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The referee’s whistle blew to signal the start of the match, and not long after, under the hostile gaze of Manchester City fans, Michael Carrick passed the ball to me.

“Booooooo─!!”

At that moment, jeers erupted from the citizens at Etihad Stadium.

Glancing around, I immediately swung my leg and attempted a shot.

I was about 44 meters away from the Manchester City goal.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have even attempted this, but I thought I’d give it a light kick just for good measure.

Including the intention to quiet the jeering citizens.

And it seemed the Manchester City players were caught off guard, not expecting anyone to shoot from this distance.

Positioning the ball just right for a shot, I swung my leg with a casual mindset of if it goes in, great; if not, that’s fine too.

“…!! Yaya!! Press him!!”

If the veteran Yaya Touré had reacted a bit more nimbly to Fernandinho’s call, perhaps my shot would have been blocked by him.

Boom─!

Well… it was all just a meaningless assumption.

Swoosh─!

The shot, hitting my foot so accurately that I barely felt it, flew at a tremendous speed that the Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart couldn’t react in time, piercing through the hearts of the citizens.

The citizens who had been jeering fell silent in an instant.

“!!!”

Cheers erupted from a handful of the away seats occupied by Manchester United fans.

Could it be because of the wonder goal?

“JinhooOoooOoo!”

“The Korean King who moved to Manchester!!!”

The Manchester United fans in the away seats went even crazier than usual. They celebrated the opening goal by singing the chant of the Korean King on the spot.

“HoouuuUuuuu─!”

For fan service, I ran over to the fans cheering and performed a celebration.

“Nice goal.”

“What the hell, another wonder goal? Just take all the Puskás awards, will you?”

My teammates came over to congratulate me.

“Son Jinho, you’re selfish.”

Just when I was smiling brightly and my teammates were celebrating the score, Ronaldo suddenly started spouting nonsense.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“If you had passed to me, you would have gotten the assist and I would have added to my scoring record.”

At that moment, the teammates nearby quickly distanced themselves with expressions that read ‘here we go again.’

Cristiano Ronaldo continued unbothered by his teammates’ gazes.

“But Son Jinho, you didn’t do that. That’s proof you’re selfish.”

“I scored and Carrick got the assist, though?”

“That’s not important! Son Jinho!”

Isn’t there a term called ‘Forbidden Food’ on the internet?

“….”

I tried to ignore Ronaldo’s words and make a forbidden food comment.

But unfortunately, unlike the internet, the reality was that ‘Forbidden Food’ was impossible.

“The important thing is that I didn’t record a score!”

Ronaldo, persistently trailing after me, gaslit me into passing to him.

Now that he was free from the surrounding glances, he started to openly reveal his greed.

“…Is he crazy?”

“So pass to me! I’ll score an even cooler goal!”

To shake off Ronaldo, I relaxed my gaze a bit and whispered with a playful tone.

“Cristiano Ronaldo, listen carefully to what I’m about to say… to become the best player in the world, you need to respect your teammates a little… football is a team game, and we are teammates, not rivals.”

To deal with a crazy person, I had to become one myself.

And as if to prove that the weak cannot defeat the strong…

The weak could not defeat the great because I was the disciple of Jurgen, the Great Demon.

***

At the moment Son Jinho’s mid-range shot led to a goal, Pep Guardiola, clutching his shiny head, swiftly regained composure and began issuing tactical instructions to his players from the touchline.

The tactical foundation of Pep Guardiola was derived from Cruyffism.

The most critical point of Cruyffism is to possess the ball and create more opportunities.

If you lead the game while holding the ball, your chances of winning increase significantly.

However, even though Manchester City was controlling the game, they were drawn into the flow of Manchester United.

The reason was none other than Son Jinho.

After Son Jinho’s wonder goal in the 3rd minute, the pressure from Manchester City players against him intensified.

Son Jinho, not overexerting himself, cleverly utilized his teammates to calmly guide the game along.

“Evra, how far are you going up? Stop messing around and come back!!”

Pep Guardiola watched Son Jinho, who was securely possessing the ball while positioning his teammates, with admiration.

‘Is he really 18 years old?’

Without realizing it, such thoughts suddenly crossed his mind.

With a mature play style along with scathing remarks directed at veteran players, he did not appear to be 18 at all.

As Pep Guardiola’s gaze turned to Son Jinho, Manchester United’s attack developed swiftly.

Joe Hart made a splendid save against Danny Welbeck’s shot.

“Hey, Joe…!”

Just as Pep Guardiola was about to direct Joe Hart, he sighed and shook his head.

He believed Joe Hart couldn’t fulfill the role he desired.

And when it almost led to a goal due to Joe Hart’s insufficient foot skill.

‘Indeed, if I want to play the football I envision, I need a new goalkeeper.’

Pep Guardiola’s mind was made up regarding Joe Hart’s status for the next season.

***

[Carrying the ball up is Yaya Touré. Since Pep Guardiola took over, transfer rumors have emerged with Liverpool and Inter Milan showing interest.]

[Yes. And together with his appointment, Pep Guardiola sent out Samir Nasri who failed to lose weight. Quite harsh….]

[Ah! Just as I was mentioning it, Yaya Touré passes to David Silva! David Silva one-touches to Agüero! Agüeroooooo!]

[Goaaaaaal─! A phenomenal goal by Sergio Agüero! Manchester City brings the balance of the match back to square one just before the end of the first half!!]

└ ManU Doc: What’s happening? (angry)

└ ManU Doc: Wow. This actually works. (frustrated)

└ 22Mossolada: Seriously, putting them in parentheses is just pathetic.

└ ManU Doc: I’m not pathetic….

└ 22Mossolada: Since you can’t respond, looks like you have no friends, haha.

└ 22Mossolada: It’s sad to see someone who’s friendless acting tough.

└ ManU Doc: Come on, you’re friendless too.

└ This fucking girl.

└ Has she gone crazy?

└ Do you want to die?

└ Apologize right now.

└ ManU Doc: …Why is everyone picking on me?

└ I’m the only one getting this wide-ranging deal, so shut up.

└ Wow…. There are so many scratched guys here.

***

Manchester United allowed a strike from Manchester City just before the end of the first half.

Alex Ferguson didn’t say much about the goal conceded right before the halftime whistle.

It was a goal conceded due to the decline in physical ability of the veterans.

Given that both Ferdinand and Vidic were grimacing in anger at their aging bodies, there was no need for further reprimand.

Ferguson did not criticize the veterans at all, and his demeanor, which seemed considerate of the aging players, only fueled their desire to perform better.

Then, in the second half.

Thud─!

With the sacrifices of the veterans backing them up, Manchester United’s defensive line regained stability.

“This is nothing! Just attack, you bastards!”

Though he had been struck directly, Rio Ferdinand urged them to attack and not hold back.

Without a second of hesitation, I asked Carrick for a pass.

“Carrick, give me the ball!”

Though I could hear Rio “Old Man” Ferdinand grumbling behind me.

“…You could at least pretend to be a bit worried. Jinho, that rude rascal.”

I lightly ignored him.

Anyway, Manchester United started an aggressive attack based on their stable defense.

And Manchester City started to shake.

Perhaps because Pep Guardiola’s tactics hadn’t been perfected yet, the players seemed a bit disorganized.

“Puta Madre Yaya! What are you doing over there!”

Moreover, I could see the subtle conflict between the existing players and Pep Guardiola, visible even to an outsider like me.

Perhaps it was because there were no failures from his days at Bayern Munich?

There was a lack of humanity in the current Guardiola. He was too cold and unilateral in dealing with players.

Even though the players were not machines, Guardiola seemed to see them as mere ‘tools’ to execute his tactics on the field.

‘Hmm. He might do well as a solo player.’

He was entirely opposite to Klopp, who showcased ‘trust football’ even while handling players that should be cut.

Well. It’s hard to judge which is better.

Whether it’s Klopp’s trust-based football or Guardiola’s tool-based football, something balanced would be just fine.

Anyway, perhaps due to the influence of the wonder goal?

I noticed the increased wariness from the Manchester City players towards me.

With all gazes focused on me.

At the edge of my left vision, a red jersey entered the penalty box.

I quickly lifted the ball up and delivered the pass.

The odds were fifty-fifty.

If it’s Welbeck, he would miss, but if it’s Ronaldo, he would score.

‘If it’s a 50% gacha chance, even if you don’t hit, you just have to be satisfied.’

I prayed that it would be Ronaldo rushing in.

“Siuuuuuuuu─!”

And we won the odds game.

Receiving the pass, Ronaldo struck the incoming ball, scoring successfully, then ran to the corner flag to celebrate, pointing at me and beaming like a child.

“Oh my. You little rascal. Nice one.”

 

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