The Sudden Strike
The sudden strike. There was no better situation to describe the current state. And for the one who took the unexpected blow, it felt as if his brain had frozen.
‘…Damn, what do I do?’
Before the Champions League final began, Coach Florence had emphasized not conceding the first goal.
Do not concede the first goal against Barcelona.
This phrase was almost like a common saying in the current football world. If Barcelona scored first, it would be impossible to play the game normally.
Barcelona was a team where, if you picked the top 30 players in passing in the football world, every player in the lineup would be on the list. And Barcelona's strength was that it was most effective in leading situations.
Barcelona, without rushing, slowly circulated the ball to induce errors from the opponent or exhaust their stamina, then pounced like hunting.
Thinking about Ryu Ha-neul who attempted a direction change through a quick counterattack in crisis moments, reversing against Barcelona was practically impossible.
That's why Manchester City was also planning to follow that saying faithfully.
But in 1 minute 30 seconds, they had conceded the first goal while the referee's whistle was still lingering in the air.
And it was their own mistake!
“It's okay, Paisley.”
“Now, we can turn it around.”
“Let's go! There's still 90 minutes left!”
Their teammates tried to boost his spirits with those words, but to Paisley, whose mental state was already shaken, their voices were completely inaudible.
‘If I had sent the ball somewhere else there... ugh, if I had been a little more careful there...’
His vision narrowed and breathing felt uncomfortable. The Barcelona fans gathered at Estadio Metropolitano were cheering at the top of their voices, but even their voices didn't reach Paisley's ears.
During the 2018 Russia World Cup, Paisley had played as England's starting centerback and contributed to the nation's runner-up finish. But the pressure of being in his team's first-ever Champions League final, combined with the extreme guilt of conceding a goal due to his own mistake, had put Paisley into a temporary state of panic.
And it wasn't just Paisley who fell into that state.
‘I shouldn't have given it to Paisley there. Why did I choose Paisley when I saw it all? No, but Ryu was going to attempt a tackle... No, that's just an excuse. This idiot, idiot, idiot!’
Even goalkeeper Maddi, who had sent the easy pass to Paisley and thus shared the blame for the first goal, couldn't escape the pressure.
But unfortunately, unlike other sports, football was a continuous game without any tactical time-outs, so there was no way to treat the mentalities of the two players.
And the worst part was that the early goal had relieved the excessive tension of someone.
‘It is Ryu Ha-neul after all.... Yeah, if only Ha-neul is there, we can win. ... Like always.’
Camila, who had been holding back her worry about Ha-neul without showing it, but the early goal had relieved all her tension.
Whistle—!
The whistle blew and the game resumed.
Unlike before, Manchester City started their build-up from the defensive midfielder Alejandra, not sending the ball to the goalkeeper. The Manchester City players had instinctively thought it wasn't good to send the ball to the back.
Moreover, the early goal had pushed the Manchester City players deeper into pressure.
“Manchester City's players' build-up is urgent, right? Although they've conceded a goal, since there's still a lot of game time left, they need to build up slowly.”
And as always, urgency leads to mistakes.
The starting midfielder Victoria of Manchester City connected the ball too hastily toward Alberta. Camila was visible in the path, but Victoria had attempted a risky pass because she didn't know Camila was a player specialized in defense.
But Victoria didn't know much about Camila. Camila was one of the few players with high football intelligence recognized in this world by the greatest football player, Ryu Ha-neul, who had been in this world.
“Ah! Camila intercepts! Victoria's pass is cut off in the middle!”
Camila had been talented enough for Barcelona to dote on her since before Pre-Benjamin, when she was still a kindergarten student. Over the past ten years, she had watched Ryu Ha-neul's plays and learned from them, and sometimes she even praised her own passing skill as being on a similar level.
Intercepting such a adventurous pass from Camila was easy, and Barcelona had the ball after just four minutes of the game.
“Camila!”
As Alberta ran toward Camila, Barcelona's players called her name. But Camila, who already knew this, simply used a simple motion to brush off Alberta's pressure and sent the ball to the centerback Tiana, who was receiving the least pressure.
With this, possession of the ball passed completely to Barcelona, and from that moment, Manchester City's nightmare began.
From Tiana to Aïcha, from Aïcha to Camila, from Camila back to Tiana. Every time the ball moved, the Manchester City players in between rushed to steal it somehow, and Barcelona's players waited for the opponent to come close and passed the ball to a spot where the pressure wasn't heavy.
So, slowly, Barcelona's build-up from the back moved the ball toward the center line, and now the pass continued among the four players who formed a diamond shape: Camila, Yelena, Lorenza, and Ryu Ha-neul.
“Yelena! To Ryu Ha-neul! Two players are clinging to Ryu Ha-neul! Ryu Ha-neul passes to the empty Lorenza!”
“Wow, Lorenza isn't in a hurry either, right? She waits for the Manchester City players to approach. And then back to Camila.”
“If they keep running like this for the first half, aren't you worried about Manchester City's players' stamina?”
“What can we do? This is the Champions League final stage, so the players will keep running even if their hearts burst.”
“Wow! Camila easily evades the pressure and connects the pass! It feels like Ryu Ha-neul is still in the back.”
“Actually, Camila was the promising player that Barcelona doted on, a player who was expected to become Lucia's successor someday, and local fans were looking forward to her. Seeing her play like this without being crushed by the pressure of this stage as a young player, it seems the fans' eyes were right.”
“...The ball is back to Camila! Ah! Camila's long pass! Connected to Eloya! Eloya dives in and shoots—! But it hits the post and goes out!”
“Eloya saw the post and tried to curl it, but unfortunately it hit the post.”
With that, Barcelona's first serious attack ended, but neither Barcelona's players nor fans felt any regret. It was the Champions League final, but they were going in the usual pattern of Barcelona winning.
And again, Manchester City tried to attack, but Alberta's long-range shot missed, and possession of the ball shifted to Barcelona's side.
“Ah, Manchester City's players are trying desperately to steal the ball from Barcelona's players, but they can't even touch it.”
“Perfect breathing, perfect passing. It's amazing that Angela, who created this team in just one year since taking over, feels like a great coach.”
“Ah, the screen catches Coach Florence. She looks like she's standing up on the bench and giving instructions earnestly.”
“Press harder, what kind of talk is that? Normally, Coach Florence doesn't give much game instructions, but her actions today seem to show how the game is going.”
While Florence was in a fluster, Barcelona's passes connected smoothly like flowing water. After several minutes of passes connecting, Barcelona used the left and right spaces to the maximum and shook Manchester City's defense, creating small cracks in it.
And at that moment,
“Camila!”
“Ha-neul!”
The eyes of Ha-neul and Camila, who had synced for over ten years on the same team, met. The two didn't send any signals separately, but they reacted to each other while looking, as if they were one body, and the moment the shaken Manchester City defense missed the mark on Ryu Ha-neul, he cut through the offside line with a curve.
“Oh! He's coming back behind! Camila! Low pass!”
A pass delivered at the speed of a shot, low. For ordinary players, it would seem like the ball would fly far when cut, but Camila trusted her experience with Ha-neul, whom she had been with for so long. No matter how hard she sent the ball, Ryu Ha-neul would trap it like tteokbokki.
“Ryu Ha-neul receives the ball!”
“Wow, how did he receive this ball? Wow, what a trap that makes you admire!”
And as Camila had believed, Ryu Ha-neul placed the ball in front of his feet while not slowing his speed.
Now it was a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
“Ryu Ha-neul! Only Maddi is left!”
Maddi, who had faced the lob shot, couldn't narrow the gap and the shooting angle widened. Ryu Ha-neul, who quickly assessed the situation, ran closer to the goalkeeper and reached a position where he could even succeed with his weak shot power.
Thud!
A light sound rang out as the ball leaving Ryu Ha-neul's foot lodged into the upper left corner of the goal. Maddi had jumped to block the shot, but the distance was too close.
“He needs to narrow the gap? Ah, ah! Now! Shoot! Goooooal!!!! Ryu Ha-neul records a brace in just 24 minutes of the first half! What a wonderful shot!”
-Waaaaaaaah!!!!
“Camila!”
“Ha-neul!”
Ryu Ha-neul, who had scored the second goal, ran to Camila, who sent the wonderful pass with a flushed face. And like when they were young, the two hugged each other tightly.
‘...It's hard. How hard have you been training?’
In the long-awaited hug, Ryu Ha-neul's hard chest felt. Normally, if a woman hugged a man, the man's body would press against the woman's chest due to the height difference, which felt strange.
But Camila thought that this kind of hug where she was pressed against a man's chest was not bad at all.
...I want to do this for the rest of my life.
But since it couldn't be, Camila hugged Ryu Ha-neul even harder. Even when her teammates came over and hugged them together, shouting in joy, Camila didn't let go of his hand.