<017. Frog Out of the Well>

The World Youth Competition, which had been commenced in a hurry, was to finally end today.

If FC Chabum did win the trophy, they would look good to other academies and the hosts.

But the problem was this kid.

[Holger Badstuber]

Skills Possessed

Soccer prodigy (B)

Outstanding defensive positioning (B-)

Satisfactory ball stopping (C-)

(A skill can be taken if the criteria are fulfilled.)

(Criteria 1: Win the match.)

(Criteria 2: Score 1 goal and 1 assist.)

He was judged as the future of German defending but was held back by his fragile body. He was a future star player with a bright beginning and a dull finish.

He was Holger Badstuber.

‘He really is too tall.’

It was as if a white giraffe was standing before him.

Even if he used his fast legs, getting past Badstuber and his physique was not easy.

It was comparable to a battle between an ant with fast feet and an ordinary giraffe.

VFB Stuttgart scored within the first 15 minutes of the match.

Beep!

“Ha…”

Ho Yung let out a deep breath.

The fact that it was only one goal wasn’t important, it was the fact that there was a significant difference in the skill level of both teams.

Truthfully speaking, there was no hope of winning.

‘This is hard.’

It was just as he thought. The match was hard.

The match was flowing in a frustrating way as Stuttgart used a systematic defence strategy, as well as a close-up defence.

The year was 2002.

Stuttgart had come out with the latest trends in practical soccer, albeit a little changed.

Defend first, attack later.

It was a strategy to target Ho Yung, who currently had the highest goal count in the competition.

What can a lone striker do against German players who are near 170cm scattered all around the pitch, all putting pressure on him?

There was no chances in the back, no angles to attempt a long shot, and no open space.

It was a crisis all around.

‘God damn it. Just you wait. I’m going to score at least one goal, no matter what!’

His resolution was to show everything he had in him, even if he was to lose the match.

He was Ho Yung, the player that had scored 9 goals in the competition, and if he raises his offensive points in the finals, he could easily win the Golden Ball award.

“Let’s goooooooo!”

Ho Yung set his passion on fire.

35 minutes left.

He wasn’t going to go down easily.

But, in the dying minutes of the first half, Stuttgart got an extra goal from the constant cross headers.

And 15 minutes into the second half, another header goal made it 3-0.

[Ah, this is a shame. We can clearly see that VFB Stuttgart prepared themselves for this competition. Leaving this aside, we usually call this physical soccer, right?]

[Yes. Realistically, if the height difference is around 20cm, you can’t cover that gap with skill, there’s just too much strain. Especially for player Ho Yung Wu, his height only reaches about 134cm.]

[That’s right. If there is some good news, it’s that it will be a good learning experience for FC Chabum’s players… Ah, as soon as I spoke! Player Ho Yung Wu is attempting a charge in the middle of the field! And at the same time, Holger Badstuber is sticking close to him!]

The centre-back Badstuber ran towards Ho Yung aggressively.

But, Ho Yung didn’t stop his feet.

‘Let’s see who wins.’

With that mindset, Ho Yung ran towards the penalty box and purposely created space.

“Get out of the way!”

“Ugh!”

As Ho Yung recklessly attempted to charge like a bulldozer, Badstuber, who had been blocking his path, fell off.

But he couldn’t ignore the counteraction.

Both Ho Yung and Badstuber flung off to the side, only stopping after rolling several times on the ground.

“Ugh….”

It felt like his internal organs were twisted around.

Luckily, he instinctively used the training he had received on injury prevention, avoiding any injuries.

But.

Beep!

“Why?!”

Ho Yung corrected himself after remembering that the target was Korean.

“Why! I was just going where I needed to go!!”

However, unlike what Ho Yung thought, the focus was not on him, but Badstuber.

And the referee pulled out a red card.

‘Uh. Mmm. I approve of that fair whistle.’

Without any redundant words, Ho Yung readied himself for the free kick.

Even without a home advantage, Badstuber’s red card was a justified decision. It was because Badstuber’s charge had no care to it, was reckless, and used brute strength.

He was the definition of a brute.

“But who’s going to take this? The free kick taker is Jun Hu, but he’s on the bench.”

“I will! I’ll take it!”

Ho Yung, who had arrived while waving an overexcited hand, quickly took up the position.

Since he was the team ace, nobody on his team restrained him.

‘I will score from here!’

It was 18 meters from the goal.

Without hesitation, Ho Yung stretched out his right foot, with power, to take the shot.

Boom!

The ball, which had close to no spin on it, travelled smoothly until it rode the wind and dipped below.

Maybe.

It was the first time using this skill in a formal match, the power of the spinning, curving free kick with form, also known as the toe kick.

“WAAAAAAAAAHHH!”

Ho Yung’s fast shot was enough to confuse the goalkeeper.

Ho Yung had jumped higher than ever before.

“WOW!!”

Even today, he showed the ceremony that flustered opponents without fail.

The match continued without Badstuber.

Stuttgart’s director chose to play the secure and lock strategy, and as a result, the boring match continued.

Ho Yung kept on taking shots at the goal, but unfortunately, it ended in FC Chabum’s defeat, 3-1.

It was a sour defeat, the first one in the competition.

“Hoo.”

His feelings of anger and shame were bigger, but on one side, he was relaxed.

It was a competition that he had gotten a lot out of, so he found some comfort.

And truthfully, the fact that they had gotten this far was nothing short of a miracle, and since he was 10 years old, one defeat was nothing to be sad or angry about.

Too much of the desire to win could do more harm than good.

‘If we meet again, I will win. I’ll be sure to.”

After the ceremony for the winning teams and the runners-up, there was the personal achievement ceremony.

Ho Yung rose to the stage after pushing aside the regret of being runners-up.

“Haha.”

The atmosphere was suboptimal, but the reason he could laugh was that he got the King of Goals and the Golden Ball award.

It was an award to be given to the most superior player, and with 10 goals and 5 assists, it was definite that Ho Yung would qualify to get the award.

The King of Goals prize money and the Golden Ball prize money came to be a total of $5000.

“Woah.”

It was the first time he had made money through soccer, so it was even more thrilling to him.

And there was one final prize.

[Select the skill you desire.]

Basically unlimited height growth (B+)

Confident headers (B-)

Ho Yung was elated.

It was on the way back to the player bus.

“Ho Yung! You did so well!”

“Ho Yung, you’re the best!”

Cheers came from beyond the crowd control line.

Despite the cold weather, Ho Yung’s fan club members hadn’t left the stadium yet.

‘Damn it. I’m going to tear up again.’

“Grr.”

It would’ve been better if they had won.

His disappointment grew as he saw his fans.

But soccer was like this all the time!

He just needed to return it by doing better next time.

“Uhahaha. I will win next time, without a doubt!”

10 years old.

Ho Yung told himself arrogantly that they were runners-up thanks to his record of 10 goals and 5 assists in the World Youth Competition.

But he hadn’t even begun yet.

‘This is the beginning. I will become the best soccer player in the world and beat everyone, no matter what.’

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

Ho Yung began to scream in the limousine bus where everyone was deep in sleep and had an aspiration.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Oh, you surprised me. We’re caught in a red light, how am I meant to go?”

“Mr Driver. When they say the word soccer, what country comes to mind?’

“Brazil, of course~”

“Right?”

Ho Yung’s freshly sprouted wings began to spread in that direction.

After the competition.

Ho Yung, who had a meeting with Sao Paulo FC, decided to go abroad and got on the plane after multiple procedures needed for studying abroad were completed.

2003, January 16th.

And just like that, Ho Yung and his parents entered Sao Paulo together.

Hwang Sun Wu and Hi Sun Kim were to help Ho Yung settle into the new country, then return to South Korea.

“Wow. It’s really hot.”

Sao Paulo had temperatures soaring above 30 degrees, which was the opposite of South Korea, which was currently in the middle of winter.

Since it was one of the major cities of Brazil and the centre of the economy, the magnitude of the population was significant.

“Why are there so many people in an airport?”

A girl called towards Ho Yung’s family as they headed out of the gates.

“Here! Over here!”

It was a woman in her mid-twenties, with a slender figure and long hair.

“Hello. I’m Choi Maria.”

Turning 28 this year, she operated a homestay in Sao Paulo, and was a Brazilian – ethnically Korean- for two years. And, she was the owner of the house that Ho Yung was to live in. No, specifically, the eldest daughter of the owner of the house.

She had introduced herself at Sao Paulo FC Academy, so her reliability was not in question.

And beside her was the Sao Paulo FC’s Asian staff, who had come to see Ho Yung with her.

His defining characteristic was the slurred Korean speech.

“Hello. You must be Ho Yung!”

“Nice to meet you!”

“Haha. Yes, nice to meet you. I saw you a lot on TV. But you seem rounder in person.”

She introduced herself as the “foreigner local support officer”, who helped Korean and Japanese students that were studying abroad adapt.

His name was Lukas Kim.

“Welcome to Sao Paulo.”

“Please take care of me!”

The life in Brazil that he had been waiting for was finally beginning.

Ho Yung received word from the academy to put all his luggage down in the hotel and get well rested.

It was to prepare him for the medical test, which was to be held in 2 days.

Thanks to the academy’s generosity, Ho Yung’s family could spend 4 days for free in Ho Yung’s empty hotel room.

The exact location of the house was ‘Town Victoria Hashpe’, which was a place where elite sports reporters lined up. It was a place where many of Brazil’s sports players had been born and was the Korean equivalent of elite sports’ birthplace, Taerung.

“Your room is on the second floor. Can you follow me?”

“Yep.”

While following Choi Maria up the spiral staircase, he met a girl who was making her way down.

“Hello.”

The girl greeted him shyly in Portuguese.

As a South American, she was a child with clear facial features and everything about her big.

Her height was tall, eyes big, and mouth big.

‘South America’s the best when it comes to girls… She’s like a Barbie doll.’

She looked like she had some Eastern European blood too.

He asked Choi Maria, and she told him that she was the girl who lived in the room next to his.

“How old is she?”

“Monika is… In Korean age, she’s 10 years old.”

“10 years…uck. She’s the same age as me?”

Ah.

He thought she was a middle schooler, but it seemed like Western people really did develop quickly.

“Mmm… But where’s my room?”

“You see the end of the hallway? Mum, dad. Come have a look!”

Creak.

As they entered, a cosy room was laid out before them.

With a low ceiling, one desk and one single bed.

It had the smell of an old house and looked like the rooms in foreign country movies.

‘This isn’t too bad!’

Getting a room at the standard of this one in a place with a high population such as Sao Paulo for $800 a month was like trying to pick stars. And since the price for the homestay was provided by the academy instead…

“This is amazing!”

The parents were relieved at Ho Yung’s happiness.

And two days later.

Ho Yung arrived at the academy’s physical examination room with Lukas Kim.

It was a medical test that would decide what class he would be in.

“Don’t be tense, just think of it as a simple examination.”

“Yep.”

As the examination began, Lukas found the Wu couple, who were waiting for the results.

“Um… I’m sorry, but could you tell me what your heights are?”

“I’m 168, and my husband is…”

“166.”

“Mmm… the mother is on the tall side, and the father…”

“Yes, I’m on the short side. Haha…”

“Ah, sorry if I offended you in any way. Ho Yung is actually doing a growth examination right now. Height has a genetic factor to it… We can only know for sure once the examination is finished, but don’t be disappointed if the final number ends up being short. The academy runs a growth caring system.”

“Ah… yes, thank you.”

Genetically speaking, the probability of Ho Yung being tall was a 50/50 chance.

Either he would be like his father and be below average, or be like his mother, and be above average. Hwang Sun Wu would bow down to the floor and pray to the sky if his son’s height even reached 175cm.

Ring.

Lukas got a phone call.

“Oh, Oh chi mu!”

“Oh chi mu?”

After ending the phone call, Lukas explained with a wide grin.

“Hahaha! It means good.”

“What was the phone call about?”

“The examination results just came out, and at this stage, Ho Yung’s height is expected to be 6′ to 6’2″.”

“What?”

“Oh, sorry. If we convert to centimetres, it would be around 182 to 189cm.”

The couple were dumbfounded.

Not 172, not 179, but 182 to 189.

‘There was no way my son would be like that…?’

Hwang Sun expressed that thought through his facial expression, but the most certain thing was that this was a moment to be happy.

It felt like a huge burden was off his shoulders, as a father.