Kim Jiu didn't know much about football.
Ah, of course, she knew more than her girlfriends or ordinary people who didn't watch football at all, but.
She wasn't at a level where she could offer detailed analysis while watching a match.
Considering how long she'd spent following I Jian to live matches, she was practically football-illiterate.
If you asked the reason, well.
Perhaps the reason she went to live matches in the first place wasn't so much that she loved football itself, but simply to cheer for Jian.
When watching matches, normal people are like that.
Their gazes naturally follow the ball.
Even if they were a fan of a specific player, they'd usually end up watching the match itself as they watched.
But Kim Jiu only ever watched I Jian.
Even when the ball was elsewhere, she watched Jian, and when Jian got the ball, she screamed and rose from her seat.
That was why, despite having watched football for quite some time, she didn't know the details.
If I Jian hadn't played football, would she have gone to watch like this?
Not at all.
Let alone attending live matches, she clearly wouldn't have had any interest.
She would have gone to a pretty café instead of watching football. Definitely.
Anyway, since that was the reason from the start.
Even when sitting in the stands watching a match, Kim Jiu's gaze was always fixed on one spot, and it never moved even when the ball wasn't there.
Today was the same.
She only watched Jian.
Whether his expression was okay, how his condition looked.
Whether he seemed a bit nervous or looked comfortable.
Today he looked a bit grim, and also seemed to feel some pressure.
Well, he was the type to become uncharacteristically mature and serious the moment he stepped onto the pitch.
Not that there was ever a day when he wasn't like that, but today he seemed even more so.
Even though she was clueless about football, she never missed Jian's matches, so she knew the basics.
She even knew what level today's opponent was, and what situation Jian's team was in.
Perhaps that was why she wanted to cheer for him more than usual today, her heart trembling.
Thanks to that, when the first goal was scored, she lost her mind and cheered, but quickly came to her senses and sat back down.
Because she knew they needed two more goals to win.
Something like, 'I shouldn't get excited over nothing. Jian isn't celebrating yet either, so I should stay calm too'—that was her mindset.
Over the past few days, she had been beside him enough to feel how much he wanted to win.
He was so desperate that she was afraid even celebrating might jinx it, making her careful.
Anyway, having come one step closer like that.
For some reason, she began trembling even more.
As mentioned, Kim Jiu usually stared only at Jian, but I Wonhun, I Jian's father who always sat beside her, was different.
Rather, he was the type who watched fine until Jian got the ball—then he couldn't watch.
Hadn't he said he got too nervous to look when Jian touched the ball?
Kim Jiu, who hadn't been able to understand such an I Wonhun, felt like she could understand him now.
The tension made her whole body tremble so suddenly that she worried for Jian.
'If even I'm this nervous, how much pressure must Jian be feeling right now?' she thought.
Anyway, so.
So when the ball, kicked by an opponent, strangely rolled to Jian's feet.
At the same time, as Jian dribbled forward and people around her rose from their seats one by one, and the crowd's expectant voices began to burst out.
Unlike herself, Kim Jiu averted her gaze from Jian.
She simply couldn't watch.
Because everyone around her reacted as if Jian would obviously score.
She was so worried about what if he missed that she couldn't look at all.
So she blankly watched the other players.
But then, she felt something strange and couldn't help tilting her head.
What was strange... none of the other players were running.
They were all walking.
All walking, just looking in the direction Jian was running.
Based on her experience watching until now, when going on the attack like this.
It was normal for everyone to run up together, not for just one to attack while the rest watched.
It was the first time she'd seen no one running and everyone just watching like that, so it felt strange.
But it was a peculiar feeling.
Somehow, from the way those other players looked... she felt something like trust in Jian.
She thought that their appearance of not running and just watching seemed to come from a belief that if it was Jian, he would handle it well on his own.
So, seeing that, her heart felt lighter in that moment.
Right.
When had Jian ever betrayed that trust?
He was, well, the type who was always so good it made you jealous. Though she always worried, he would always render those worries useless.
Thanks to that, her heart felt a bit lighter, and shortly after.
Seeing the reactions of those around her and the players raising their hands high, she was finally able to turn her head back to Jian.
And what she saw... opposing players already sprawled out behind Jian.
The ball inside the goal, and Jian standing in front of it.
There was the reason why his teammates had only been watching.
As always, Jian had lived up to the trust that he would deliver.
"Kyaaaaaah-!"
Only then did Kim Jiu leap up like usual, letting out a scream...
"Oh, Lord..."
I Wonhun beside her was calling upon a god he didn't even believe in, hands clasped and trembling.
*
Others might not believe it if they heard, but really.
The first thing I felt the moment I scored the second goal wasn't joy... it was worry.
Can I celebrate now?
Or should I run to the goal again, pick up the ball, and place it at the halfway line?
That worry between those two choices came to mind first.
If this had been the third goal, I would have run toward the stands without looking back.
Because we would have taken the lead, so there'd be no need.
But right now, we had only just tied the score.
I worried whether it was alright to burst into joyous cheering already, thinking it might not yet be the time to restart the match.
So, hesitantly, I turned back.
And looked at my teammates.
"..."
Looking at them like that... my worry was somewhat resolved.
"Yaaaah!"
"Uraaah!"
They were all running at me like they'd been freed from prison.
Seeing them, I was reminded of how they'd been defending for dear life, and I felt I couldn't cluelessly pick up the ball and place it at the halfway line.
So, I just backpedaled as if running away.
If I thought about looking cool or a psychological battle with the opponent, it might have been better to pick up the ball and set it down again.
I just showed my back to the crowd, looking at my charging teammates while backpedaling.
And spreading my arms and nodding slightly, I asked with my body.
Were you believing in me?
I lived up to that trust, right?
"Iyaaaaah!"
"Auuuuuu!"
Seeing them all rush and pile on top of me, I did think that I must have lived up to it.
It was a breathtakingly pleasant moment.
*
Beep, beeeeep-!
When the two whistles signaling the end of the first half rang out, we dragged ourselves off the pitch to the locker room completely drained.
2-0.
And an aggregate score of 4-4.
Having created a tie that had seemed so distant, and having succeeded in holding onto that tie.
It was a return with a better result than desired, but.
It couldn't be entirely lighthearted because it had been that difficult.
Well, I hadn't really done much, so I wasn't physically tired.
The other seniors were on the verge of death.
They had expressions that suggested they didn't want to believe there were still 45 minutes left.
Thanks to that, the manager's words during halftime weren't exactly optimistic either.
"That was true from the beginning, but now it will be even more so. Time is not on our side. So we need to focus more. The moment you let your guard down for even an instant, everything could fly away."
Until we had equalized, I had been a bit intoxicated by that feeling.
Hearing the manager's words, my head felt like it had snapped back to cold sobriety.
We were still at a disadvantage.
You could tell that time wasn't on our side just by looking at our teammates' faces or the way they rested.
Seeing them all slumped in their seats looking half-dead, I could gauge how exhausted they were.
We weren't a team that used many substitutions.
So the faces that appeared in each match didn't change often.
Recently, we'd had a tight schedule.
League matches, Champions League matches, Coppa Italia matches.
Furthermore, playing against a team like Man City consumed nearly twice the stamina compared to facing other teams.
It had been that way from the start, but it seemed time would never be on our side.
"There's only one conclusion. Nothing matters except winning. Settling this within 90 minutes is the answer. The first half was perfect. I was honored to be this team's manager. But it would be too regrettable to end there. Just 45 more minutes and we'll write a miracle."
When the unusually short-feeling halftime ended and I stood up dusting myself off to head back to the pitch.
The manager called us together and spoke like that.
"Don't you want to be the protagonists? It depends on the next 45 minutes. Let's play until our bodies break. We're not holding out. We're winning. Now it doesn't matter who the underdog and who the top dog is. The strong side doesn't win; the winning side is strong."
The amazing thing was, hearing the manager's words, my teammates' faces looked as if they had turned back time.
They were returning to how they looked when the match began.
"If you think about it, we're at a disadvantage. But when have we ever fought on favorable terms? This is the situation we're most used to. Empty the tank. With no regrets."
"Okay-!"
"FORZA─!"
"VIOLA─!!"
Thanks to that, our steps leaving the locker room again weren't too heavy.
It even felt as if we were only just beginning.
*
[Before the second half begins... there's a change on the Man City side.]
[Nathan Aké is out and Kyle Walker is in. And Phil Foden is coming in for Gündoğan.]
[Does this become a back four? Rodri stands alone in the third line, and Foden is positioned slightly further forward than Gündoğan, something along those lines.]
[It doesn't break the balance, but it's a slightly more attacking shape. We don't know what impact this substitution will have, but anyway, the difference in bench quality will be a burden for Fiorentina.]
[I see. The difference on the bench is greater than the gap between the starters.]
[Man City is a team with solid starters, but the players sitting on the bench are also composed of those who could easily be starters at other teams.]
As the second half began, new faces stepped onto the pitch from Man City.
Kyle Walker and Phil Foden.
Truthfully, these two were players who didn't belong on the substitute list—rather, it was strange they weren't starting.
In reality, Phil Foden was a talent being groomed to lead Man City's future, and Kyle Walker was, needless to say, the player in charge of Man City's flanks.
Both were locked-in starters no matter which team they went to, or even players capable of becoming a team's ace.
The problem was that Man City's bench didn't have just those two such players.
There was someone like Laporte, and someone like Riyad Mahrez.
There was even World Cup winner Julián Álvarez.
The fact that such players stepped onto the pitch as substitutes was perhaps Man City's scariest aspect.
[Meanwhile, there's no change for Fiorentina?]
[Fiorentina is going all the way.]
[Stamina could become a big problem.]
[Stamina consumption is greater for the defending side than the attacking side. Therefore, the stamina expended during the first half would be greater on Fiorentina's side. Of course, momentum-wise it could be good. They caught up from a two-goal deficit.]
[But from now on could be the problem.]
[Even if they somehow hold on and go to extra time, the problem won't be solved. The only answer is to win and finish it within 90 minutes.]
[Advancing to the quarterfinals by beating Man City is such a difficult task.]
It was a difficult enough match to make even the commentators click their tongues.
Even with a 2-0 scoreline in the first half, one couldn't easily call Fiorentina dominant.
However...
[Still, isn't Lee still intact for Fiorentina?]
[It might be tiresome hearing it so many times, but Lee has to do it. There's nothing else. He's already done it many times, but he has to do it again.]
[Two goals in the first leg, and another two in just the first half of the second leg. But he still has to score more. This cannot help but be a very heavy burden for a 17-year-old boy. But the reason we still expect it is because it's Lee.]
[If Man City fails to advance to the quarterfinals, it might not be losing to Fiorentina but losing to Lee.]
[I can sympathize, but I think Lee himself wouldn't like hearing that.]
[Haha, really? I'll admit that was a careless remark.]
Though one couldn't be optimistic about Fiorentina's dominance, one also couldn't easily predict that Man City would eventually win.
Because I Jian was still standing on the pitch wearing the number 10 jersey.
[The second half begins!]
The second half that would put a period on the long, long battle had begun.