Field Commander - Chapter 60
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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 60.
Chapter 60.
Chapter 60.
Freiburg SC vs Wolfsburg.
A match between the 18th place team with 1 win and 7 losses and the 6th place team with 4 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss.
A game between 3 points and 14 points.
A team that has won the Bundesliga before versus one that hasn’t.
Moreover, this was Wolfsburg’s home game.
– Goal! Goal! What a magnificent header goal by Bas Dost!
When defense-oriented teams met, the first half was truly a boring game.
The second half proceeded similarly until Wolfsburg finally scored a goal from a set piece situation.
The massive cheers from Wolfsburg fans, who had been yawning and about to fall asleep during the rather tedious game situation, filled the stadium.
While it was quite difficult to mark that 196cm, nearly 95kg tank in set piece situations, no one had expected Antonio, one of the top three forwards in terms of physicality on the team, to be bounced away.
– The bewildered expression of Antonio, who was substituted in the second half, is captured on screen. Naturally, when it comes to physicality alone, Bas Dost is among the top three players in the Bundesliga.
– But he’s not a player who specializes in scoring goals. He’s a player with exceptional ability to link up with wingers running from the front line.
– That’s right. Now Wolfsburg will try to lock down the game.
– It’s their specialty. Except for Bayern Munich breaking through that shield and making a comeback in the previous round, they haven’t allowed a single goal this season.
– Freiburg… it’s hopeless. If they lose this game too, relegation can almost be considered confirmed.
– With that kind of performance, it would be impossible to escape.
– To be honest, Freiburg is not at the level to play in the Bundesliga. They need to go down a level, reorganize, and come back up.
The local commentators’ explanations were at a vicious level, and they kept showing Streich, who was holding his head with both hands, lost in thought.
‘That seemed like a foul though.’
Antonio’s expression wasn’t bewilderment but injustice.
He was such an honest guy that he didn’t overact or put on Hollywood performances.
‘Either the referee’s eyes are rotten… or he’s favoring the home team.’
For now, he blamed the referee and pondered how to handle this situation.
When you concede against such a defensive team, there had been no answer until now.
Because there were no players who could bring about change.
But now it’s a bit different.
Though not proven in the league, there was a guy on the bench who had played the role of a game-changing joker in the Olympics…
Streich turned his head to look at the bench and said to the assistant coach beside him.
“How long have those guys been warming up like that?”
“About 15 minutes ago?”
“Since the second half started?”
“Yeah.”
He had clearly said during the interview that he had no plans to put him in.
Usually when you say that, they understand on their own.
“How about putting him in? Among the guys sitting on the bench, he seems the most eager. He’s been training steadily with the reserves and seems familiar with our tactics too.”
Streich nodded as he had been thinking the same thing.
“Tell him to get ready.”
* * *
‘There’s a hole in their defense?’
Jung Joo-young warmed up with Kim Sang-hyuk while watching the game, but he couldn’t understand the hole that Kim Sang-hyuk was talking about.
– Both center backs have right feet as their dominant foot, but unlike Player 3, Player 4 doesn’t want to use his weak foot. So he keeps turning his body to handle the ball. If we time the pressure right, I think we can force mistakes.
– Is that something you see because you’re a defender?
– I don’t know. I just see it.
If you watch for a while, something seems subtly off, but if you watch without thinking, you really can’t see anything.
But the funny thing was…
What Coach Streich said.
“That Player 4 over there is the hole. Jung, you keep pressuring Player 4 for the remaining time. There will definitely be mistakes. When pressuring, keep pushing him to the left.”
He said exactly the same thing as Kim Sang-hyuk.
Jung Joo-young, who heard through the interpreter, nodded.
Telling him to push to the left meant some instructions had been given to other players too.
Kim Sang-hyuk also received a bunch of instructions and approached him.
“The coach has skill.”
“What?”
“He’s seeing what I’m seeing.”
Sometimes this guy says really funny things so casually.
“Hey, that’s why he’s a coach.”
“Is that so?”
– Tweeeeet!!!
And they got a free kick in a good area at substitution timing.
A situation where the referee had to decide whether to substitute after taking the free kick or take the free kick after substituting.
The referee signaled for substitution first before the free kick, and Jung Joo-young entered the field with Kim Sang-hyuk.
As soon as they entered, tremendous booing poured down.
‘Damn noisy.’
While Jung Joo-young, who was experiencing the German stage for the first time, was covering his ears, Kim Sang-hyuk wasn’t just coming in.
As if performing some ritual, he knelt on one knee on the field and fiddled with his soccer boot laces.
‘Ah, he did that during the Olympics too.’
South American players make the sign of the cross every time they enter and leave the field, so he thought it might have similar meaning.
At that moment, a suffocating feeling washed over him.
He didn’t know the team tactics well, didn’t know the team culture well…
Players were shouting something, but it came to his ears in an incomprehensible language.
A new environment and an away game.
Even veteran Jung Joo-young felt so disconnected that he couldn’t concentrate on the game.
– Smack!
At that moment, someone strongly patted his back.
“Hyung! Snap out of it!”
It was Kim Sang-hyuk.
“Huh? Yeah.”
He stared directly into his eyes, and Jung Joo-young began to hear the suffocating boos clearly.
“Now you’re good. Hyung. When the free kick is taken, step back and then turn right and run toward the goal.”
Jung Joo-young hadn’t received free kick tactical training yet and had no special instructions from the coach, so he nodded.
“I’ll drop the ball for you, so kick it without forcing it.”
In a situation where it was hard to even think straight due to the tremendous booing, Kim Sang-hyuk told him exactly what to do.
Having such detailed instructions in this situation was actually comfortable.
“Step back, then turn right and run to the goal.”
Jung Joo-young positioned himself in the free kick area while repeating it like a mantra.
Before he could fully regain his composure, the main referee’s whistle sounded loudly.
Then the free kick quickly followed.
Without time to assess the situation, Jung Joo-young began moving like the mantra he kept repeating.
As he moved back, the defender who was marking him couldn’t follow and seemed distracted by the ball, looking elsewhere.
At that moment, he turned and went to the empty space on the right, then ran toward the goal, and no joke, the ball dropped right in front of his feet.
– Thud!
No time to shoot in such a pressing situation.
Jung Joo-young, like a natural-born forward, quickly extended his foot that was about to step forward and lightly pushed the ball.
This happened so instantaneously that the goalkeeper couldn’t even react, and the ball went between the goalkeeper’s legs, making the net ripple.
“Goal!!! Goooooal!!!”
Even though the language was different, the word “goal” was universal, and only after hearing his teammates shouting did he realize that he had scored a goal.
‘Wow, this is crazy.’
But the euphoria of scoring a goal had never disappeared from his sensory cells.
He started running toward the sideline, screaming at the top of his lungs, and the Freiburg players followed behind him.
The bench players and coaches at Freiburg rushed out and embraced the players.
Seeing Wolfsburg’s goal post shaking, Streich, who had thrown his fist up from below in a big swing, sent light applause unlike his usual manner.
‘Amazing movement. Did they make some kind of promise?’
Although the eyes of many people in the stadium were all focused on Jung Joo-young, who scored a goal just 10 seconds into his Bundesliga debut, Streich paid more attention to Kim Sang-hyuk, who was trudging over.
Wolfsburg definitely knew about Kim Sang-hyuk.
They had assigned Bas Dost, who had the biggest build and excellent header ability, to Kim Sang-hyuk instead of Antonio.
He overcame that dirty physical battle and jumped one head higher to drop the ball to Jung Joo-young who was charging in.
‘Do we have a guy on our team who can make plays like that?’
To be clear, we don’t.
‘But he’s not excited at all. This should be his first debut and first assist in the Bundesliga, right?’
Unlike the players who were hugging each other and celebrating in joy, he was rather standing in the center with a calm expression, watching the Wolfsburg players.
‘What is he thinking?’
He became curious, but the game was just beginning.
Wolfsburg was originally a defense-oriented team, and except for a few seasons, they had always stayed around 10th place.
But this time, they were achieving quite decent results compared to their available strength, and the manager himself said that participating in the Euro Cup competition was the goal.
‘They probably have no intention of settling for a draw against our team, which is at the bottom of the league.’
Eventually, they would choose strong high press and attacking tactics, and after scoring a goal, they would employ the defensive tactics they were good at.
‘Counter attack.’
Given Freiburg’s situation of trying to survive in the Bundesliga with a budget and players equivalent to the German 2nd Division, they had to defend first and then counter attack, and they were a team very specialized in counter attacks.
He called a coach and said.
“Get Smith ready.”
Then he looked at the stadium and called out to one player.
“Gunter!!!”
* * *
Kang Su-yeon participated as an assistant to Freiburg’s team doctor today.
Occasionally when she ran into Kim Sang-hyuk, greeting each other was all they did.
Like the relationship between a clerk and customer at a convenience store.
Then she gathered a little courage and tried to talk more.
“Hello.”
“Yes, have you been well?”
“Congratulations on the Olympics match.”
“Ah, thank you!”
“Could I possibly get your autograph?
“Of course. But unfortunately, this won’t be my first autograph in life.”
“That’s okay. I want to show off to my school friends.”
“Then shall I write a few more?”
But contrary to his appearance, he’s affectionate and really a kind person.
“Could I ask you to?”
“Of course. If the number of fans who like me is increasing, I should sign autographs even if it takes all night.”
He even makes people laugh in strange ways.
– Kim? He just joined a few days ago, so he probably can’t play today, right?
She definitely heard that, but as soon as the second half started, he warmed up and was substituted in.
And 15 seconds?
He got an assist in such a short time.
She thought he would be happy since it was his first offensive point in the Bundesliga, which would be a dream stage for most soccer players, but he ran to the center as if nothing had happened.
‘What’s going on?’
During the Olympics match, he was definitely laughing and running around with the players…
‘Does he have some kind of worry?’
But he really looks massive.
Standing alone in the center, he looks full.
She felt like he was going to accomplish something again.
Wolfsburg, having conceded a goal, suddenly changed direction, pulled their line up high, and started a strong high press.
‘This team made a lot of mistakes in situations like this…’
Since her father was a soccer player and a soccer manager, Kang Su-yeon also knew quite a bit about soccer.
Since Freiburg’s build-up was always poor, they usually adopted the method of dropping the ball into the front space in situations like this.
But today is a bit different.
Christian Günter, number 2 who leads the build-up, was continuously passing the ball to Kim Sang-hyuk instead of just kicking it long.
‘I heard they don’t get along well…’
Working at the club, she gets to hear various stories.
‘Did he receive instructions when he was called by the manager earlier?’
She imagines such things too.
Kim Sang-hyuk also, when he received the ball, would pass it to open players before being pressured, and he had much more stability than the player who was substituted in.
‘It doesn’t seem like he’ll lose the ball easily. Even in the Bundesliga league.’
Since he showed what he could do during the Olympics match, it’s not strange.
It was a moment when Wolfsburg’s high press continued and her palms were sweating from worry that they might make a mistake and concede a goal.
– Thud…
The distance between the ground where Kim Sang-hyuk was standing and where Kang Su-yeon was standing was definitely very far.
Because of people shouting, sounds within the stadium could hardly be heard, but…
She didn’t know why…
She felt like she heard the sound of the ball being kicked.
With just one long kick forward, Kim Sang-hyuk had instantly shaken off the two players pressing in and was advancing.
“Pressure escape!”
As Kim Sang-hyuk dribbled the ball and ran, Freiburg players began charging forward rapidly.
Like the feeling of a landslide occurring?
Then one of Wolfsburg’s center backs jumped out and rushed toward Kim Sang-hyuk.
It wasn’t a movement to steal the ball.
More like trying to collide and stop his advance?
“Uh…”
The moment of collision…
Kang Su-yeon slightly closed her eyes.
In case he got injured again…
– Ahhhhh!!!
But the whistle wasn’t blown, and the frustrated sounds of the home team fans rang in her ears.
When she opened her eyes, Kim Sang-hyuk was advancing to the front of the opponent’s penalty area.
‘How did he get past him? Can Kim Sang-hyuk do things like that too?’
The shooting motion followed.
Defenders rushed in like a swarm of bees and threw their bodies…
He definitely kicked the ball with that motion, but
it was too slow.
The ball rolled out between the players who had thrown their bodies.
Through that gap, a player approached incredibly fast, and it was Smith, the player who had been dispossessed earlier.
‘Thank goodness. He made it up to the First Team!’
Even the opposing goalkeeper rushed out with a desperate expression, and Smith feinted as if to dribble past the goalkeeper, then gently tapped the ball into the opposite space.
And charging in…
“Jung Joo-young!!”
He lightly puts the ball into the empty goal post and starts running while swinging both arms.
“Wow… This is crazy… A sudden comeback in the second half?”
Wolfsburg’s Home Stadium became like a cemetery where funeral music was playing, and Kang Su-yeon’s gaze was fixed again on Kim Sang-hyuk trudging back to the Center.
Then Kim Sang-hyuk standing in the Center again, endlessly staring at Wolfsburg’s Half.
It reminded her of how he stood on the Ground after the Olympics final, quietly gazing at the Stands, and tears unknowingly welled up in her eyes.
‘Why am I like this?’
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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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