NOVEL NEXT chapter 124
124 – Juzitai, the Captain
124
La Masia de Can Planes.
The word “La Masia,” which means “farmhouse” in Catalan, originated from an old club house and became the general term for Barcelona’s youth facilities. Now, it has surpassed that and become a synonym for the youth facilities that represent the football world.
While Real Madrid, their arch-rival, gathered star players with their “Galácticos” policy, named after the Spanish word for “galaxy,” Barcelona produced exceptional players through La Masia, their boundless talent pool.
From Lionel Messi, considered the GOAT of football, to Carlos Puyol, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodríguez, Jordi Alba, Thiago Alcântara, Gerard Piqué, and Cesc Fàbregas, they nurtured numerous football stars who represented their generation.
The harmonious and systematic training under a single philosophy produced players who went on to shock the world, earning the “Tiki-Taka” label that symbolized the Barcelona phenomenon.
Although the recent 10-year performance has been disappointing, even the incompetent Barcelona board has spared no effort to preserve La Masia.
The young players, dubbed “holy youth” by Barcelona fans, who make up the core of the current first team, are all products of La Masia.
The entire training process, from the lowest level of Prebenjamín to Benjamín, Alevín, Infantil, Cadete, and Juvenil, and eventually to the adult team, is based on “Rondo.”
Barcelona’s training is built on Rondo.
“Today is Rondo day. You’ve done Rondo too, right?”
“There’s no team that doesn’t do Rondo these days. We even did it in Korea.”
“Really? You did Rondo in Korea?”
“…Even African village teams do Rondo.”
“Of course. It’s our training method, so any football team should follow it.”
It seems they think Korea is some African backwater.
As Joo Ji-tae stretched before the first training session, he wondered who was so obsessed with Barcelona.
‘Leo?’
It was a familiar face.
Leo Martínez.
The guy he played with at Chelsea for three years… but now, it was as if they had never met before.
“Your name is Leo… Leo Martínez?”
“Oh, yeah! You knew my name?”
“That’s right. You’re a midfielder, aren’t you?”
“Wow! How did you know?”
“You look like a midfielder. You must be good at passing.”
“It’s true. Genius is different! Can you really tell just by looking?”
Martínez was excited.
The memory of chatting with him during their first season suddenly resurfaced.
“Martínez… are you Argentine?”
“That’s right. You know a lot.”
“Your name is Leo… your parents are Messi fans?”
“That’s right!! Oh, wow! You’re a real genius! My parents loved Messi so much that they named me Leo!! What is this? Is this some kind of Eastern mysticism? Can you see my past?”
“No, it’s just deduction.”
“Deduction! Wow! You’re really smart!”
“It’s nothing.”
Joo Ji-tae turned his head, feigning nonchalance.
…This is fun.
“Alright, gather around! Let’s stretch lightly today.”
At Coach José Luis Molowny’s shout, the players stopped stretching and gathered in threes and fours. The coaches then divided the players into several teams.
Coincidentally, Joo Ji-tae was on the same team as Leo Martinez.
“Wow! Do you know that? Joo is a real genius! A complete genius!”
“Calm down, Leo. What’s going on?”
“So… listen. What just happened is—”
Hmph.
This is embarrassing.
Since the team consisted only of young players in the same age group, they all cheered and whistled at Leo’s sudden outburst.
It’s no wonder they admired him.
Unlike themselves, who were worried about entering the first team, Leo had already secured a spot at the age of 19 and won the Golden Ball at the World Cup, earning a transfer fee of 1.25 billion euros.
It was truly legendary. The genius-like aspects of the ‘idolized’ player were revealed in just one day, and the young players couldn’t help but admire him.
“What’s the atmosphere like here? Have we not divided the teams yet?”
“Iker! Listen! What just happened is—”
“Ah, let’s talk about it later. Let’s divide the teams quickly. First… um, like this. Four people, including Joo, and Max, Joel, and Osman will be inside. You know what I mean, right?”
“Yes.”
Joo Ji-tae nodded as if it was obvious.
The Rondo training, created by the legendary player and coach Johan Cruyff, was a type of training that focused on ball control and pressure. It was known that Cruyff hated running during training, so he created this method.
The training started by dividing the players into two groups, with the larger group forming the outer perimeter and the smaller group positioned inside.
As the outer players passed the ball, the inner players would apply pressure to intercept it. The ratio of players and the width of the perimeter were crucial details that required adjustment.
This training required a high level of concentration and technique, as the players had to process the ball quickly and accurately in a narrow space.
Originally created by Johan Cruyff, this training method was used by Barcelona, and later adopted by other professional teams.
“Ah, no. Let’s narrow the gap a bit more. Like that. Yeah, that’s it. We’re used to this, Joo. Remember it well. Then we can start.”
The Rondo training began with Joo Ji-tae’s pass.
The players formed a square, passing the ball to each other, while the three players inside tried to intercept it.
The gap was so narrow that there was no time to think about the next play after receiving the ball.
There was no time to think, and the pass was strong due to the urgency.
If you didn’t focus, you couldn’t keep up with the tempo, and even if you did, you needed exceptional trapping skills to handle the strong pass.
The young players, who had been trained by Barcelona since childhood, were struggling to cope with the narrow gap and the pressure of having only one defender.
“Whoa, what’s going on? This is crazy!”
“Stick together! Joel, block the path from the other side— Wait, how…?”
Joo Ji-tae was different.
Even though the outer players were passing the ball to him and the inner defenders were focusing on him, Joo Ji-tae received the ball calmly, maintained possession, and passed it again.
“Wow… he’s so calm. He’s amazing.”
“The genius is a genius. He’s fast, even with his tall build, and his balance never falters.”
Players who had spent their lives playing football could easily gauge each other’s skills, even during training.
Therefore, the players participating in the Rondo training could clearly feel Joo Ji-tae’s abilities.
Coach Iker, who was watching from the sidelines, also shared his honest impression.
“Um, how was it? From a distance, it seemed like Joo was leading the team. What do you think? Was he really that good?”
“He was incredible. The best. Joo is already a complete player. He has… our Barcelona DNA.”
“Um…!”
Juzitae continued to show an overwhelming presence during the training sessions.
Even in the basic physical measurements.
“Wow! Juzitae is incredibly fast!!”
“What’s going on… it’s too fast, it’s scary…”
“Ao, what’s going on? Two people are attached, but why isn’t the balance broken?”
“How many times are you going to do this? Stop it…”
In the ball-handling training,
“Eik… Eik! Let’s try to attach it! This time, let’s take it away!”
“Did I take it away… Ah? What’s going on? Where did the ball go?”
“Uh? Did you see this? You’re crazy. You saw it in that gap and passed it accurately. What is this guy?”
“Hey, here… Ah? Are you really going to pass it accurately from this distance?”
“Juzitae is amazing—!!!”
It was the same in various other training sessions.
It was also evident in the practice game.
[Juzitae scores the opening goal in the first half!]
[Oh…! Juzitae scores a multi-goal in just 5 minutes!]
[Wow…!! Juzitae scores a hat-trick! Hat-trick!!]
The coaching staff watching from the sidelines were clapping and crying tears of joy, while Coach Hose couldn’t help but sigh.
“What am I seeing…?”
“…You’re worth 1.25 billion euros, you can’t get hurt. The coaching staff has given a ‘strong’ warning to be careful not to get hurt. At least for today, when the coaching staff is watching, be ‘especially’ more careful…”
“Damn it, but we have to train! What’s going on? Is this North Korea? Is Juzitae Kim Jitae? When did Catalonia become a crazy country that fires missiles? We have to train properly, train!!”