026. Genius And Glory Of Championship Trophy(5)

Alexander Pato's eyes wavered as he looked at Hoyoung.

'Is it a coincidence?'

Until then, I thought so.

But then it was blocked using the same method.

If you think you're connected, it's cut off at the waist, and if you go past the midfield, you're cut off from the second line.

'It's definitely changed.'

A change seen immediately after the second half began.

This happened often during my career as a player.

'Tch. plaguy.'

A look of trouble appeared in Fatu's eyes.

A boy who sticks to zone defense and struggles between Didi and Fatu.

It was Hoyoung.

He was leading the midfield battle by blocking Didi's ball distribution.

He was tall for his age and his muscles were quite strong, but what was most surprising was his defensive ability.

Perhaps because he was good at distributing the ball, Hoyoung knew Diddy's pass timing like a ghost.

See through it.

As if Tazza knew Tazza's psychology well, Hoyoung was predicting the timing when his opponent would use his skills.

As a result, the frequency with which Pato catches the ball has decreased significantly.

I couldn't just let things go like this.

'I have to do as the director says.'

"Didi!"

When Fatu gave a signal by moving slightly to the right, Didi came up to the first line and stood to his left.

The intention was to ease the burden on Pato by changing from one-top to two-top and promote organized team play rather than a fluke.

If they continued to give up possession like this, there was a high probability that they would concede a goal through a side attack using the space behind them.

however.

"hmm?"

I made eye contact with Hoyoung, who was closely watching the change in Corinthians' tactics.

Eat.

The corner of Fatu's mouth curled up.

'I think I'm about 150cm tall.'

It was perhaps natural that a young boy from the East would look funny.

He is one of the most promising prospects in Brazil, a soccer powerhouse.

Because it was Alexander Pato.

'There were some Asian guys like that.'

Asians in Brazil who shine for a year or two but lose their form after a certain age.

Since they were not the only ones, I thought Hoyoung would also be like that.

And I looked down on him.

As was his habit, he raised the index fingers of both hands and slightly opened his eyes to the side.

Take advantage of the opportunity when the referee's back is turned.

"That idiot."

It was the first time in a while that Hoyoung spoke Korean.

It was really strange that he was laughing while the article was blatantly belittling Asians.

As I was thinking about it, an incident before returning came to mind.

When Pato was playing in China, he slit his eyes during a goal celebration, and because of that, he was labeled a racist until he retired.

'I heard that the habits of three years old will last until eighty.'

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue once.

Because I didn't have time to worry about that right now.

Hoyoung focused on the game.

After Corinthians attempted to play possession football, Sao Paulo FC also attempted to change.

Instead of conceding possession, they began to reserve stamina by loosening up the midfield as if they had never done so.

Just once.

The intention is to counterattack.

It was a soccer game that strictly pursued practicality.

As a result, the economic situation changed significantly.

15 minutes in the second half.

"hey!"

Pato received the pass and snatched the ball through the midfielder's crotch.

Also known as alkkagi, which Brazilians often use.

As soon as he passed a midfielder, Pato hit and ran.

He looked tired, but his specialty was still there.

Explosive acceleration.

Because of this, a similar situation occurred when a goal was allowed in the first half.

The back space was completely empty.

"catch! catch!!"

Hoyoung shouted at the top of his lungs.

Casemiro, who judged that he would not be able to catch up, boldly attempted a side tackle.

"… Pfft!"

Tuk.

The ball was slightly touched, but Pato regained his balance and hit it again and ran.

The only person standing in front is the goalkeeper.

It was a perfect 1-1 chance.

'right…!'

This time too, Pato read the goalkeeper's direction and stretched out his foot.

It was the moment to calmly kick an inside kick.

Faaah!

"Oh! "Uh huh?!"

A foot that came in unexpectedly from behind diagonally blocked Hoesim's shot.

The ball soared into the sky.

"Fuck!"

Even though he was young, Fatu was known for being quite harsh and looked to the side.

It was none other than Hoyoung who chased like crazy from behind diagonally and blocked the shot.

'He's like a rat. 'When did you follow me?'

Hoyoung's super save.

and.

"hey! run!!"

Hoyoung stably trapped the ball that soared into the sky and shouted at the same time.

No matter how high your pass success rate is or how many effective shots you have, if you don't score a goal, you're in trouble.

In soccer, victory and defeat are ultimately determined by 'goals'.

Therefore, Sao Paulo FC, who had to wait for a game, played soccer by giving up a lot of possession and taking advantage.

The so-called strategy of giving the flesh and taking the bones.

It was a counterattack.

And all players participate in the attack!

Pot.

Among them, Hoyoung's sprint was beyond imagination.

one two.

He peeled off the opposing players in the blink of an eye and cast his gaze to the side.

'There is a high chance of getting cut.'

So Douglas on the front lines?

'It's not even possible anymore.'

Corinthians' defenders, who had excellent defensive skills, were quickly settling in.

Still, if I had to choose one thing, it would be to distribute the ball to the side and build up linkage plays.

Because that was the common choice.

However, Hoyoung's eyes were strangely directed straight ahead.

fault.

Just like Pato did, he pushed the ball through the opposing defender's crotch.

"Oops!"

The front was wide open.

The distance to the goal is more than 20 meters.

But I was confident.

This is because the feeling of practicing tirelessly at the training ground remained on the top of my feet.

The approach took exactly six steps.

And I hit him with all my might.

Exactly in the center of the lower part of the ball.

Cough!

The ball, loaded with force, curved to the right and headed toward the empty net on the right side of the goal.

It was a fantastic mid-range shot.

and.

Crash!

The net shook as if it were torn apart.

It felt like my heart stopped.

"Kaaah!"

Uncontrollable joy made my whole body boil.

In the meantime, a vain-looking Fatu came into view.

Hoyoung's footsteps naturally headed in that direction.

It was not a planned action, but an instinct.

Hoyoung, who was running towards that direction, spread his hands wide.

And shouted.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

It was Hoyoung who stood up to the belittling of Asians with his skills.

Beep!

After the game resumed, Pato tried his best to attack, but the door that was once closed did not open.

One breakthrough was successful around the 30th minute of the second half, but it did not result in a score because Casemiro attempted a back tackle.

The result is a red card.

It was an unsportsmanlike act, but if anything, it was a strategy.

The remaining time was a problem, but Casemiro trusted his teammates and suddenly left.

5 minutes until the end of the game.

As expected, Corinthians' fierce attack unfolded.

However, Sao Paulo FC's momentum was soaring that they could not just focus on the attack.

The ball distribution starting from Hoyoung turned the game into a muddy fight, with fierce battles for the ball taking place here and there.

As it was the last game of the season, both teams were burning off all their remaining stamina.

There was no one who was not desperate.

However, because the ball is round, it tilts to one side.

The opportunity came from Sao Paulo FC's Hoyoung.

33 minutes in the second half.

Hoyoung's long penetration pass to the left created space behind the side.

"here! again!!"

After shouting that, he went deep and received a return pass.

There was no way back.

If this attack fails, that's it.

It was truly the last chance.

Take a peek.

Hoyoung raised his head.

Douglas was seen wandering around inside the penalty box, looking for space.

At that moment, Hoyoung took his step.

By tapping the ball long to the right, the tempo quickly increased.

This happens even if you know it.

I turned to the right and opened up the perfect shooting angle.

About 45 degrees.

Three defenders clung to him, but the ball had already left Hoyoung's toes.

'please!'

The distance is 22 meters.

A soft mid-range shot with an instep headed toward the opposite post.

Great love!

A sound that echoes across the field!

"ah!!"

Damn it.

Hoesim's shot hit the inside of the goal and bounced off.

But it wasn't the end.

"Eeeeeeeeeek!"

The ball was not out and fell on the feet of Douglas, who was pacing in front of the goal like a hyena.

He took advantage of that moment.

"Aaaah!"

Tuk.

The ball hit Douglas' foot and rolled into the goal.

Exactly 34 minutes and 12 seconds in the second half.

It came out with 1 minute left before the end of the game.

"Duggiiii!"

"Woooooooo!!"

It was a comeback goal.

36 minutes in the second half.

Near the end of the two minutes of extra time.

The Corinthians coach even sent the goalkeeper onto the field to make use of the last opportunity to attack, but there was no result.

In the end, the game ended like that and the winner was the winner after a close match.

Beep-

it was Sao Paulo FC.

As the whistle sounded across the field, Hoyoung let out a shout.

I was so exhausted that I was lying on the floor, but strangely, my energy surged.

Although it was a youth competition, it was the first championship trophy recorded in the official career.

It was natural to struggle with joy.

It wasn't until Hoyoung hugged his teammates and held up the golden trophy that he realized he had won.

Even though Hoyoung joined in the middle of the season, it was true that he contributed more to the championship than anyone else.

Who would have imagined that an Asian boy would achieve this feat?

What remains is the Golden Ball Award.

Although I was anxious, I decided to just enjoy this moment.

The last moments of my eleven-year-old life that will never come again.

That afternoon, I shared the good news with my family and spoke on the phone with director Cha Bum-gon for the first time in a while.

Cha Beom-gon congratulated Ho-young and told him that he had something important to tell him and that he would see him when he returned to Korea in November.

In short, he said there was one project he wanted to propose.

After Hoyoung hung up the phone saying he understood, he attended the U13 victory celebration party.

And at the same time.

In Recife, Victoria, the technical committee of the Sao Paulo Youth Football Federation held a meeting.

The agenda was the Golden Ball of the U13 League, which ended today, and the selection of the best player for each position.

The selection process was as follows.

1. Objective score based on this season's records

2.

The method of determining the award winner was based on the combined score of the two subjective scores submitted by each of the three committee members.

Leading candidates included SC Corinthians' Alexander Pato and Sao Paulo FC's Woo Ho-young.

As for the league record, Pato has 10 wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses in 15 games, with 19 points and 8 assists.

Hoyoung was ahead of Pato with 10 wins out of 10, 16 points, and 4 assists, but in the end, it was Hoyoung who won the championship.

It is common for a Golden Ball winner to emerge from a winning team, and there was no significant difference in the records of the two, so there was no need to distinguish between superiority and inferiority.

However, it would be very unusual for an Asian player to win the Golden Ball, so there was a lot of caution.

"Anyway, this has been a really great year."

"I agree. "In the first division, an Asian comes and lifts the championship trophy, and in the second division, a kid born in 1992 scores 40 goals."

"If you're a boy born in 1992, do you mean that player named Neymar? I heard that Santos FC has already recruited him. haha. "I'm really looking forward to the first division next year."

The committee members, who had become more talkative today, talked about various things.

And finally, the meeting concluded by confirming the award results.

"yes. I think this will do the trick. Even though Woo Ho-young is not Brazilian, I hope he will grow even further with this trophy. "It will be able to stimulate our own players as well."

The results of the evaluation were delivered to the awards ceremony held at the Estadio do Pacembu in Sao Paulo the next day. The top

scorer was awarded to Alexander Pato of SC Corinthians, and

the best striker was awarded to Hoyoung of Sao Paulo FC.

And finally.

"congratulations. "Woo Ho-young."

"thank you."

In addition to the Golden Ball plaque, a prize money worth 5,000 real (KRW 3.1 million) was also paid to Hoyoung.

Because there was no separate broadcasting rights fee for the youth league, the size of the prize money was not that large.

But the real reward remained.

[Choose the talent you want to pursue.]

-Soccer genius (A-)

-Fast legs as fast as a Lamborghini (A+)

-Simple and delicate sense of touch on the ball (B)

-Splendid individual skills (B-)

-Decent goal-making ability (C+) 3)

Hoyoung's heart was already tilted to one side.

'Genius…let's go!'

Could it really be possible?

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