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A few days before the match against Manchester United.

[Stoke City’s Tony Pulis, confident of victory. “We are strong players in big games against strong teams.”]

Tony Pulis, who made a great contribution to creating the “men’s team” Stoke City, was showing confidence in winning.

And who could blame him? Stoke City was currently ranked 6th in the league despite a tough schedule facing Liverpool, Man City, and Arsenal early in the season.

[An enraged Pep Guardiola harshly criticizes Stoke City. “Stoke is not a football team, but a rugby team.”]

It was Pep Guardiola—debuting in the EPL this season—who tried to teach Anglo-Saxon football a lesson.

[Stoke City manager Tony Pulis responds to the complaining Pep Guardiola. “Welcome to the EPL.”]

He even schooled Arsenal in physical education.

[Arsène Wenger, agreeing with Pep Guardiola’s statement, criticizes Stoke City. “People sometimes forget personal responsibility when they become a collective. They should go home and watch the plays they put on in front of their families. Surely they wouldn’t be proud of those plays in front of their families.”]

Amidst rising criticism of Stoke City’s rough play, Tony Pulis wasn’t bothered at all.

[Stoke City’s Tony Pulis scoffs at the criticisms aimed at him. “I don’t listen to the words of anyone weaker than me.”]

He disliked the football style of both Arsène Wenger and Pep Guardiola just as much as they disliked his.

“What’s the meaning of beautiful football that can’t win?”

Stoke City, despite piling up points against top teams, surrendered points against lower-tier teams with an apathetic defeat.

[Stoke City suffers a 2-0 defeat to West Ham.]

[The righteous hammers of East London crush Stoke City.]

There was unfounded confidence that they could snag points against United at Old Trafford.

Manchester United, cruising at the top of the league with an undefeated record for the season, wasn’t a team with much to lose.

“Do you know how old that midfielder is? Just 18! If they scare him with a fierce look because he’s Asian, he won’t be able to do anything!”

Just a little rough play would surely frighten him.

Anyway, with the shining cheers of the United home fans echoing at Old Trafford, the match began.

Stoke City, under the orders of Tony Pulis, kicked off aggressively right from the start.

“…What the F*ck?”

However, what they didn’t expect was that the United players didn’t just take the hits lying down.

***

The match against Stoke City wasn’t easy.

Tony Pulis’s tactics could be summed up as defense, physical play, and long ball passes.

He generally preferred to drop the defensive line and minimize goals against, using rough play during the defense process to break the opponents’ spirit.

Stoke City was throwing around rough play from the get-go to break the spirit of their opponents.

At the center of it all was Charlie Adam, the “General Charlie.”

Unlike his prime years, aging Charlie Adam mostly came in as a substitute in the last 70 minutes of games, but in this match, he surprisingly made it to the starting lineup.

Charlie Adam was rumored to kick the ball beautifully despite his rough appearance.

However, his problem was that he kicked not only the ball but also people beautifully.

The biggest victim of Charlie Adam was none other than Alexis Sánchez, famously known as the “Mountain King.”

Charlie Adam’s legendary tackle on Sánchez became an iconic moment in EPL history 20 years ago.

As for whether the “Mountain King’s” fate would swap with history as he moved from Arsenal to Liverpool, I couldn’t say, but personally, I wished it would happen.

That tackle was a cherished memory of my past.

Anyway, I was thankful that the match was being held at Old Trafford today.

If it wasn’t a home game for United, I might have been the one to become the subject of that iconic moment.

“Since this is our home, they should let the rough fouls slide, right?”

But it didn’t take long for me to realize that my thought was naive.

15 minutes into the first half.

“Is that a dive?”

General Charlie, who was stirring the pot, suddenly nodded and looked at Ronaldo with a clenched fist, after which he began to move seriously.

“Watch out, Chris!!!”

The moment Ronaldo received a long pass from Michael Carrick and was about to dribble, Charlie Adam came in with a rough tackle from behind.

“Gah!”

Fortunately, Ronaldo managed to avoid injury by jumping just in time after hearing Van Persie’s warning.

The United players were expecting a red card for the harsh tackle from behind.

However, the referee made an utterly incomprehensible decision at that moment.

“No way, he’s not even giving a card?”

To not even pull out a warning card was something.

Nemanja Vidić approached the referee and protested vehemently.

“Booooooo─!”

“What the hell are you looking at with those eyes, you blind bastard!”

Even the United home fans felt it was an unfair call, showering the referee with fierce jeers.

“Hey, you idiot! What the hell are you watching over there!! Did you come to just spectate!?”

And the sight of an enraged Alex Ferguson shouting at the referee with a face as red as a beetroot was impressive.

In a typical situation, he would have received a warning for undermining the authority of the referee.

But it seemed that the referee for this match was intimidated by Alex Ferguson and turned a blind eye to what was happening on the touchline.

Anyway, even some Stoke City players were making expressions of “Ah, this is… a bit much.”

“Charlie! Well done!”

Tony Pulis was clapping and rallying his team while provoking United players.

He probably thought United would fold under their rough play.

But unfortunately, what he hadn’t anticipated was that there were no flimsy players in Manchester United’s attacking line.

Not just Cristiano “GOAT” Ronaldo, but Van Persie, claiming “the little kid inside me,” also seemed far from a typical mindset, right?

The referee’s lenient decision, coupled with Stoke City’s brutish play and Pulis’s remarks, excessively provoked the United players.

“Phew. Chris, it’s time to strike!”

“Siuuuuu─!”

With my blessing, Cristiano Ronaldo started unleashing the sealed Ronaldo.

General Charlie and Ronaldo.

Their clash was truly intense.

It was literally a fight of dragons and tigers.

Charlie Adam, elbowing someone while running in that Charlie Adam-style charge, while Ronaldo pretended to attempt a tackle, swinging his elbow as he struck a low kick at Charlie Adam’s leg.

“Wow. Is this some kind of ridiculous fighting game?”

Just watching it made my heart swell, and I kept passing the ball forward to cheer on Ronaldo.

Then, at the 25th minute of the first half.

“Jinho!”

The moment I locked eyes with Van Persie from the right flank.

I immediately passed to Van Persie.

In a flash, Van Persie went past Stoke City’s left-back and, seeing Shockcross coming toward him, did the smart thing and crossed it into the penalty box.

Inside the penalty box, a fierce battle unfolded between Ronaldo and Charlie Adam for who would be the true authority of soccer 3.

And the winner was Charlie Adam, who was more focused on human than the ball.

The difference that decided the outcome for the two was nothing other than their mindsets.

The flawed Ronaldo saw the ball during a golden opportunity to score.

“Humans come first!!!”

Thwack─!

Charlie Adam noticed Ronaldo amidst the danger of conceding.

This might sound insane to some, but.

Charlie Adam literally didn’t look at the ball.

He was so focused on swinging his elbow that he merely watched the ball sail over his head.

“SIUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!”

Anyway, while Ronaldo let out a painful scream, Van Persie’s cross came straight to me.

With Charlie Adam’s blunder, Stoke City’s once-stable defense crumbled.

I attempted the shot before Stoke City’s players could regroup.

“Whoa─!”

I succeeded in shaking the net of Stoke City.

***

[GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL─! Son Jinho!! Son Jinho’s shot finds the net of Stoke City!!]

[A refreshing shot that delivers a blow to Stoke City, who had been playing roughly throughout the match!]

[Ronaldo approaches Son Jinho, who just scored! And they are happily chatting with each other!]

***

“Son Jinho.”

“Why are you calling me, Chris?”

“Your goal is scored out of my holy sacrifice. So you owe me a debt of gratitude.”

“I acknowledge that. I should try to pass more.”

Realizing something was odd, Ronaldo backtracked.

“…Thinking about it, maybe it would be nice for the next match.”

“Chris. The word ‘accumulate’ doesn’t exist for me.”

Turning Ronaldo away firmly, I continued passing the ball as promised.

But unfortunately, Ronaldo, now focused on bullying Charlie Adam, wasn’t creating any meaningful offensive chances.

Anyway, with the match escalating in intensity after the first goal, the clash between Manchester United and Stoke City turned even rougher.

Now it was hard to distinguish between soccer and American football aside from not holding the ball.

“Everyone, calm down a bit. Is the match too rough or something?!”

The referee approached, frowning, trying to calm the players, but they were unconcerned.

The main reason the game had gotten so rough was the referee’s inconsistent calls.

The players had already lost faith in the referee’s decisions and began taking matters into their own hands to protect themselves.

Thus, the first half ended, and the second half began.

Thanks to cooling down during the halftime break, maybe?

The overly heated game began to calm down.

11 minutes into the second half. A counterattack from Manchester United.

Receiving a long pass from Michael Carrick, I successfully slid the ball between Charlie Adam’s legs.

Just as I was about to turn and pass him.

“You’re not getting by.”

Charlie Adam’s thick arm wrapped around my neck.

And.

I felt as if the little kid inside me, sealed within, was waking up.

 

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