ALL NOVEL Chapter 32
The South Korea National Team played in an atmosphere akin to a home game, buoyed by the cheers of Chinese spectators.
“Hey, why are the Chinese cheering for us?”
“I have no idea. Did Korea and China ever get along?”
While it couldn’t be said that the Chinese fans’ support specifically helped South Korea, at least it seemed better than the jeers directed at Japan.
“Dammit! These little bugs!”
Caught in a tough situation, the Japanese national team began to mentally waver as they heard the taunts from the Chinese fans.
– It seems Japan is starting to panic! The number of passing mistakes is definitely increasing!
– Just as I was saying that! Cha Dongwon intercepts the ball! He immediately passes to Son Jinho and dashes forward!
As Cha Dongwon’s pass headed towards Son Jinho, the Chinese fans in the stands cheered his Chinese name.
“Shun Jianhao—! Shun Jianhao—!”
Hearing the crowd’s cheers brought a smile to Son Jinho’s face. Given the current popularity, it seemed he would be able to earn sweet China money until anti-Korean sentiments rose after the THAAD deployment.
“The post-THAAD situation is the problem…”
That was a matter to consider later.
Bam.
After finishing his thoughts, Son Jinho swung his foot. The pass flew accurately beneath Cha Dongwon’s feet, and the cheers from the stands supporting South Korea grew louder.
Swoosh.
Cha Dongwon received the pass and calmly tricked Japanese goalkeeper Nakamura to score.
“Ho-woo—!”
Having assisted, Son Jinho sprinted toward the Chinese fans to celebrate.
“Ha-o—!”
The Chinese crowd went wild for Son Jinho.
“… But I was the one who scored?”
In the midst of the heated atmosphere of the stadium, having scored the goal, Cha Dongwon continued the celebration with an awkward smile.
[(Green window Sports Live) South Korea 1 : 0 Japan.]
– South Korea’s Cha Dongwon scores a second goal.
└ Goaaaal~~
└ Ssssssssssss
└ Japan is sinking~~~
└ Wow… That Son Jinho pass was delicious, so good!
└ With a pass like that, I feel like I could score too lmao
└ Seriously making rice and feeding it to them, lmao
– Son Jinho’s Ho-woo celebration.
└ Lololol Son Jinho’s stealing the celebration! If you didn’t know better, you’d think he scored it himself, lol
└ Just kidding, did the broadcast camera really catch the assisting player? lololol
└ To be honest, that Ho-woo is definitely catchy, lol
└ But why can I hear a “Zhao Zhao” sound from the stands?
└ The Chinese are cheering for Korea, lol
└ China??? Cheering for us??? Why???
└ Those guys have anti-Japan sentiments that surpass ours, lol, they probably hate Japan more than we do.
└ I don’t like either the Chinese or the Japanese.
└ They’re the same; we’re just a bit better off, but we aren’t exactly fond of them either.
└ Ugh, damn, on the left, there’s a Chinese; on the right, there’s a Japanese. What a terrible location for South Korea. Who did this real estate investment?
└ It was Grandfather Dangun.
└ Definitely got scammed on that lease.
└ Rofl, it feels like he got scammed on the lease and ended up stuck on the Korean Peninsula.
└ Fact: Grandfather Dangun settled in Manchuria but was chased away by his inept descendants.
└ Ah, serious talk now?
└ Hm… By the way, isn’t Son Jinho running too much? Isn’t that overdoing it?
└ He used to be very active; no worries there.
└ I saw him listed as playing for Dortmund; how’s he doing there?
└ He’s doing phenomenally well, part of the U19 team, with six goals in three matches.
└ … Isn’t Son Jinho a midfielder?
└ A midfielder scoring two goals a game? That’s insane lol
└ Man, if he scored two goals a game, I would’ve jumped up shouting “Ho-woo” when I went to watch.
└ Ho-woo—
└ For real, I want to go and shout “Ho-woo,” ugh.
└ Are you the Ho-woo gallery?
└ Ho-woo gallery? What the heck is that?
└ It’s where Son Jinho’s personal fandom gathers; they shout “Ho-woo” during his celebrations, and they probably made a gallery out of it.
└ Wow, Son Jinho already has his own loyal fans; he’s definitely becoming a star.
└ … He’s quite handsome, huh.
└ Lmao, living in a world of his own lol
└ By the way, I was cursing when we lost to Yemen, but now I’m seeing we’re doing ridiculously well? Was Yemen actually better than I thought?
└ Nope, it’s a gap between starters and bench players.
└ More than that, the difference when Son Jinho <<< this guy is ridiculously huge. The flow of the game changes completely when he’s in or out. └ Oh dear, you’re calling the main player “this guy”? └ Why are you searching for the gallery leader here? └ Huh? Lol I just realized Han Gwangjong's big picture. └ What's that? └ He deliberately made us lose to Yemen so Japan wouldn’t get to the U20 World Cup by eliminating them in the quarterfinals, lol └ Seriously, was that intentional? Lololol └ Wow~ I’ve just now realized the grand vision the coach drew! *
Right before the game ended, the South Korea National Team scored against Japan once more.
“Nice!!”
Han Gwangjong, the coach, stood up and swung an uppercut as Son Jinho’s long-range shot pierced the Japanese net.
It was a perfect victory for the South Korea U19 National Team under his leadership.
Had Japan’s goalkeeper Nakamura not put on a fantastic display, the scoreline could have easily been a two-goal difference given how one-sided the match was.
Naturally, Japanese football fans began to express their fury over the team’s lackluster performance.
[Is Nuno Keiichiro a Zainichi? Why is the Korean national team beating us!!]
└ Seriously the worst performance ever wwww
└ A 15-year-old Son Jinho overwhelmed the 19-year-old team…
└ In Korea, if you lose to Japan, they say you should swim back; Japan should adopt that mindset too, right? wwwww
They sought to identify the culprits behind their defeat and started to throw insults, abusing the legendary first squad trope.
[With the injured players, we could have formed a whole team! Compared to first squad Korea, we are the second squad!]
└ But still, you got beaten by a 15-year-old, right?
└ Isn’t that kind of too much for a 15-year-old? wwww
└ Did he lie about his age or something?
└ … Dude. Korea isn’t Africa.
However, the legendary first squad trope didn’t garner as much support as expected. No matter how you looked at it, getting beaten by a 15-year-old while touting the first squad was too embarrassing.
Anyway, not long after Son Jinho scored, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the match.
“Wow—! We can go home on a plane!!”
The South Korean players on the bench immediately dashed onto the field, celebrating their victory over Japan.
*
At the same time, Dortmund officials watching the video of the 2010 AFC U19 Championship quarterfinal match between Korea and Japan were inspired by Son Jinho’s performance.
“You can see the difference when Jinho isn’t in the South Korea team compared to the last match! His ability to orchestrate the game is top-notch!”
A coach blushing with excitement spoke to Jürgen Klopp.
“Impressive.”
Jürgen Klopp smiled as he watched the footage intently.
Considering it was a competition held in the Asian football periphery, one had to take it into account, but Son Jinho’s performance was undeniably impressive.
“A player representing the Dortmund youth system…”
Typically, youth players wouldn’t even be reported to the first team coach, but Son Jinho was different.
Dortmund, valuing his potential, aimed to make him a representative star of their youth system, and the expectations placed on Son Jinho within Dortmund were formidable enough to be regularly reported to first team coach Jürgen Klopp.
“Dortmund wants to nurture him as a franchise star representing their club, but…”
Given the financial situation of the club, they would eventually have to send him away.
“Next season wouldn’t be a bad idea to add him to the first team rotation.”
As Klopp concluded his thoughts, the coaches nodded in agreement.
They had also been internally aligned while watching the footage. The only obstacle was his young age, but by the next season when he turned 16 and 6 months, he would be eligible to register for the first team roster, so it wasn’t an issue.
“Well… other problems have been sorted too.”
While a visa for Bundesliga participation wasn’t necessary, a residence permit was needed for living in Germany.
However, the Korean Football Association actively stepped in to resolve this issue.
The administrative work required by the Korean Football Association was a bit annoying for Dortmund’s operational staff, but that was just a fleeting nuisance. Once they recognized Son Jinho’s talent, they began to work with enthusiasm.
The fervor seen when they first joined may have cooled a bit, but they were still people who loved football and Dortmund enough to work for the club.
“By the way, with Son being pampered in Hamburg, and both Kagawa and Jinho joining this season, a lot of good players are starting to emerge from East Asia.”
In response to Klopp’s musing, a coach answered.
“Not to mention Cha Bum-kun from back in the day.”
Nodding his head at the coach’s words, Klopp turned to the scouting team leader.
“Actually, I was planning to place a scout in Japan, so we can cover Korea too.”
The scouting team leader replied with a smile on his face.
Thus, Dortmund’s gaze began to turn towards Korea and Japan.