Save 21. Promotion Playoff
"Goal! Goal! Goooal!"
"Leeds finally breaks the deadlock! What an incredible pass, what an incredible shot!"
"What was that just now? What in the world was that!"
"Goalkeeper Sin Uison plays an incredible pass and records an assist!"
The replay came on again.
The footage began from the moment the Leeds players played a back pass as if fleeing.
Charlie Austin had chased that pass and applied forward pressure.
Sin Uison took one look forward and immediately played a long ball.
The camera zoom pulled back, following the ball. Wider, wider. By the time the entire pitch was visible.
McCormack struck the shot, having deceived even the spectators.
The struck ball swerved toward the corner of the goal.
QPR goalkeeper Robert Green could not react to the unexpected shot. He only managed to turn his head after the ball had already rippled the net.
"Waaah! What the fuck!"
"Follow me, you bastards!"
The Leeds players chased after McCormack, who had scored.
McCormack shouted as he performed a high-jumping celebration.
"Whew."
And watching from afar, Sin Uison let out a sigh of relief.
Honestly, it had been a very risky pass.
Passes connecting to the midfield were often cut off—how much more so a direct through ball to the front line?
'What is it?'
'When the second half begins, try to find the best possible position when I have the ball.'
Sin Uison recalled the conversation he had called McCormack over to have in the locker room.
When he said he would play a direct pass, McCormack's expression had been quite a sight to behold.
It had contorted bizarrely as he tried to gauge whether this was a joke or serious.
Of course, not even Sin Uison himself had known McCormack would shoot from there.
Anyway.
The aggregate score was 1–1.
The situation was favorable for Leeds.
[But it's still a draw, isn't it?]
As she pointed out, the current situation was merely a return to the status quo.
Even though it would be hard to say they held the advantage unless Leeds scored one more goal.
'That's enough.'
Clap!
Sin Uison clapped his hands loudly.
What remained now was up to him.
He had no intention of repeating the same concession as before.
The match resumed.
QPR, who had been sitting deep defensively, finally lifted their heavy backsides after the score was levelled.
"Pathetic bastards!"
Joey Barton tore into his players. It was a goal they absolutely did not need to concede. Literally a pathetic concession.
He had a rotten personality, but because Joey Barton worked harder than anyone on the pitch, he could not tolerate his teammates' complacency.
'That same trick won't work again now.'
Sin Uison clicked his tongue as he watched QPR's midfield operating under Barton's control.
The QPR players' nerves were on edge, as if a beehive had been stirred.
In particular, McCormack was under heavy surveillance as a marked man and could hardly touch the ball.
"Good! Keep doing just that!"
McDermott, standing by the bench, shouted.
Truthfully, he too had half given up on the match as the manager, but now that the equalizer had come, he seemed highly energized.
'I'd rather he stayed quiet.'
Because Leeds's play often crumbled under the manager's immediate orders.
Time continued to pass.
Three minutes of added time were allotted.
"If even the added time runs out, the match goes to extra time."
"If there is still no result in extra time, it will be decided by a penalty shootout."
The last shot fell to QPR. Charlie Austin's shot went well wide of the goal and struck the stands.
Beep!
The whistle blew to signal the end of the second half.
"Water! Bring water!"
"Lie down, damn it!"
Soon the players and coaches on the bench ran out to help the Leeds players.
While some had come on as substitutes, most had played the full ninety minutes.
They panted as they drank water, and lay down right there to receive massages.
"Sin! How are you!"
"Ptui! I'm fine."
Sin Uison answered after rinsing his mouth and spitting.
Unlike the exhausted outfield players, he was a goalkeeper and had physical reserves.
'Will he be okay?'
Truthfully, he wasn't completely without worries.
Sin Uison had never experienced extra time before.
He had never put this much strain on his right knee, so what might happen was anyone's guess.
"Are you okay?"
Sin Uison asked McCormack, who was loosening his leg muscles. McCormack gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"I'm dying."
"Well, hang in there."
McCormack was one of the players McDermott absolutely would not substitute. He wouldn't get a rest until his leg broke, so Sin Uison offered him a silent prayer.
Sin Uison then approached the defenders huddled together.
"Hang on no matter what. If it goes to penalties, I'll take care of it."
"Bastard, big talk."
"I guess you've calmed down now."
"Have I?"
"You were fucking terrifying a few days ago."
The defenders burst into laughter as if in agreement.
After conceding, Sin Uison's mood had been extremely foul.
Even teammates who usually joked around had been startled.
In particular, the right fullback who had made a passing error that greatly contributed to the conceded goal had been on pins and needles.
After that very short break.
The players re-entered the pitch.
Extra time consisted of fifteen minutes per half, for a total of thirty minutes.
With no halftime interval, from now on it was closer to a battle of mental fortitude.
"Charlie Austin looks exhausted too."
"He's worked very hard on defensive duties today."
Charlie Austin had participated in defense and forward pressing throughout the match, but now he moved slowly and caught his breath.
It wasn't just Leeds who were tired.
Both teams were the same.
"I'm running myself, you bastards!"
Only Joey Barton, who had comparatively more stamina, moved actively.
Considering his age, it was tremendous stamina.
He must have been truly frustrated, as he carried the ball all the way into Leeds's half to attack directly.
"Huff, huff!"
"Doesn't the old man ever get tired!"
Leeds's midfielders moved defensively to stop Barton. Even if they wanted to join the attack, they could hardly get forward because of him.
"Sin Uison sends a long ball."
"Ah, now the Leeds players don't have the stamina left to receive passes."
At times like that, Sin Uison would play the pass himself. Of course, sometimes the ball went unreceived because the others had depleted stamina.
Bang!
Barton took a shot. It was a long-range effort from distance.
It wasn't a particularly threatening shot, so Sin Uison caught it without difficulty.
"Fucking hell!"
Barton spat a curse upon seeing his shot saved.
By the latter half of extra time, both sides had reached the limits of their stamina.
And so even extra time ended.
"In the end, there was no winner in extra time either."
"Yes. In that case, the match between the two teams will be decided by a penalty shootout."
"A shootout."
Adjusting his goalkeeper gloves.
Sin Uison's eyes gleamed.
"They're all done for."
It was his first penalty shootout in his life, yet he was not nervous. Rather, it was a moment he had been secretly waiting for.
Memories of facing shadows in his dreams flashed through his mind.
Truly.
He wondered what real people would be like.
He was beyond excited, almost fervent.
"McCormack! You're fifth!"
Meanwhile, Manager McDermott, deciding the kicking order, placed McCormack last. McCormack accepted with a nod.
Once the order was set, the Leeds players gathered in a circle.
They encouraged each other and raised spirits.
"Shit, it's fine. We can do this!"
"Look how far we've come!"
"Sin, how about you?"
"Me? I'm fine."
To the question directed at him, Sin Uison answered flatly.
"I'll guard the goal, so you kickers just focus on scoring."
"Bastard, I like it!"
The Leeds players broke the huddle and stood shoulder to shoulder in a line at the halfway line.
Leaving those players behind.
Sin Uison stood in front of the goal.
The first kicker was QPR's Kevin Doyle. In other words, it was Sin Uison's turn to save.
"Kevin Doyle prepares to take his kick."
Kevin Doyle, having come on as a substitute, still had physical reserves. This meant he could take a relatively accurate shot compared to the depleted players.
'Here he comes.'
Watching him kick off, Sin Uison tensed his muscles.
The first turn in a penalty shootout carried unexpectedly great weight.
If he managed to save it, it could place enormous pressure on the subsequent kickers.
Where will he shoot?
He hadn't analyzed Kevin Doyle's shooting form. But that didn't mean he was without a method.
The most basic mind game.
Eyes.
Until now, Kevin Doyle had been looking to the left the entire time, and since he was clearly right-footed, the probability was high that he would shoot that way.
"Kevin Doyle runs up."
"Shot!"
It was right before the shot.
In that moment.
For just a brief instant, Kevin Doyle's eyes looked elsewhere.
Bang!
The shot fired in the opposite direction, and.
Without a hint of wavering, Sin Uison threw his body that way.
"Aaagh! Saved! Sin Uison!"
"QPR fails from the very first kicker!"
Waaah!
The cheers of Leeds fans rang out. His Leeds teammates, arms linked, also shouted with wide eyes.
"Wooo!"
"Hey, let's get ready too!"
Next was Leeds's turn.
Sin Uison went outside the penalty area to watch.
"Leeds's first kicker runs up."
"Shot! Goal!"
"Leeds United succeeds on the first opportunity!"
It was a shot to the right corner, a shot that had deceived QPR goalkeeper Robert Green well.
Once again, QPR's turn came.
"Won't the next QPR kicker be under some pressure?"
"...Ah, perhaps that won't be the case."
This time the kicker was Joey Barton.
His gaze was fierce.
"You're pretty good, kid!"
"You too, mister."
"You're so good it's pissing me off. So, how about taking one to the face since you can block with your face?"
"Hm, that's a bit..."
Sin Uison scratched his chin.
It didn't seem like a joke.
"Huh!"
At that moment, Joey Barton took a breath and suddenly began his run-up.
The will to just power his way through was stronger than any mind game.
It was a fitting approach for a man like him.
Bang!
A cannonball-like shot fired toward the lower right.
'It's fine. At this level.'
Of course, it was a threatening shot.
But in this particular situation.
Because he had repeated this scenario countless times with shadows in the training ground of his dreams, Sin Uison did not panic.
"Aah! Again! Sin Uison saves again!"
"The QPR fans' faces have grown very dark!"
The commentators exclaimed in shock at two consecutive saves.
The man himself, Sin Uison, got up from the ground and brushed the grass off his clothes with an indifferent face.
It had been a very stable save.
He had caught the very fast shot precisely with his palm and pushed it outward as if swatting it away.
"Fucking hell. Shit."
The kicker, Joey Barton, spat with an awkward expression. Then he scratched his head and left.
Afterward.
Leeds's second kicker succeeded without difficulty, widening the gap further.
QPR's third kicker was Charlie Austin. Unlike Leeds, who had McCormack as their fifth kicker, this side seemed to want to maintain the flow by placing someone in the middle.
Charlie Austin's face looked very heavy.
Because he knew how unfavorable a situation it was to have had two of their five chances saved already.
'Ugh.'
Sin Uison frowned at the sudden headache.
It was a pain similar to when he assisted the equalizer earlier.
But at the same time.
A strange feeling enveloped the penalty box.
'Huh?'
Watching Charlie Austin move, Sin Uison did not move. It was not that he couldn't move.
He simply didn't need to.
Thud!
The shot struck the goalpost and bounced off.