161. Western Wall (1)
Valdebebas 1st Army Training Ground.
The eyes of the players gathered in the audiovisual room rolled frantically.
A video of the game of Juventus, the next opponent, was being played, and the distribution of passes by section showed pass success rate and areas where many key passes were made.
Because the numbers were coming out in real time, it was easy to see at a glance the characteristics of the opposing players for whom I was responsible.
It felt like he was watching a game, but Hoyoung's eyes were busy following a man.
It was a man who was walking around the stadium all the time with his blonde hair flowing.
"That's an incredible amount of activity."
Hoyoung, who had been quietly watching the game, spoke quietly, and Zidane, who was sitting next to him, took it one step further.
"It's scary."
His name is Pavel Nedv?d.
He was the man who won the prestigious Ballon d'Or five years ago, beating Henry and Maldini.
His position was mainly as a left winger, and he was a genius among geniuses who survived firmly in the Italian league, known as the 'graveyard of wingers', and became the best player.
'To be more precise, he is a hard-working genius.'
He was a famous player who had heard of him at least once even if he was not a soccer fan, so Hoyoung knew him deep inside.
Although genius is genius, he was known as a player who focused on training whether he was asleep or awake, to the point where he was called the 'incarnation of hard work.'
An example of how scary a hard-working genius can be was Pavel Nedved.
As a representative example, he runs from the moment he returns home after training until he goes to bed.
Run regardless of whether it is on the street or on a treadmill.
Even while on vacation during the pre-season, I jog whenever I have time.
Along with Kaka, he was one of the players the paparazzi hated.
It was thanks to such efforts that he was able to earn the nicknames 'the best two-footed player' and 'two hearts'.
There was a lot of talk in Korea about this, saying he was similar to Manchester United's Park Ji-seok.
That was something that Hoyoung also agreed with to some extent.
'There's that side to it.'
His ability to dominate the entire stadium with his crazy activity level was similar to that of Park Ji-seok.
But the level was different.
"What do you think, Zizou?"
"I really think he's a phenomenal player. "We faced each other in the Champions League semifinals five years ago and the Champions League round of 16 three years ago, but unfortunately we lost both times."
"The one at the center was Nedved."
"that's right. From kick-off until the end of the game, he roamed the midfield and disrupted our play. And the scariest thing is that he is a two-footed player who can make the best kicks and passes from any position. "Because he uses both feet so well, his tackling and dribbling skills are also very good."
As the saying goes, Nedved was the most perfect two-footed player in the history of soccer.
In other words, it could be a very important game for Hoyoung.
'Maybe I could covet the world's best sheep's feet.'
"But when the landowner says that, I'm starting to get a little scared?"
"That's normal. The thought of meeting him for the first time in a while makes me feel competitive. But it's not just Nedved you have to watch out for."
Zidane's finger turned to the screen and began pointing at a man with a bald head and square jaw.
He was a central defender in charge of Juventus' defense.
"Take a good look. "If you do compete, you will be the opponent you need to be most careful with."
"yep."
Hoyoung, who became his first man of the match by scoring a hat trick against AT Madrid, was highly likely to play as a sub in the next game.
So, a special afternoon training was prepared.
Since the game was tomorrow, there was no time to relax.
Everyone was sweating and accelerating their training.
Most of the players were divided into groups of three or four and were undergoing group training, but Hoyoung was isolated in the mini stadium with Higuain under the instructions of technical coach Bruno.
It was always training, but the pressure and burden Hoyoung felt today was worse than usual.
This is because he was scheduled to play a leading role in the attack in the next game.
Technical Coach Bruno said.
"Hey Woo. Think of this as the Olimpico Grande Torino Stadium. And the person standing in front of you now is Giorgio, the focal point of Juventus' defense. Scenes like this often appear in Juventus' defensive zone. "What would you do in a situation like this?"
"I have never competed with him, but I know that his man-marking ability is one of the top three in the world. While Argentina's Mascherano uses perfect tackling as his weapon, I think Chiellini obliterates opposing attackers with strong power and intelligent play. However, he is weak at keeping the ball and tends to make mistakes in the rear build-up. "I think there will be a good opportunity if the front line pressure is applied in the first line."
yesternight.
Hoyoung, who played full time in the game against AT Madrid, continued to watch the Juventus game video organized by the power analyst with his tired body.
Analysis before going to bed was very helpful in finding the other person's weaknesses.
"good. "It's great."
The technical coach laughed at the answer that was more perfect than expected and took a step back.
"I think everything is ready, so there's no need to explain further. "Then we start training right away."
"All right."
Sigh.
When the technical coach took a step back, another player came in and stood tall.
"okay. As you can see from the video, he is a fighter-type defender. but."
A man who keeps his head shaved 365 days a year.
He continued speaking as he tapped Hoyoung on the chest with his forearm, which had a Japanese tattoo on it.
"Why don't you break through to me first? "If you can't get through me, it's better not to think about getting through that guy."
The man with the wide-eyed smile was Fabio Cannavaro, famous for his bright personality.
[Fabio Cannavaro]
-Wailing Wall (T)
-Selecting a defensive position to build a wailing wall (SU)
-Unrivaled jumping power (S+3)
-Unwavering composure (S+)
-Fantastic sliding tackle (S+)
-(More Example)
(You can covet one talent when you meet the conditions.)
(For S rank or higher, you can covet a talent only when you achieve the hidden condition.)
(Condition 1: Train together for 4000 minutes)
(Condition 2: Multiplayer in La Liga Achieve a goal)
(Condition 3: Successfully break through 10 times)
(Condition 4: Win 3 times in the Champions League)
(Hidden condition: Open when one or more talents are desired)
Despite his outstanding performance during the 2006 World Cup, Zidane was awarded the Ballon d'Or An unlucky man who had to give up his.
35-year-old veteran Fabio Cannavaro was today's training partner.
'If we win the next game, I'll be able to take advantage of Cannavaro's talent.'
While Hoyoung was thinking that, Cannavaro blocked the goal and pointed his finger.
"You go first, Gonzalo. "Young made the pass from behind."
"Of course."
"yep."
Higuain took off.
It was about 15 minutes later.
widely!
Cannavaro stopped Higuain's ball.
"shit. "Fail again."
Higuain could not easily overcome the wall called Cannavaro.
Since his dribbling skills were not outstanding, I tried attacking him through space penetration, let alone penetrating him one-on-one, but it didn't work.
It seemed like it would be impossible to break through, but 7 out of 10 times it ended in failure.
It is literally a wailing wall.
He led Italy to second place in the 2006 World Cup and was one of the best central defenders of all time, saying, "The ball stops in front of me."
Although he was not young at the age of 35, his physical ability had deteriorated and he was out of form, but his defensive ability was still there.
Although he is short in stature, his stubborn and aggressive man-to-man marking ability, based on his sturdy physique, was enough to rank him among the top three players in the league.
but.
"I'm old and if I can't break through the goalposts, Juventus' defense will be nothing."
Cannavaro was the focal point of the Juventus defense until three years ago.
Therefore, I was confident that I knew the Juventus defense better than anyone else.
especially.
"Giorgio is a guy I have had a lot of influence with. At least within Real Madrid, I know him better than anyone else. With your current skills, it's probably not even close to possible. If I were Director Schuster, I wouldn't include you as a sub. "I probably won't even have to put him on a plane."
"But…actual combat and training are different, right?"
"Don't be stupid. Training is not practice, it is rehearsal. The sole purpose of training should be the game. You have to always keep that in mind when training…"
"You can show everything you have prepared in practice."
"hmm?"
Hoyoung, who was standing quietly next to him, interrupted Cannavaro.
I remembered the words I had heard so many times from Sao Paulo coach Carlos, and started talking to myself without realizing it.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Ha ha ha ha ha. No, that's true. That's what I was trying to say. Well then, come this time. It's still 15 minutes. "Take charge of Higuain's pass."
"Tsk."
Although he was very upset, Higuain gave a pass to Hoyoung, promising to do the next.
'Next time, we will succeed even more. 'More than Woo Ho-young.'
But that was then.
Tap, crackle.
Slosh!
"?!"
It happened in the blink of an eye.
After receiving Higuain's simple penetration pass, Hoyoung swung to the left and at the same time kicked off the ground and ran out of Cannavaro's defense zone.
Afterwards, he shot the ball accurately into the mini-goal with a quick shot in half a beat.
Higuain was speechless and Cannavaro lifted his chin to look at Hoyoung.
Two thoughts came to mind when I saw his appearance.
'I'm really old.'
Bitterness.
It was similar to the feeling I had with Messi when I faced him in El Clásico last year.
And another thought was 'hope'.
'Maybe… a breakthrough may be closer than you think.'
Juventus consists of a midfielder and defense that will take your breath away just by looking at them.
Even though Real Madrid is a team with the best offensive power in the world, I thought it would not be easy to break through Juventus' shield.
But now that thought has changed slightly.
'If you break through with good timing and animal-like quickness, you can attack the space behind Juventus.'
Cannavaro seemed to understand after facing him one-on-one like this.
'The opposing defenders deserve to be in trouble. 'If you fight against a guy like this in real life, it's literally hell.'
Cannavaro curled the corners of his mouth and snapped his fingers.
"again! This is not even possible! "This scene will have to happen a hundred more times!"
"going!"
There is a saying in the world like this.
It is said that a defender's true tutor is an attacker, and conversely, an attacker's true tutor is a defender.
That was a hundred times right.
Hoyoung was able to grow to another level while dealing with him.
Training lasted until evening, and there was a two-hour break after the meal.
After that, we went on a final inspection while undergoing intensive team training.
The team left for the airport early in the morning the next day.
After arriving in the morning, we planned to have breakfast at the Turin hotel and sleep until late at noon.
On Real Madrid's private plane heading to Turin Airport, Italy, players exhausted from hard training were taking a comfortable rest.
Meanwhile, at the conference table installed in the center of the plane, the manager and coaching staff were talking about tonight's game.
"Nedved is likely to play as a left midfielder. "It was like that most of the time when we played against strong teams."
"That's tricky. "A player like this has outstanding dribbling skills and defensive skills."
"He will probably move around to cover the defense up to the first line. So, it would be beneficial in many ways to leave Woo Ho-young as a sub member and leave him as a game-winning card."
While opinions were being gathered, the man who came out of the shower room in the back spoke.
"oh my god."
It was Cannavaro who overheard the meeting while coming out after finishing his shower.
He expressed his opinion in his characteristically firm voice.
"What did you just say?"