The Little Prince of the Field - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“Kim, you’re good. I wish you could be in the next game right away.”

“I know. I’m good at soccer.” 

Manager Pepe laughs out loud as if I had said something funny. 

After the medical check, I was promoted to the first division without delay. 

I wanted to show my confidence, but the Manager just kept laughing as if he was seeing his grandchild’s cute act. 

The team was pushed to second place after losing to Cardis, but the atmosphere of the team was not bad. 

Throughout the training, the players are busy exchanging jokes and laughing. 

They laughed so much that I wondered if they smoked marijuana as a group. 

“Pass here!” 

“Monk! Here!”

I don’t know who’s calling whom because the nicknames the players call are unfamiliar. 

Who’s  Monk? 

There is more than one person who is bald. 

Who are they calling Monk? 

My question was solved by Pedri, who was warming up by exchanging passes. 

“We’re talking about Aitami.” 

“Hmm. I see. He does look like one.” 

“Tami! Kim says you look like a real monk!” 

Aitami glares at me several times before the team meeting begins due to Pedri’s betrayal. 

Pedri’s snitching behavior was annoying, but honestly, Aitami does resemble a monk. 

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

Tactical analysis room is located on the second floor of the training ground building. 

I sat down and listened to the analyst’s explanation. 

The tactical analysis began in preparation for the La Brada match on the 28th. 

I didn’t think much during the training, but I finally realized that I was in the first division. 

“Fuenlabrada is a counterattack-oriented team that uses variant 4 4 2. When you come in slowly it’s less sharp, but in counterattack situations, right-winger No. 7 takes the opponent’s defense hard.” 

“Freile Hugo, our defense needs to focus on the fact that he’s not a typical winger. He’s the best scorer on the team because he has good sense. Do you understand what I mean?” 

One of the players answers the coach’s words. 

“You mean, don’t let him mess with us.” 

“Exactly. We also have to focus very much on the set-piece situation. The opponent’s central defense scored three goals this season alone. Did you train for set-piece partial tactics again today? It’s a team that we can win if we don’t lose focus” 

The manager said in a confident voice.

The chart goes over, and then La Brada’s defender stats come out. 

A rough-and-tumble team 

There are two defenders with four Yellow cards.

And there’s no defender who didn’t take a card. 

If it worked out well, we would be able to solve it indefinitely, and if we didn’t, the game would be really difficult. 

“It’s terrible, isn’t it? Strikers have to score the first goal as soon as possible. At the same time, the player who delivers the ball should be careful not to have a one-to-one confrontation. The scheduled formation is 4 2 3 1.” 

I’ve heard a lot of stories to help the game around, but they’re useless. 

The possibility of allowing a player who returned from injury to the first division to play in the match scheduled in two days is close to zero. 

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

“….me? I’m in the game?” 

“You look very good to be excluded from the list, so I made a hard decision after the meeting. Both Manager Pepe and the head coach want you on the list.” 

While getting a massage after team training, the technical coach came into the room and said it was on the list. 

I thought the coach’s intention to give many opportunities as promised was pleasant and a little hasty. 

I was rather anxious because my condition was so good. 

I was anxious and unhappy at the same time. 

Soon I fell asleep as I lay on the bed. 

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

October 28.

Estadio Gran Canaria. 

Aitami shakes hands for fair play with the opposing team’s central defender wearing the captain’s armband. 

We know that they won’t be able to play fair with each other, so it seems to be just a formality. 

Sitting between Harvey Casteyano and Curbello, who failed to make the starting lineup, I looked around the stadium. 

What happened to the island? 

There were empty seats in places, so the audience was less than half full. 

I heard Castro and Pecardt played their part in my absence, scoring a total of seven goals, but did they score and raise their middle finger to the stands?

Still, the stadium is always exciting. 

It doesn’t matter. 

I’m back. 

“Hijo de la Gran puta!” 

“Hey! Crazy f*ck!” 

As soon as the game starts, FuenlaBrada’s No. 15 player leaves a stud mark on Pecardt’s shin with his tackle. 

The abusive words heard from everywhere are quite eerie. 

Even though they went through VAR(Video Assistant Referee), he ended up with a warning, not an exit, and once again booing and swear words flew throughout the stadium. 

Pecardt limped. 

The players calm down and the game goes on again. 

The ball that Inigo flew into the penalty box touched Aitami’s head but lost strength and was in the arms of the opposing goalkeeper. 

It was a disappointing opportunity. 

FuenlaBrada’s goalkeeper flies the ball to Praile to take the counterattack. 

Las Palmas’ left fullback, de la Bela, who was wary of counterattacks in advance, cut off the path of the pass. 

And passes the ball back to Inigo in the center. 

Inigo identified Cedris’s position in the center from the right-wing forward position. 

“Argh!” 

Inigo fails to finish the cross and collapses with a puck sound from his opponent’s rough tackle. 

“Mierda!” 

“You son of a b*tch!” 

The players clash once again with the referee’s urgent whistle. 

This time, the opposing striker made a dangerous tackle. 

I can’t believe they’ve been warned almost seven to eight times in the first half. 

It was so senseless. 

It was a side tackle, but it was an angle that could be seen as a back tackle depending on the angle, but it is also a pity that the exit did not come out. 

What is the VAR seeing?

Even before Pecardt returned to the stadium, Inigo was carried out, and all the opponents received was two warnings. 

Considering this fact, the majority of Las Palmas players are unable to control their anger.

Martinez, the 21-year-old goalkeeper works together with the bench to calm the players’ excitement, shouts, and signals but to no avail. 

The atmosphere falls in favor of the opponent. 

Players who have lost their minds narrow their horizons, and they start to confront each other with harsh tackles.

Although there was no immediate impact, the rough nature of the game expanded its influence on the players. 

Pecardt, the central striker, unconsciously lowered his hand to the shin, and Inigo failed to reach the opponent’s camp beyond a certain range. 

It’s a shame that Cedris, Viera, and Srnich were repeatedly attacking menacingly in the second line, but FuenlaBrada’s eerie counterattacks have already reached Martinez’s hands twice. 

“You idiots.”

“Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” 

Finally, the first goal was scored by FuenlaBrada. 

In a set-piece situation, the ball that hit Lemos Miuricio’s head fell into the box, and Fraile Hugo finished. 

In the 29th minute, some players bow their heads as if we have already lost. 

Las Palmas fans boo at the stadium. 

The bench became busy, losing a point in the early hours. 

Pecardt, who scored four league goals, kept touching his shin, so Castro had to prepare urgently at the fear of injury. 

In the first half of the game, which was dragged to 0-1, a replacement card has already been exhausted. 

“Rodi..! Come down and warm up!” 

Manager Pepe even prepares Kirian Rodriguez to replace Inigo one after another. 

Despite the lack of understanding of the tactics, the atmosphere on the bench alone was enough to see that Las Palmas was in a very bad situation. 

Harvey Casteyano abandoned his silent image and continued to mutter curses next to me, and I was very scared when the usually charismatic person was angry. 

“I want to go out.” 

Pedri, who was sitting in the front seat of the bench, grumbles. 

He said he would do well in rough matches like this. 

Yeah, well, the Las Palmas players were so messed up that they wanted to play. 

The crowd kept shouting “Mierda! Defiendan la cancha!” at FuenlaBrada’s sharp counterattack 

Afterward, the game was interrupted by Manager Pepe’s angry water bottle throw. 

The players who were moving around as if they had food poisoning must have made him frustrated, but it was silly. 

In the 41st minute, Manager Pepe left the bench following the referee’s order to leave. 

In a chaotic atmosphere, FuenlaBrada’s players focused on what they were good at. 

Games resumed on the sidelines. 

On the left side of the Las Palmas camp, Nteca and Gomes stole the ball from Las Palmas wingback Alvaro through pressure. 

The screaming of head coach Roberto Rios was also useless. 

The pass that Gomes kicked without delay fell neatly at the feet of Riera, the right side running between Aitami and Inigo. 

Riera didn’t get greedy and passed to Nteka who strode into the box. 

Lemos, Las palmas’ central defender, cleverly narrowed the right side of the net, but it rather blocked the goalkeeper’s view.

Nteka makes a kick with a light faint while filling the ball with a rotation towards the left of the net.

Martinez, the young gatekeeper, couldn’t even fly. 

Inside the stadium, it was so quiet that only the voices of away fans from FuenlaBrada could be heard. 

“Oh, We’re in trouble. Damn it.” 

“We’re screwed.” 

44 minutes into the first half. 

Nteka’s extra goal leads FuenlaBrada 0-2. 

It was the first time in the season we let the opponents score two goals in the first half, so it was really a big deal. 

“Cedris!!”

“You bloody fools!” 

Fuenlabrada’s central midfielder Bayejo trampled Cedris’ ankle. 

Srnich gets a yellow card together. 

I don’t know what he said to the referee. 

Doctor’s hands cross came. 

Cedris can’t play any more.

“He just got back from injury.” 

“He scored two goals. Kim is the only player on the bench who can score.” 

“But there is still 45 minutes left! You want a two match old player to play 45 minutes? Wing forward?”

Heard an altercation between head coach Roberto Rios and technical coach Momo. 

I jumped out of my seat and went to them. 

An unexpected opportunity has come. 

“I’ll do it!”

I’m glad that chief coach Roberto Rios decided to put me on the field. 

Coach Momo’s counter argument was forced to bend and I got instructions to warm up. 

Soon after, the referee whistled, ending the first half of Las Palmas and Fuenlabrada with a score 0-2. 

If I knew this would happen, I would have listened to the analyst’s words more carefully during the team meeting. 

What should I do for 45 minutes?