Field Commander - Chapter 39

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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 39.

Chapter 39.

Chapter 39.

“Wow, crazy…”

Choi Do-hoon, who had been commentating, shot up from his seat with his hands raised, showing just how much he had been longing for this goal.

– Jung Joo-young’s goal for real?

– That was a long shot but seems lucky.

– Who’s the player that delivered that pass?

– First time I’ve seen Manager Lee Sang-cheol celebrate like that.

– Wow, unbelievable! A goal?

– I can’t believe my eyes seeing that kind of play in front of the goal post.

– Wow, that pass was insane.

– Number 18, isn’t that Kim Sang-hyuk?

– How can that big guy be so agile?

– He just went for it without any hesitation?

– Everyone was running toward the goal post, but he alone ran in a weird direction, so I thought he was crazy, but he was the only one who knew exactly where the ball would drop. Insane.

– Lee Sang-cheol’s foreign player strategy success!

…

The Mexican players rushed to the referee protesting offside, but the referee ultimately declared it a goal.

After calming his excitement for a moment, Choi Do-hoon sat down and recalled that scene.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that Kim Sang-hyuk completely spoon-fed this goal to Jung Joo-young.”

He had known since the Cheongju FC days just how incredible Kim Sang-hyuk’s prediction ability was.

As expected, today too he found the exact spot where the corner kick would drop.

“…There he had a physical battle with the opposing defender, and I think that should have been a card-worthy foul. He pulled the jersey way too hard.”

Sure enough, while Kim Sang-hyuk went to change his jersey with the referee’s permission, the referee was calling over the Mexican player who had torn his jersey.

The Mexican player seemed to make excuses, explaining continuously, but the referee immediately showed a yellow card.

The player already had a warning, and a red card followed.

“It seems like he gave the card because he had warned about going easy on the physical battles earlier, but the player didn’t listen. This will completely change the atmosphere.”

The playground that had been filled with traditional Mexican instrument sounds soon became filled with the Red Devils’ cheers supporting the Korean team with drums.

– He was pulled so hard his shirt tore, but he endured that and made an assist? Complete monster?

That scene kept being broadcast, and it was clearly a scene where anyone could see a card wouldn’t be strange.

– That’s the player who used to beat up Jang Jin-woo in high school.

– That player caught Jang Jin-woo?

– Those who know, know. If he hadn’t gotten injured, he would have gone overseas faster than Jang Jin-woo.

As long-time fans of this channel joined the chat one by one, Kim Sang-hyuk who made the assist became more of a topic than Jung Joo-young who scored the goal.

– Looking at today’s form, he seems to have definitely recovered from his injury.

– But was that injury even recoverable?

– Well, the word miracle doesn’t exist for nothing.

* * *

The players running on the field also went crazy, and I hugged Manager Lee Sang-cheol and the coaching staff like mad with joy.

Jung Joo-young got his back slapped so much by the players that after the goal ceremony ended, he asked me to check if he had bruises.

– This much should be fine, right?

– This much?

If you can run, it’s fine.

– Yes.

– Ah, that pass was the best.

– Thank you.

– As expected, my eye wasn’t wrong.

We hadn’t practiced this, but as we synchronized our breathing, what this player could do definitely came to mind in that moment.

I was feeling good getting lots of praise from the usually quiet Jung Joo-young, but seeing the guy who tore my jersey get sent off made me feel absolutely great.

‘We can turn this around.’

It seemed I wasn’t the only one thinking that.

Everyone should be getting tired at this point, but their eyes were full of energy.

Just one more goal.

Just one more goal.

But with the unexpected ejection, Mexico really focused and only played defense.

They even pulled out Raul, the forward who had been showing great performance up front, and put in another tall center back.

They even pulled out the fast fullbacks and put in players with good physicality.

The determination to block even set piece goals.

5-4-0 tactics.

About 12 minutes left in regular time.

I wondered if they might do something on a counter attack chance, but they just kicked the ball long into our half and no one came out.

In this situation, even the center backs including me moved up above the center line to press, but the goal wouldn’t open.

Set piece situations were hardly created, and with good footwork, Mexico just circulated the ball in their own half whenever they got possession.

Rather, it seemed like our players were getting tired chasing them.

The midfield occasionally fired threatening mid-range shots, but the Mexican goalkeeper seemed crazy today.

When about 5 minutes remained.

Both teams clearly showed tired stamina, and the pass development speed gradually slowed.

Naturally, pass misses became more frequent too.

When we made pass misses, Mexico was busy killing time,

When Mexico made pass misses, mid-range shots came out like just now.

Jung Joo-young, who had shaken off a defender with a momentary movement, fired a mid-range shot from the center circle.

It flew in a very threatening course, but today’s inspired goalkeeper even punched that away.

That was the moment.

A black line extending to the left from that distant place…

‘Counter attack?’

Mexico, who had only been defending until now?

Sure enough.

All players except defenders began running in unison, but we couldn’t expect backup from our forwards in this situation.

Moreover, Mexico’s stamina, having stayed back and only defended, seemed superior to our team players.

However…

I also moved the moment I saw that line.

It would look strange that I alone was running sideways while everyone was going down toward the goal post.

Momentarily, I had two options to handle the goal.

Safely putting it out for a goal line out.

The other was converting the situation with a counter attack.

‘Will there be another opportunity like this?’

After deciding, I had no hesitation.

I jumped as high as possible and headed the flying ball down to the ground.

The Mexican players who hadn’t anticipated my movement hesitated for a moment, then rushed toward me.

They wanted to cut off the counter attack here?

In what way?

The gaze of the guy rushing toward me went down to the ground, and as soon as the ball touched the ground, I jumped and lightly kicked the bouncing ball forward.

A frontal tackle came in without fail.

At that moment, the tackle Jang Jin-woo had made on me suddenly flashed through my mind.

I had no choice but to look down, and after confirming that his body was sliding over mine, I stepped on the ground.

But in that brief instant, pressure came from all directions.

They came in so close that even my field vision was blocked…

At that moment.

I thought of Jung Joo-young.

‘We practiced this, will he move as promised?’

There was no time to think about it.

If I was even 0.2 seconds late, it would be cut off here.

I lifted the ball over the head of the charging defender with a right foot drop kick.

That drop kick we practiced.

The guy rushing from the front didn’t slow down and crashed into me, and I felt a strong impact that rang through my skull in my chest.

‘Ah, damn.’

But I wasn’t the kind of idiot who would just take it.

While pretending to fall, I grabbed another guy’s pants and pulled them down.

Another guy who was covering me tripped over my foot and fell flat on the ground.

A situation where three guys couldn’t participate in defense.

I did the best I could.

‘Please just don’t blow the whistle.’

That was my only wish.

To apply the advantage rule.

At that moment, tremendous cheers came from the cheering section where the Red Devils were.

‘Is it a goal?’

I couldn’t jump up and check the situation.

I had to pretend to be hurt as much as possible.

That way I’d get favorable treatment in the referee’s decision.

The Mexican players who fell because of me seemed to have the same idea, as they were all rolling around on the ground.

‘What actors.’

I twisted my body a couple of times pretending to be in pain, when cheers of ‘Goal!!! Goal!!! Goal!!!’ came from the stands.

The Mexican guy rolling on the ground and I simultaneously jumped up and looked toward the Mexican goal post.

Jung Joo-young was spinning his arms and charging toward the sideline flag, with our players following behind him like a train.

The three Mexican guys who were staring blankly at that scene ran to the referee, and I lay down again pretending to be hurt.

But I couldn’t control the elation rising from my chest.

I lay down and screamed inside.

‘Yeahhhhhhh!!!!!’

That feeling when what we practiced every day worked.

And the fragrant smell of grass.

* * *

“Ahhhhh!!! It’s a comeback goal!! A comeback goal!! Jung Joo-young, who received Kim Sang-hyuk’s sensational pass, beat one defender and fired a mid-range shot that split the Mexican goal post!!!”

“Ahhh… It’s a comeback! A comeback!!! Jung Joo-young, Korea’s best striker, saved Korea! What an amazing goal!!”

“Our players are so happy. Manager Lee Sang-cheol runs out and hugs Jung Joo-young.”

“Wow, what a great match. Korea comes alive at the last minute!”

“If the match ends like this, Korea will be first in the group with one win. The green light is on for advancing to the quarterfinals.”

All the casters and commentators broadcasting the Olympic match screamed until their voices were hoarse.

“All of this can be attributed to Manager Lee Sang-cheol’s tactical prowess. Especially Kim Sang-hyuk, who was brought in during the second half, played a decisive role in saving Korea today.”

“That player is Kim Sang-hyuk from Maedong High School. He’s the very player who has beaten Jang Jin-woo from Yeongsang High School, Korea’s top soccer powerhouse, in every tournament.”

“Ah, so saying he beat Jang Jin-woo wasn’t just talk. His performance today is truly incredible.”

“Usually players would handle the ball safely in that situation, but Kim Sang-hyuk turned that ball into an assist. That seems impossible without a prior arrangement.”

“Kang Bo-kyung’s movement, running to the right with a defender on him before Jung Joo-young got the ball, was also excellent.”

“That’s right. Thanks to that, Jung Joo-young got the opportunity to shoot.”

“Ah, but Kim Sang-hyuk can’t get up from the ground.”

“Oh, this is bad. He absolutely cannot get injured.”

Medical staff were running out from the Korean bench, and all the broadcasters prayed with one heart for Kim Sang-hyuk to get up.

– Wow… crazy.

– Wow…

– Whoa…

– I can’t believe it even seeing it.

– Insane. It’s a goal!

– Is Joo-young coming back to life?

– Wow, how does a pass like that go in from there?

– Look at the ball’s trajectory. Even the goalkeeper was fooled.

– Wasn’t he just trying to clear it roughly and it went wrong?

– But why can’t he get up?

– Don’t tell me he’s injured again?

– No way?

– It looked like he got hit in the chest with an elbow earlier?

– Is he a martial arts fighter or what?

– Ugh, dirty Mexican bastards.

Choi Do-hoon’s heart sank when he saw the word “injury” in the frantically scrolling comment section.

– I’m watching live and it doesn’t seem like an injury. He jumped up when the goal sound came earlier, then lay back down.

– Oh really?

– Really?

– Why?

‘Smart.’

Even though a goal was scored, if the referee called that earlier situation a foul, it would all be for nothing.

The Mexican players went as a group to protest, but the referee had no intention of changing his decision.

Finally, the goal was officially recognized.

Soccer experts’ opinion was that Mexico, relatively weak compared to other teams, was a must-win.

‘But is that team really weak?’

That wasn’t certain.

“Ah, Kim Sang-hyuk is getting up with help from the medical staff. It doesn’t seem to be a serious injury as feared.”

Seeing the medical staff spraying pain relief on his chest, it appeared to be a simple bruise.

“That’s really fortunate.”

* * *

– Beep… Beep… Beeeep…

Mexico, having been reversed, seemed to have given up their main attacking players and only pretended to continue their attack before the match finally ended.

2-1 Korea victory.

At that sound, all the tension was released, and I collapsed onto the grass.

Despite being brought in before the second half, the fatigue I felt was comparable to players who played the full time.

Adapting to the tempo that had accelerated to its limit was never easy for a substitute player.

Only then did my field vision expand and I began to see the distant stands.

The Mexican spectators seemed to stay in their seats until the end and were getting up after the match ended, while the Red Devils’ cheering song was playing loudly on the ground.

On the distant scoreboard, Jung Joo-young’s image was flowing as MOM (Man of the match).

He played full time and scored both the equalizing and winning goals.

Camera flashes from journalists from around the world sitting around the soccer field kept going off toward where Jung Joo-young was.

I was a bit envious, but…

Well, that’s what matters.

What matters is that we won.

And what matters is that I created the foundation for the comeback with my own strength.

What matters is that I showed people a little bit of who I am as a football player.

That’s what I think, but my stomach is starting to ache.

“Are you okay?”

I was lying down again, trying to catch my breath, when I heard a familiar voice.

It was Jung Joo-young.

“Yes.”

He extended his hand.

“I know. Who the real protagonist is.”

At those words, my heart suddenly felt warm.

“Get up. We need to greet the fans.”

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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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