LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 270
When the German spectators started to feel the winter of the turnip arriving early,
[“Goooooal─! Danny Welbeck’s opening goal! Finally, England has broken through Panama’s solid defense!!”]
└ Wow, did they finally score?
└ Is it really the game performance without Son Jinho?
└ Son Jinho = the alpha and omega of the England National Team ㄷㄷ
In the match between England and Panama, Danny Welbeck successfully shook Panama’s goal.
[“A beautiful shot from Welbeck heading to the corner of the goal! Thanks to Danny Welbeck’s goal, South Korea moves up to second in the group!”]
└ Honestly, it wasn’t a beautiful goal though….
└ But to us, it is a beautiful goal, right?
With England’s score, Panama’s chances of advancing to the Round of 16 quickly faded.
[“Oh! Panama’s passing error, Jesse Lingard intercepts the pass!”]
Panama’s morale plummeted and they started making a series of mistakes.
[“England on the counterattack, three attackers, three defenders! This is a golden opportunity!!”]
[“Lingard’s pass to Rashford, Rashford! Cross! And once again, it’s Danny Welbeck! Welbeck’s multi-goal! His header shakes the net of Panama again!”]
And then came Panama’s additional conceded goal.
With that goal, the game tilted completely in favor of England.
***
Meanwhile, at that moment.
While Panama gave up once England scored, Germany gritted their teeth and pressed South Korea hard.
But South Korea maintained their focus until the end and held off Germany’s attacks.
Before long, the regular time of the second half came to an end.
[“The referee has raised the added time! Four minutes of extra time is given!”]
[“The players have very little time left before the match ends! If they keep their concentration and don’t give up until the end, they can win!”]
[“Tony Kroos grabs the second ball, shoots!”]
Bang─.
Kang Chan, who had dropped back into his own penalty box to help defend, dove in front of Tony Kroos’s powerful shot without hesitation.
“Ouch!”
Kang Chan writhed in pain that words couldn’t describe as he collapsed on the ground.
South Korea’s center back, Kim Jae-hyun rushed to clear the ball out before German forwards could reach it.
The referee paused the match after confirming the ball had gone out of bounds, and at the referee’s signal, medical staff rushed onto the field.
[“Ah… Kang Chan has collapsed on the field. The football hit a rather unfortunate area.”]
[“Yes. It’s a pain that all male football fans in South Korea can understand. The devoted Kang Chan dove in front of Tony Kroos’s powerful shot.”]
└ Now it’s become ‘Gachan’;;
└ Why ‘Gachan’?
└ Because one egg is gone?
└ You’re worse for interpreting it, you jerk.
└ Is it an exchange between a nut and conceding a goal?
└ Dude;; the exchange rate is totally garbage though?
Anyway, thanks to Kang Chan’s noble sacrifice, South Korea successfully defended their score.
[“Tony Kroos quietly approaches to pat Kang Chan on the back.”]
[“Yes… as they are also men, they can empathize with that pain.”]
[“It’s the moment when barriers of race and culture are broken down and they become one.”]
[“Ah. At the moment they mentioned, Kang Chan, who has endured the pain, stands up safely. Really, thank goodness.”]
The referee blew the whistle to resume the game as Kang Chan got back on his feet.
The game continued with a German throw-in, and Germany created a corner kick.
“Scheiße! Lift your head! The game isn’t over yet!”
Still unable to accept their World Cup elimination, Germany even sent goalkeeper Neuer into South Korea’s penalty box for an all-out effort, but.
Germany’s final corner kick was blocked by Cho Hyun-woo, and the match ended with South Korea’s victory.
***
[England triumphs over Panama 2-0.]
[The Kazan Miracle! South Korea defeats Germany 1-0.]
[The Great Upset! South Korea defeats Germany and advances to the Round of 16 for the third consecutive tournament.]
└ No traitorous bastards here.
└ Traitor? Who are you talking about?
└ Isn’t it Son Jinho?
└ Yeah, that jerk.
└ Did he not get hit that much in Round 2?
└ He probably got beaten too much and his head is spinning now.
[British netizens mock Germany’s elimination. “Football is war. Therefore, Germany cannot win.”]
└ Hahaha
└ Hahaha
└ Seriously, the UK is kicking Germany’s ass hard, hahaha.
└ Hey, average of the Allies.
***
After the games of Group D concluded, time passed swiftly.
With the conclusion of Group H’s match, featuring France, the Round of 16 matchups were set.
As the match ended, a quick write-up appeared on the community, generating diverse reactions.
[Title: 2018 Russia World Cup Round of 16 Matchups and Schedule (Korea Time).]
1. Colombia vs South Korea. Round of 16 Match 1. June 30 23:00
2. Uruguay vs Portugal. Round of 16 Match 2. July 1 03:00
3. Spain vs Argentina Round of 16 Match 5. July 2 23:00
4. Belgium vs Switzerland Round of 16 Match 6. July 3 03:00
5. Denmark vs Russia Round of 16 Match 3. July 1 23:00
6. England vs Japan. Round of 16 Match 4. July 2 03:00
7. Croatia vs Nigeria Round of 16 Match 7. July 3 23:00
8. France vs Brazil Round of 16 Match 8. July 4 03:00
└ Wow. Thanks for the effort!
└ Colombia, huh. This is looking like a chance to reach the quarterfinals, right?
└ For real, haha. Colombia sounds like we can handle it?
└ We’ve got the head-to-head record with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss.
└ Let’s go for our first-ever quarterfinal appearance!!~~
└ Personally, I’m looking forward to the England vs Japan game more than Colombia vs South Korea.
└ Watching Japan get wrecked would be so entertaining.
└ Haha, they were laughing at us for being in the group of death, and now they’re getting their comeuppance.
└ Oh haha, we escaped from hell, hahaha.
└ Ha… I have to enjoy watching Japan’s game, but it’s at 3 AM.
└ ??? You working that day?
└ July 2nd is a Monday.
└ I’m unemployed, so I’m not working, haha. Are you jealous? haha.
└ Not jealous, you idiot.
└ It just keeps getting worse, bragging about being unemployed, haha.
└ Oh, unlike the 2014 World Cup, this time the teams that deserve it are moving up.
└ Yeah, it feels like there are fewer upsets? The only football crap is Germany, right?
└ You’re right, haha. Now it looks like Germany has to get past South Korea to win the World Cup, haha.
└ These guys are getting all hyped because they won against Germany once, haha.
└ ???: You suck at football, haha.
└ Quarterfinal matchup predictions: South Korea vs Uruguay, Argentina vs Belgium, Denmark vs England, Croatia vs Brazil, right?
└ What about Portugal and France?
└ Argentina’s playing like crap right now, so it’s fine?
└ Portugal’s not looking great either.
└ Are you really ignoring the GOAT Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the Ballon d’Or twice?
└ There’s Messi, so calling Ronaldo the GOAT feels a bit much.
└ Where’s Netherlands, though?
└ They flopped out of the qualifiers, lol.
└ Haha.
└ Why isn’t Italy here? Weren’t they a strong team too?
└ They also flopped out of the qualifiers.
└ Didn’t we beat them in our last match?
└ Yeah, our last game was against them in the 2002 World Cup when we won.
└ Hey, you still suck at football, version 2, lol.
***
As the matches in Group H concluded and the Round of 16 matchups were finalized, the next day.
The 2018 Russia World Cup kicked off the tournament with the match between Colombia and South Korea.
With South Korea leading the head-to-head record with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss.
[With a historical record of 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, could South Korea achieve their first-ever quarterfinal appearance abroad?]
└ Dreams do come true ★
└ Wow. Thinking about it, the 2002 World Cup was already 16 years ago.
The desire for South Korea to reach the quarterfinals on foreign soil grew strong among the football fans.
“Just like the coach said, if we just do what we’ve been doing, we can win! Let’s write history!”
“South Korea!!”
“Hey!!”
Naturally inspired by the excited football fans, the South Korean players also felt a burning desire for their first-ever quarterfinal appearance abroad.
[The match has started. The game between South Korea and Colombia. Left in red, South Korea, right in yellow, Colombia.]
With the referee’s whistle, the game began with South Korea’s kickoff, sparking an intense back-and-forth battle against Colombia.
After a fierce showdown, it was South Korea that scored first.
Lee Cheong-ryong passed the ball to Son Heung-min, who was making a run, and as he entered the penalty box, Son calmly shook the Colombian net.
South Korea took the lead with the opening goal.
The cheers from the stadium filled with South Korean fans grew louder, and the players, buoyed by their support, held off Colombia’s counterattack.
As South Korea led the game, the first half concluded, and in the ensuing second half.
Colombia heavily pressed to score an equalizer, but ultimately failed to break through.
Just before the end of the match, substitute Lee Jae-sung added another goal, leading to their victory.
[South Korea trounces Colombia 2-0.]
[Dreams do come true★! South Korea’s historic first quarterfinal appearance abroad confirmed.]
***
Four hours after South Korea secured the quarterfinal spot, the second match of the tournament between Uruguay and Portugal took place at Ak Bars Arena, where the match between South Korea and Germany was held.
The two teams engaged in a fierce battle that went into extra time, and just before the end of the extra period, Bernardo Silva’s earned penalty kick was converted by Cristiano Ronaldo, allowing Portugal to defeat Uruguay 2-1 and advance to the quarterfinals.
[2018 Russia World Cup Quarterfinals, South Korea vs Portugal.]
[Can South Korea take down Portugal for a spot in the semifinals?]
[Having gone through extra time, physically drained Portugal faces a South Korea side that has the upper hand in stamina… Enough chances for South Korea to advance to the semifinals…]
[In an interview with South Korean reporters, Cristiano Ronaldo stated, “South Korea must respect me more.”]
└ ?
└ What have we done?
└ What the heck;;
As South Korea nurtured the dream of advancing to the semifinals, the match between England and Japan was just around the corner.
[Confident in victory, Japan’s coach Nishino Akira said, “England? We can definitely win.”]
[England’s Captain Son Jinho, channeling Ronaldo? “Japan must respect me more.”]