An Exceptionally Bright Day -2
Today's opponent was a team called US Sassuolo Calcio.
Sassuolo was a team in the lower ranks of our group, and I'd heard they were a level below us in terms of strength, since we were in the upper ranks.
Perhaps because of that, the match unfolded under our team's control from the early minutes.
"Nice, nice!"
"Push up!"
To give you an idea, the opponents could barely even touch the ball.
If you looked at the possession… it was almost 70-30?
Based on that solid control, we went on the attack aggressively, as if to score quickly.
It was a momentum that made it feel like a goal could come at any moment.
'…They're good.'
After watching the first 10 minutes or so, my thought was that our kids were even better than I'd expected.
Honestly, it was a little surprising.
Of course, I'd known.
That our kids could play.
Since I'd been unable to break out of the non-starting squad all this time, it was a fact I knew better than anyone.
But seeing them kick the ball against other teams in a real match like this made it feel much more real.
Because I hadn't watched a match directly like this until now.
These guys, they were really good players.
To the point where I wondered if it was okay for me to be sitting on the bench.
How am I sitting here?
"…"
The match was flowing so smoothly that the manager and coaches were just sitting on the bench watching comfortably.
Rather, the noisy ones were the kids pouring their energy into cheering.
Amidst that, I, who had gradually gotten used to the atmosphere, began to watch the match more closely.
I didn't know if I'd have a chance to step onto the pitch, but I had to be prepared just in case.
If I went in, how should I play? I watched the match while drawing a picture in my head.
'If I go in, it would be instead of Jino…'
A positional rival… though I couldn't dare call myself that yet.
Anyway, the only spot I could enter was Jino's position, so I watched Jino's play carefully.
Jino had been standing out since the early minutes.
'…The gap is wide. Between the defense and the third line.'
It wasn't strange for Jino to stand out since he was good. But in my own analysis, the opponents were providing the cause too.
The problem was that the defensive spacing was wide and loose.
The space between the back line and the third-line midfielders, that was the issue.
"Go! Jino!"
"Nice—!"
Thanks to that, comfortable space kept being created for Jino, who was positioned somewhere between the front line and the second line.
Jino in open space was like a fish in water.
Until the 15th minute of the first half, most chances had flowed to Jino, and he'd already taken four shots.
"Argh, so close!"
"Shoot more, more!"
When Jino's fourth shot just barely sailed over the goalpost, the kids groaned in disappointment.
Certainly, in a sport like soccer, taking shots was the second-best thing for building momentum.
The more shots Jino took, the louder the voices became—not only on the pitch but on the bench as well—and our momentum rose.
And around the 13th minute of the first half.
Thwack—!
"That's it!"
"Forza—!"
The best thing for building momentum—Jino's goal burst through, and the atmosphere reached a fever pitch.
"Nice…!"
I too quietly rejoiced, clenching my fist.
It seemed like a goal at quite a good time.
Honestly… I hadn't been happy solely with the pure joy of our team scoring.
Of course, there was some of that.
Honestly, the feeling that a chance might come for me was bigger.
Looking at it coolly, there was only one scenario where I could be put into the match.
What was that?
Naturally, it was our team grabbing the win early. Getting far ahead quickly, creating a comfortable situation where they could afford to give even a benchwarmer like me a chance.
Honestly, even I thought that if the situation were close, they wouldn't take Jino out and put me in.
If such a substitution happened, these kids might suspect me—wondering if I had some dirt on the manager or something.
Anyway, that's why Jino's early goal was nothing but welcome to me.
It couldn't be helped, even if it was selfish.
Because Jiu would be watching…
"One more goal…"
I started to cheer toward the field but stopped, feeling somehow embarrassed.
Just keep it up like this, just like this…
*
When the first half ended and the second half began.
My heart was pounding.
It was a pounding half from anticipation, half from anxiety.
Our team had finished the first half 3-0.
Having completely suppressed Sassuolo in the midfield battle, we hadn't given the opponents any real chances, displaying overwhelming performance.
With things like this, my anticipation grew.
At the same time, as the remaining time decreased, I grew more anxious.
No, honestly, Manager.
At this point, can't you use me?
It doesn't look like we'll lose, and Jino looks exhausted.
Jino is our team's ace, so shouldn't you preserve him? Right?
"Um… Coach?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I go to the bathroom for a bit?"
"Go ahead."
Around the 10th minute of the second half, I got impatient and did something a bit unsightly. Thinking the manager might have forgotten my existence, I made a pointless trip to the bathroom just to make my presence known.
…To think I'd end up doing something like this.
Standing in front of the toilet when I didn't even need to pee made me sigh.
But it was fine.
It didn't matter at all.
I didn't know if it was thanks to that, but my anticipation had become reality.
It was around the 15th minute of the second half.
"Andrea, Fabian, and Jian. Warm up."
My name… had been called.
It was an order to warm up.
I doubted my ears for a moment, then jumped up and started warming up.
I even ran back and forth in front of the manager on purpose.
So that he'd want to put me in just to get me out of his sight.
*
Truthfully, the situation wasn't very optimistic.
Because Andrea was warming up next to me too.
At 15, Andrea was Jino's backup, but I'd heard he wasn't just a simple backup.
When 17-year-old Jino moved up to the senior team, he was the player who would inherit that spot.
Thanks to that, I'd heard his playing time was steadily guaranteed.
Unlike me, who had been practically neglected by the team, Andrea was being carefully nurtured.
With Andrea warming up, I wondered if a chance would really come for me too.
If I just warmed up and went back for no reason, the picture would look even stranger. Even if Jiu didn't know much about soccer, she'd definitely find it odd.
"Hoo, hoo!"
The greater my anxiety, the harder I warmed up.
Anyway, seeing that he'd told me to warm up too… perhaps he had something in mind.
Maybe he'd send me out just because I was being obnoxious.
After all, I'd spent the past few months doing nothing but collecting my weekly wages.
Right now, if the manager told me "Work! Yi Jian!" I was ready to work like a slave.
It was around the 30th minute of the second half when it happened.
"…"
Movement was spotted on the bench in the distance.
As if sharing some secret, the manager and coach were looking our way and whispering something.
Naturally, it would be about who to send in, but whose name was coming out?
Would it be Andrea after all?
Or were they planning to put in the defender Fabian?
The longer the discussion went on, the more anxious I became.
That brief moment felt so long to me, and countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
And finally, the coach stood up from the bench.
Whose name would be called?
Please call my name.
Please, my name… please, my name…
"Jian!"
…Huh?
Wait.
Did I hear wrong…?
"Jian, take off the bib and get ready."
"Ah… yes!"
I didn't hear wrong.
It really… was me.
Without even having time to feel happy, I took off the bib.
*
"…You know what I'm saying, right?"
"…"
"Jian?"
"Ah… yes."
When I came to my senses, I was already standing in front of the touchline.
For a moment, I felt so dazed that I wondered why I was standing here.
Why am I here…?
Ah.
Right, I'm being substituted in.
"Don't feel any pressure. Run however you want. You're just running. Understood?"
"Understood."
I nodded at the coach's words.
Perhaps because we were already far ahead.
Today's instructions were, as always, simply to do as I wished.
And right now, those words sounded especially comforting.
"Hoo—"
I exhaled deeply while waiting for the substitution signal.
This was a real match.
Not a practice match, but a real one after a very long time.
Even a moment where my lies could all be exposed if things went wrong.
Naturally, it was a situation where I should have been trembling like crazy…
But I was doing better than expected.
I even felt eager to get in quickly.
Maybe because of the promise I'd made with Jiu.
The promise that I'd score a goal.
I wanted to keep that promise no matter what.
…Because if I couldn't, everything would be found out.
The fact that I wasn't a soccer genius.
"Beep—!"
The ball went out over the touchline.
At the same time, the referee pointed this way and signaled.
And the match was briefly stopped.
Jino began walking out with an exhausted face.
Jino, having walked right up to me, held out his hand, and I lightly slapped it.
Tatatat—!
And I ran into the center of the pitch.
The seconda punta spot that had been Jino's domain until moments ago had now become my domain.
From now on, I would be the one running here.
"Beep—!"
There was no courtesy for the substituted player.
The match resumed immediately, and without time to wallow in sentiment about my return, I activated my focus.
From now on, I had to pour all my senses and nerves onto the field.
I might have been different if I were a real genius, but I was just a fool pretending to be a soccer genius.
I couldn't put on a good play while distracted by stray thoughts.
I wasn't a genius.
Focus.
"Left!"
"Going behind!"
At the 35th minute of the second half, the score was 3-0.
All the goals had come in the first half, and there had been few decisive scenes since the second half began.
From the outside, the match probably looked very loose, but the feeling from inside was completely different.
The field was still a battlefield.
Simply passing the ball back and forth felt like tossing around a bomb, and the opponents rushing to steal it felt like wild beasts.
It had been a while, but the field was still a terrifying place.
But right now… I was hungry, too.
Tatatat—!
We were circulating the ball from the back.
I dropped down along the left half-space.
Our central midfielder, Domenico, having spotted my movement, moved toward me.
A feeling of us approaching each other.
Each of us had a marker attached.
At a glance, it looked like strange movement where our paths tangled.
But it was a play we'd already agreed upon during training.
The moment Domenico and I overlapped, our team's buildup began.
"Hey!"
Fwoooosh—!
The pass came.
An ambiguous direction—whether it was going to Domenico or to me.
But Domenico ran forward without hesitation, while I was the one moving toward the pass.
That movement caused confusion among the markers guarding us.
Whether to keep chasing their original man, or switch markers and maintain their positions.
I could feel the two of them hesitating and wavering.
I didn't miss that brief gap and burst through.
Fwoosh—
As if brushing it off, I touched the ball with the outside of my foot and slightly changed its direction.
And,
Tatatat—!
I immediately turned and started dribbling.
I pushed up along the left half-space, the space Domenico had created.
The opponent was a team that had easily exposed the space between the back line and the third line from the start.
Moreover, right now, two center-midfielders had been momentarily taken out of the picture.
I could see the space.
I dragged the ball diagonally from left to center, entering a slight tempo adjustment.
I slightly slowed down and scattered my gaze left and right—to the opponents, this must have looked like I was preparing to play a pass.
I saw the defenders dropping back.
That was a welcome sight.
The moment I reached near the penalty arc.
I pushed the ball far to the outside with my right foot, took a deep breath, and lunged toward the ball with large strides.
Bbaaaaaang—!
A heavy yet crisp sensation traveled up my right foot. I struck the shot, putting my entire weight behind it.
That shot,
Shooooooom—
flew slicing through the penalty box…
Thwack—!!
and shook the net.
It was the moment when the simulation I'd been running in my head for the past 80 minutes became reality.
Honestly, it happened so exactly according to my calculations that it was bewildering.
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