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***

A national friendly match between South Korea and Brazil took place at the Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul.

“Oh, Ki Sung-yueng! Excellent! He’s the player the team needs! We need more players like him in Korea!”

I watched the A-match with my family at home.

Since Cheong-ryong, who fell out of form due to injury, and Hong-min, who has grown rapidly compared to the original history, were playing, I was curious about what kind of performance South Korea would show.

There was a bit of hope that South Korea might show a decent performance.

“Dani Alves blocking South Korea’s attack. Straight to Neymar! Neymar tearing through Korea’s defense! Neymar!”

But the match followed the usual flow of Brazil.

Even as Lee Cheong-ryong dodged deadly tackles and Son Hong-min had grown, the weight class between South Korea and Brazil was on a different level.

“Oh! This is dangerous! We need to block it!”

Neymar broke through the right side of South Korea’s defense with individual skills and entered the penalty box.

“Goalkeeper Jang Seong-yong rushes out with urgency!”

Neymar’s flashy footwork melted South Korea’s defense. Seeing where the goalkeeper was, Neymar shot in the opposite direction, shaking the net.

Just 6 minutes into the game, Brazil scored the opening goal.

“Oh… conceding a goal to Brazil’s prodigy Neymar this early in the first half.”

└ Damn, why are these Brazilians playing seriously?

└ Take it easy, guys.

└ Even if you play half-heartedly, you’d win, right?

└ Giving your best till the end is sportsmanship.

└ Sportsmanship, my ass, you idiots.

As Brazil scored early, a chill began to spread through the stands of the Sangam World Cup Stadium.

Perhaps the spectators present had sensed mass conceding when Neymar scored the opening goal.

And in reality, Brazil continued to relentlessly press South Korea.

“Oh!? Oscar’s making a through ball!”

“Oscar’s pass connects back to Neymar!”

“Neymar is showing peak form today. The players are quickly closing in!”

Neymar regained possession with Oscar’s pass.

Neymar dodged a defender again and attempted a curling shot with his right foot from outside the penalty box.

“Goooal! It’s in!”

└ Did the caster just question whether it was in? Am I imagining things?

└ Sounds like he was about to scream “Goal” habitually but refrained.

└ Seriously taking it!

South Korea conceded their second goal in the first half at the 20-minute mark.

Woo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo—!

And from that moment, my SNS started buzzing on fire.

“Hey. Son Jinho just called! Pick up the phone!”

“…People are commenting on SNS.”

If that wasn’t enough, even Han Gyeouri mistook it for a phone call.

“Wow. Comments keep coming.”

I checked my phone, quietly turned off the alarms, and turned away.

***

@Jinho10 ★ Official

(A picture of Son Jinho cheering for South Korea. jpg)

– Cheering from afar. Go South Korea!

#SouthKorea_Brazil #GoSouthKorea #WatchOutForInjuries

└ While seniors are sweating on the field, the junior player is comfortably cheering in front of the TV after declaring retirement from the national team. The world sure has changed ^^

└ Did he retire because he was worried about not securing a starting position, I wonder?

└ That’s probably it. If he had confidence in his skills, he’d prove it on the national team.

└ Seriously, is it real that we conceded a goal just 6 minutes into the match?

└ Come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back.

└ We were wrong, we were wrong, we were wrong, we were wrong, we were wrong.

└ Damn lol was the atmosphere of the comments 180 degrees flipped since the game started?

***

Throughout the match, Brazil maintained the lead.

Though Thiago Silva was missing from the defense due to a minor injury, the defensive line made up of Marcelo, David Luiz, Dante, and Alves remained solid, and South Korea was dragged around without executing any notable attacks.

Then, at the 35th minute of the first half.

Oscar, infiltrating from the second line, received a pass from Neymar and netted a decisive goal.

“Ugh, I’m not watching national team matches anymore.”

With Brazil’s third goal, my father-in-law exhaled a sigh and stormed out.

“Lee Cheong-ryong cutting off the ball!”

And shortly after my father-in-law left.

Cheong-ryong, having intercepted a Brazilian pass, created a great chance.

“Lee Cheong-ryong is fast!”

“Wowww!”

As Gyeouri and my mother-in-law cheered louder, my father-in-law had already returned to his seat.

“Wow. That’s Lee Cheong-ryong, right? Premier League players are different.”

I guess he was embarrassed by the inconsistency of what he said.

Anyway, Cheong-ryong connected a pass to Hong-min, who was advancing from behind.

“Lee Cheong-ryong breaks through! Shoot! Ah, Lee Cheong-ryong passes to Son Hong-min. Son Hong-min shoots! Cuts in for the shot!”

After receiving the pass, Hong-min gently dribbled inward and attempted a curling shot from the Hong-min Zone.

“Shoot!!!! Shoot!!!!! Shoot!!!!!! Shooooot!!!!”

But it was blocked by Jeferzon’s stunning save.

“Shoot! Ah, what a shame.”

“The ball went out of the goal line but they’re still shouting shoot.”

After that, Brazilian players thoroughly blocked the passing lanes heading towards Cheong-ryong.

Apart from Hong-min’s consolation goal just before the end of the match, South Korea faced a crushing defeat.

***

[South Korea loses 4-1 to the Brazilian national team.]

└ If only Son Jinho were here, we would have had a shot, right?

└ Getting trounced 4-1 but it would have been a shot, huh? As if Son Jinho is some kind of magic key.

└ Have you heard of Januzaj and Zaha?

└ Who the hell are those nobodies?

└ They’re the duo from Manchester United against Celtic.

└ Ah lol.

└ He shared the workload alone.

└ But if the opponent is at the level of Celtic, shouldn’t he be carrying them?

└ He did carry them.

└ But why was it a draw?

└ If he was carrying it, shouldn’t they win?

└ Even if you serve it to him, he’ll spit it all out…

└ For real lol after watching that match, I realized football isn’t something you play alone.

└ ???: Why! Can’t you score even when I pass it to you!?

└ It seems to be Son Jinho’s lucky day.

└ But that day, Son Jinho’s passes were particularly good.

└ For real, if Ronaldo had been there, he would have probably set a record for most assists in one match.

***

[Right before the match ended, Son Hong-min succeeded in scoring a consolation goal after receiving a pass from Lee Cheong-ryong. South Korea barely saved face.]

[Neymar, recording 2 goals and 2 assists, comments on impressive players. “Number 14 (Son Hong-min), number 7 (Lee Cheong-ryong), number 16 (Ki Sung-yueng), and number 12 (Korea Yong) were impressive.”]

└ Neymar referring to players by their numbers, how rude.

└ He might have mentioned it before starting the interview as he might have pronunciation issues. Come on.

***

[After the interview, Neymar of the Brazilian national team looks for Son Jinho. “But where’s Jinho? Is he injured?”]

└ Damn lol.

└ Ah… that person is the Voldemort of Korean football.

└ Arsonist, lol.

└ Ah. I truly realized the cause of the punch in the first half.

└ What is it?

└ Those guys thought Son Jinho was there, so they were running around like crazy.

└ Ah lol that explains why they were working so hard since the start of the match.

***

[The South Korean national team avenges their loss against Brazil by winning 5-1 against Mali.]

└ If the association executives are sighing in relief right now, it’s a major disgrace.

└ Why would the association executives be relieved?

└ If they lost to Mali, the whole association would have had to bow their heads to Jinho.

└ For the future of Korean football, it would have probably been better to lose.

***

After the A match ended, the number of Korean fans visiting my SNS noticeably increased.

It was due to the anxious performance of the national team.

Most people wrote comments politely, but not everyone spoke kindly. Humans are not that reasonable.

Even when the fault is clear, they shift the blame to others to feel better.

This trait of humanity becomes especially apparent in the anonymous space of gaming.

– Winter_94: Why didn’t you ping Mia?

– Winter_94: I threw it, sorry.

Even if they’d pinged Mia, they wouldn’t admit their fault, blaming others instead.

There were even people who, after scrolling back up the chat to confirm their fault, still didn’t apologize.

– Winter_94: (All) 15/ff.

– Winter_94: (All) Mid Open.

– Winter_94: (All) Jungle gap.

Anyway, the reason I suddenly started talking about games is because…

“Ugh. We lost because of the jungle.”

It’s all because of that troll, Han Gyeouri.

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

While watching Han Gyeouri’s gameplay, I felt like I was going crazy in frustration.

“Gyeouri.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you boil some soup while leaving the minimap alone?”

Her mother’s factual bombshell was like a breath of fresh air.

“But I’m better at games than Mom!”

While the mother and daughter bickered, I checked the KDA of the character Gyeouri was playing.

[2/7/1]

No doubt, the source of the defeat was here.

Anyway, the short but sweet break during the A-match ended as Gyeouri’s team’s nexus was destroyed.

***

[Premier League Round 8, Southampton match. Son Jinho, Park Jisong on standby!]

[FIFA Ballon d’Or candidate list released! Dortmund’s Champions League-winning hero, Son Jinho, included….]

[Champions League Final M.O.M Son Jinho, taking the top spot in Ballon d’Or odds.]

[Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp, confident in Son Jinho’s award. “A new era in football is coming.”]

[Jeff Blatter, FIFA president, mocks Ronaldo at an Oxford University lecture. After controversy, he claims, “It’s a misunderstanding.”]

[Angry Cristiano Ronaldo says to President Blatter, “Wish you a long and healthy life.”]

 

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