LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 38
“Jinho! Don’t even think about coming here from tomorrow!”
I nodded blankly at the words of U19 team coach Hannes Wolf. It felt like, ‘Is this the moment I’ve been waiting for?’
“Hehe! From tomorrow, you can go to the first team training ground instead.”
Since I had a strong feeling I’d be promoted to the first team after reading the article about the relaxation of age restrictions in the German football league DFL last night.
“By the way…”
Did Hannes Wolf mean that as a joke?
I guess it was true that Germans were known for their lack of humor; that wasn’t funny at all.
As I shook my head at the coach’s words, congratulations poured in from my teammates.
“Oooooo!! Congratulations, Jinho!!”
While there were genuinely happy kids congratulating me…
“Tch…”
I could also see the mixed emotions of envy, jealousy, and resentment in some others’ eyes.
It couldn’t be helped.
We were both teammates and rivals.
Out of dozens of players, only 11 could be selected for the first team’s match. If we included youth players, that number would reach into the hundreds.
When someone is called up to the first team, it means the available spots for everyone else have shrunk.
At the U19 level, only players seriously aiming for a professional career remain.
Among the friends who genuinely congratulated me, I noticed a serious expression on Antonio Rüdiger’s face, as if he had made a resolution.
Maybe seeing my promotion made him consider transferring? I didn’t even know that Antonio Rüdiger hadn’t debuted with Dortmund because he hadn’t played in their youth team.
It would have been nice to play together in the first team, but it couldn’t be helped.
In the professional world, yesterday’s enemy becomes today’s ally, and today’s ally can turn into tomorrow’s rival, so I had to get used to it.
Anyway, being promoted to the first team doesn’t mean it’s all over. Establishing a place in the first team is also a competition… Well, for now, let’s just be purely happy.
I went home and told Gyeouri and my mother-in-law about this.
“Ooo! The first team!!”
“Today is a good day, we should go out for a meal!”
Gyeouri and my mother-in-law were thrilled and making a fuss over the good news.
Seeing the scene I thought I wouldn’t witness again, I just smiled and watched.
*
The next day.
I set foot in the Dortmund first team training ground.
Dortmund was in a good atmosphere, competing for the championship with Leverkusen, trailing by 7 points.
“Hey! Kagawa! A rival who might take your spot has arrived!”
Upon seeing me enter the training ground, Kevin Großkreutz mischievously called out to Shinji Kagawa.
“Oh~ Son Sang!”
I could see Shinji Kagawa, who had hard carried Dortmund in the first half.
After suffering an injury during the Asian Cup semi-final against the South Korea National Team on January 25, Shinji Kagawa was now back at the training ground, gradually getting his match fitness back.
I had a feeling he might participate as a substitute in the last match of the season.
No matter what anyone said, he was one of the main reasons for Dortmund’s victory this season along with Nuri Sahin. He surely deserved the applause from the crowd.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Shinji Kagawa awkwardly greeted me in Korean.
Caught off guard by the sudden Korean greeting, I momentarily froze and blurted out the first Japanese words that came to mind. Since he greeted me in Korean, I thought I should reciprocate in Japanese.
“Itai! Mo! Yamete!”
However, the problem was that I was so flustered that I accidentally cited a line from a familiar (??) Japanese dialogue.
An awkward tension momentarily hung between us. Aligning with his experience, Shinji Kagawa recovered first and I hurriedly continued in German.
“The Japanese AV industry is the second best in the world!”
Shinji Kagawa chuckled, patting my shoulder with a look of understanding.
*
Training officially began. Dortmund was preparing for their upcoming match against Hamburg in Round 29 of the league.
“Give me the ball!”
Son Jinho was training harder than anyone else.
“Oh! You kick the ball quite nicely, don’t you?”
Seeing this, Klopp’s gaze burned with happy circuits for Son Jinho.
“Seriously, am I starting like this?”
Son Jinho’s dreadful Japanese prompted laughter and encouragement from Shinji Kagawa.
After all, wasn’t language about confidence?
“Good! Good! Your pronunciation was great!”
“Watashi, gengo tensai?”
With Shinji Kagawa’s encouragement, Son Jinho’s Japanese got progressively worse.
*
[Korean Derby unfolds in the Bundesliga? Both Son Heung-min and Son Jinho make the substitute list!]
[Jürgen Klopp hints at Son Jinho’s match participation? ‘Jinho is already a complete player.’]
[Hamburg’s Son vs Dortmund’s Son. Which team’s Son will the goddess of victory favor?]
[Entering the stadium, Son Jinho holds a brief interview with Japanese local reporters!]
[Following the interview with the Japanese reporters, a controversy arises regarding Shinji Kagawa’s character, claiming he taught Son Jinho strange phrases.]
└ ?? What did he say in the interview?
└ He kept churning out lines that sound like they’re from adult movies or anime.
└ And he even mixed Korean with Japanese! Is that the trend among today’s youth?
└ No way, loser, lol.
└ It seems like Jinho just attempted to interview in Japanese because they were Japanese reporters.
└ Why even bother? Hahaha, doesn’t that just hurt their image with the Japanese?
└ Why would that be bad? When a Japanese soccer player interviews awkwardly in Korean, would they dislike that?
└ Ahahaha, this is hilarious!
└ In the Japanese community, they claim he has corrupted the ‘ikemen’ image, celebrating a victory over otaku culture, lol.
└ But hating on otaku isn’t about them liking anime, it’s just because they’re unattractive, right?
└ … You just crossed the line.
*
The match between Hamburg and Dortmund was taking place at Volksparkstadion.
Son Jinho naturally took his place on the bench.
No coach would start a promising player who had just joined the first team. Especially a player called up mid-season.
Having only joined a few days ago, making it onto the substitute list was already an impressive feat, proving that Dortmund and Klopp rated Son Jinho highly.
“Scheiß auf Schule und Arbeit (Screw school and work.)”
Hamburg took advantage of their home field and took an early lead in the match. The cheers from the Hamburg fans clad in blue echoed through their home ground, Volksparkstadion.
“Das macht mich nicht glücklich (That doesn’t make me happy.)”
“Sieben Tage die Woche denk ich an dich HSV! (I think about you HSV seven days a week!)”
Even though Dortmund sat at the top of the league, it was not easy to play in this atmosphere.
Not to mention Hamburg’s attack was formidable. The legendary forward Ruud van Nistelrooy was leading the charge since transferring to Hamburg.
Although Van Nistelrooy had fallen from his prime due to frequent injuries and age, his wealth of experience and decorated career could not be overlooked.
Eventually, Dortmund conceded a goal in the 39th minute of the first half. The Hamburg ace Mladen Petrić converted a penalty kick easily taken by Van Nistelrooy.
Leading by a goal, Hamburg maintained their control and comfortably played out the second half. Dortmund was dragged along helplessly under Hamburg’s dominance.
At that moment, Hamburg’s Anis Ben Hatira, booked in the first half, received a yellow card in the 28th minute of the second half and was sent off for a second yellow card, shifting the momentum.
‘…I need Jinho’s attacking ability, but will it be too much pressure?’
Jürgen Klopp continued his serious contemplation.
“Jinho!”
After a long period of struggle, Klopp gestured toward Son Jinho.
The intense desire in Son Jinho’s eyes to run onto the pitch instantly cleared Klopp’s worries.
“Jinho! Show me how you trained!”
With a smiling Klopp, he gently tapped Son Jinho’s back of the head.
*
[Oh… Sadly, it seems the Korean Derby is coming to an end like this.]
[Yes. Both Son Heung-min and Son Jinho made the substitute list, but unfortunately, they couldn’t make it onto the field…]
[…Following on with Dortmund’s substitutions! Son Jinho from Korea is being subbed in!]
[In a situation where an equalizing goal is crucial, Jürgen Klopp’s choice is the sixteen-year-old Korean boy!]
[As Son Jinho steps onto the pitch, Dortmund players encourage him by patting his head!]
[Such a great team. And it shows that Son Jinho is adapting well to the first team!]
[Oh! According to the latest news, Son Jinho has broken the Bundesliga record for the youngest appearance held by Nuri Sahin!]
[The previous record was 16 years and 335 days, and Son Jinho has reduced it to 16 years and 138 days.]
[Following Son Jinho’s substitution, Hamburg makes their substitution. With a numerical disadvantage, Hamburg brings in attackers to maintain their points while adding defensive players!]
[Son Jinho, newly inducted into the game, begins to take his first touch!]
*
With barely any time left in the match.
In injury time at the end of the second half, I accurately passed a fantastic through ball to Jakub Błaszczykowski, who was making a run.
“Fick! (F*ck!)”
Jakub Błaszczykowski received the pass in front of the goal and took a shot with his right foot.
Puh-rrrgh─!
Unfortunately, it was deflected by the Hamburg goalkeeper and went off the goal line.
The following corner kick for Dortmund.
All additional time had already passed, and this corner kick would be Dortmund’s last chance for an attack.
Pointing to the designated pattern play, Nuri Sahin took the corner kick.
But the ball hit a Hamburg defender’s head.
The ball headed away by the defender came towards me.
At that moment, the sound of the crowd that had filled the stadium faded away.
Apart from the ball and me, it felt as if time had stopped, with only the sound of my heartbeat echoing in the stadium.
I calmly trapped the incoming ball with my chest and swung my right foot as my body instructed me to.
Clang─!
The ball on my foot shook the Hamburg goal net.
“Waaaaaaa─!!”
As time started flowing again, the stands erupted with a roar that seemed to shake the entire stadium.
“Heja BVB!!”
And, in extreme excitement over the crowd’s intense passion, I threw off my shirt and sprinted towards the corner flag where the away fans gathered, roaring.
“Die Menschen im Schwarz und Gelben Ruhrgebiet. (The people in black and yellow Ruhr area.)”
In front of the quiet Hamburg home stadium, which had just conceded three points, the Dortmund away fans began singing their cheers.
“Werden immer stolz an deiner Seite sein. (We will always be by your side.)”
Amidst the cheers from the Dortmund away fans, my joyful teammates rushed over to celebrate.
I quietly looked at the away fans and spread my arms wide.