NOVEL NEXT chapter 111
111 – Russian Roulette
111
As the game began, it didn’t take long to realize something was off.
“What’s with these guys’ soccer skills? It’s like they’re all rookies on their debut match…”
From simple trapping mistakes to pass errors, sluggish movements, and disorganized actions.
This wasn’t just a matter of their bodies not being warmed up.
“Are they really that nervous? Like newbies on their debut match… nervous?”
It didn’t take long for his doubts to turn into conviction.
With a lineup full of European big-leaguers, why were they so nervous? But that was a secondary issue.
The important thing was—
“These guys are stuck! Push forward!!”
The opponent had revealed their weakness.
“I was the one who overestimated Brazil’s value, thinking they were unbeatable.”
In Ji Tae’s memory, Brazil was always strong.
Since their runner-up finish in the previous World Cup, they had regained their reputation as a soccer empire and finally won the next World Cup.
But that was Brazil in the past, not the current team.
Right now, the Korean team from the same era wouldn’t even make it past the group stage.
He spotted a player receiving a pass with a hesitant posture, which gave him the confidence to take action.
With a hunch that the player would make a mistake, he immediately rushed towards him and snatched the ball, quickly transitioning into a counterattack.
From Brazil’s perspective, it was bad luck, but from their side, it was a lucky goal that came out of nowhere.
As soon as Ji Tae confirmed that luck was on their side, he was convinced of their victory.
And that was his thought until the 15th minute of the first half.
“…We don’t need this kind of reversal.”
After conceding an own goal early in the game, their mental state seemed to have collapsed.
The Brazilian players gathered together, shouting and making a ruckus, before suddenly changing their demeanor and charging forward, showcasing their true strength.
Ji Tae watched as his teammates were overwhelmed by Brazil’s fierce offensive, wondering where their previous momentum had gone.
“Be careful of their inward movements. They’ll try to break through from the sides. Hold the half-space firmly.”
The coach had placed too much trust in his midfielders, who were all attack-oriented players. While they were skilled in offense, they were weak in defense. Ji Tae warned them, but he wasn’t sure how effective it would be.
“At least we can try to disrupt them. Just don’t let them break through until I react.”
As he observed Brazil’s strategy, he noticed that they were utilizing their wingers in a narrow formation.
In modern soccer, the trend was to deploy wingers widely and use other players to create a 1-on-1 situation on the sides, known as overload-to-isolation.
This tactic was suitable for agile and skilled players like Brazil and South American players, but Brazil was strangely positioning their wingers narrowly.
“Why? Adi and Eder Fabian are players with great dribbling skills. They wouldn’t be able to resist creating 1-on-1 situations on the sides.”
Ji Tae’s gaze reflexively swept across the half-space.
The reason for using overload-to-isolation was that skilled players could thrive in 1-on-1 situations, and the defense would be dragged out, leaving the half-space empty.
And using this half-space to make sudden infiltrations or send the ball to the weak side was one of the most common attacking patterns in modern soccer.
The problem is that Brazil is showing a completely opposite appearance.
As Adi and Eder Fabian, who had been narrowing in on the center, tried to mark him, one thought flashed through his mind.
‘Are they trying to pull me in…?’
* * *
South Korea’s defense is based on a strong man-to-man mark, using a narrow gap.
This is not a special tactic. In modern football, defense is divided into two types: one that focuses on the player with the ball and another that focuses on the space. The former is called man-to-man defense, and the latter is called zonal defense.
Of course, each coach has their preferred tactic, and every team uses different tactics, so not every team can be like this. However, there are still teams that focus solely on defense, despite the trend of modern football.
The advantage of South Korea’s defensive tactic is that it can strongly press the opponent, induce mistakes, and quickly counterattack from a high position.
However, if the opponent breaks through the defense, it can expose the empty space or lead to inefficiency if the players are not in sync.
No tactic has only advantages or disadvantages.
Ultimately, it’s up to the team to execute the tactic.
South Korea’s current defensive tactic has been successful due to the players’ passionate attitude and well-matched organization, but most importantly, the influence of one player who covers the backs of the pressing players is absolute.
That player is Joo Ji-tae.
Even if the press fails, it’s okay because Joo Ji-tae has got their back.
In fact, the opponent’s overly aggressive press against South Korea’s defense has been a major counterattack pattern so far.
But what if they can tie up Joo Ji-tae?
The foundation of South Korea’s strong press defense, which has seemed perfect so far, is based on Joo Ji-tae’s excellent covering ability. What if Joo Ji-tae can’t cover?
This is what Brazil is aiming for, and their coach, Andre, has sacrificed their two core attackers, Adi and Eder Fabian, to achieve this.
By pushing the two wingers to the center, they can immobilize Joo Ji-tae.
So far, their movement hasn’t been able to put enough pressure on Joo Ji-tae, but after conceding a goal, the two players’ changed movement was enough to tie him up.
[Ah, don’t rush in like that! Park In-hyuk, you’re going to get caught again!!]
[Why are our players rushing in like this? We need to be patient and wait for the defense to settle!!]
The situation was unfolding as Andre had expected.
[Bruno Santos is breaking through! The other players need to help… Go Tae-ho is rushing in— caught again!! Low cross! Danger— Joo Ji-tae! Joo Ji-tae barely clears it!! Joo Ji-tae’s fantastic clearance!!]
[Our players are being too hasty overall. We’re ahead by one point, right? We don’t need to rush in like this. The opponent is Brazil! We need to maintain a distance and defend with a gap!!]
No matter how excellent Joo Ji-tae is, he can’t mark both Adi and Eder Fabian, who are attacking from both sides, and also mark other players. That’s physically impossible.
Even if the defensive team has a numerical advantage, if Joo Ji-tae is marking two core attackers, it’s normal for the defense to struggle.
‘That’s normal…’
But the situation was abnormal.
South Korea’s defense was unable to cope with Brazil’s players’ breakthrough ability.
Coach Marizio couldn’t help but scratch his head at this unbelievable situation.
The players were being outrun one-on-one, or even two-on-one, to the point where they were getting caught, and the coach couldn’t do anything about it.
What can the coach do tactically? The coach can only create a numerical advantage.
In that sense, South Korea already had a sufficient numerical advantage. The problem was that the players were still getting caught by Brazil’s players despite having the advantage.
“What… why…?”
“…This is why we’re fundamentally weak against South American teams. We’re weak against their 1:1 breakthroughs…”
The coach’s frustrated question was met with a sheepish expression from the assistant coach.
That’s just the fact.
“We can’t help it. Let’s pull back a bit and mark their third line, and right now, Joo Ji-tae is shouldering too much responsibility. Let’s have Kim support him—”
“Wowwwww!!”
The sudden roar of the crowd.
Brazil had scored a equalizing goal.
“…Take them all down.”
“What?”
“Take everyone down except Jo Man.”
“Right now? We still have 25 minutes left in the first half, and if we defend like this—”
Coach Marizio firmly replied to the head coach’s objection.
“We can’t stop them even if we do this.”
“…….”
* * *
After the equalizing goal, the game became an experiment to test the limits of Korea’s defense.
[Ales Fred deeply penetrates— Joo Jitae! He bursts out in an instant and blocks the pass, but the second ball goes back to Brazil! Eder Fabian takes it and breaks through— this time, Noh Han-ho blocks it!]
[Gabriel Nasium receives the ball on the side. Kim Tae-jin and Park In-hyeok try to block him, but… Ah, Gabriel Nasium easily breaks through! Kim Su-han chases, and crosses!! Oh no, Danilo Barbosa is coming! Joo Jitae blocks him! They jump at the same time!! Fortunately, Choi Kyu-hyun catches the ball!]
[The ball is rolling out! Be careful of the second ball, Adi shoots! Joo Jitae blocks it with his body!!]
[Jung Chae-geun tackles the ball! Oh Seung-hwon takes it, but it’s stolen! Korea is in crisis! Haphaele is going straight forward— Gabriel Nasium appears! Oh, Joo Jitae! It’s Joo Jitae again!! He jumps up and kicks the ball away with his heel!!]
[Jo Malcom shoots! Jung Chae-geun! Jung Chae-geun blocks it with his body!!]
Somehow, Joo Jitae’s presence feels overwhelming, but Korea managed to withstand Brazil’s fierce attacks from the middle of the first half to the middle of the second half without conceding a goal.
Instead, in the middle,
[Joo Jitae competes with Emerson! He’s fast! He kicks the ball with the tip of his foot— Wow!? Joo Jitae turns around at that speed! He’s running!! Joo Jitae, Joo Jitae!!]
[Ah, ah, ah!! Joo Jitae pushes away Eder Fabian and Ales Fred! Haphaele chases, but— Flip flap!! Ah, danger, Marseille turn!! Fernando Henrique is also blocked!! There’s only Lucas Pomp in front! Joo Jitae, Joo Jitae shoot!! Ah, ah, ah!! Goalpost!! Goalpost!!]
Joo Jitae ran 55 meters, beating five players, and faced the goalkeeper one-on-one, but his shot hit the goalpost and fell into the goalkeeper’s arms.
[The game goes into extra time.]
The extended extra time was no different.
[Gabriel shoots! Joo Jitae blocks it with his face!! Ah, is Joo Jitae okay? He’s bleeding right now…]
[Park In-hyeok! Park In-hyeok blocks with his body— Ah, Park In-hyeok finally falls and can’t get up.]
[Song Si-hyun is struggling. He came in as a substitute, but he’s been running more than anyone and helping with defense. There are no more substitute cards left… Ah, Song Si-hyun is sending a signal that he’ll keep running. Song Si-hyun, who’s struggling.]
[…Korea is desperate.]
[Brazil is getting anxious… Please, hold on until the end, our players.]
And finally.
[The added time is running out— Adi shoots! Park Myung-ho blocks it!]
[Penalty shootout!! Penalty shootout!!]
The final Russian roulette to advance to the semifinals has arrived.