LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 265
The first half ended after Marcus Rashford’s goal and Son Jinho’s mentoring of Harry Kane.
[England leads by 2 goals as the first half concludes.]
Germany, having conceded two goals, desperately pushed forward to score a consolation goal but was unable to shake the England net.
[Germany managed to create several threatening chances, but they lacked a decisive finisher.]
With a brief recap from the commentary team, halftime began.
“…”
A deep silence settled in the Germany locker room.
“Everyone did well!”
In contrast, England’s locker room buzzed with positive energy.
The players wore smiles, overflowing with confidence.
“45 minutes left. Let’s stay focused and give it our all!”
Wayne Rooney’s words echoed in the locker room, having declared his retirement from the national team after the 2018 Russia World Cup.
As Captain Son Jinho quietly nodded with a serious expression,
“Everything was perfect! It was top-notch play!”
Southgate, the manager, entered the locker room to encourage the players while explaining the tactics for the second half.
“And lastly, shall we hear from the captain?”
With Southgate’s conclusion, the English players huddled together, and Son Jinho nodded at their diverse representation of white, black, and Asian players.
“Spain’s major three-peat—we should give it a try, too.”
Son Jinho’s declaration of England’s new goal captured the players’ full attention.
Meeting the eyes of those looking at him, he smiled and continued,
“Our ancestors defeated Spain’s invincible navy in the Atlantic. Let’s achieve what they accomplished!”
As Son Jinho finished, the players erupted in cheers.
“Come on!!”
Son Jinho was a first-generation immigrant football player naturalized from Korea, but it didn’t matter to the England players whose brains were already soaked in dopamine.
*
The second half kicked off with Germany’s kickoff.
Joachim Löw, who led the German national team to victory in the Brazil World Cup, ignited their pursuit by substituting Draxler for Mario Gomez right as the half began.
However, Löw’s substitution showed no effect.
Thanks to Son Jinho’s intense coaching, Chris Smalling, who had dazzling growth, successfully closed down Mario Gomez.
Gomez’s presence quickly faded as Smalling asserted control, allowing England’s midfielders to take advantage of their numerical superiority, dismantling Germany’s midfield.
Southgate maintained control by subbing in Jesse Lingard for the tiring Wayne Rooney.
Lingard, upon entering the match, ran tirelessly, raising the energy levels and shaking Germany’s defense with his off-the-ball movements.
[Lingard’s dummy run!!]
As Lingard disrupted the defense, Son Jinho’s pass found Harry Kane’s head perfectly.
[Son Jinho’s pass to Harry Kane! Harry Kane! Goool─! Harry Kane scores an additional goal!]
Kane redirected the ball with his forehead to penetrate Germany’s net, and after scoring, he roared, pointing at Son Jinho.
“Keuuuuuh─!”
*
[Harry Kane’s additional goal! And the assist for Harry Kane’s goal goes to Son Jinho.]
[Jesse Lingard drew in space to assist Son Jinho’s pass to Harry Kane’s forehead.]
[Maybe it’s because Lingard and Son Jinho are on the same team. Their synergy is exceptional.]
[Yes, and this goal by Harry Kane is critical for Germany. England extends their lead to 3 points.]
[Oh, at the moment we were talking, Harry Kane scored and seems to be saying something to Son Jinho?]
[Could it be a thank you for the assist?]
*
After learning the beast’s breath from me, Kane completely transformed.
He awakened his animal instincts, once hidden by his humanity, under the name of scoring instinct.
“Keuuuuuh─!”
Performing the Beast’s Breath, type 1, language loss, Harry Kane raced toward the German side again.
Following behind him were Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, and Lingard.
I passed the ball to Lingard, then strolled around, surveying the match flow.
I noticed Lingard acting as a lubricant for the buildup, exchanging passes with the England players.
Though his ball control wasn’t stellar and his fundamentals were lacking, failing to show the signs of a crack,
Under Carlo Ancelotti’s regime, which maximized player strengths while masking weaknesses through synergy, Lingard’s issues were not apparent.
Since he was similar to Jisong in many ways, Lingard grew based on Jisong’s playstyle.
He thrived as a super sub at Manchester United, and the same went for the England team.
After passing to Alli, Lingard received a return pass near the penalty box.
He immediately aimed for the far post with a curling shot.
Though Lingard’s shot didn’t rattle Germany’s net defended by Neuer,
‘Show me the money!’
That sound of his threatening shot toward the German goal distinctly echoed in my ears, signaling an increase in Lingard’s market value.
*
With the score difference between England and Germany stretching to 3 points.
Germany, however, didn’t give up until the end of the match.
Filled with bruised pride, the German team clawed desperately for a consolation goal.
Ilkay Gündoğan succeeded in stealing the ball with a tackle, launching Germany’s counterattack.
Gündoğan’s pass connected with Kroos, who immediately sent a low, quick pass between Chris Smalling and Maguire.
Kroos’ pass narrowly slipped past Smalling’s toes and found Timo Werner.
Werner’s shot sped past Jordan Pickford towards the goal.
And Werner’s shot shook the side net, making England fans’ hearts skip a beat.
“Shit! You scared me! You bastard!”
The intense reactions from England fans flooded in, while German fans expressed their disappointment.
Anyhow, it didn’t lead to a goal, but Germany kept the pressure on following Werner’s shot.
The gap in the score led England to intentionally slow the tempo of the game, allowing Germany to exploit it.
Mario Gomez, Timo Werner, Mesut Özil, Toni Kroos, and Ilkay Gündoğan constantly attempted shots, pounding on England’s goal.
But perhaps it was the absence of a striker who could convert those chances?
[Jordan Pickford! Once again, the goalkeeper stops Germany’s shot!]
Germany struggled to shake England’s goal.
[Lingard blocked the pass, sending it to the front where Harry Kane received it! Kane let the ball slip!]
[Son Jinho!!!!]
[Goool─! Son Jinho scores a multi-goal! England thoroughly sinks Germany!!!]
Just before the end of the match, Son Jinho shook the German net once again in a counterattack initiated by Lingard’s pass, sealing England’s victory.
And just as Son Jinho’s shot pierced through Germany’s net,
The British football legend and Gary Lineker, who was commentating during the match, yelled with extreme excitement.
“Football is a simple game. 22 players chasing a ball for 90 minutes, and Germany can no longer win! England beats Germany to secure 3 points! Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules football! At this moment, it is the great British Empire that dominates football!!!”
*
[(Match Ended) England 4 : 0 Germany.]
[England triumphs over the World Cup winners, Germany, in a resounding victory.]
[The St. Petersburg disaster, how did the champions of the Brazil World Cup Germany fall?]
[Zlatan Ibrahimović, who witnessed the World Cup match, left praise for Son Jinho following England’s victory. “Indeed, the man I acknowledged.”]
└ What’s this? When did my brother become friends with Zlatan?
└ Didn’t they get close during the induction ceremony?
└ Wow. Can we see Zlatan cheering for him soon?
└ The triple threat of Ronaldo – Zlatan – Son Jinho ㄷㄷ;
[Panama and Korea starting lineup revealed.]
[First half ended, South Korea 0: 0 Panama.]
[Shocking! South Korea’s national team catastrophe, recording a 0-0 draw against Panama.]
└ Ah, come on, score a goal already!!!
└ What’s up with Kang Chan? Why can’t he do anything with the national team unlike his club?
└ This guy has artistic skill in spatial penetration, positioning in the box, and goal-scoring ability, but now that the opponent’s bus is parked, he can do nothing.
└ He should have tried long-range shots to draw the opponent out of the box, bastard!
└ Yeah, our brother was great at long-range shots but was naturalized to England, haha.
└ If our brother were here, it would’ve been all goals, right?
[With their first World Cup appearance and the monumental points gained, Panama tears up.]
└ Hmm. Can you feel the grace of that familiar person?
└ Who?
└ The man who stopped Lebanon’s civil war, Gwangrae-hyung…
└ Oh right, the decision of national salvation. Thanks to the defeat in the football match, didn’t the oil prices go down?
└ Really, economics comes before football, right?
└ …? Did oil prices actually go down?
└ I don’t know.
└ ???
[Son Jinho comforts the South Korean football fans who endured the tragedy. “What’s important is an unyielding spirit. There are still possibilities left…”]
└ We’re in a serious situation, so hyung stay out of it!
└ Son Jinho is igniting it even more even though it’s serious, haha.
└ Sigh, you fools, it’s a signal that he’s trying to show compassion.
└ That’s right? It must be compassion, isn’t it?
[England captain Son Jinho declares he will give it his all in the match against South Korea…]
└ What’s going on? Why is our brother awakening suddenly?
└ Is that journalist crazy? In the interview, our brother is raving about repaying the grace of the country that raised him, haha.
└ Ugh. If he just stayed quiet, at least he’d be neutral, damn it!