Bed Soccer (1)
Bahrain has a record of one win, one draw, and one loss in Group A, and the player you need to watch out for is Mahfoudah...
Mahfoudah? Coach! Which Mahfoudah? There are three Mahfoudahs, right?
A ripple of laughter spreads through the meeting room at the question.
"Quiet, quiet. It's the midfielder Mahfoudah. The only one among the Bahrain players who is playing on the European stage..."
Diena clapped her hands to quell the laughter and began explaining about Mahfoudah. The player listed in the profile was from one of the Greek teams, AEK Athens. The fact that a player from the Greek league was a target player spoke volumes about Bahrain's level. No matter how European it was, the Greek league was on the periphery, and Mahfoudah hadn't shown much activity in that league either.
Moreover, considering the performance Bahrain showed in the group stage...
…It's a game that shouldn't be lost.
But there was no lack of unease. Other players were probably feeling the same way.
Actually, the atmosphere of the national team now was quite different from when they played the group stage. Then it was tense and disciplined, but now it was relaxed enough to make light jokes during the tactical analysis time.
…Well, nothing bad will happen, right?
That atmosphere was slightly unsettling, but now I had decided not to trust my unease.
Why?
Because since Diena took over, my unease had never been proven wrong once.
When Diena first took over, I thought she would ruin Korean football. When I saw Diena's tactics that seemed to pour almost everything into me, I secretly applauded the Barcelona president's decision to cut Diena.
But except for the Uruguay match where Marisol showed unbelievable performance, Diena's tactics had worked well, and we achieved an overwhelming record of 8 goals scored and 1 conceded in the group stage, advancing to the round of 16.
My worries were completely unnecessary.
At this point, Diena was a tactician who could devise a strategy suited to the team she was facing for the first time, and I wondered if it was because I had lived abroad for a long time and my eyes had become more discerning.
Was it because of the memories from my Barcelona days that I had unfairly slandered Diena? Back then, it was probably a level that couldn't be resolved with words. If she knew that fact, like what Diena said back then, she might have said some harsh words that could really hurt me.
After peeling off that layer of prejudice, I felt that I had been too narrow-minded during that time.
Moreover, I worried about injuries from the players' dirty play in the China match, but except for the shoulder hit, the players hadn't really done any dirty play.
In other words, all this added up to the fact that I had been too scared so far. Even before facing Liverpool in the Manchester United days, I had sex parties, but now I was worrying about Bahrain. It was really unbelievable.
…Is it because of hormones? Yeah, since the opponent is Bahrain, a slightly bright atmosphere is better.
Well, as long as I don't get drunk the night before the match, a slightly bright atmosphere was better than a tense one.
"…Bahrain will probably come out with ten men, so pay attention to that point, and especially the defenders should be careful about the counterattacks starting from Mahfoudah. Mahfoudah's passes are likely to go to Mahfoudah, that is, the attacking Mahfoudah, so you, Lee Ji, mark him well."
"Understood."
"Ha-neul."
"Yes, Coach."
"The key defender, Hadia, who is a Bahrain defender, likes to play with physicality, but she has shown a tendency to have slightly poor spatial awareness, so be careful with that."
"Understood."
Diena went through Hadia's play video point by point, explaining Hadia's weak points.
Actually, during my Barcelona days, Diena herself would have given these explanations, so I wondered if I was leaving all the work to Diena and sitting behind her eating honey. But this reaction made me think it might be slandering Diena, so I quickly erased the bad feelings from my mind.
"Then, that's enough about Bahrain. For the afternoon, we'll have training to prepare for counterattacks... Well, let's do our best. Don't get injured this time either."
Clap clap clap.
After Diena's explanation was over, the players clapped and the meeting ended. And to the sound of the applause, Diena stood up and clapped and opened her mouth.
"[As Ji-hye said, if we train properly, we won't lose to Bahrain. Let's all go for the championship.]"
Clap clap clap!
…Sigh, but why does it feel a bit bad?
The explanation was done by Diena, but seeing Diena receive the applause, it didn't feel good, but this was probably because I was still looking at Diena through colored glasses.
Tsk, is it because of male hormones? Now I'm more worried, and without basis, I'm slandering. Ryu Ha-neul, don't be ugly. Pull yourself together. You're a man.
Clap clap clap.
I pulled myself together, threw away the bad feelings about Diena, and joined the applause sequence signaling the end of the meeting.
[Hello, everyone. The Asian Cup quarterfinal match between South Korea and Bahrain, Bahrain and South Korea. Let's start now.]
[The South Korean team is really showing good form in this Asian Cup, right? 8 goals scored and 1 conceded in 3 group stage matches. In the last match against Kyrgyzstan, although they showed a slight unease because the goal rush didn't follow, they showed overwhelming games throughout the group stage.]
[Yes. Especially against the strongest opponent in the group stage, China, they scored 3 goals and showed overwhelming form, right? And in the Kyrgyzstan match, the number of shots was 10:2, completely crushing them.]
[That's right. It's a pity they couldn't score more than one, but if it wasn't for the goalkeeper Nurjana showing miraculous saves, it could have been a 5-goal game.]
[I hope we see that kind of performance today too. Then, let's introduce the South Korean lineup. Goalkeeper Kim Eun-hye...]
The game starts. South Korea starts with the kick-off.
Looking at the current positions of the Bahrain players, it seems like they're in a 5-4-1 formation, probably preparing for ten men, right?
Attack begins from South Korea. Choi Da-yoon receives the ball and passes to Han Ye-jin.
They're coming down as expected. It feels like they won't come out beyond the central line.
South Korea slowly starts their attack.
In situations like this, you usually shake the ball left and right or look for a long-range shot, but Ryu Ha-neul is a player with a unique way of orchestrating the game, so I believe he'll do it well.
Ryu Ha-neul passes a long ball to Kang Yu-ri. Kang Yu-ri passes it to Kim Yu-jin. Kim Yu-jin passes it to Ryu Ha-neul, and Ryu Ha-neul passes it to Jo Seo-won.
Ryu Ha-neul is playing this kind of play very well right now. Ryu Ha-neul's pass accuracy is very high, so even these long passes are accurately connected to the players. South Korea needs to keep disrupting Bahrain's players like this and breaking down their defensive organization.
Jo Seo-won passes it to Han Ye-jin! Swoosh! Ah! She gets past the defense. South Korea's corner kick.
Han Ye-jin takes the corner kick! Ah! A header to Ryu Ha-neul! Ryu Ha-neul shoots?! Ah! It's pushed away. The ball is taken! Mahfoudah! Mahfoudah pushes Ryu Ha-neul and takes the ball!
Ah? What? Isn't that a foul, a foul?
Mahfoudah! He throws a long ball! Mahfoudah to Mahfoudah! Mahfoudah facing a 1-on-1 chance! Kim Eun-hye runs out of the penalty box! Mahfoudah's shot! Ah....
Ah.... Isn't this something we need to check with VAR? It was a clear foul....
I know that VAR is only from the quarterfinals according to the rules, right? We have to check first.... Ah, it's correct, from the quarterfinals.
This isn't right though....
Still, it's not over yet. There are 15 minutes left. Including injury time, even more time remains.
Yes. The decision was unsatisfactory, but with our players' abilities, we can definitely overturn it.
The game resumes. ........ Kim Chae-ri competes for the ball with Altin! Ah, what's this? Altin has fallen.
...... Bahrain returns the ball to South Korea and the game resumes. ...... Connected to Ryu Ha-neul! Ryu Ha-neul receives the ball, and Asel puts his shoulder on Ryu Ha-neul. ... Eh? Asel falls?
No, Ryu Ha-neul, what the hell is that....
Ryu Ha-neul player throws the ball far away with a look of disbelief. Is this right?
...... The first half ends. The score is still 1-0.
In the second half, we need to quickly equalize. Still, with Diena's mercenary tactics, we should be able to turn it around.
We'll see you in the second half.
Ryu Ha-neul getting shoulder-checked and falling by Bahrain player.gif