Season 18-19: Part Two
“Ha-neul, how was Diena?”
Last year’s incident had made Camila secretly scold Diena to the other friends, so the moment she returned to the dorm she immediately fired a worried question.
“Ha… I don’t really know.”
That honest answer was exactly how I felt. I had spent the entire flight replaying everything, but the more I turned it over the less wrong it seemed. After all, Korea was a weak team that had to defend first on the world stage, and the only player who could break through strong teams’ defenses was me.
There was Seo-hee-senpai, of course, but if it had been peak Seo-hee-senpai maybe, but current Seo-hee-senpai was already too old and had announced her retirement after this Asian Cup.
So, thinking it through carefully, Diena’s words weren’t entirely wrong. It was just that the person who said them was Diena, which made it hard to judge even now.
“Really? I watched a bit of the Korean path and it really felt too focused on backfield build-up. Last year wasn’t like that tactic…”
“Camilla.”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t Spain play that match? Why did you watch our game?”
“Um, um… that is…”
“Definitely, teams that reached the quarterfinals are higher level than those eliminated in the round of 16, right? You studied a bit?”
“W-what? No, that’s not it! No, objectively we play football better…!”
Teasing Camila was the perfect way to shake off the stress from national-team days. Camila really did have a teasing side?
And by scoring a goal against the flustered Camila in the game, that teasing taste became even more satisfying.
“Foul! Foul! Talking and shooting like that?”
“Look, Spain can’t do it to Korea, right?”
“No! And your stats are too fake! When did you put this up? How is your character faster than Albaria?”
“…If I really ran, that’s about what you’d get.”
“Too noticeable acceleration? Honestly, I’m not a turtle. I just gave 41 to acceleration lightly and adjusted shot power to 80 when I modified the stats, thinking about future growth.”
Even compared to the stats I received from this game in my previous life, it was still far behind. So there was no reason for Camila to call it fake.
“This is fake. Play again! Again!”
“Noisy.”
With Camila forcing unreasonable demands, Valentina sat beside me, a towel wrapped around her head. The faint shampoo scent told me she had just finished showering.
“Ha-neul, you win right after coming? Because of you the kids can’t play the game.”
Well, Valentina’s words were partly true. As the highest senior in the dorm now, I was taking those few wins during rest time, which meant the others couldn’t. But this was one of the senior’s rights, and since she couldn’t drink, date, or drive right now, she needed to manage stress by playing games in the gaps.
Moreover, it felt a little unfair for Valentina to say that.
“Why? Come play together. And every time I win you come, so other kids can’t approach, right?”
“…Is it my fault?”
“Yeah. With your eyes wide open like that, how would any juniors approach?”
Honestly, if I were playing with him the options would be Camila, Valentina, and maybe Yu-ri on loan. Among the members, Valentina was famous in the dorm for her dirty personality and cold appearance, so juniors naturally couldn’t approach.
And there was a time Valentina had played a game with a junior, and her expression then had been so scary that even watching it made one feel uneasy, so it was clear the fault lay with her.
Honestly, saying this as a man, what woman would hate playing a game with a man like me?
For reference, Bruna had been busy kicking the ball outside during rest time, and even after a full day of training she still went out to kick it. She was really crazy about football, scary enough that I felt uneasy too.
“Hey, if you lost, move over. I’ll play one too.”
Anyway, Valentina also liked winning quite a bit, so she pushed the losing Camila aside and grabbed the joystick.
“No, I got scammed! Those stats don’t make sense! Why Korean? You were originally Brazilian, right!”
“Yeah, fake team Spain lost to Korea? Come, Tiana. Let’s play one. …Eh? If I choose Barcelona, what? It’s a national-team match.”
“Ha-neul said it’s fake. I’ll try it too.”
…And my Korea, led by ‘Ryu Ha-neul’, was miserably defeated 3:0 by Barcelona. My skill wasn’t lacking, but perhaps the Barcelona players’ stats were just too fake?
Anyway, spending time playing games with friends lifted all the stress, and I could show good condition in the next day’s training.
“Ha-neul, next match has one day rest. There’s also national-team call-up and a Champions League match in four days.”
“Yes, Coach.”
But unfortunately, unlike the good condition, I wasn’t selected for the next match’s starting lineup. It was Angela’s choice to rest most players who had played in the national-team match for fitness management, which made sense.
But with Camila in my spot, Valentina in Lucia’s, and Bruna in Eloya’s, all my friends were starting while I sat on the bench, the feeling was a bit strange.
Then the home match against Girona where my friends started.
Against the relatively weak Girona we dominated the game throughout, with Camila and Valentina’s playmaking at the center. Especially, Camila clearly showed why she was pampered in Barcelona, perfectly executing Angela’s tactics even without me and even getting an assist, a great performance.
So the match against Girona ended 2:0 with Camila one assist, Arnal and Bruna one goal each, and we climbed to first in the league with four consecutive wins.
And the Champions League group stage first leg home match against PSV. Since Inter and Tottenham in the same group were probably stronger, but anyway, Angela brought a lineup resting the main players again.
Using Bruna instead of Albaria, Valentina instead of Tiana, Camila instead of Lucia.
Using young players for the Champions League stage and resting the main players, perhaps because she had handled youth before becoming first-team coach, unlike Diena who had been demoted to the second team.
“For the first time after Athletic, all coming out together?”
“Ha… let’s do well today.”
“You did well without me?”
“Ha-neul, so if I lose today it’s your fault, right? Play with responsibility.”
“…Okay.”
Although PSV was stronger than Girona, if I lost or drew the others would definitely tease me, so I approached the match with full determination for victory,
One Ha-neul, two Ha-neuls! And shoot! Go! 1:0! Leading Barcelona!
Bruna’s pass to Ha-neul! Ha-neul! Outside the penalty box! Go! Perfect trajectory, sucked into the top of the net! Ha-neul’s wonderful curling shot!
we beat PSV 2:0 and secured the first Champions League win.
“Ha-neul, you like it that much? Why keep replaying?”
“Camilla, look. I seem to have gained some strength lately?”
“Eh? Just because it nailed the top? At that position even Maximiliana couldn’t stop it?”
“No, not that. The first goal. It grazed the keeper’s side.”
“Um… at this distance, anyway… No, definitely a bit of power increased?”
Moreover, the effect of weight training seemed to be starting to show.
PSV’s keeper wasn’t known for reflexes, so I needed to watch if it worked against top keepers, but this level it felt like I could score on normal keepers from close range in the league.
And to confirm the real increase in my kick power, in the next match away at Sociedad, while Arnal scored one and led 1:0, I shot many times and scored one out of six shots.
For a moment the sensation of piercing the keeper with pure shot power, something I hadn’t felt in a long time, was thrilling,
“Ha-neul, condition not good today? Seemed a bit rushed than usual.”
“No, Coach. Not that. …Sorry.”
…Unlike usual, the scene of me shooting barrage led to the coach substituting me around the twentieth minute.
‘Angela is really like a ghost. How did she know?’
Anyway, after that Arnal added one goal and we beat Sociedad 3:0.
In Leganes away, as a substitute, I got one assist and we easily secured six wins.
‘Real Madrid is 5 wins 1 draw now… If so, maybe we can win this year too?’
Champions League group stage all matches done, no need to worry, almost certain to advance.
Cup matches, the important ones clustered in March, no need to worry.
But the league matches, during the Asian Cup call-up, at least five, up to seven matches, slight worry.
But with this momentum from the early season, no need to worry about the league title.
And continuing the momentum, we beat Bilbao and reached seven league wins.
The next match was El Clasico, so most main players were rotated and away at Tottenham we drew 2:2, our winning streak ending sadly.
“No one is crushed by a draw loss, right?”
“Of course, Coach.”
Of course, but our momentum wasn’t broken. The idea that one draw was okay before the Real Madrid match was circulating among the players.
“Current Real Madrid is shaky, 5 wins 1 draw 1 loss. Their star player Marisol is also struggling with only 2 goals in 6 matches. In the next match cut their nose and show clearly where the league winner this season is!”