Asian Cup Final: Ryu Ha-neul's Stunning Lobona Kick and Ayaka's Equalizer
Ayaka was stunned for a moment by the unbelievable situation.
‘This is too much...’
But then she patted her own cheeks a couple of times to snap out of it. For the protagonist, this much trial was necessary to make it interesting.
“Senpai! Don’t worry! And, pass the ball to me! I’ll try!”
Ayaka shouted loudly among the senpais with dazed expressions. The other Japanese players looked at Ayaka with disbelief, but Ayaka didn’t care. In this situation, Ryu Ha-neul would have said this.
And now she could follow Ryu Ha-neul. When she met Ryu Ha-neul in the youth representative team, his position was forward. But now Ryu Ha-neul was an attacking midfielder, and Ayaka had been studying Ryu Ha-neul constantly.
She couldn’t copy Ryu Ha-neul’s personal skills or passing ability, but the movements were firmly imprinted in Ayaka’s mind.
Actually, studying Ryu Ha-neul like this wasn’t particularly special. Ryu Ha-neul was currently showing the play that could be called the textbook for attacking midfielders.
Of course, there were talented players like Lucy of Real Madrid, Freida of Munich, and Annie of Arsenal in that position, but the talk that Ryu Ha-neul was one step above in game management was everywhere.
‘Like Ryu, like Ryu.’
Japan’s build-up starts. First, receiving the pass from a lower position than usual. No personal skill like Ryu Ha-neul’s to beat 2-3 players, but Ayaka did her best to transport the ball,
‘Uhm...?’
She realized that the ball wasn’t crossing the line.
‘What to do from here? Wait, did South Korea’s defense line really drop this low?’
Ayaka took the gap from the pass and looked at South Korea’s defense. For a team that plays passing football, it was surprising to be in such spacious space for a moment. The greatness of Ryu Ha-neul who was transporting the ball in this wide space was felt anew.
‘As expected, it’s the master from Barcelona...’
And she felt envy towards the Korean coach, Diana, who was using such sophisticated tactics.
But she couldn’t be broken. No matter how much the master devised the strategy, because the lines had opened up, there was a ‘gap’.
Of course, a coach like Diana wouldn’t miss such a gap, so it might be a trap, but the situation was that they were behind, and to turn this around, they had to take a gamble.
‘Good, let’s try it first.’
Since she was the same age and same position as Ryu Ha-neul in Asia, she wasn’t spotlighted much, but Ayaka was also a genius who took the starting attacking midfielder position at Leverkusen, a strong team in Bundesliga at 17 years old.
Ayaka started attacking from the right to widen the gap she saw with her eyes. So Ayaka kept gesturing to adjust her teammates’ positions, and under Ayaka’s command, after passing the ball a few times, the Japanese players’ spacing widened.
And the Korean defense line also started to widen by that amount.
Ah! The mark is empty now!
As with most teams using 4-2-3-1, space is created above South Korea’s backline.
‘Now!’
Pang!
Ayaka who received the no-mark chance above the penalty box shot without hesitation. The easiest way to catch the falling team is still a long-range shot.
But the first chance Ayaka created was blocked by the goalkeeper and went in vain.
Of course, Ayaka wasn’t disappointed at all that the first attack failed.
‘...What? It was space given on purpose? Then keep going like this...’
Because there was a way to attack South Korea’s defense.
So, despite the set-piece opportunity flying away due to chronic physical problems, she wasn’t particularly disappointed.
‘If this is the case, it’s only a matter of time to break through the enemies’ defense.’
Now the remaining mountain is the huge mountain of South Korea’s attack led by Ryu Ha-neul.
Facing that mountain, even if Ayaka found a way to attack the defense, there was no answer.
‘As expected, there’s no way with this?’
Ayaka had spent almost all her time studying Ryu Ha-neul’s playing style except for watching manga, so she knew for sure that this situation had no answer.
Even European top teams couldn’t take the ball from Ryu Ha-neul, so how could Japan’s national team take the ball from Ryu Ha-neul?
What could be done at this time was only to wait for teammates to make mistakes. Even in Barcelona, Ryu Ha-neul’s attack didn’t succeed every time, so Ayaka started praying in her heart.
‘Please, author-nim.... Save the protagonist Gao a bit!’
How many minutes passed? She ran around trying to take the ball from South Korea, but in the crisis moment, she connected the ball to Ryu Ha-neul somehow, and South Korea’s pass didn’t get cut.
“Hah... hah...”
Was it because she pressed too hard? The feeling was that even though the first half wasn’t 30 minutes yet, she was already feeling tired. At the moment when Ayaka’s legs stopped for a moment, a hole was created in Japan’s organically moving defense, and Ryu Ha-neul didn’t miss that chance.
‘No...!!’
Han Ye-jin’s shot in the no-mark chance heads towards the goalpost.
Tung.
But unfortunately for South Korea, the sound Ayaka desperately wanted came from Japan’s goalpost. Shizuka catches the ball that bounced off the crossbar. And their eyes meet.
‘Senpai...!’
Ayaka started running through the gap in South Korea’s defense that opened at that moment.
Of course, she knew that Shizuka was not a player with good kicks. But if she were the protagonist, Ayaka believed that Shizuka, the team’s leader and reliable senpai, would connect the ball at this timing.
And, as Ayaka expected, Shizuka’s ball flew over the space and fell in front of Ayaka.
‘As expected, senpai...! I believed it!’
Tuk. With one touch, she checks the defenders in front of her path. Unlike a team that plays passing football, the South Korean defenders who dropped their lines are blocking her path. She doesn’t know if Diana foresaw this and dropped the line, but it didn’t matter now.
What was important now was just to make use of the chance given by the senpai.
‘Rather than Yeon-ji, towards Yoo Ji-yun...!’
Ayaka decided to aim for Yoo Ji-yun instead of the fast Yeon-ji, kicked the ball towards Yoo Ji-yun and ran towards her.
To follow all of Ryu Ha-neul’s plays, even if it’s two or three, you have to beat at least one.
Ayaka thought of the play she had seen in the video of Ryu Ha-neul. And among those plays, the one she practiced the most, she showed in front of Yoo Ji-yun.
Outside with the right foot, and quickly back inside.
But reality wasn’t a fantasy, so the flip-flop Ayaka tried went towards Yoo Ji-yun’s front,
“Eh...?”
The ball that bounced off Yoo Ji-yun’s shin became like a broken egg and flowed forward.
The mistake turned into luck.
And when the defender looking at the opposite goal and the attacker looking at the goal direction run from the same position, the attacker has the advantage.
Ayaka who caught the ball first than Yoo Ji-yun ran towards the goal, and now it’s 1v1 with the goalkeeper. But Kang Yeon-ji was jumping up from behind. Now it was time to choose. And at that moment, Ayaka confirmed that Kim Eun-hye was coming out with the goal empty.
Since she confirmed that, the only shot Ayaka could choose, who had spent time watching only Ryu Ha-neul’s play videos except for watching manga, was one.
The ball touched exactly as Ryu Ha-neul did the most goals. It flies high. And the powerless ball falls behind the goalkeeper’s back, bounces on the grass, and rolls into the goal.
“Aaaaaaaaa!!!”
So, Ayaka who scored like Ryu Ha-neul ran towards the stands, crossed her arms in X shape, and jumped high. No matter how you think, shouting her name and doing ceremony was embarrassing, so she didn’t shout her name, but the sight of the crossed arms coming down was no different from the ceremony Ryu Ha-neul did when he scored the first goal.
“Mori!”
“Ayaka!”
And the Japanese players surrounded Ayaka.
“I told you to believe only in me, right? Let’s win!”
“Yeah! Let’s go!”
After Ayaka’s equalizer was made, South Korea tried to attack by utilizing the remaining time as much as possible, but the result when the first half ended was 1:1.
“Um... I don’t want to admit it, but as you feel, South Korea is one step above us.”
When the Japanese players entered the locker room, the Japanese coach declared defeat.
“Coach?”
The Japanese players’ eyes widened at that sight, but the Japanese coach didn’t care about their reactions and continued to speak.
“But it’s not like there’s no way. Ryu has been running around pressing Shizuka the whole first half today. And there’s no information that Ryu has extended the game so far.”
“What are you saying...”
“Ten back. Somehow block the second half, and decide the outcome in extra time. The only way we can win is that. I’m sorry to the Korean guys who didn’t back down and to the citizens who expected a hot game, but let’s repay that regret with the joy of winning.”
The Japanese coach took out the ‘ten back’ tactic, which didn’t suit the name of Japan.
That tactic prepared for the last 10 minutes just in case.
While the Japanese coach was explaining the new tactic to the players, in South Korea’s locker room.
“Haha, everyone is doing well. It’s a pity we conceded one goal, but actually, even if we scored three goals, it wouldn’t be strange, right? We can keep going like this. Ah, Ha-neul! That was too beautiful a play. Let’s continue the second half as is.”
Diana was smiling kindly and clapping.
‘If Coach Diana says that, then that’s it.’
And the South Korean players who trusted Diana, forgetting all the regret over the draw, just nodded with confident faces to Diana’s words.