216. Korean Derby. (3)
The thud!
-Waaaaaaaah!!!!
Yeon-ji's header shot hit the crossbar and the ball was declared out, and from the stands, passionate cheers erupted. Even though it wasn't a goal, such cheers coming out... must be Manchester United, right?
Thanks to that fervent support, even though Man U was losing 1-0, the players were showing quite good form. Even in a trailing situation, without hastily advancing the lines, through thorough tactical movements, applying pressure and counterattacking... it felt like the team that had reached the Champions League quarterfinals.
'As expected, Man U is Man U. If it were some mediocre team, they would have already been scolded like dogs for advancing the lines too soon.'
It was a bit puzzling why such a team was stuck in the Europa League in the league, but then I remembered that Man U's main defensive midfielder had been sidelined in the first half of the season. Yeon-ji had transferred to Man U because of that.
Anyway, the sure thing was that since Man U was a team that had reached the Champions League quarterfinals, they weren't a team to be ignored.
'I need to be a bit more cautious.'
The reason I allowed Yeon-ji to head the shot just now was because the pass I sent to Albaria was a bit hasty. On one hand, there was a lingering thought of underestimating Man U, so I tried a more challenging pass, leading to a cut, counterattack, and then the header. If I had been wrong, it might have led to a goal.
'Leading by one point, I shouldn't take unnecessary risks.'
“Sorry! From now on, I'll go slowly! Slowly!”
“Haha, Ha-neul. No need to apologize so much. Even if it cuts, I'll cover from behind.”
Shouting that I'll go slowly, Tiana signals that she's okay and replies. Tiana saying she's okay, and the other players too, it seemed they didn't care that I had made one pass mistake.
But, this stage was the Champions League quarterfinal stage, and this was Old Trafford, so I decided to go a bit more slowly. Following last year, it was out of the question to be eliminated in the quarterfinals again.
-Uuuuuuuu!!!
After receiving the ball and repeatedly making back passes while looking for the perfect opportunity, jeers immediately poured down. But what mattered was victory. In a situation where we were leading by one point away from home, there was no need to rush, so I continued to circulate the ball while aiming for the perfect chance as much as possible.
How many minutes had passed like that?
Perhaps thanks to the jeers from the home fans towards us, or perhaps because of his original hasty personality, the Man U defensive midfielder marking me, Gracia, came deep with his legs extended.
'Now...!'
And that meant opportunity!
I rolled the ball with my sole to slightly evade Gracia's foot, then kicked the ball forward again and ran towards the goalpost. After evading Gracia who had collapsed posture from extending his leg, Yeon-ji came running towards me.
Unlike the usual representative team, a very stiff expression.
It was because when I scored the first goal, Yeon-ji had missed turning back to chase me, so she was very tense. If I were to strip Yeon-ji here again, the overly passionate Man U fans would surely insult Yeon-ji, but I couldn't do that.
I started the engine with upper body fake and fake leg, approaching Yeon-ji. In a short moment, after repeating my fakes several times, Yeon-ji lowered her center of gravity and blocked the way. The posture showed strong intention to hold me until Gracia came running from behind.
“Can’t go!”
Yeon-ji shouted with momentum. But the unfortunate thing was that I had clashed with Yeon-ji a lot during training at the national team. Yeon-ji was the best defender in Korea, and I was the best attacker in Korea. So, it was natural that Yeon-ji and I had faced each other a lot during training, and I knew Yeon-ji's patterns to some extent.
I rolled the ball with my sole and pretended to put it between Yeon-ji's legs. And in that motion, Yeon-ji's one leg, which had already tasted my tricks many times at the national team, bent to block between her legs.
And since I had already predicted that Yeon-ji would do that, I pulled the ball back and immediately charged towards the bent leg.
If you don't bend, you get eaten, and if you bend, the space on that side gets pierced — hell's choice.
It was a pattern I had practiced a lot in training, but as always, the winner was me. But I had overlooked one thing.
“Kyaaah!”
...This stage wasn't a training ground!
The uniform was pulled, suddenly tightening my neck, and I had no choice but to fall back reflexively. It wasn't that tight, but as a football player, it was like DNA engraved in the body?
'Ah, I made a mistake. I should have hit it away with my hand or evaded it...'
Training was literally training, so if you got past once, it ended there. Since it wasn't like a real match where you risked your life, there was no grabbing of uniforms. Normally, I would have hit it away with my hand, but since it was too familiar to do 1:1 with Yeon-ji, I unconsciously relaxed my guard.
“...S-sorry.”
Swish – Thud!
Along with Yeon-ji's apology, the referee's whistle blew. Looking at Yeon-ji's expression, she had a helpless look. I thought about lying down a bit more to make Yeon-ji feel bad, but thinking about my overly passionate fans in Korea, if I lay down more, there might be death threats flying to Yeon-ji even in Korea, so I reached out my hand towards Yeon-ji.
“If someone saw it, they'd think a person was killed.”
“Uhn...?”
“So, aren't you going to get up? We've known each other for a year, it's too much.”
“Ah, no. Here, sorry. Reflexively.”
“Well, things like this happen when playing football.”
I didn't want to create trouble over something like this with a colleague I'd be playing with at the national team for over 10 years. Well, Yeon-ji as a defender reaching out reflexively seemed a bit flustered too.
“Senior, but you know you almost choked me to death, right?”
“...Sorry, it wasn't intentional.”
After grabbing Yeon-ji's hand and standing up, the referee came running. Since we ended it well, the referee couldn't look at the situation kindly either. It was a foul committed right in front of the penalty box after completely breaking through the defense, so it was natural for the referee to hold up a yellow card.
-Uuuuuuuuu!!!!
With the yellow card declared, Old Trafford was engulfed in jeers again. But the referee ignored it and checked Yeon-ji with the card. I also checked the time while watching that, and it was about 30 minutes into the first half.
It was a pity to miss the goal chance, but letting the opposing center-back get a yellow card in just 30 minutes of the first half wasn't a bad thing. Moreover, the free kick position was quite good, so I could aim for a goal.
'It's a bit of a shame that Lucia isn't here in times like this.'
If Lucia was starting, at this position, there would have been almost a 50% chance of scoring.
-Waaaaaaaah!!!!
Albaria's free kick barely missed the goalpost, filling Old Trafford with cheers. It was a bit annoying, but I soon regained composure. It was impossible for the center-back with one yellow card to actively mark me.
And thinking about what would happen ahead, I felt a bit sorry for Yeon-ji. Professionals always had to pursue victory, and the best way to win was to dig into the opponent's weaknesses.
And with one yellow card and Yeon-ji not responding to me, she was the perfect prey.
Perhaps, after today's match, Yeon-ji might suffer for several days.
“Senior.”
“Huh?”
While preparing for the kick-off, I called Yeon-ji who was adjusting the lines.
“No resentment? Since the senior choked me first.”
“Eh?”
“I'm sorry in advance.”
Watching Yeon-ji's surprised face at my words, I apologized in advance about what would happen.
*
“Haa, haa...”
Breathing became rough. Is this a world-class player? Yeon-ji had met many world-class attackers in the EPL, but she couldn't shake off Ha-neul's play.
Ha-neul, who was persistently supplying the ball to Barcelona, was targeting me relentlessly, and after overtaking me once, sending back passes like lifting the bar while mocking me. In the national team, Ha-neul's usual reliable figure now seemed like a demon.
Again, Ha-neul, who evaded Gracia, came running towards me. At this point in the situation, Gracia, who extended his leg without waiting for teammates, became resentful towards Ha-neul. Unlike Gracia who had someone behind, his behind had only the goalkeeper.
After repeating this situation 5-6 times, it felt like he was going crazy.
If it were training, I might have asked Ha-neul to be gentle, but this stage was the Champions League quarterfinal. Ha-neul wouldn't listen to my request. So, all I could do was do my best to block Ha-neul.
Ha-neul, who was dribbling and running towards me, was getting closer.
Thud, thud.
Every time the ball moved from Ha-neul's foot, his mind raced.
Left, right? Or under the legs?
Dribble? Arnal? Albaria? Eloya? Or back pass again?
My head was dizzy with countless cases.
And in that moment, Ha-neul's body leaned to the left. But Yeon-ji knew from experience. Ha-neul's first body movement was likely a fake. Since there was almost no chance of blocking Ha-neul with her skill, Yeon-ji predicted Ha-neul's movement and stayed still, and in that moment, Ha-neul dribbled and turned his body to the left.
'...Damn it!'
The legendary Ryu Ha-neul turned his body without even a single fake movement. On the left was another center-back, Catherine, but Catherine was currently marking Arnal. If I were to be pierced here, it would open a 2:1 situation.
After quickly finishing judgment, Yeon-ji tried to block Ha-neul somehow. But no matter how much Ha-neul was a man's body, his agility was at the level of other pro players, and with reaction time delayed, it was impossible to block Ha-neul's front at such a short distance.
What remained was just to tackle while accelerating.
In an instant, the yellow card I received 10 minutes ago flashed in my mind. But more important than that now was to prevent the team's concession crisis.
And perhaps trying to pass instantly, during the dribble, the ball that was not more than 10cm from my foot separated from Ha-neul's foot. An instant chance. Yeon-ji leaned her body to catch that chance and extended her leg towards Ha-neul.
...Without knowing that the gap was a trap set by Ha-neul.
In the moment I leaned my body, it felt like our eyes met as Ha-neul quickly turned his head. Only then did Yeon-ji realize she had fallen into a trap. But even if I realized, it was already too late. Yeon-ji's body was sliding on the grass without being able to overcome inertia.
Ha-neul's foot came down in front of the leg quickly approaching the ball. The ball moved to the left foot, and Ha-neul's foot touched the thigh side. It wasn't my leg touching Ha-neul's body, but Ha-neul's leg touching my body. As if deliberately aiming for it!
'...Got it!'
Thud.
And Ha-neul's body leaned.
There wasn't much resistance like touching the body, but looking from outside, it was the perfect tackle and fall, and Yeon-ji thought she was tackled, but wondered if her tackle was too deep.
'Was I trying to induce the tackle...? But this is too dangerous...'
Swish – Thud!
While watching Yeon-ji fall after the tackle, the whistle blew. The position of the tackle, the posture of the tackle, and the yellow card the referee had already held up towards me once.
'Ah.... It wasn't the time to worry about Ha-neul. ...That's why Ha-neul said sorry in advance?'
Watching the approaching referee, Yeon-ji thought. The match today would end like this.