127. This is
a hotel room in Qinhuangdao, China, where strict security is maintained in Beijing.
Director Casiraghi started explaining by displaying the video he had just obtained on the TV screen.
It was a game between South Korea and Cameroon that ended 2 hours ago.
The Italian players who returned from the game in the afternoon still looked tired, but the 39-year-old young coach Casiraghi was still enthusiastic.
Although they won 5-0 in the first match against Honduras today, the second match of the group stage against Korea was waiting three days later.
"Korea is not an opponent to be taken lightly."
"Hmm…."
The core of Italy's attack.
Giuseppe Rossi of Villarreal, a Spanish first division team, gave a lukewarm response.
Then Casiraghi spoke quickly.
"I'll correct you. "You can't take Woo Ho-young lightly."
"I know."
The person who said these words was Italy's future 'Giovinco'.
He sympathized with the director's words more than anyone else.
This is because he was the only one among them who had been with Woo Ho-young.
During the 2005 U17 Peru World Cup.
Just thinking about the game in which he was sent off for headbutting after being provoked by Woo Ho-young, I felt like my blood was rushing in my sleep.
nightmare.
From that day on, I have never forgotten that day.
Whenever I thought about that, I would jump up from my sleep and run to the training ground.
With the determination to surpass him, the next time we meet, I will definitely step on him.
And finally, the game was scheduled to be played three days later.
Giovinco added another word.
"We have to stop him."
"okay. That is our only goal. That will lead directly to victory. We should never regard him as a youth. As you just saw in the video, he is already a player beyond his years. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"yes."
All of the players gathered at the table listened to the coach's words.
Even from their perspective, Woo Ho-young in the video was by no means someone to be taken lightly.
Marchisio said, raising his sharp jaw line.
"Like a Spanish leaguer, he focuses on possession of the ball."
"So you will have an important role in this game."
Marchisio.
As a member of Juventus, a prestigious team in the Italian first division, he was a prospect who was just spreading his wings.
He was so versatile that he could play from an attacker to a midfielder. In particular, he had an excellent balance between offensive and defensive abilities, making him perfect for use as a central midfielder.
Although his technical skills were not good, his mentality was very mature for someone at such a young age, and he had the advantage of not losing his composure in any situation.
For that reason, Casiraghi planned to nominate Marchisio as Woo Ho-young's opponent.
'No matter who on the team blocks it, not Marchisio, he can't be blocked anyway.'
Therefore, since they were going to get robbed anyway, I thought it would be better to have Marchisio, who has excellent mental and soccer intelligence.
Casiraghi said in a serious tone.
"You must not approach Woo Ho-young with the mindset of blocking him. We have to stop him from making the plays he wants to make. "Show Italian soccer an example."
"I need to dominate the midfield and not lose possession of the ball."
"okay. "You take on the defensive midfielder Ki Sung-ryong and clear the space."
"yes."
England (EPL) struggles.
Spain (La liga) is individual play.
And a characteristic of the Italian first division (Serie) is space.
It starts with space and ends with space.
In England, this is sometimes referred to as a chess fight, and it is famous for fierce competition for space, leaving no space to the opponent.
That is why it is called the graveyard of wingers.
Although the physical fight is weaker than in the EPL, the tackles for space shooters and the rough play and pressure of defenders are unrivaled.
That is why top strikers who have experienced Italy, such as Henry, Ronaldo, and Rivaldo, mentioned that they are reluctant to play Serie A.
And Coach Casiraghi planned to use that style against Hoyoung Woo.
'If we play in Serie A style, we can calm down Woo Ho-young's play a little bit. There will be problems in the battle for organization.'
"And Silvestri."
As if he had finished speaking to Marchisio, Casiraghi's gaze turned to the side.
Silvestri answered.
"yes."
"You assist Marchisio. As you can see from watching the video of the match between Alex Song and Woo Ho-young, the limitations of sloppy forward pressure are clear. This is because Woo Ho-young is a player who knows how to create variables. You should always keep that in mind. "If you fight him five times with your skills and block him twice, you are successful."
"All right."
"it's okay. Then everyone go out and rest. "Only Montolivo remains."
after.
Casiraghi, a man in a room alone with Montolivo, parted his lips.
"I will give you an important mission. "Because we can't completely stop Woo Ho-young with our original plan."
This is because the play style of 'Castilla Woo Ho-young' that has been analyzed so far is different from that of 'Korea Woo Ho-young'.
Accordingly, Casiraghi presented a simple but effective card.
"Send me out."
"yes?"
"I can say without a doubt that there is no player at our team level who can definitely stop Woo Ho-young. It's not that he's ignoring you, he's just better than you. So, send it out unconditionally."
"Do you mean to tell me to injure you?"
Casiraghi snapped his fingers and nodded.
"okay. First, launch a provocation and finish carefully. Whether it's breaking your nose with your elbow, popping your knee, or stepping on your toe. Have you ever tried it? If you don't have one, you can always show an example video. "During the 2002 World Cup, Vieri played that role very well."
Causing injuries disguised as accidents.
Although it was an unsportsmanlike act, this too was a tactic.
A tactic that throws away one's conscience.
"Is that okay?"
"This is also a skill. How difficult is it to keep it from being noticed? And in my time, it was really bad. This happened a lot, especially on days when there was a derby match against AC Milan. "I almost got hurt more than once."
"Hmm…"
"It's okay to be ejected, so just injure him and kick him out of the stadium. "Once the suspension is lifted, we will give you a chance to participate in the semifinals or finals."
That was the reason for starting rotation member Montolivo.
In other words, sacrifice for the greater good.
In fact, it was a tactic often used in soccer.
In some cases, players do it themselves, and in other cases, coaches ask them to do it.
There are various methods.
Killing tackles that break the knees or elbow strikes are typical examples, and sometimes flying knee kicks appear.
It was a vicious tactic implemented under the justification that soccer is war.
The reason Casiraghi used such extreme tactics was to advance to first place in the group and avoid Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Therefore, we had to win.
That was why the Italian national soccer team chose accommodation on the outskirts of the city.
Usually, athletes stay in training camps at the Beijing Olympic Village, but they put a lot of effort into preparing for the game, even choosing a quiet hotel.
The desire to win was greater than ever.
And hoping that his efforts would work, Director Casiraghi stayed up until late at night.
On the other hand, the Korean national soccer team lived in the Beijing Athletes' Village, and by winning their first game today, they succeeded in creating a festive atmosphere in the Athletes' Village.
The next day, I was scheduled to have a 4-hour morning training at a training camp on the outskirts of the city, and the rest of the day I was scheduled to get a massage and rest all afternoon to control my condition.
But Hoyoung had a schedule for tomorrow evening.
It was none other than the Olympic opening ceremony to be held at the Beijing Olympic Gymnasium.
It is common for soccer teams, swimmers, and gymnasts, who start their preliminary competitions early, to not participate in the team lineup for fear of affecting their physical condition.
Usually, during that time, people gather in groups in front of the TV to watch the opening ceremony, build secret bonds with athletes from other sports who are not participating in the opening ceremony, or even go sightseeing around the city.
However, in some cases, participation in the entrance ceremony is often done for symbolism.
The same was true in Hoyoung's case.
This is because of the symbolism of being the youngest participant in Olympic soccer history.
However, for Hoyoung's condition, he decided to participate only in the 1 hour and 40 minute standing event.
August 8, 2008, 8 p.m.
A grand opening ceremony was held at the Beijing Olympic Main Stadium.
Indeed, the scale of the continent was extraordinary.
The opening ceremony was held in an extravagant manner, with a budget of approximately 600 billion won.
Although there were twists and turns, such as a blue screen appearing on the screen during the opening ceremony, the entrance ceremony schedule went off without a hitch.
The entry process for players including Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Turkey began, and South Korea was scheduled to enter the 176th.
Hoyoung, who was waiting for his turn in the gymnasium's players' waiting room at that time, could have felt lonely, but he had no time for it.
This was thanks to the fact that Korean athletes from other sports recognized Hoyoung and came around to greet him first.
It's not that he isn't, Hoyoung was already a star in Korea.
It was only natural that he played a key role in leading Korea to its first Olympic victory.
"Hello, Hoyoung."
"hello~."
Hoyoung's eyes rolled frantically.
From C-level talent to A-level talent.
He also showed S-level talent, so it was worth it.
Without missing this opportunity, Hoyoung exchanged greetings with many of the players and built friendships with them.
If done well, there were also talents that could be coveted.
Olympic.
I thought it was really good.
And after a while, the players left the waiting room and entered a long tunnel.
It wasn't long after that that they appeared at the stadium.
[Ladies and gentlemen, the players of Korea enter next!]
The announcer's voice rang out in the stadium.
As the announcement was made in Chinese followed by English, the main body of the Korean team entered the stadium, welcomed by the Korean president and his wife.
Athletes and officials walked out one after another, led by Jang Seong-oh of Judo, who was selected as the flag bearer.
The Chinese announcer clearly spoke his prepared comments and told interesting stories.
[The youngest Olympic medalist in history is a Greek athlete who won a bronze medal at the age of 10. Then, do you know who the youngest athlete at this year's Beijing Olympics is?]
[Cameroon's Mouapo competed at the age of 12.]
[That's right. However, the foreign media is paying more attention to this player than that, and the player who is entering right now is Woo Ho-young.]
[That's right. At just 15 years and 22 days old, he broke the record for being the youngest player in Olympic soccer history. Since it is a record that is difficult to achieve in a team game rather than an individual event, it is receiving a lot of attention.]
With such comments echoing throughout the stadium, Hoyoung, dressed in a white suit, proudly walked out with the team.
The image spread all over the world via radio waves.
The number of viewers counted at that time was estimated to be over several billion people around the world.
And when Hoyoung's face was captured in a one-shot camera shot, Korean soccer fans were engulfed in enthusiasm.
The people he liked more than anyone else were definitely Woo Ho-young's family.
Hoyoung's younger brother, now 8 years old, went wild and went wild, saying that he would have something to brag about to his friends when he went to school tomorrow.
It was the same phenomenon seen in Victoria Recife, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Although it was vacation, Monica, who woke up early in the morning and watched the TV, was busy looking at Hoyoung's face with dimples like wells on both cheeks.
"It's out!"
Although she had matured considerably for a Latina, her face and behavior still appeared naive.
"Hoyoung!"
I stared at the screen as if I was going to dive into the TV, but there was no answer.
She felt pity.
'Good luck Hoyoung. Let's go to the next Olympics together.'
She was scheduled to move to SAK International School El Castillo around August to coincide with the start of the new semester in Spain in September.
I sincerely cheered for Hoyoung in my heart, hoping that day would come as soon as possible.
'Please don't get hurt.'
And the long-awaited match against Italy is two days later, on August 10th.
It took place at the Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center.
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