Field Commander - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18.

Chapter 18.

Chapter 18.

The player wearing Number 8.

About 170cm tall with a very agile body, his ball touch technique wasn’t good.

Instead, he was fast and seemed skilled at hitting and running.

Rather than passing to the players running forward, he was clearly thinking of running into the space created when defenders retreated.

So I pretended to retreat then jumped forward, and Number 8’s first touch wasn’t good, causing the ball to flow far ahead.

A ball contest situation that developed in an instant!

‘He avoided a lot of physical battles with Park Sang-il, right? He doesn’t like collisions.’

I pushed in with my body as if I didn’t care about getting a foul, and he hesitated somewhat, perhaps worried about collision.

That brief hesitation ultimately worked in my favor.

– Thud.

The ball touched my foot first, and I pushed it through between his legs.

He tried to block my path by putting his body in, but I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

Pretending it was a fair physical battle, I swung my arm to disrupt his balance and pushed his body away with my thigh.

The ball came into my vision, and no whistle sounded in my ears.

I saw Seo Dong-myung turning his body as backup, and without hesitation, I lifted the bottom of the ball with my left foot to send up a cross.

The goalkeeper started running toward Seo Dong-myung, then turned around with a panicked expression and ran toward the goal post.

“Huh?”

A surprised sound flowed from the spectators.

“Ah shit!!!!”

The opposing goalkeeper’s scream followed.

I had looked at Seo Dong-myung, but I also saw that the goalkeeper was too far from the goal post.

I thought my precise left foot might give me the result I wanted.

The ball didn’t betray my expectations.

The ball with strong spin bounced forward as soon as it hit the ground, escaping from the grasp of the goalkeeper who threw his body with all his might.

– Splash!

The ball that cut through the net and rolled out tumbling.

“Woaaaah!!!!”

Our spectators shouted with joy.

I couldn’t contain my joy either and jumped up and down.

“This bastard is really crazy.”

“I noticed during training.”

“Hey, wherever you go, finish at least one season before leaving.”

“A goal on your first appearance. What a lucky bastard.”

“Wow, fluke, lucky goal!”

That bastard Park Sang-il…

All our team players came running and smacked the back of my head.

It hurt, but I was too happy to say it hurt.

‘It works. It connects!’

My soccer, that is.

Could there be anything more joyful in this world?

* * *

“That guy…”

Park Chang-yeol nodded when the referee acknowledged the goal and looked at the clustered players.

If Kim Sang-hyuk had played as center back, he would have given him a real scolding regardless of scoring the goal.

Because if you can’t handle the ball after jumping forward in a counter-attack situation, it can immediately create a critical scoring opportunity for the opponent.

But the position of defensive midfielder.

Perhaps defending like that wasn’t bad either.

Because there’s a final defensive line.

What was certain was that Kim Sang-hyuk had definitely made that ball his own and even produced a goal.

Even he, who could see the entire stadium from a distance, hadn’t noticed at all that the goalkeeper had moved away from the goal post.

But he saw all that on the ground where pressure was intense and vision was narrow?

‘How wide is his field vision?’

The coaches shouted that it was a lucky goal, but Park Chang-yeol knew for certain.

‘He shot without hesitation. It wasn’t luck, he aimed for it.’

Heh heh…

“…What an absurd guy.”

And it became clear.

With Yoo Young-sang becoming center back and Kim Sang-hyuk standing in the defensive midfielder position, the back field became very stable.

First appearance… a guy who perfectly blended into the team tactics also has genius goal sense?

If he couldn’t achieve good results with that guy, he should quit being a manager.

Because he’d lack the qualifications.

Park Chang-yeol clapped and shouted loudly.

“Well done. Now, let’s go for the winning goal. We need to secure that victory bonus!”

* * *

The overhead kick he showed in the last practice match was shocking, but now a shot over the goalkeeper’s head.

“Wow, what kind of highlight reel machine is he?”

Thanks to that, the Cheongju FC fans who had been quietly watching began singing cheering songs.

Whenever Kim Sang-hyuk, who made the equalizing goal, got the ball, they would cheer loudly.

The feeling that he might cast some magic again when he got the ball?

Asan Citizens, who had conceded such a bewildering equalizing goal, began to slow down their attack, but it was a completely different situation from the first half.

“Definitely, after Kim Sang-hyuk came out, Cheongju FC’s back field feels incredibly solid.”

As if reading where passes would go, Kim Sang-hyuk stood in exactly the right spaces to interfere with opposing players’ movements or block passing routes.

Thanks to that…

“The Asan team can’t develop their attacks.”

It felt like watching Maedong High School when Kim Sang-hyuk was active there.

“Kim Sang-hyuk is good, but Number 5 who moved to center back is playing completely differently from before. I felt he was definitely a good defensive player… he’s really a good defensive player, isn’t he?”

With these two players at the center of the action, the other players improved as well.

Cheongju FC’s forwards came down to defend less frequently, and standing in higher positions made them much more threatening when transitioning to counter-attacks.

The Asan team manager, who had been continuously clapping and encouraging his players, closed his mouth at some point.

“The tactics aren’t working. This game might get turned around, right?”

During the fierce battle, around the 27th minute of the second half.

Kim Sang-hyuk read and instantly cut off a pass that an Asan team player was forcing to connect to a forward, unable to find an attacking route.

And Kim Sang-hyuk showed none of the frustrating play that Yoo Young-sang had displayed in the first half.

A direct pass before the defense could even apply pressure.

Park Sang-il, who won the physical battle with the defender, headed the ball to the left sideline.

As if he had been waiting, Seo Dong-myung ran at high speed, took the ball and began dribbling.

Two defenders were drawn to Seo Dong-myung, and two more defenders were drawn to Park Sang-il who was running toward the goal, while Lee Soon-deok, who had run at full speed from the center, became completely free right in front of the penalty area.

The tactical movement of Cheongju FC that they always practiced.

Seo Dong-myung’s pass connected to Lee Soon-deok, and Lee Soon-deok’s long-range shot.

A perfectly struck shot split the goal post clean in half.

It was a shot from a player who had once played over 100 games in the K1 League.

“Ouch! My joints!”

His trademark goal celebration.

The joyful cheers from the fans hit Choi Do-hoon’s ears.

He could see the Cheongju FC manager applauding toward the players.

“Ah, so this is the kind of tactics they were pursuing.”

In the first half, it was unclear what the manager wanted to do, but as soon as Kim Sang-hyuk came in, their identity became crystal clear.

The Asan Citizens team made substitutions after being reversed and raised the tempo of their attack, but perhaps due to their urgency, the gap between their attacking midfield and defensive line grew wider, and pass misses became frequent.

The Asan team players seemed to lose concentration as they gave away consecutive set piece situations, and Cheongju FC, with their good aerial ability, connected threatening headers every time.

Then finally, with about 8 minutes left in regular second half time, Choi Do-hoon could see Kim Sang-hyuk rising a full head higher than the other players.

‘What is he, Ronaldo?’

– Thud!

It seemed like two defenders had surrounded him, but when did he get to that position…

He simply redirected the ball without being bothered at all.

– Swoosh!

The goalkeeper just froze and blankly watched the ball hit the net.

“Wooooo!!!!!”

Though there weren’t many fans, they shouted loudly as if they were truly excited.

Choi Do-hoon grabbed his head with both hands and muttered.

“…It doesn’t feel like his skills declined due to injury, but rather like he upgraded several levels? Is that even possible?”

Choi Do-hoon watched Kim Sang-hyuk being surrounded by players and receiving congratulations.

“Two goals after coming on in the second half. And he’s not even a striker?”

For one player to change a team like this…

“He’s just a player of a different class. A player who could definitely work in higher leagues.”

* * *

The match ended with Cheongju FC winning 3-1.

The fans didn’t really know, but it was quite the rivalry game.

Even though I only played the second half, my body felt incredibly heavy like wet cotton.

I sat on the ground for a moment to catch my breath and cool down my heated body.

It would probably take quite a long time to build up the match fitness to play full time.

“You’re Kim Sang-hyuk, right?”

The opposing team players who made eye contact with me said.

“Yes.”

“Ah… today’s match was so tough.”

Since our team’s quality was so good, today was a match where I just did my job.

“Thank you.”

I thought that might be one of the highest compliments you could hear from an opposing team player.

I was selected as the match MVP and received enthusiastic applause from Cheongju FC fans on the way to the locker room.

‘This feels good.’

Just playing football is so enjoyable.

And winning and hearing cheers like this feels like it’s been 3 years.

“You should say thank you!”

Park Chang-yeol shouted loudly and bent his waist in half toward the fans, and all our players followed the manager’s lead in greeting them.

“Thank you!”

The tunnel leading to the locker room.

“Rookie. You were absolutely the best today.”

“What rookie. It’s Sang-hyuk. Sang-hyuk.”

“Right. Cheongju FC’s Kim Sang-hyuk.”

I was always called rookie or Number 88, but after just one match, people were calling my name.

I immediately realized that the professional football world is all about skill.

“Hey, today’s bonus is 1 million won, right?”

“Of course. We’re getting 1 million won thanks to Kim Sang-hyuk.”

We usually play 4 matches a month. Including the Korean Cup, at most 5?

Except for a few players, most don’t receive much salary, so bonuses are very important.

All the players look happy.

Lee Soon-deok, walking in front, was humming.

“Ouch my joints… Should I buy some chicken or a whole chicken to take home today?”

* * *

Freiburg club director’s office.

Streich watched the 49-minute video to the end without saying a word.

“This isn’t a highlight video?”

“Right, it’s a half-match video.”

“Why only half a match?”

“He was substituted in during the second half. It was his first appearance.”

“First appearance? Does that make sense? What kind of player shows this kind of team chemistry on their first appearance?”

“Amazing, right? From what I heard, he’s been very good at intelligent play since high school.”

“With that physique?”

“That’s why it’s the harmony of intelligence and physique. He’s definitely a player with very high potential for further development.”

His football wasn’t perfect.

There were clearly areas to improve in various movement aspects.

But his quick decision making, field vision, and prediction ability looked like an incredible level to Streich’s eyes.

“Their tactics seem similar to ours too, and I think he looks like exactly the kind of resource our team needs?”

Chief scout Mateus Jorg was quite a meticulous person.

Since he had to pick exactly the right players with a small budget, he was extremely thorough.

It was rare for him to be so definitive in saying a player was needed.

“The problems that Asians have… Looking at Hamburg’s Park Hong-min and Schalke 04’s Jang Jin-woo recently, that seems to be nothing more than baseless prejudice.”

Those two players were definitely very young and talented players who were recently making their mark in the Bundesliga.

“I think we should also actively scout the country called Korea.”

“So you’re asking me to convince the board to expand our scouting range?”

“Exactly.”

Jorg looked at Kim Sang-hyuk in the paused video.

“If we bring this guy over and develop him well, then he performs in the Bundesliga, we could probably sell him for a huge amount.”

If he could develop further, Jorg’s story wasn’t a pipe dream at all.

Physique that would definitely work in Europe.

An incredible level of football intelligence.

Plus very solid fundamentals.

Though it was just one video, he was a player of too high a level to be playing in that league.

Streich nodded.

“If that’s the story, I think I can convince the club board.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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