National Team Call-Up
A few days after the Chelsea match and the West Bromwich fixture that followed, on January 15, 2014, articles about Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon hit the press.
For Southampton, the content was anything but trivial.
The articles confirmed that Southampton's ace duo, Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon, had been selected for the national team — not as a tentative possibility, but as a confirmed call-up.
And once the news broke, Korean fans erupted.
Southampton fans, on the other hand, reacted with pure hostility.
"We're riding the best form of our lives and they're shipping off both aces? Are they out of their minds?"
"Pochettino's lost it. Why is he sending Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon? If he's sending anyone, send Victor Wanyama!"
"Damn it! Oh Jung-hoon I can understand. But not Jung Hyuk! What are they thinking, shipping out Southampton's core?"
"What the hell is Southampton even doing?"
It was a natural reaction. Of course, having the team's youngest players make the national team was something to celebrate — being selected for your country was a genuine honor. The problem was that Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon were Southampton's key players. After beating even Chelsea and sitting near the top of the league table, Southampton could realistically dream of a title run. And in that situation, both of the team's aces were walking out the door.
For Southampton supporters, it was nearly impossible to accept.
And those same feelings were not far from what Mauricio Pochettino himself was thinking.
"Don't worry about things here. Just focus on not getting hurt."
He put on a cool front for the departing Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon, but for Pochettino, it had been no easy decision. Honestly····· it was closer to something he had been forced to accept. Negotiations between the club and the Korea Football Association were already underway, and neither Jung Hyuk nor Oh Jung-hoon had any intention of refusing the national team call-up.
First····· I need to work on the contingency plan.
Even after losing two core players, Mauricio Pochettino's expression was not particularly dark. He was a manager with confidence in his own ability. And beyond Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon, the rest of his squad were players he valued highly and trusted completely. Pochettino had the confidence to hold the line until the two of them returned.
The South Korean national team's last match had been a friendly against Russia at the end of 2013. For fans who had been rooting for Korean football, it had been a thoroughly bitter affair.
A 2–1 defeat. And a defeat that came at the end of a thoroughly wretched performance.
"Why is Korea this bad at football?"
"Ha····· no attack, no defense····· what are they even trying to do?"
"····It wasn't like this back in 2002·····."
"It's so frustrating····· seriously!"
Korean football fans had grown weary of a national team that never seemed to deliver a satisfying performance. The disappointment only deepened with time, until most of them had stopped expecting anything at all.
Then 2014 arrived.
And those same fans found their hearts beginning to stir. The reason was the news that Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon had been called up to the national team. And right now, the two Korean boys who had shaken the EPL were flying home to Korea.
"When are they coming out?"
"They should be out any second! Stay focused!"
"Hey! Don't push! Huh? I said don't push!"
A throng of reporters had packed the Korean airport. On top of that, an enormous crowd of fans had flooded in. Cameras and placards lined every angle, security guards scanning the perimeter, and the whole terminal had become a loud, chaotic mess.
Then it happened. Reporters and camera operators surged into motion, and the fans erupted into cheers — because Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon had appeared.
"Kyaaaaah! It's Jung Hyuk! Look over here!"
"Wow! Mr. Jung Hyuk! Wave your hand!"
"Jung Hyuk! You're so handsome!"
"Wooooooo! Oh Jung-hoon! I'm a fan!"
Dozens of flashbulbs exploded, and the fans' voices thundered through the terminal.
Blink.
Oh Jung-hoon blinked, his face stunned. He had never received this level of attention before, and the whole scene was overwhelming. Jung Hyuk had given him a heads-up before they got off the plane, but hearing about it and living it were completely different experiences.
All these people came just to see me and Hyuk?
He was happy, but the shock was bigger. He flicked his eyes sideways to check Jung Hyuk's face, curious how his usually rock-solid friend would handle a moment like this.
But—
What is with this guy?
Jung Hyuk was walking along under the security detail's guidance without the slightest change in expression. Oh Jung-hoon started staring at him outright, pure disbelief written across his face. Was it even possible to stay that calm while this many people were pouring concentrated attention on you? Oh Jung-hoon simply could not understand him.
Then—
"Oh Jung-hoon, you're so handsome!"
The sudden shout sent the corners of Oh Jung-hoon's mouth rocketing upward. That was the kind of compliment that made facial control impossible.
"Eheheh!"
Hong Seong-bo was the man currently holding the reins of the South Korean national football team. A former national team player himself, he was widely regarded as the greatest defender in Korean football history. For a man who already possessed more than enough glory, there had been a clear reason he had taken the national team manager's job in 2013.
It was about honor. And because he had been the best as a player, he wanted to climb to the very top as a manager as well.
Reality, however, had not matched his expectations. Unlike his playing days, Hong Seong-bo's tenure as national team manager had been anything but smooth. Debuting against Australia in July 2013, he had lost or drawn seven matches outside of the Haiti, Mali, and Switzerland fixtures, drawing the fans' resentment. The loss to Japan in July 2013, in particular, had been a bone-deep defeat that drove away even the supporters who had still believed in him.
Where he had once been a legend, he was now enduring the worst reputation of his career. That was why the matches of 2014 mattered more than ever to Hong Seong-bo.
Well begun is half done. Hong Seong-bo was a man who believed that saying with his whole heart. 2014 was the year that would announce his new beginning. If he could fasten the first button of the year properly, he believed he could reverse his poor standing. Going further, he believed the national team under his command could put on a strong showing at the World Cup that summer.
And so, swallowing a little of his pride, he had put together a squad built ruthlessly for victory.
"I don't like going back on my word····· but winning comes first."
He had once said he had no intention of selecting overseas players who weren't getting game time, and that a squad built primarily around domestic players would still be competitive enough. Contrary to those words, this time he had called in the overseas contingent — specifically Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon, the two players currently putting on the best performances in the Premier League.
But Hong Seong-bo could not throw away the last of his pride. In front of the press, he delivered a warning message to the overseas players.
The message was that overseas players would have to compete on the same terms as domestic ones — that selection would be based purely on ability. The problem was that looking at the national team squad Hong Seong-bo had assembled this time, the vast majority of players were from the K League or the J League. The only players currently playing in Europe were Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon.
In other words, Hong Seong-bo's interview had been a targeted message aimed squarely at the two of them. And once those interviews hit the papers, Korean football fans' reactions turned cold.
Even with that fan backlash, Hong Seong-bo's thinking did not change. And right now, watching the national team players file into the training ground, he was thinking: if Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon showed even a hint of arrogance because they had put on good performances at a young age and drawn so much attention, he would absolutely not start them. He would make them feel just how heavy a place the national team really was.
But then—
Huh?
Hong Seong-bo stared at Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon with a startled expression. The two young stars had come over and greeted him with impeccable manners.
Hong Seong-bo looked at Jung Hyuk with a bewildered face. His plan to seize the initiative over the young players with an intense stare had gone up in smoke.
"I've been a fan since I was little. It's an honor to meet you in person like this."
"····Huh? Uh, is that so?"
Jung Hyuk's polite greeting, followed by the "fan" attack, left him flustered.
"Wow! Wooooooo! It's really Manager Hong Seong-bo? Woooaaah! This is seriously insane! I've been a total fan since I was a kid too! The eternal libero! Manager, could I maybe get an autograph?"
A little over-the-top, maybe — but Oh Jung-hoon's "autograph" attack, dripping with genuine admiration, threw him off all over again. In that moment, a bead of sweat slid down Hong Seong-bo's forehead.
You two····· what are you?
Ahem.
Hong Seong-bo hardened his expression a beat late and spoke.
"Right. Good to meet you. You've been putting on strong performances in the Premier League lately, I hear?"
At those words, Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon looked back at him with faint smiles. Standing before a senior legend, they showed not the slightest hint of being cowed. They kept their manners, but they held their ground with quiet confidence.
A flicker. Hong Seong-bo's eyes wavered slightly. Even that reaction had been outside his expectations. But he pressed on in his characteristic heavy voice.
"···Good eyes. Well, this is the age when confidence runs high. And you won the U-20 title last year, so the national team probably feels like it's sitting right in the palm of your hand. But! Don't get complacent. The national team is not an easy place. You may have locked down your spots at Southampton, but nobody knows how things will go here."
"Understood."
"Yes, sir!"
Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon answered at once. Still, neither of them looked the least bit intimidated. Seeing that, Hong Seong-bo spoke one last time.
"Show me your ability in training. Prove that you can compete against the older players who have far more experience than you."
A short while later, Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon exchanged greetings with the rest of the national team squad. Hong Seong-bo watched the whole thing, then turned to the coach standing beside him.
"Coach Choi, do you think those two will adapt?"
The man called Coach Choi answered.
"I think it's still too early to judge them. We'll need at least a practice match before any real picture starts to form, won't we? And····· the senior national team carries a completely different level of pressure from the U-20s, doesn't it?"
"That's right."
Hong Seong-bo nodded with a satisfied expression. Jung Hyuk and Oh Jung-hoon — Jung Hyuk especially — were genuine prospects who had put on a monstrous showing at the U-20 level. But the wall of the senior national team was higher than people thought. The crushing pressure and burden of representing your country, and the high-level training that came with gathering the best footballers in Korea — those were things you could never understand without living them yourself. Plenty of players who thrived at their clubs failed to show anything once they arrived at the national team.
And for Hong Seong-bo, who had spent long years as a national team player, the words "national team" carried a particularly weighty meaning. To him, the national team was a matter of pride. So he wanted those confident young kids to feel the wall of the national team. He wanted them to feel firsthand just how formidable the players gathered here really were.
But once the practice match actually began, something entirely different from what he had hoped for unfolded.
"Does this····· even make sense?"