LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 268
[(Live) England 1: 0 South Korea.]
└ I’ve seen celebrations against the home team, but a celebration against one’s own country? That’s a first.
└ There’s definitely that Ho-woo guy among the spectators, right?
└ Seriously, how does one suppress their Ho-woo?
└ Wow. Is Son Jinho insane? Celebrating like that over there?
└ Based on his expression, it doesn’t seem intentional, though.
└ He did it and is now totally flustered, that’s the funny part.
└ ???: Oh, shit. This isn’t the right place.
└ Wow. I’m not even mad, it’s just hilarious.
└ Honestly, I give major props to anyone who felt joy when the Korean player scored.
└ My mom was like, why is the score going up for England when the Korean player scored? What’s up with that?
└ ???????
└ What is that guy doing? Why is he celebrating again?
└ No idea, what a crazy guy.
*
‘Uh… Why are they booing?’
As I rushed to the stands to celebrate, I couldn’t hide my surprise at the sudden chorus of boos from the crowd.
“Hey, you jerk!”
‘Ah. Right. I naturalized, didn’t I?’
After hearing the all-too-familiar Korean curse, I realized I had misdirected my celebration.
“Wasn’t Jin-ho’s nationality South Korea before naturalization? Must’ve been a lot of buildup.”
“He was practically chased out while being criticized by the whole nation.”
“Ah. No wonder they warned him not to let his guard down before this match.”
“Well, if it were me, I probably would have sought revenge like he just did.”
As the England players looked at me in confused astonishment from the sudden tea-bagging, I thought,
“Jinho, you might not have said it, but you’ve had a lot bottled up inside.”
“That’s true, but still, provoking the crowd isn’t quite the thing to do…”
The misunderstandings among my Korean acquaintances seemed to grow uncontrollably.
‘I wonder, if I apologize now, will they accept it?’
I awkwardly exchanged glances with the South Korean crowd, who were barely holding back their anger.
Under normal circumstances, I would’ve immediately expressed my apologies.
But was I just excessively flustered in this unintentional situation?
“Ho-woo-woo-woo-wooo!”
With my mental state already shaky, I made the wrong judgment and threw another Ho-woo at the crowd.
As the furious crowd booed again, something welled up inside me.
Amidst their jeering, I could feel the complex emotions of regret, despair, obsession, and rage.
‘So this is why van Persie went off against Arsenal.’
Just as I started to understand Robin van Persie’s feelings for throwing tantrums against Arsenal, the referee approached me, thinking I was provoking the crowd, ready to hand out a warning.
*
@RobinTheUnited
One day, when I was with Jin-ho and Chris, Coach Alex Ferguson remarked, “You have a crazy guy, another crazy guy, and the most insane guy pretending to be normal in the same place.” After today’s match, it seems clear who that last one is.
*
[The flow of the match has completely shifted to England.]
A minor issue arose as Son Jinho collected a warning due to his provocative celebration after scoring first, but anyway, the momentum of the game had shifted entirely to England.
[Chris Smalling’s tackle smoothly blocks the counterattack from South Korea.]
[The ball flows to Jin-ho, Jin-ho, once again regains control of the ball.]
[South Korea’s strong pressure on Jin-ho!]
[But! Jin-ho lightly sheds the pressure with a Marseille turn!]
Even under South Korea’s fierce pressure, Son Jinho calmly maintained his control of the ball and quickly processed the real-time information on the ground.
‘Harry Kane dropped down into the center, bringing the center-back with him… The right side must be open.’
Son Jinho glanced over to the right flank.
And just as his eyes met with Raheem Sterling, who was playing on the right flank, he immediately passed into South Korea’s blind spot.
[What a Pass! Jin-ho’s beautiful pass connects with Raheem Sterling!!]
Jin-ho’s lofted pass cleverly goes over a creeping defender’s head and finds its way to Sterling.
[With the ball at his feet, Sterling charges forward with speed!]
Sterling, having delicately placed the ball in front of him, kicked into high gear toward South Korea’s territory.
[Sterling is fast!]
As Sterling dribbled with his speed and low center of gravity,
“Raheem!!”
Son Jinho approached the half-space, pointing forward with his right hand, demanding a pass from Sterling.
The sudden intrusion by Jin-ho disrupted the defense momentarily, allowing Raheem Sterling to find himself in a good position as he concentrated the defenders’ attention.
[Defenders rushing in, but Jin-ho! He won’t get dispossessed!]
Inside the penalty box, Son Jinho held onto the ball.
Drawing all the defenders’ gazes, he attempted a low and swift cross through the defenders’ legs.
Son Jinho’s cross slipped through the legs of the South Korean defenders and reached the feet of Raheem Sterling.
[The shot goes in… Oh~? What’s this?]
Because even the goalkeeper was focused on Jin-ho, everyone was certain it was a goal.
[Sterling! Sterling’s shot goes high!]
However, Sterling’s shocking shot soared high into the sky.
“Ah! Jin-ho, I told you the pass was too strong!”
As if in a daze from the absurd shot he just witnessed, Raheem Sterling approached Son Jinho and said.
“…Kane.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Bite that guy.”
“Ke-u-u-u-u—!”
“Ugh! Don’t bite me!!”
Remembering a long-lost feeling, Son Jinho quietly recalled his original intent.
‘This team can only rely on me. I have to be the one to solve this.’
*
Back when Son Jinho played for Geumsun High School, there was Kim Jae-hyun, a center-back on the team.
Although not as well-known as Kang Chan, he was one of those significantly influenced by Son Jinho’s return.
In the original history, this center-back had vanished from the soccer scene, unable to gain even a college team’s recognition, but thanks to the knowledge learned from Son Jinho, he worked steadily and successfully debuted professionally.
[Kim Jae-hyun is selected as one of the TOP 12 prospects in the Korean league.]
[Geumsun High School, a soccer powerhouse producing Son Jinho and Kang Chan, Kim Jae-hyun.]
[Who is Kim Jae-hyun, the alumnus of Son Jinho?]
With the injury of Kim Jae-min from Jeonnam ahead of the Russia World Cup, he successfully earned a place in the national team, donning the Taegeuk mark on his chest.
[National team member Kim Jae-hyun expresses gratitude to Son Jinho: “All of this is thanks to God Jinho’s grace.”]
Although he was called up as a reserve due to Kim Jae-min’s injury, he had succeeded in starting against England based on his performance in the previous match against Panama.
‘He’s coming.’
The moment Son Jinho took possession of the ball, the screams of South Korea’s fans echoed in his ears, causing Jae-hyun to unknowingly tense up.
With a gulp and lowered posture due to his nervousness, he felt Son Jinho’s indifferent gaze sweep over him quickly.
Chills ran down his spine.
His heart raced wildly, and his legs trembled.
But he desperately shook off the fear.
‘Left? No, it’s right!’
Just as he managed to calm his fear, the indifferent-eyed Son Jinho made his move.
‘Damn! It was left!’
He was lightly brushed aside by the fluid, natural body feint.
Losing his balance, Kim Jae-hyun stretched his hands toward Son Jinho’s back as he passed by.
But Son Jinho was already out of his defensive range, and his hands just swirled in vain at the empty air.
With Kim Jae-hyun losing balance and falling to the ground,
‘…Why is he suddenly throwing real punches?’
In Kim Jae-hyun’s eyes, as he lay on the ground, was the image of Son Jinho, exuding arrogance, arms wide open, soaking in the cheers of the crowd.
*
“Let’s play the second half like the first!”
With Son Jinho’s additional goal, the first half ended, and Coach Southgate, finishing his tactical instructions with a relaxed expression, quietly called for Jin-ho and told him he needed to wash his cards.
“Jin-ho! You know you need to wash those cards you’ve picked up, right?”
If we progress to the tournament, we need to worry about potential suspensions due to accumulated warnings.
Given that irrespective of the result against Panama, he had secured the top spot in the group with a victory over South Korea, Coach Southgate directed Jin-ho to wash his cards.
Jin-ho, understanding the need for card washing as the coach said, accepted the instruction without question.
After Coach Southgate left, looking pleased, Jin-ho began to ponder how he should pick up cards.
‘What kind of incidents would make it seem like I got cards easily?’
Of course, he didn’t consider silly ideas like stepping on the referee’s foot or landing a notorious elbow to the referee’s gut.
Common sense dictated that handing out a beatdown may result in additional sanctions.
So he thought of a straightforward way to get a yellow card.
‘Hmm. If I get a hat-trick and cause a scene, that should do it.’
Having embraced the Anglo-Saxon macho culture after naturalizing to England, Son Jinho’s mind didn’t include any petty tricks for getting cards.