ALL NOVEL Chapter 19
After the match ended that evening, the Ho-woo gallery began posting their reactions.
[Title: Match Result) Geumsun High 3 : 0 Gwanghwa High.]
(Ho-woo is our older brother .jpg)
Gwanghwa High pulled off anti-football, so Ho-woo could only score once.
Total boring match.
└ Haha, our older brother’s washed up, only scored one goal?
└ No, no, he scored two goals haha. One time he celebrated for his girlfriend, and I genuinely booed.
└ Haha, was that you throwing shade at him? 😂
└ Seriously? Is it fair for a midfielder to be called washed up just for scoring one goal? 😂😂😂
└ For real, isn’t the standard a bit harsh for our older brother? 😂😂😂
└ Raise your drink! To those who try to use Ho-woo, endure the weight!
[Title: Reaction) But don’t you think coaches are being nice to players these days?]
In the past, they would’ve started with a double-s and ended with ‘you little brat.’
Nowadays, they don’t even shout?
└ Since the Hu-jin High incident, coaches are watching their backs.
└ Wait, why does everyone call it Hu-jin High when it’s Ho-jin High?
└ Honestly, I’ve often frowned at coaches who curse at players when I went to watch our brother play, but now it’s a lot easier to watch.
└ For sure. And since coaches started speaking sweetly, it feels like the kids are trying to break through actively and taking shots more.
└ Seriously;; Were the coaches suppressors?
└ Look at the Hu-jin High coach, he beats the kids like that; do you think they could play the way they want to, or the way they are good at? They just blindly clear it away as the coach says.
└ Overseas, the kids reportedly research various training methods to keep training fun, while we’re still making them do ridiculous duck walks in the name of stamina training.
└ Why the heck do they make them do that silly duck walk? It doesn’t help with stamina and ruins the kids’ knees.
└ Just because they went through it, they make the kids do it. 😂 Those guys don’t care about sports physiology or anything. They train the way they did, sacrificing players’ careers for results.
└ Let’s not generalize. There are proper coaches too.
└ Who? Come on, say it.
└ Geumsun High’s best coach, Choi Gi-hyun?
└ Is our brother’s coach named Choi Gi-hyun?
└ I thought he was the coach since he always gives orders. 😂
└ By the way, how does this guy know our brother’s coach’s name?
└ Huh? 😂
└ Could it be…?
└ Gi-hyun? 😂😂😂
└ Haha, Gi-hyun, what are you doing here? 😂
└ But haha, it seems like you’re not replying to comments, so you might really be Gi-hyun? 😂
└ If that’s real, then Gi-hyun’s really a crazy guy, promoting his name in the student’s gallery! 😂😂😂
└ Haha, Gi-hyun, it’s a bit embarrassing! Gi-hyun!!
“Ah, so I got caught.”
Coach Choi Gi-hyun sighed and pulled his hands away from the keyboard. He thought he had naturally mentioned his name in the community, but it seemed not.
“That kid. He already has a personal fandom; he’s really going places.”
Nervously putting a cigarette in his mouth, Choi Gi-hyun smiled at Son Jinho. He had expected that Son Jinho would do well, but he was making a name for himself much faster than he had thought.
“Geez. A coach who raises a world-class football player? It’s… wait, why is the gallery called Ho-woo?”
As he was about to shout “It’s me!” and think of a hopeful future, Coach Choi Gi-hyun suddenly had a question.
“Is it related to that weird celebration? I just don’t get these kids’ feelings,” Choi murmured to himself, recalling the conversation he had with the SBK producer who came after the match against Gwanghwa High.
– Ah! It’s an honor to meet you, player Son Jinho!
– Uh… PD, how do you know our Jinho?
– Haha… I was the one who strongly advocated for covering the U-19 national team. In a way, Son Jinho is my benefactor.
Thanks to Son Jinho, the ratings were fortunately higher than the national anthem, so I didn’t get fired.
Recalling that incident, Coach Choi clicked his tongue lightly.
“My license fee is being used for that nonsense.”
How ridiculous it was to think about broadcasting a friendly match of the U-19 national team that he hadn’t even watched.
Honestly, as a citizen being robbed of license fees, he couldn’t look at it kindly.
– Wow, you have excellent insight! Thanks to you, I could watch my student play!
– Coach, you didn’t watch Jinho’s match!?
– Ah, kids, your parents are waiting. You should disperse first.
Showing a hint of frustration was a rookie move. Coach Choi, displaying a flexibility that would make even artificial intelligence cry, first dispersed the players, then chatted for a long time with the SBK PD.
– Good work! I’ll get going first to see my girlfriend!
It would have been nice if Son Jinho could have talked together, but as soon as the dispersal was declared, he left to see his girlfriend, and Coach Choi listened to the PD’s plans solo.
“Let’s see… What did that PD say? A plan to go for a trial with a German club? This looks like it’s gonna flop.”
Coach Choi thought of the program plan and swallowed a bitter smile. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see the program doing well.
“Well… Jinho will choose for himself, I guess.”
Organizing his thoughts, Coach Choi turned to look at the clock.
The time for the World Cup match had already passed. Coach Choi hurriedly turned on the TV and switched to the SBC channel, which declared exclusive coverage of the World Cup.
“Oh. What!? They already scored?”
Coach Choi’s eyes landed on the Korean national team celebrating their goal just 7 minutes into the first half.
“If Jinho does well, could I squeeze in there too?”
***
“Woooooah!! GOAAAAL! GOAAAAAAAAALL!”
Gyeouri raised both arms high with chicken legs in hand as soon as the goal was scored.
“…Does that girl have no shame? She’s gnawing on two chicken legs all by herself.”
Her father-in-law grumbled quietly, but unfortunately, the already hyped Gyeouri couldn’t hear her father-in-law’s words.
“I told you to order three chickens!”
“How can four people eat three? Plus, Jinho is on a diet, so he can’t eat chicken.”
“What kind of world doesn’t know about one chicken per person?”
As Mother-in-law lightly scolded the grumbling father-in-law, the replay of the scoring moment started on the screen.
[Kisung-ryong’s amazing cross! And Kim Jeong-soo’s calm finish leads to Korea’s opening goal!]
A center-back failed to clear the corner kick thrown in by Kisung-ryong, and Kim Jeong-soo deflected it just by putting his leg out, scoring the goal.
Korea consistently pressured Greece strongly.
In the 57th minute of the second half, Park Jisong’s shot, having blocked Greece’s pass, once again shook the net, and the Korean national team proudly achieved a victory of 2:0.
“Oooooh~~ Jisong Pah-re!”
Honestly, knowing the match result, I thought it would be boring, but watching Gyeouri’s happy smile alone made it a meaningful time.
***
The next day.
The players gathered for recovery training and talked about the previous day’s World Cup match.
“Hey, did you watch the World Cup yesterday?”
“Of course I did. Are we going to the semi-finals again like in the 2002 World Cup?”
Well, it wasn’t just us; everywhere you went, people talked about the World Cup.
Especially since they won the first match, you could see the expectations rising.
“Can we play there too?”
“Well, maybe not us, but Jinho might go. If that monster doesn’t go to the World Cup, who will?”
The players’ voices were filled with a strong passion to want to play on the World Cup stage.
It seems that the national team’s performances in the World Cup have served as good motivation for kids dreaming of becoming football players.
It’s probably similar for other sports, but representing the country is perhaps every athlete’s dream.
So, even if they get injured, they push through to participate, which can lead to not recovering their abilities properly.
Even just limiting it to football, countless players have forced themselves to participate in the World Cup and saw their skills decline. Kaka was one, and van Persie faced that too. And Ronaldo had to change his playing style after a knee injury at the Brazil World Cup.
Even when you wonder why they would participate in the World Cup despite injuries, once the season approaches, it all makes sense.
I too participated in the World Cup with my injury still recovering.
To that extent, representing the nation is an honorable thing.
Anyway, while they were in recovery training.
“Jinho!”
With a bright smile, Coach Choi Gi-hyun approached.
Why. What now?