NOVEL NEXT Chapter 168: 168
168. The upcoming decisive day (1)
Camp Nou president's office.
Two men dressed in suits sipped red wine.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta spoke again.
"I think it's ridiculous to even think about asking if you can win. Ask the question again. "Can we just do it like these days?"
"I just do what I always do."
"Then I feel a little relieved. "It's been a long time since I had a good day like these."
"I'm glad you did. "I'm just grateful for your trust."
The man who showed off his fashion beauty in a sword-like suit was classy.
It was Pep Guardiola, the manager of Barcelona, who has been on a high streak since one loss and one draw at the beginning of the season.
"I honestly didn't expect you to be this good to me. Isn't that true? "Who would have thought that a new coach could achieve these results?"
At the beginning of the season, he made a strong decision by appointing Guardiola as first team coach, despite fierce criticism from sociologists.
However, as the team was underperforming, there were many complaints to fire Guardiola, but now, as if it had been a while, those comments have disappeared.
It felt like everything that had been buried for so long had completely subsided.
Laporta doesn't know how painful it was to lose the championship to Real Madrid over the past two years.
There were many big and small failures not only in the team's performance but also in the management of the club.
An attempt was made to appease the outcry of sociopaths by signing Ronaldo, but the signing of Ronaldo failed, and Bojan, who was their last hope, failed to perform as expected, causing a lot of disappointment to the fans.
In particular, the biggest thing was that Woo Ho-young was lost to Real Madrid.
It was an incident worthy of being recorded as the worst recruitment failure of the 21st century.
However, the savior Guardiola appeared, saying that happiness comes after hardships.
Playing a different style of soccer, he succeeded in turning Barcelona into a monster team and was receiving praise from the public.
Nevertheless, President Laporta's thirst remained.
This was because in order to become the strongest team, you had to beat the strongest team.
El Clásico is scheduled for next month.
We had to beat Real Madrid, who were leading by a narrow margin.
"I hope you feel as good next week as you do now."
"I will do my best."
"It's reassuring to see that you're so confident."
"Actually, there are just as many concerns. Even though they are enemies, Madrid is a powerful team. Raul Zidane, Casillas, Carlos Salgado… There are still players who have made us suffer for a long time. In addition to Van Nistelrooy, Robben Sneijder, Malouda Higuain, they have the best power in the world."
"There's Woo Ho-young again."
Woo Ho-young.
Guardiola frowned at those words.
I remembered the time when I was the coach of the Barcelona B team last year.
Just thinking about the two losses to Woo Ho-young's Castile made me furrow my brows.
Guardiola eventually left the president's office and, as always, was lost in thought.
His mind was always full of thoughts about soccer 24 hours a day, except when he was sleeping.
But since yesterday it has gotten worse.
'Woo Ho-young.'
Even though I got hit twice last year, I thought I was prepared to stop him.
The tactics of today have become so perfect that they cannot be compared to those of then.
But it was the same for Woo Ho-young.
I realized this after watching the King's Cup match against Real Union last night.
'It's getting more and more perfect.'
But nothing is perfect in this world.
There are bound to be gaps in anything.
'Customized tactics are needed to catch one off guard.'
El Clasico is getting closer and closer.
Guardiola headed to the training ground full of worry and pressure.
Korea at that time.
Real Madrid's King's Cup match drew a warm response.
Among them, the places with the hottest response were by far Korea's 'Howoohowoohyung Fan Cafe' and 'Real Company'.
[Woo Ho-young shines at Real Madrid. Success as Zidane's successor So, is your future position an attacking midfielder?]
[Woo Ho-young sublimates Zidane's art soccer into his own style!]
[A stepping stone to a new leap forward A game where there was no discord between the teams… Real was one.]
While these articles were posted numerous times in Real's headquarters, the 'Free Bulletin Board', which had the fastest posting time, was crowded with numerous soccer fans.
[Writer: Powerhyung]
[Everyone, this is Real Madrid!]
└As expected, it's amazing. Schuster is a master. No matter how much the anti-Madrid media criticizes them, in the end, the results say it all.
└It was touching. I almost cried while watching it. Real Madrid, thank you for the great game. And I would like to thank Woo Ho-young for making me a madridista. It was a tremendous performance.
└Ugh…my hands and feet….
└Is this the real company that loves that 3rd division league team so much?
└It must be nice to win for the first time in a while. Why is that?
└I think Messi would do that too.
└You should have done it with one foot, right?
└Can also be done while lying down.
└You can close your eyes and tie your feet.
└You bastards have come crawling again ㅡㅡ Don't you go to your site? And Woo Ho-young is still young.
└I'm about to turn 17. How long will you say I'm young? Pele scored a hat trick at the World Cup when he was 17.
└Okay. As a fellow Korean, I feel embarrassed. I know Woo Ho-young is good, but please don't compare him to someone like Messi. First of all, go ahead and beat Robben, who is on the same team.
└Didn't you guys see Woo Ho-young playing against Chiellini?
└Didn't you see that Messi beat the entire opposing team from the halfway line and scored a goal? Messi has already scored 18 goals this season.
└Messi is far ahead in terms of talent, skill, and experience. If you want to be compared, get the Golden Boy. Oh, and Messi is going to win the Ballon d'Or soon ^^
[Among the similar types, there are Messi 〉〉〉〉〉〉〉〉〉〉〉Ronaldo〉〉Torres〉Roben〉Ribery〉Rooney〉Van Persie〉Woo Ho-Young 〉Rovinho〉. This is the truth.]
└This is it haha
└I know how to watch soccer haha
└I'm standing in line.
└Messi is better than Ronaldo? Hey haha experts are unanimously saying that this year's Ballon d'Or will definitely go to Ronaldo.
Visitors from the Barcelona fan site 'Coreancule' were showing off their incredible firepower by posting posts like the one above.
In response, the site operator took action and blocked their IP and launched a counterattack by attacking the Korean Curre site.
Ultimately, the two sides agreed to a temporary truce, waiting to wait until El Clásico scheduled for December.
The transition to December was very cold.
It was literally a series of hellish schedules.
The pressure was even more intense because there were games every 3-5 days, and some of them required long-distance flights.
Still, Real Madrid, which had regained momentum after the last King's Cup, was able to overcome the crisis by recording 2 wins and 3 draws in the next 5 games.
And on December 7th.
Barcelona went on a 12-game winning streak and succeeded in beating Real Madrid by 3 points.
With the 14th round of the league underway, the league table was as follows.
〈1〉 Barcelona 12 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss 37 wins, 49 points, 7 conceded
〈2〉 Real Madrid 10 wins, 4 draws, 34 wins, 31 points, 16 conceded
〈3〉 Valencia 9 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses 30 wins, 32 points, 18 conceded
Real Madrid The opportunity to turn things around was El Clásico on December 13th.
As the day of the decisive battle approached in a week, a feeling of desolate tension spread across Madrid.
11 a.m. that day.
While Rucci was having a meeting with Nike, Hoyoung took Kim Jae-gyeom's car and headed to the training site.
"It was around this time three years ago. "Do you remember?"
"sure. My grandfather said that while passing by here. "Bring Raul and Zidane home."
"Laughs. "My grandson keeps his promises, so why don't you bring Raoul?"
"Actually, I don't have much of a personal relationship with him. "Do I have to say that it's difficult to deal with?"
"Maybe it's because he's the captain."
"I think so too."
"But let me ask you this. Hoyoung, how are you so good at soccer? "I heard your dad couldn't even kick a ball, so he only played goalkeeper during his school days."
"Then I guess I inherited my grandfather's DNA."
"Laughs. "I used to waste some money in the past."
As I was spending some quality time with Kim Jae-gyeom, I was almost at the training ground.
And as the vehicle entered HM2 Road, people holding cameras and parking lots began to appear one by one.
[NO5. ZIZOU !]
[NO7. El angel del Madrid!]
"Even though I see it every day, I always get excited when I see it."
"why? "Have you ever stopped?"
"You know. "The number of fans increased exponentially."
As expected, it was Real's supporters who showed great passion even today.
But today, there was one parket that caught Hoyoung's eye in particular.
[NO10. Woo El Salvador!]
"Ooh! "Can we stop for a moment?"
"Anyway, the savior asks, and the knight must follow without saying anything."
"ha ha ha."
El Salvador.
When I saw the word meaning savior, I couldn't just pass it by.
When Hoyoung rolled down the window and stopped on the side of the road, the fans erupted in cheers.
Hoyoung signed autographs and even took pictures as fan service.
And then I was about to go back.
"you are handsome!"
Grinning.
Hoyoung answered a woman's call with a smile and returned to the car.
As expected, I always felt good when I received compliments on my appearance.
And when Hoyoung got into the car, Kim Jae-gyeom made a happy face.
"Cluck. Genga takes after her mother. "Where on earth did this face come from?"
In fact, that was more questionable about Kim Jae-gyeom than his soccer talent.
Valdebebas 1st team training ground.
Marcelo, who had arrived earlier, welcomed Hoyoung.
"female! Young man!"
"You came quickly. But your hair was a bit long? "I thought it was some kind of roasted chestnut."
"… Strange? "I'm thinking about making it longer."
"I think you look good with afro hair."
"Oh, I was already thinking about getting an afro. But will it still work? Surely you won't even touch your hairstyle?"
"Of course not. "That is a betrayal of the Shaved Quartet."
Quartet Shaved Quartet.
It was a nickname created by Sergio Ramos to refer to the defensive line consisting of Carlos, Marcelo, Cannavaro, and Pepe.
"Hey, here comes the conductor of the quintet."
When I asked what he meant, I saw that Zidane had come out of the coach's office and was waving to Hoyoung.
"You are here. "Would you like to talk for a moment?"
"Conversations with landowners are always welcome."
The two moved to their seats and talked.
Zidane opened his mouth in a slightly more serious mood than usual.
"Next week is El Clasico, how do you feel?"
"It doesn't feel real. Just training with Jiju seems like a miracle."
"It doesn't feel real to me either. This is what I thought when I first saw you. If that guy gets promoted to the first team someday, will we see him in El Clásico? But it feels strange that that day has already come."
"So do i. And I wish I could play with Jiju."
But now that possibility is almost gone.
Because Zidane was declining and Hoyoung was improving.
And because Hoyoung can almost replace Zidane.
Hoyoung, who was feeling bitter about the passage of time, changed his mind.
"By the way, when do you train?"
"I think we will start right away when the coach comes out, but I think he is thinking deeply about El Clásico. When I came back, I saw that he was wondering what kind of training he should do. So, I also came to give you some advice."
"What advice did you give?"
"They asked me how to deal with Barcelona's possession football, so I told them my opinion."
"It's Barcelona's possession football…"
But at that moment.
"…!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hoyoung jumped up from his seat.
"Director, you're in the director's office right now?"
As soon as Hoyoung heard the answer, he went to the director's office and knocked on the door.
Schuster, who discovered Hoyoung, asked.
"What's going on?"
Hoyoung spoke in a calm voice.
"Director, I might be of help."
"what?"
Schuster's eyes narrowed.
Hoyoung opened his mouth again.
"I know a little bit about their football."