Field Commander - Chapter 22

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

Chapter 22.

Chapter 22.

Chapter 22.

The newly substituted Lee Chang-su had quite fast feet.

Since it was just before the end of the first half, the opposing defenders’ feet would have slowed down.

This was a recent tactic that Manager Park Chang-ryul had been developing.

When all the defenders’ attention was focused on Seo Dong-myung and Park Sang-il, Lee Chang-su would use his quick feet to exploit the space.

That pass would come from my feet.

But after giving the pass, I had no choice but to observe the surrounding situation.

Park Sang-il had definitely used his body to interfere with the path, but Kang Min-jae was catching up to Lee Chang-su at an unbelievable speed.

‘No way he’s covering that?’

Seo Dong-myung, who had been trying to penetrate toward the goal post, seemed to notice and immediately ran to support Lee Chang-su, while only Park Sang-il headed toward the goal with one center-back on him.

With Kang Min-jae out of position, if a cross came up, it could create a very good opportunity.

All our team’s attackers were moving forward, but somehow I felt like I shouldn’t go up.

And my eyes caught Player 7 from the opposing team, who wasn’t going down to defend but was eyeing the empty space like a hyena stalking its prey.

A player with incredibly fast feet and excellent individual skills.

Kang Min-jae was getting particular attention, but these high school players…

They were all quite high level.

‘A planned play?’

It was a thought that suddenly flashed through my mind.

And I was the type who quite trusted such intuitions.

Because trusting them hadn’t led me wrong very often.

But if I lingered near this guy, the ball probably wouldn’t come, so I pretended to move up.

Lee Chang-su got to the ball first, but without any time to do anything, Kang Min-jae pushed his body in to make him lose balance and immediately stole the ball.

‘What kind of guy is that? He’s faster than any of the players here? With that build?’

For a defender to have that kind of speed…

It was definitely tremendous talent.

And as I predicted, Kang Min-jae kicked the ball hard…

It wasn’t an aerial ball but an incredibly fast ground through pass that seemed to cut across the earth.

Just as our team players who had been running in all turned around with stupid expressions to back up, I, who had already figured out where the ball would be connected, cut it off in front before it could reach the attacker.

“Ugh!”

I could hear the Suwon Technical High School team manager letting out a frustrated sound.

‘If this had gone through, it would’ve been a 1-on-1 chance with the goalkeeper.’

If we had conceded a goal here, we would have been dragged around in the second half because of that Kang Min-jae guy and the game would eventually end that way.

And I saw Park Sang-il, who had been maintaining coordination with me, backing up and turning his body.

Much slower and more sluggish than Kang Min-jae, but with good situational awareness and always sincere even when gasping for breath.

Kang Min-jae had followed Lee Chang-su out to the sideline.

Suwon Technical High School’s solid defense was also completely disrupted.

It was just before the end of the first half, and I had no choice but to count on Park Sang-il’s height.

– Bang!

Player 7, who had been intercepted, charged roughly, but I sent up a cross faster than that.

The ball flew quickly toward the goal post, and Park Sang-il jumped regardless of whether there was a player grabbing his uniform or not.

The goalkeeper also rushed out desperately, but when it came to headers, it was difficult for high school players to handle Park Sang-il, who was at K League 1 level.

Park Sang-il just redirected the flying ball.

The moment the goal was about to enter the goal post, something swept across the front of the goal.

‘Huh?’

Kang Min-jae had run all the way to the goal post in that time.

The ball hit Kang Min-jae’s body and bounced away.

‘Huh?’

But the ball lightly grazed the upper net inside the goal post and fell.

In the end…

It was a goal.

Wow…

Even watching made me breathless.

Park Sang-il started running around like crazy with joy.

‘Hey you. This is a game against a high school. Not a national team match.’

I wanted to tell him that, but I decided to just let it be.

* * *

Hwang Ki-ho, who was the Olympic Team manager, looked at Kang Min-jae with satisfied eyes.

“There was a reason why K League 1 clubs are drooling over a 16-year-old player.”

“At that level, he’d probably do well even if we put him in the pros right now, don’t you think?”

“We’d have to watch him a bit more for that.”

Among players who are called geniuses in their youth, less than 0.1% actually become professionals.

“But doesn’t that guy seem to be doing well?”

“Who?”

“Cheongju FC’s Number 28.”

“The defensive midfielder?”

“Yes. Even though it’s a game against a high school team, he made no mistakes, defended well, and even got an attacking point. His cross was especially good, wasn’t it? His individual skills are too good… and his pressure escape ability looks excellent.”

Hwang Ki-ho had gotten that feeling too.

But this was a game against a high school team.

Just because someone did well there didn’t mean they had class.

“If he’s doing that well, there’d be no reason for him to be playing in the K3 League, right?”

“That’s true, but… he really catches my eye today?”

Hwang Ki-ho turned his head to glare at the Cheongju FC manager who was shouting at the players.

‘Rude bastard.’

Hwang Ki-ho had been the captain of the Korean national team that achieved the semi-final miracle in the 2002 World Cup.

Based on that background, he immediately took on age-group national team manager roles after retirement and lived a successful life even after his playing career.

Such a Hwang Ki-ho had met Park Chang-ryul in the K League 1.

He, who was called Asia’s best libero, didn’t perform the manager role very well at the club.

He especially had charisma to control the squad, but…

He had the weakness of not being able to keep up with modern football tactically, and the newly hired Park Chang-ryul filled that weakness well.

So he pampered him, but he climbed up to an unbearable degree.

At some point, it became impossible to distinguish who was the manager and who was the coach.

So he tried to use his power to completely erase him from the football world.

‘I absolutely don’t want to use any of the guys under that bastard, no matter who they are.’

Hwang Ki-ho made a firm decision and didn’t even glance at Number 28, whom the coaches kept praising.

Meanwhile, Michel, who witnessed the goal situation, briefly took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

One side was defending so desperately that it was hard to look away, and the other side was impressively standing at the center of the team, skillfully coordinating offense and defense, making it hard to turn away…

For the first time in a long while, fatigue hit her eyes.

‘He read it. He read it.’

When everyone was running to attack, clearly only that Number 28 had pretended to go.

She might not know how it looked from inside the stadium, but from outside the playground, that was visible.

He moved first and eventually intercepted the ball to make an assist.

Of course, tactically and in terms of overall player completeness, it wasn’t a high level, but just having Number 28 there made it feel like a completely different team.

‘Like a commander moving an army. A field commander who is himself an outstanding warrior.’

And Kang Min-jae’s movements… were more like an animal than human.

Near the end of the first half, he must be incredibly out of breath, but where does that energy come from?

What proved he wasn’t an animal was that amazing through pass that came out like a hidden dagger.

If Player 28 hadn’t read it, the Suwon Technical High School team would have scored that goal.

Michel clenched and unclenched both hands several times.

For a practice match, it was way too thrilling…

The quick transitions between offense and defense made it feel like a Bundesliga match tempo.

‘I definitely need to secure Kang Min-jae. He’s a very promising young player with a bright future. And that Player 28… there’s something there. I need to do more scouting.’

Then Schmaike, who was watching Michel, immediately picked up his phone.

‘When you get excited, you always clench and unclench both hands. That’s your habit.’

If Michel came all the way to Korea to see a player, it meant he had already done preliminary research on Kang Min-jae.

There’s no way he’d be clenching and unclenching his hands just to confirm that.

In the end, he discovered an unexpected player.

Schmaike could bet his life that player was Kim Sang-hyuk.

‘He’s perfect today too. Regardless of level, his soccer is just close to perfection. Like an impenetrable absolute shield. And that shield is coated with deadly poison that no one can avoid.’

Because goals are created from that shield.

After the first half ended 1-0, Schmaike leaned against an empty corridor and picked up his mobile phone.

His mouth went dry at the thought that the moment Mainz jumped into Kim Sang-hyuk’s transfer, Freiburg’s opportunity might disappear.

Last season they barely avoided relegation, but this season many players were leaving, so many media outlets predicted Freiburg would be 100% in the relegation zone.

The moment they get relegated, it would take at least 2 years to return to the Bundesliga, and staff like himself, along with managers and coaches, could be cut for financial reasons.

As a breadwinner supporting a family, nothing was more terrifying than losing his job.

‘Even if he can’t play in the Bundesliga right away, we need to register the player for this season. To do that, we need to complete the transfer before May.’

– Hey. Don’t you know what time it is right now?

– What does time matter? Mainz has gotten involved.

– What?

– Send the negotiation team right away. From now on, it’s a matter of time.

* * *

With Hwang Ki-ho and various other club officials present, the Suwon Technical High School manager couldn’t just focus on defense in this practice match.

Eventually, in the second half, they unleashed the shackles and attempted to attack.

Cheongju FC also abandoned the idea that this was a practice match after being severely beaten in the first half and approached it like a league game.

Monster Kang Min-jae fought tremendously, but as the Suwon Technical High School players’ stamina was worn down by the incredibly fast-paced game, Cheongju FC gradually began to take control of the match.

‘Well, I said I’d go easy on them…’

If the opponent were a striker, I could have tormented them from start to finish, but unfortunately he was a defender…

And since they kept him as the last bastion in the back, opportunities to clash with Kang Min-jae rarely arose unless it was a set piece situation.

About 3 times in set piece situations, Kang Min-jae stuck to me, and his strength was no joke.

He wasn’t someone I could interfere with at the level of minor tricks.

He must have found me burdensome too, because after failing in the ball contest during the first set piece, he clung to me almost like lovers embracing.

“Hey, back off a little.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Do this kind of thing with your girlfriend.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend yet, so I don’t know how.”

What an honest guy.

“Back off a little. You’re overwhelming.”

“That’s how I survive.”

A set piece situation around the 28th minute of the second half.

My stamina was also worn down by the match tempo that exceeded league games.

My field vision was narrowing and I could hardly concentrate.

But Kang Min-jae still looked fine.

“If you’re struggling, hurry up and leave. Because of you, our team can’t score goals.”

“No way. I’m someone who hates losing more than anything in the world.”

I kept having a physical battle with him, but eventually the referee called both of us.

“Take it easy, will you? Easy.”

“We are taking it easy.”

“What do you mean easy? You’re on the verge of a fight.”

While the referee separated us for a moment, I quietly said to Park Sang-il who approached from the side.

“This time I’m the decoy.”

He headed to his position with a bright expression.

Playing together, we had made a few promises.

Kang Min-jae stuck to me again.

I decided to just let him do whatever he wanted.

“Ugh. This is so depressing I could go crazy.”

“Nothing you do will work.”

“At this age, I’ve never even dated once, and I have a smelly muscle-head stuck next to me.”

“Really?”

– Tweet!

The referee’s whistle sounded, and our eternal set piece kicker Lee Soon-deok kicked the ball up.

I ran to find an empty space, and Kang Min-jae, who had missed the timing slightly while talking to me, followed with gritted teeth.

“Right. Dude. You’re a great wizard.”

“What?”

– Thud!

Kang Min-jae turned his head back with a confused expression.

Park Sang-il, who had entered the space he vacated, successfully scored a header goal.

Cheongju FC’s height was quite considerable.

With Kang Min-jae having left his position, handling set pieces was too difficult for the Suwon Technical High School team.

“Argh!”

He grabbed his head and screamed.

As if he had lost the world…

Looking at his expression, I turned around and slowly returned to my half.

The manager was sending me a substitution signal from far away.

‘Hey, it’s a practice match.’

Even so, a semi-professional team losing to a high school team was absolutely unacceptable.

* * *

In the end, the match was 2-0.

Cheongju FC’s victory.

And the match MVP was Park Sang-il, who scored 2 goals.

After the match ended, our players sincerely applauded the high school players, and they also bowed deeply in response.

– You guys are really good? Wow, I thought we were going to lose today.

– Thank you for playing against us with full effort.

After the Suwon Technical High School team players left on the bus.

“But why do you all look like that?”

“There’s no victory bonus, is there?”

Lee Soon-deok answered Park Chang-ryul.

“I was planning to play casually today, but it was too hard.”

“Yes. It felt like playing against a league championship team.”

It seemed Park Chang-ryul hadn’t expected to give full effort in a practice match against a high school team either.

“Who said there was no Victory Bonus? Did I ever say that?”

Everyone’s eyes widened at Park Chang-ryul’s words.

“Today the Club Owner watched the match with satisfaction and left. And just like usual, he left an envelope telling us to give out the Victory Bonus.”

Joyful exclamations burst out from among the Player Squad.

“Long live the Club Owner!”

Lee Soon-deok was especially delighted.

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