Bad Advice
Bad Advice
Yilmaz stood behind the ball and glanced at me.
No long conversation was needed.
The trajectory of his toe,
And the landing spot where my eyes lingered.
That momentary communion was enough.
Three Roma defenders swarmed around me, layering themselves over me.
Mancini was blatantly grabbing the hem of my jersey, and Cristante, who had just "buried" me, was applying heavy pressure from behind.
Click.
The world turned black and white and ground to a halt.
In the frozen time, I read the angle of Yilmaz's plant foot.
It wasn't a direct shot.
The ball was going to go over the wall and curve in sharply.
I checked which direction the arm muscles of Mancini, who was holding onto me, were exerting force. And where Cristante's center of gravity was leaning.
Click.
One minute later. The ball left Yilmaz's foot and sliced through the air.
Roma's defensive wall, fooled by the ball's trajectory, jumped in unison, but the ball curved rapidly toward me, not over their heads.
I slipped out of Mancini's grasp and threw my body into the empty space.
The gap where the three defenders tangled and fell.
That split-second crack was the only target point I was aiming for.
Instinct dominated my muscles.
The pain in my ankle had already been washed away by adrenaline.
"Click."
It was the moment the ball was delivered right in front of my head.
The blind spot where goalkeeper Patricio's fingertips couldn't reach. The top right corner of the post.
I bent my waist and brought my forehead to the ball.
Thump!
With the dull sound of impact, the sounds of the world poured back in.
Fucking King Han-su scored!!!!!!!!!! Comeback goal!!!!!!!!!!
Wait, how did he escape three defenders blatantly sticking to him and pull off a header there?
Han-su's positioning and jump timing are seriously giving me goosebumps, damn.
ㄴLook at Richi's expression lol. Didn't he say it was a "lucky fluke"? lol Now his mouth is hanging open, spacing out lol.
ㄴAh, you can't even hate on this... They tricked the whole defensive wall thinking it was a direct free kick, then delivered a courier service to Han-su, damn.
The ball, which had buried itself as if to tear the net, rolled on the ground.
"¡GOL de Villarreal! ¡Con el número 9, HAN-SU...!"
"KIM!!"
Three shouts tore through the night sky of La Cerámica.
I tried to roar toward the stands as I landed, but immediately buried my face in the grass and started retching.
"Ugh....!"
Breaking) Han-su vomit-on lol
Watch the goal scene again lol.
Mancini is grabbing and pulling his jersey, but he slips out like an eel and smashes his head into it, damn.
But as soon as he scores, he starts retching again lol.
It's not Han-su if he doesn't throw up after scoring now lol.
ㄴThis guy throws up even in his own home stadium lol.
ㄴAll hail, GUTO.
ㄴThe will of 'GUTO' is inherited.....
60th minute of the second half. The manager switched to a completely defensive tactic and substituted me and Lozano.
The positions were reversed.
Roma, who had been setting up defensive walls and stalling for time, became desperate, while Villarreal, who had been pushing aggressively, began to intentionally stall for time by setting up two lines of defense.
Back on the bench, I pulled a towel over my head.
As the adrenaline subsided, the pain in my ankle, the nausea, and the lingering aftereffects of the 'Click' washed over me like a wave.
"Heh."
But a smile spread across my lips.
Because I had witnessed Stefano Ricci's distorted expression inside the stadium.
30 minutes remaining.
From here on, it was Manager Marcelino's specialty: 'suffocating defense' time.
Villarreal switched to an all-out defense mode.
Leaving only Yilmaz up front, four midfielders and four defenders built two tight horizontal lines.
Roma became desperate.
Richi grabbed the ball in midfield and desperately looked for a way out, but the space had already been erased.
In the 78th minute, a crisis arrived.
Richi lured three defenders and then poked a delicate chip pass into the box.
Just as Roma's substitute striker Abraham was trapping the ball with his chest and about to face a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper, Mamadou flew in from somewhere and threw his body.
Mamadou blocked not the ball, but Abraham's entire field of vision with his own body.
The deflected ball was caught in the arms of our goalkeeper Reina, and Richi sat down on the grass, clutching his head.
Even the 4 minutes of stoppage time flowed by.
The referee's whistle blew three times.
[ Villarreal 1 : 0 AS Roma ]
Aggregate score 3 : 2. Villarreal advances to the quarterfinals.
Villarreal quarterfinals confirmed lol Roma sunk!!
They succeeded in holding on in the end lol.
Villarreal's defense awakened as a group today. Especially Mamadou, he did his part.
But the real protagonists of today's match are the Han-su and Yilmaz duo, for real.
ㄴRichi was crying after the game today, right? lol He said it was a "lucky fluke," and then got properly schooled.
ㄴHe got crushed by Han-su's looks, and then his soul got snatched by his skill, didn't he? lol
Is Han-su's interview out yet? lol
When the reporter asked him to say a word to Roma, he did this with the most harmless expression in the world lol.
"Roma is a great team. I hope they have good luck in the Europa League next year."
But Roma is currently 12th in the league, so they can't even make it to European competitions next year lol.
ㄴ "Surely Roma can't be that bad, right?" said sarcastically lol.
ㄴ But the scary thing is that Han-su, this guy, is saying it without actually knowing Roma's ranking..
ㄴ A guy who only knows football... lol
ㄴ Our Han-su can't use that kind of rhetoric.
After the Europa match against Roma.
The day scheduled for joint training with Villarreal's 2nd team.
The area around the training ground was much noisier than usual.
The miraculous comeback win against Roma, and my status at the center of it, had completely changed overnight.
Even before I could enter the training ground, jerseys and pens for autographs thrust out by fans filled my vision.
"Kim! Sign here, please!"
"Your goal yesterday was insane!"
I awkwardly signed autographs for the surging fans and complied with photo requests.
I just bowed my head and moved my pen mechanically.
As I entered the field, the intense gazes of the 2nd team players poured down on me.
Among them, 18-year-old prospect Pablo, who had been specially called up to 1st team training this time, was blatantly taking the spot right next to me.
"Wow, lucky Pablo. Getting to train with Kim."
"Hey, ask him for his secret. Does that positioning yesterday even make sense?"
At the envious and jealous whispers of the 2nd team colleagues heard from afar, Pablo's shoulders rose high.
He was staring at me with an expression as if he owned the world.
After the 'vomit goal' in the Roma match, it seemed I had become more than just a senior to Pablo; I had become a living myth.
For some reason, Manager Marcelino had attached Pablo to my side and ordered mentoring.
Actually, I have no talent for teaching anyone.
My social skills are bad, too.
And how could I translate the phenomena happening in my head into ordinary language?
But I couldn't ignore Pablo's expectant gaze.
"Um... Kim. That positioning during the Roma match, how did you actually do it? How did you manage to slip through between three defenders like that?"
I pondered for a moment and then opened my mouth very seriously.
"..Well, you have to feel like the world has stopped at a certain point."
"A... feeling like it stopped? Are you talking about a state of high concentration?"
I shook my head. It wasn't a metaphor.
"No, everything actually stops. In that frozen time, you have to read the depth at which the defender's plant foot presses into the grass. A defender like Mancini, his left shoulder muscle contracts very slightly before he grabs your jersey. You see that momentary crack and push your body through it."
Pablo's expression twisted strangely.
He took out a notebook, started to write something, then stopped his pen.
"You... see the contraction of shoulder muscles in that short amount of time? And you say time stops?"
"Yeah. The world stops. You have to endure that sensation, catch the horizon, and predict the defender's next trajectory."
I added.
"And the most important thing is the desperation to score a goal right then."
The longer my explanation went on, the paler Pablo's complexion became.
..Is this not it?
"Um... Kim. You don't happen to have headaches or hallucinations, do you?"
"This is all a matter of senses. Only when your senses awaken can you finally see that frozen trajectory."
Because of my socially awkward personality, I had done my best to pass on the secret, but Pablo was now blatantly looking at Yilmaz, who was next to us, with desperate eyes.
But Yilmaz indifferently tightened his soccer cleats and tossed out one word.
"Ignore him. This guy is just a bit weird in the head."
"Ah... as I thought, right? It was a metaphor, right?"
"Not a joke. You have to feel the stimulation of your brain burning to finally see the truth. You'll realize it soon too."
Pablo was now backing away, looking at me as if I were some kind of cult leader.
The shoulders of the prospect who had been the object of envy for the 2nd team players had shrunk noticeably in no time.
As expected, teaching someone doesn't suit me.
I should just play football.