persuade my mother several times, and in the end, they allowed her the position of senior coach.
My mother didn't explain the reason to me directly, but probably every time I called my mother or father around the time Diana was fired, I had ranted about Diana as an irresponsible guy, so she remembered it.
'...I'm sorry.'
Thinking that way made me feel a bit guilty toward my mother, but since my mother would likely become the national team coach if Diana's situation worsened, I felt a little relieved.
“Ryu Ji-hye! Ryu Ji-hye! Ryu Ji-hye!”
Clap clap!
And after my mother's self-introduction, seeing the cheering players, I felt strangely proud.
“[Then I will introduce the coaches who will help you. First, this is the goalkeeper coach, Maxina. And this side is the fitness coach, Magdalena.]”
After the coach and senior coach introductions, Diana began introducing her staff in Spanish. But the number was only two, making it embarrassing to call it a squad.
'Yeah, after being completely screwed over and fired, there wouldn't be a squad.'
The goalkeeper coach and fitness coach Diana introduced had never been seen in Barcelona and were completely unfamiliar names. In fact, Diana's reputation in Europe was so bad that it was almost like a blacklist, so I could understand.
Having clashed with a big club like Barcelona and Arab club owners meant good coaches wouldn't follow, and if Diana's name was stamped on them, coaching opportunities in clubs with Barcelona and Arab owners would be almost impossible.
'Still, with Diana's name value, she wouldn't have brought scam artists.'
Having only a few coaches brought along was fortunate, as it meant less chance of conflict with other coaches after Young-hee left.
“There is no separate tactical coach, coach?”
Of course, not everyone thought as positively as me. Kim Seul-gi, who played in the EPL, seemed to feel something sharp about there only being two coaches, so she asked politely.
“[Haha, with Ji-hee here for tactics, there's no need to worry. Right, Ji-hee?]”
“...Yes, that's right. Hmm, hmm. There might be concern about there being no separate tactical coach. But Diana is a famous tactical coach in Europe, and the other coaches here will help, so don't worry.”
“If the coach says so...”
Even so, Kim Seul-gi nodded, agreeing with my mother's words. Probably, Kim Seul-gi didn't want to spoil the good atmosphere from the first day, so she just went along with it.
“[Then from now on, I will explain the philosophy I pursue. It is not football I want, but non-football. Ha-neul, do you know what non-football is?]”
When did this guy start practicing my name pronunciation like this? When I was on the team, he couldn't even pronounce my name properly.
Anyway, since I was pointed out, I had to answer. There must have been a reason Diana singled me out, so here I would go along with Diana's intention.
“Winning football is probably overwhelming possession football. If you don't lose the ball, you won't concede goals.”
Just a few months ago, Diana who was the Barcelona coach, my mother who ended her playing career in Barcelona, and even the current Barcelona player being questioned.
The intention was obvious, so it was easy for Diana to get the answer she wanted. And probably this kind of football was the reason the football association hired Diana.
“[Yes. Football based on possession. And to take possession, passing is important, right? Of course, there might be players who say they can't pass well? There were many such players in Spain. Haha. But there's no need to worry. After all, football is just mechanically giving passes if you know a few patterns.]”
Diana, who heard my words through interpretation, continued her explanation with a satisfied expression. It seemed she had Barcelona coaching experience, and the explanation after that was enough to make the players nod.
“It must be because you're from Barcelona? It feels like my heart is racing. Are we going to play football like Europe now?”
“Hmm... But can we really do Spanish-style football?”
After Diana's welcome and explanation session, there was a short break. The players' reactions were half expectation for European-style football and half worry that we could actually do European-style football.
“But honestly, it's not that difficult. After all, passing is just patterns? You set a few promises about where and when in certain situations and just roll the ball that way.”
“Really? Then how many practices do you do in Barcelona, Ha-neul?”
“Well, it's probably three to four times more than what we do in the national team? I don't know exactly since I haven't counted.”
“This... But can it even be done? Isn't the time too short for the national team?”
“...I don't know.”
While I was somewhat soothing the players' anxiety, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.
“Senior Seul-gi?”
“Ha-neul, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
Following Kim Seul-gi, she looked around cautiously and opened her mouth with difficulty.
“Ha-neul, what kind of coach is Diana? Is she good? Why are there only two coaches coming?”
“...I wonder.”
Although I didn't show it inside, Kim Seul-gi still seemed uneasy.
Kim Seul-gi was also a veteran with a lot of experience in Europe. Domestic players might not notice the abnormality, but in Europe, coaches usually led their own squads, and there were rarely cases where only one coach came, so it was natural for Kim Seul-gi to be anxious. And I was also somewhat uneasy, so my expression hardened at Kim Seul-gi's words.
“Hmm... It might be uncomfortable calling her a savior coach. Sorry.”
But Kim Seul-gi seemed to interpret my hardened expression differently. I quickly opened my mouth to clear up the misunderstanding.
“No, it's not that. I'm also anxious.”
“...Really? I wasn't being too sensitive, was I?”
“Yes... Anyway, we have to watch. The salary is almost 100 billion, right? Probably we won't leave together until the contract ends...?”
“Ha... Still, isn't she a tactically good coach? Actually, the Munich disaster last year still bothers me. It was buried after more bombs exploded.”
“...Well, it's not a coach who has a tactical flaw.”
Although there might be problems with being a great player or having poor leadership, Diana wasn't a coach with a tactical flaw. After all, La Liga wasn't an easy league for a coach with a tactical flaw to win the league.
And the poor leadership part could be somewhat compensated by my mother, a legend in the Korean football world, and Senior Seo-hee.
'Thinking about it, she might not be such a bad coach. Maybe I was looking at her through tinted glasses...?'
“Then we have to watch. Ha, it's just the beginning, and I feel like I'm worrying too much. It looks bad to badmouth the coach while bringing a junior. Anyway, let's work hard on this A match too.”
“Yes, senior.”
With that, Kim Seul-gi entered the meeting room with a worried expression.
I was also worried about what kind of appearance Diana would show as the national team coach, but since things had already happened, the only thing I could do was work hard like always.