Chapter 8
The Suwon bench was in a harmonious atmosphere in the early stages of the match.
“Wow… Jeonbuk can’t do anything, can they?”
“I told you, our coach doesn’t get called a master for no reason.”
“Back in the day, Jeonbuk played really well… It’s kind of sad to see them unable to recover like this.”
As if to prove that their overwhelming victory against Jeonbuk in the first leg of the ACL Round of 16 was not just luck, the new pressing system brought by Coach Park Yong-taek completely bound Jeonbuk.
For 15 minutes, they were practically trapped and beaten.
Of course, complacency was not an option because, after all, a coach is someone who can overturn a situation by changing tactics or substituting players.
At least, Park Yong-taek didn’t think he needed to be overly cautious.
‘No matter what anyone says, Jeonbuk’s key player last season was Choi Yong-hwan, who could play both holding and box-to-box roles.’
‘Through him, they won build-up plays and midfield battles, using their fast wingers for attacks.’
‘But… Choi Yong-hwan isn’t here now.’
Korea is truly a small place.
If someone makes a mistake and causes a scandal, word of it spreads quickly enough for it to reach his ears almost instantly.
The K League is no exception.
No matter if it’s news about an opponent team, Park Yong-taek was well aware of issues such as problems caused by a player’s misconduct or a coach struggling to control the locker room, and he was planning to take advantage of that.
‘What will you do? Use a player who got suspended after being caught going to a club after losing the derby? Or leave things as they are?’
He didn’t know Seon Ki-baek’s exact thoughts.
Maybe he would use a veteran for the sake of victory, even if it made controlling the locker room difficult.
However, Park Yong-taek judged that would never happen.
[There will be a substitution for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Player number 32, Lee Seung-yong, will be replaced by player number 26, Baek Ian.]
‘As expected… So he’s choosing pride over victory. Well, it’s not bad.’
That was why Park Yong-taek didn’t lose his smile even when he heard the news of Jeonbuk’s substitution.
Even if they put in a rookie defensive midfielder, they had no chance.
‘He’s known for being hot-tempered and making mistakes when agitated. I can just tell Yeon-jun to press him a bit and get under his skin.’
It wouldn’t be bad to show them what could happen when pride gets in the way and how an early substitution card can become a disastrous move.
With a smirk, Park Yong-taek finished giving instructions to Choi Yeon-jun and looked at the field.
Less than five minutes had passed when he realized something was off.
“Hey, Seong-hoon… Didn’t you say you saw Baek Ian often when you were at Maetan High? Didn’t you say he goes crazy if provoked a little? But what’s that? Yeon-jun is provoking him, and he’s just smiling?”
“Well, that’s the thing, senior. The Baek Ian I knew was definitely a hot-headed guy with a terrible personality, you know?”
“That guy? And what’s with his escape dribbling? He’s controlling the tempo like a pro. Didn’t you say he has a habit of narrowing his vision when he gets excited?”
“That’s what I remember from his youth days… What’s going on? This is strange.”
‘What the hell? Where did this crazy guy come from?’
Seon Ki-baek’s decision to put in Baek Ian wasn’t about pride.
It was purely based on skill, bringing in a variable that could turn the current situation around.
‘Not only did he completely read our pressing strategy, but he’s also breaking through pressure and untangling the midfield by himself… Damn, at this rate!’
Now that he grasped Seon Ki-baek’s intention, Park Yong-taek had to prepare a countermeasure.
But unfortunately, it was already too late.
“Hey! Seung-hwan, pass it! I’ll set you up for a quadruple on your debut!”
“Stop messing around! I don’t want to die yet! Get lost! Don’t follow me, Baek Ian!”
Boom!
Smack!
[Yeahhh! Seung-hwan!]
[Oh-oh-le-le~ Oh-oh-le-le~ Oh-oh-le-le~ Oh-oh-le-le~
Oh-oh-le-le~ Oh-oh-le-le~ Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!]
Jeonbuk’s trademark, the Poznań Oh-oh-le-le, began.
Even the crowd in Section S turned their attention to the field and started stomping and jumping.
The meaning was simple.
“It’s over…”
There was no need to watch any further; this match was Jeonbuk’s victory.
Park Yong-taek knew exactly what it meant too.
Tweet! Tweet! Tweeet!
The referee’s triple whistle echoed throughout Big Bird.
At that irritating sound, Park Yong-taek clenched his teeth and had no choice but to shake the hand of Seon Ki-baek, who had approached him.
“It was a good game. Please take care in the league as well.”
“…Sure.”
Though he momentarily gripped the hand tighter in rising frustration, Park Yong-taek eventually let go, walking towards the locker room with heavy steps.
***
[Shocking K League rookie stats today (Shocking)]
(Photo of Baek Ian with a bright smile. JPG)
ㆍRating: 8.5
ㆍMost chances created among both teams (5 times)
ㆍMost successful dribbles among both teams (4 times)
ㆍGround duel success rate 100% (5/5)
ㆍAerial duel success rate 100% (2/2)
ㆍTackle success rate 100% (4/4)
ㆍAerial duel success rate 100% (1/1)
ㆍPass success rate 85% (52/61)
ㆍ7 passes into the final third
ㆍ3 recoveries
– What, what is this? He’s a defensive midfielder, but look at these stats?
– Is Jeonbuk really back?
– What’s this? Just checked, Jeonbuk beat Suwon 4-0 and advanced to the ACL quarterfinals? But why isn’t there any mention of Yoon Seung-hwan’s four goals? If Baek Ian is the MOM, shouldn’t his stats be here?
└ If you watched the match, you’d know. Baek Ian was just amazing. Two of Yoon Seung-hwan’s goals were practically served by Baek Ian. The rest were easy breakthroughs thanks to Baek Ian winning all the midfield battles.
└ ??? So you’re saying Yoon Seung-hwan scored four, but two of them were mostly Baek Ian’s doing? Don’t mess with me. Are you trying to fool someone who didn’t watch the game?
└ If you don’t believe it, go watch the highlights yourself, you punk. The highlight is up on YouTube. (https://www.neotube.com/watch?v=tkfkdgkqslek)
└ What the heck? Why is this true? It’s insane. Is Yoon Seung-hwan okay though? Looks like his neck snapped or something.
[Just rewatched the full ACL Round of 16 match. Baek Ian is something else, seriously.]
– Suwon came in with a really unique pressing tactic against Jeonbuk, but as soon as Baek Ian was put in, everything changed and they won.
Choi Yeon-jun is in the top 5% of the league for aerial duels last season, but Baek Ian easily beat him.
Then, right after the escape dribble, he unsettled the opponent and sent in a cross for an assist…
This might look easy, but most players can’t do it.
Seeing Suwon press Jeonbuk heavily at the start, it’s clear that this wasn’t Seon Ki-baek’s plan; Baek Ian decided and resolved it on his own.
– Looking at that scene again, it really is amazing.
– Agreed. It got skipped in the highlights because of the goal scenes, but that moment was actually really important.
– He is good. At this level, could he aim for the national team’s number 6 position?
└ How would a box-to-box player play as a 6? The national team needs a defender who can play a true holding role; there are plenty of box-to-box players.
└ ?? Baek Ian was a promising traditional holding midfielder. The reason he contributed to the attack a lot in this match is that Suwon’s pressing was so poor he just took the ball forward himself. Go watch his youth matches. He played as a holding midfielder and won backline playmaking and midfield battles many times.
– So, what is this guy bad at?
└ He injures strikers.
└ Opposing strikers? I thought he looked clean with his tackles, but is his playstyle dirtier than it seems?
└ No, he injures his own team’s strikers.
└ Hahaha, right, right, he almost took someone out today too.
└ What are you guys talking about? How does a defensive midfielder injure his own team’s striker…
└ Watch and you’ll see, lol. If he goes to the national team, a few players will definitely end up leaving with concussions.
***
“Ian! Look at this! There are so many highlight clips of your plays uploaded to the community! The top-viewed one has over 80,000 views!”
“Really? I guess people think I did well. But Ah-yoon, my leg is hurting, so…”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Never mind. Just stay in my arms.”
“Okay, hehe.”
Watching Shin Ah-yoon, who was giggling in my embrace while checking the community posts, I resigned myself and lifted the corners of my mouth.
I went to see the match in person, but who would have thought she’d keep watching the highlights over and over. Was it really that interesting?
‘Well, she’s preparing to be a coach. If it’s footage of a player with great movements, she might want to watch it on repeat.’
During the match against Suwon, I played as Kang Yoon-ho, not Baek Ian.
In other words, the player in the video she was watching was once a world-class player who even made it to the Ballon d’Or podium, but unfortunately lost the award to a teammate winger.
‘It can’t hurt to watch a lot. Every movement of such a player could become valuable material later on.’
Now that it’s come to this, I should try to get footage of my training sessions at the club house too.
If it’s Shin Ah-yoon, she’d probably like that a lot as well.
“Oh right. By the way, don’t post anything on the community later, okay? You know that, right?”
“…Hey, I’m not a kid. Would I do that?”
“I know you. I wouldn’t put it past you. By the way, did you wash the uniform I gave you? It must have been soaked in sweat.”
As I stroked Shin Ah-yoon’s head, who was snugly nestled in my arms, the musty smell of sweat hit my nose.
I had given her the debut uniform as a gift, but surely she wasn’t wearing it unwashed?
“Ah-yoon?”
“Wash it? It’s better unwashed… No, I mean, why would I wash it? It’s precious, and there’s only one.”
“There’s only one? You can just ask the team for another uniform, so it’s okay to wash it. If you’re worried about the name peeling off, I’ll get one without the marking.”
“Ah, fine! I’ll tell you if I need it, so you don’t have to talk about the uniform anymore! Anyway, did you get hurt during the game? Are you okay?”
“My condition?”
Why was she suddenly asking about my condition? It had already been more than two days since the match ended.
‘There’s no way I’m in bad condition. I didn’t get fouled or tackled.’
I might have put some strain on my muscles from repeated sprints and stops, but according to the team doctor’s examination, there were no issues.
Besides, Baek Ian’s body was as strong as Yoon Seung-hwan’s, earning him the title of Steel King, so getting hurt was unlikely.
Yoon Seung-hwan… Thinking of his name reminded me of his face during the interview after being named MOM (Man of the Match) post-game.
– Yoon Seung-hwan! You achieved an incredible record of not just a hat-trick but a four-goal haul in your debut match! This is the first time since Yoon Jung-tae from Seoul United in 2015, and you’ve set the record as the youngest to do so! With this momentum, aiming for the top scorer seems possible. What do you think?
– Uh, uh… Top scorer? Me?
– Yes! You had great chemistry with Baek Ian; if you keep playing together, being the top scorer wouldn’t just be a dream!
– Hold on… Does that mean I have to get hit by Baek Ian’s passes a few more times… No, no! I’ve never thought about being the top scorer! If it happens, I might not survive…
– Sorry, what did you just say?
– I’ll work hard! Be happy!
‘Is he nuts? He’s not answering the question and suddenly says “Be happy!” out of nowhere.’
It seemed like his head had gone haywire. I’d have to fix that during the next training by aiming a few shots at him.
Anyway, thinking about the match reminded me of something I needed to get from Shin Ah-yoon.
I leaned in and whispered into Shin Ah-yoon’s ear as she lay in my arms.
“By the way, Ah-yoon?”
“Huh? What is it?”
“I fixed everything you mentioned, so when are you going to give me the reward?”
“Huh? Re-reward? What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean? You said you’d give me a reward if I changed from forefoot to midfoot. You saw the match, right? I perfected what you mentioned. So, what kind of reward were you planning?”
“Oh, th-that…”
Shin Ah-yoon, who had been pondering over my question, put down her phone and lowered her head.
It seemed like she hadn’t expected me to actually play in the match and had only said it in passing.
‘Tsk. I was curious about what kind of reward it would be… Well, there’ll be more opportunities.’
There would be plenty of days ahead when I’d play. And who knows, maybe I’d show an even better performance than in the match against Suwon.
If so…
‘Should I just wait?’
Smooch!
“Huh? Ah-yoon, what did you just do?”
“You said you wanted a reward… I haven’t properly prepared one yet, so for now, be satisfied with this. If you do well next time, I’ll give you something even better…”
Blushing furiously, Shin Ah-yoon burrowed into my arms.
She pressed her lips to my cheek as if it was a reward, and I nearly laughed.
‘Still, this is a pretty good reward.’
For now, I decided to be satisfied.
—
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