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***

[The showdown between the God of Football Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) and the victor dealer Zlatan Ibrahimović (PSG)!]

[FC Bayern Munich faces the ‘Bat Legion’ Valencia! Many predict a victory for FC Bayern Munich.]

[Real Madrid proves to be lucky meeting the weakest link Gala Tasılay.]

The Champions League quarter-final draw has concluded. The highly regarded Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, often called ‘Reba-mun,’ have all been dispersed. As a result, the teams advancing to the semifinals are mostly revealed.

‘Barça, Munich, and Real Madrid will move on.’

They say the soccer ball is round, and anything can happen, but…

The opponents include prime era Ronaldo and Messi and Bayern Munich, who have claimed treble in the original history?

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine that the likes of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Bayern Munich would be eliminated in the Champions League against Galatasaray and PSG, or Valencia.

[Facing the powerhouse Juventus is Dortmund!]

Compared to them, the matchup expected to be a nail-biter was Dortmund versus Juventus.

[Professional gamblers predict a Dortmund victory.]

While Dortmund holds a slight edge in betting odds, the opponent is ambiguous.

Although victory is expected, the opponents are perceived as capable of bringing potential defeat if one lets their guard down. Probably, Juventus is thinking similarly.

[A clash of two great families that shook off the dark period. ‘Juventus with “Second Division Relegation Penalty” vs. ‘Dortmund with “Financial Bankruptcy.”]

Well… by the reputation of the clubs, seeing Dortmund consider challenging Juventus might even be insulting towards Juventus.

After all, Juventus was ruling with the best reputation during the Seven Princesses of Serie A.

However, the 1985 Heysel disaster led to the downfall of the England Football League, and the rising Serie A was brought down by match-fixing incidents that were a part of the nation’s cultural traditions.

In reality, Calcio Polio, known to Korean football fans as a match-fixing scandal, was more than just a simple match-fixing incident.

It was Calcio Polio that engaged in illegal lobbying and crime, applying pressure on referee assignments and manipulating public opinion against Juventus by leveraging power.

As a result, doubts regarding the fairness of the league led to a severe decline in its standing.

While it can’t be declared definitively that Calcio Polio was the cause of Serie A’s downfall, it is true that it dealt the final blow to a league that was already in decline.

The moment the league’s fairness was questioned, the honor of winning disappeared.

Anyway, Juventus, which faced severe penalties including relegation to the second division due to the widespread scandal called Calcio Polio, sought to reinstate their championship records later, citing no player involvement in the match-fixing scandal, thus drawing criticism from fans of other teams.

Despite this, pivotal player Del Piero left a romantic quote claiming, “A gentleman does not leave when the lady (Juventus’ nickname – Old Lady) is in need,” while declaring his intention to stay on the relegated team.

Since then, even in 2019, there was the Plusvalenza incident, involving a no-show problem and overvaluing player transactions for capital gains, but isn’t that still in the not-so-distant future?

‘Just let it pass.’

Anyway, Juventus, which was relegated to the second division, declared the resurrection of their illustrious club by recording an unbeaten championship in the 11/12 season and achieved the highest points win in the 13/14 season while aiming for a treble in the 14/15 season led by the MVP line.

Although they did lose to Luis Enrique’s MSN triangle football.

‘By the way, according to Suárez’s revelation, the inception of MSN started when Messi sent Luis Suárez to the 9-position and created space from the right….’

Suddenly, I recall Ki-hyun Choi from Geumsun High. At that time, I was busy planning strategies and training players with advanced training systems, with no time to breathe.

‘Was Luis Enrique a lucky Ki-hyun Choi?’

Well… although I did listen to the players, but if he achieved results, isn’t that also a mark of a great manager?

As I pondered the performance of future Juventus.

‘Ah. Suddenly I’m getting mad again.’

I recalled the moment when I was thrown into Sangam World Cup Stadium and immediately sent an angry DM to Ronaldo.

– Ho-woo: (Message depicting Lionel Messi’s face made with special characters)

– Ronaldo: Damn. What’s that unpleasant facial shape?

– Ronaldo: Get it out of my sight right now!

I burst into a mischievous laugh at Ronaldo’s tasty reaction. It was the moment when the anger and stress I had been harboring evaporated.

***

[‘Injury recovery’ Son Jinho, ready for participation against SC Freiburg.]

[Dortmund fans confident of victory, ‘Jinho is the fairy of victory!’]

[Jürgen Klopp instructs players to stay vigilant.]

[A Dortmund fan, after a quarrel with a journalist asking whether ‘Son Jinho is a legendary player of Dortmund,’ ends up in a fistfight.]

└ It’s only been a year; being called a legend seems a bit;

└ Still, that’s quite a high evaluation, isn’t it?

└ More like a semi-legend, right? Whoa.

└ If he returns to Dortmund and retires, I think he will receive legendary status.

[Son Jinho answering questions about transfer rumors to Bayern Munich, saying, ‘Unless it’s Dortmund, I won’t play in the Bundesliga.’]

***

March 16. The Bundesliga 26th round match against SC Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park.

“Heja BVB! Heja BVB!”

Dortmund fans entered the stadium, believing in victory without a doubt.

“Jinho! Become a Kaiser after naturalizing to Germany!”

Although they lost to their rival Schalke in the last match, wasn’t Son Jinho absent due to injury at that time?

Despite being only 18 years old, the amazing performance of Son Jinho is hard to believe.

As Son Jinho declared that he wouldn’t play for any team in the Bundesliga except Dortmund, naturally, affectionate gazes from Dortmund fans poured out.

“But you didn’t say you wouldn’t transfer to another team. Why do you like it so much?”

“You idiot! Think about our team’s salary! Transferring to another league is inevitable! Just not going to the same league is already something great!”

As applause rained down from the Dortmund crowd towards Son Jinho, the match kicked off.

Dortmund relentlessly smashed SC Freiburg.

[Jonathan Schmid of SC Freiburg successfully scores the opening goal!]

[An amazing long-range shot that leaves Roman Weidenfeller completely motionless!]

However, it was SC Freiburg that scored first.

Jonathan Schmid, roaring as he runs to the corner flag after scoring, saw the atmosphere at Signal Iduna Park suddenly dimmed just seven minutes into the first half with the opening goal from SC Freiburg.

[Son Jinho snatches the pass!]

The spark that transformed the stagnant atmosphere at Signal Iduna Park was Son Jinho’s feet.

[Son Jinho saw Marco Reus penetrating!!]

Son Jinho, who received the ball in the half-space, attempted a lob pass that pierced through Freiburg’s defensive backspace with his left foot.

[Whoa! It’s connected! Marco Reus with a one-on-one chance! Son Jinho successfully creates a golden opportunity with just one pass!]

The ball was relayed straight to Marco Reus. Marco Reus, having chest trapped the ball.

The run towards a one-on-one chance against the goalkeeper by Marco Reus continued.

Marco Reus, looking at the approaching goalkeeper, lightly chipped the ball by striking its bottom side.

The ball slowly traced a parabola, passing the goalkeeper’s fingertips, and shook the net of Freiburg.

A sudden equalizer.

After that, Dortmund successfully added two more goals from Lewandowski and one from Son Jinho before the end of the first half.

Son Jinho contributed to the team’s massive victory with 1 goal and 3 assists.

***

[Dortmund wins 4-1 in the home match against SC Freiburg.]

[Gathering overseas players! South Korea invites Qatar for the final qualifiers of the Brazil World Cup! Can they secure a victory?]

└ Honestly, I think our brother needs to prove himself in the national team by now.

└ Don’t try to throw our brother into the toilet.

└ By the way, didn’t the football association chairman persuade him? What happened with that?

└ Dunno.

└ The football association chairman persuaded, but someone in the association opposed it, saying, “What are we doing calling someone without patriotism?”

└ Damn lol They tried to make him a scapegoat, but now they’re whining about patriotism. Not having the national team come is just right.

[South Korea’s national team wins against Qatar 2-1 in the final qualifiers for the 2014 Brazil World Cup at Seoul World Cup Stadium.]

└ Yeah, it’s okay without Son Jinho lol

└ Are you saying that after seeing the performance?

└ We won, right? Winning is what counts! Get your free ride out of here~

[Anonymous football association official says, ‘I can’t understand the chairman’s desperate thinking to bring back Son Jinho, who shows no patriotism.’]

└ They’re still talking about patriotism;;

└ Wait, didn’t the chairman change? Why are there still people like that remaining?

└ They say if you see one cockroach at home, there are hundreds more.

└ Just disband the football association, damn.

[A torrent of criticism against the anonymous football association official pours down.]

[Dortmund, after the international break, continues with a 2-1 victory away against VfB Stuttgart. Next match is the away leg against Juventus in the Champions League quarter-final first leg!]

 

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