Superstar From Age 0

Ahh.

The sighs of the spectators reached the bench of FC Barcelona B. The first half was almost over, but the score was still 0 to 0.

“What's wrong with Ji-ho?”

The coach, who was focused on the game with his full attention, asked his assistant.

Fortunately, the other team had not scored either, so there was no big problem yet, but he had to consider a substitution if the situation continued or the other team scored first.

“Maybe he's nervous?”

The assistant replied.

“Nervous? He was smiling and enjoying his debut game, wasn't he?”

The coach recalled the debut game of Park Ji-ho, who seemed to ignore or enjoy the attention of the crowd, and ran around like a fish in water.

He shook his head as if to take back his words, and then remembered something.

“Oh, I heard his friends came today. They might be watching the game right now. Maybe that's why?”

“Friends…”

The coach muttered.

“This is the first time Ji-ho's acquaintances came to watch his game, isn't it?”

The assistant added.

The young players with high spirits often had drastic mood swings over such trivial matters. It was more likely for Park Ji-ho, who was full of energy.

“Or it could be a problem with his foot.”

Another assistant suggested.

The coach frowned.

“He said he was fine. He was okay in yesterday's training.”

“I don't think it's a physical problem, but a mental one. He might be unconsciously putting pressure on his injured foot. He might not have noticed it in training because he was not tense.”

“Yips.”

The coach said.

Yips.

A word derived from golf, meaning a physical problem caused by the burden of injury and failure.

“It's possible.”

The assistant agreed.

The coach looked at the field after hearing the assistant's words.

“If he doesn't recover his condition, whatever the reason is… I’ll have to take action.”

Another shot, and another sigh.

The captain glanced at the bench during the lull.

The coach, who was not in the mood to substitute yet, pointed his finger at Park Ji-ho.

The captain nodded.

The captain approached Park Ji-ho.

He couldn't stay long because the game was in progress, but he had to talk to him briefly.

For the sake of this promotion game, and for the young player who might be feeling pressured.

“Ji-ho.”

The captain tapped his shoulder lightly.

Park Ji-ho turned around, and the captain's eyes widened. He expected him to have a gloomy face, but it was different from what he thought.

“Yes! Captain!”

Park Ji-ho's face was flushed like a child who received a toy.

The captain blinked at the unexpected bright expression.

“Weren't you… nervous?”

“Nervous? No! Oh, I did make a lot of mistakes. Gasp! Is the coach going to substitute me? Oh no. That can't happen…”

The captain regained his senses at the sight of Park Ji-ho, who was no different from his usual self.

It seemed that pressure was not the problem. Then there was nothing to worry about.

The captain, who had met quite a few spirited rookies, smiled faintly and patted Park Ji-ho's shoulder.

“Move more calmly so you don't get substituted. You're putting too much force into it.”

He emphasized the word ‘substituted’ more than usual, probably not by coincidence. Park Ji-ho, who was tense, answered.

“Yes! I'm sorry!”

The conversation ended just as the game resumed.

The Barcelona FC B side was in chaos by the kick of the opposing team's goalkeeper.

Park Ji-ho, who was waiting for a pass, composed himself.

‘Too…’

He was too excited.

“Hehehe.”

He forced down his lips that wanted to curl up. He looked at the ball and the players coming up and ran quickly to find his position.

He put too much force into his body again.

It was a reflexive reaction when he thought of his friends watching.

He wanted to show them his cool side, and his heart was filled with that desire.

It felt like it was coming out of his body.

‘Oh, I need to relax. Relax.’

He was satisfied with his speed, which was faster than usual, but he was disappointed with his foot, which had more force than usual.

He didn't know how many times he had made mistakes because of that.

‘I can't get substituted here.’

He remembered the captain's words and tried to calm down his excited heart.

He felt his heart beating fast and tried to be composed.

He didn't want to show his family and friends in Korea, and his friends in the stands, that he was substituted.

The ball came.

It was the captain's pass to Park Ji-ho.

Park Ji-ho fought with the defender who was marking him.

He heard a voice saying something, maybe trash talking, but he didn't hear it.

He was only thinking about being calm, focused, and relaxed.

Park Ji-ho, who got the ball, started to move.

They were the defenders he had broken through several times today.

There was no way they could stop him now.

‘Relax.’

The biggest problem today was his excitement.

He knew it, but he couldn't calm down easily. He remembered Choi Si-hyuk, who smiled and said that only time could solve that.

‘Be calm.’

The right position, the perfect timing, and the appropriate force.

Park Ji-ho moved his right foot, using his left leg as a support.

The ball kicked by his right foot flew in an arc toward the goal.

The opposing team's goalkeeper jumped up with his right arm, seeing the ball passing over the defenders’ heads. But he couldn't touch it.

The ball that passed through went straight to the net that had never been shaken today.

Park Ji-ho breathed in and out, watching the whole scene.

And he clenched his fists with the brightest expression he had today.

The players ran toward Park Ji-ho.

Wow!!!

The mini Estadi was filled with cheers.

***

[The captain of Bar?a B is approaching Park Ji-ho. It seems that Park Ji-ho, who has only been a pro for half a year, is feeling the pressure of this important game like a promotion game.]

[Yes. He needs the encouragement and advice of his seniors at times like this.]

Seo-jun and the kids listened to the commentary half-heartedly and focused on the game.

Ooh!

Park Ji-ho got the ball. Would he shoot again? If so, would it be a success or a failure?

The attention of the crowd that filled the mini Estadi was poured on Park Ji-ho.

[Pass! It goes to Park Ji-ho! Park Ji-ho dribbles toward the goal! The defenders block him, but he easily shakes them off!]

[The only problem for Park Ji-ho today is his shooting!]

The commentary came a beat late, but they didn't care.

Park Ji-ho's shot flew in an arc toward the goal.

The eyes of the silent crowd followed the small ball. Sweat formed on their clenched hands. It felt good.

Finally.

The round ball shook the net that had never been shaken today, passing by the goalkeeper's hand.

At the same time, the mini Estadi was filled with cheers.

“Wow!!”

“Yay!!!”

The crowd, as well as Kim Tae-ju and the kids, jumped up and cheered.

Seo-jun was the same.

He shouted with his face flushed, not knowing that his earphones had fallen off.

***

-Park Ji-ho lol he sucks lol

-Right. If Park Ji-ho can't score, he should pass to other players. Why do they keep giving it to Park Ji-ho?

=Park Ji-ho did a great job choosing his position.

=He was in the perfect spot to receive the ball from Park Ji-ho when he was blocked by the 22nd defender.

=He always catches the ball well if you just send it to him. But his shooting is a problem.

=How can a striker not score goals!

-Park Ji-ho has been doing well so far, is there something wrong with him today?

-If he doesn't solve his problem, he’ll be replaced in the second half.

=It's not that bad right now, the other team can't score either. But he's missing too many shots compared to his attempts. He’ll definitely be replaced in the second half.

The general public might not know, but the promotion match of FC Barcelona B was getting decent ratings, partly because of the name of actor Lee Seo-jun. But the reaction was not very good due to the consecutive offsides.

-I didn't order chicken to watch this.

=Me neither. I was curious because he's Seo-jun's friend, but…

Park Ji-ho's family and friends, and those who knew Park Ji-ho, held their hands tightly and looked at Park Ji-ho on the TV screen.

He was talking to the captain with a yellow band on his arm, and then the game resumed.

-Shouldn't Park Ji-ho change his position? He seems to do everything well except scoring.

=He does.

-I could do better than him.

=Yeah… Oh! Oh!!

[Park Ji-hooo!!!]

[He scores the first goal at 44 minutes and 12 seconds! FC Barcelona B! Goal by number 11, Park Ji-ho!!]

=Lol, can you?

-Wow, he shook off the defender and the goalkeeper couldn't even touch the ball.

=They’re showing the replay and he's really good.

-The future of Korean soccer is in Park Ji-ho's hands. (Serious)

=Sudden acceleration.

-But he only scored one goal so far.

=That one goal will get them promoted.

With Park Ji-ho's goal, Korea was buzzing. At that time, Park Ji-ho was surrounded by his happy teammates who were looking forward to the promotion that was right in front of them.

“/You should have scored sooner! How nervous were you!/”

“/We almost stayed in the third division!/”

With the cheers of the crowd, the first half ended in a chaotic atmosphere.

“/Ji-ho! Ji-ho! Ji-hoOOooo!!/”

Park Ji-ho's name echoed in the mini stadium.

The noise subsided and Seo-jun and the kids sat down. They were so excited that they didn't even notice that their earphones had fallen out.

[Yes! That's the end of the first half! The current score is 1 to 0, FC Barcelona B is ahead!]

[Bar?a B only needs to keep this one goal to get promoted to the second division. Let's see how the other team will react…]

Seo-jun put down his earphones after listening to the commentary for a while. It was break time. Time for commercials. Ji-woo, who was brushing his hair back with his excited face, asked Kim Tae-ju.

“Hey, tae-ju hyung. Don't you usually call them by their surname when you cheer?”

Like PARK.

Kim Tae-ju, who was also cheering for his player who was about to become a second division player, fixed his messy hair and said.

“In the second game, Ji-ho scored a goal. And when people cheered for him, saying Park! Park! He said it was weird and asked them to call him Ji-ho in an interview. There are too many Parks, you know.”

And when the people who knew that cheered for him, saying ‘Ji-ho!’, even the people who came to watch casually started to say ‘Ji-ho’.

Oh.

Seo-jun and the kids laughed. It was true that it was a bit awkward for Koreans to be called by their surname.

“So, are they getting promoted now?”

“If they just keep the score.”

Kim Tae-ju nodded at Ji-yoon's question.

“Ji-ho is going to the second division now.”

The agent's eyes sparkled.

***

The break time passed and the second half began.

Seo-jun sighed with relief that his earphones were not broken and plugged them in.

[The second half begins.]

[Bar?a B! I thought they would switch to a defensive strategy to keep the score, but they are still attacking. Do they want to score more?]

The commentator's voice was loud after Park Ji-ho's goal.

[Both teams are more focused and the game is tense. Park Ji-ho is also being blocked more than in the first half…! As soon as I say that, Park Ji-ho! He runs!]

Just like the commentator who was leaning forward and looking at the screen, seo-jun and the kids, and the crowd looked at Park Ji-ho.

Park Ji-ho's dribble was so energetic that it made him forget that he had been running like that for the whole game. He was so fast that he left the defender behind.

[Park Ji-hoo!! Shoot!!]

Wow!!

[Goal!! Park Ji-ho scores his second goal at 27 minutes in the second half!]

It was a refreshing goal that made him forget that he had been blocked so much in the first half.

The mini stadium was filled with cheers again. Seo-jun and the kids also jumped up and shouted.

They were more sane than in the first half, so they didn't drop their earphones. Of course, they were still jumping around with excitement.

[2 to 0!! Bar?a B! Is this a confirmation of promotion!?]

Park Ji-ho wanted to go to where his friends were, but since Seo-jun was there, he did his goal celebration on the other side. He didn't have time to think about that.

Because it was his second goal.

He ran to the stands and cheered with his arms up, and the crowd cheered louder.

The FC Barcelona B players also gathered there.

They celebrated wildly and the cheers continued.

The commentator's voice came from the fallen earphones.

[The game resumes. Now they just have to keep the score!]

[Park Ji-ho's performance almost guarantees the promotion!]

Bar?a B started to waste time, and the other team's movement slowed down a bit.

They seemed to have given up a little because of the score difference.

Bar?a B took advantage of that gap.

The other team was flustered by the sudden sharp attack, and the Bar?a B forwards ran forward. With a little body fight, bar?a B’s killer pass followed.

And at the end of that pass, there was always a player who was in the best position with the fastest speed.

“/Ji-ho!/”

The most shining striker on the field.

Park Ji-ho got the ball. And without a moment's hesitation, he ran towards the goal.

[Park Ji-hoo!!]

The commentator's voice stretched out. Time seemed to stretch out as well. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The silence was bubbling up as if it was about to explode.

With the defenders trying to stop him in front of him, Park Ji-ho's right foot moved. The movement that he had practiced hundreds, thousands of times was beautiful to see.

Just like Seo-jun shone on the stage, in the works, Park Ji-ho shone on the field.

When the ball kicked by his right foot flew, everyone held their breath.

It looked like it hit the top of the goalpost, and their hearts sank, but luckily it wasn't. The ball that barely passed the goalpost was sucked into the goal.

Wow!

The goal net shook before the crowd cheered.

“Park Ji-ho!!”

“Ji-ho!”

It was a lie that they got used to it.

Seo-jun and the kids screamed. They didn't care about the broken earphones and the cracked voice.

Before he was caught by his teammates, Park Ji-ho ran to the stands.

It was inevitable that he went to the stands where Seo-jun and his friends were.

He didn't have time to think about that.

Because it was his third goal.

He ran to the stands and cheered with his arms up, and the crowd cheered louder.

The FC Barcelona B players also gathered there. They celebrated wildly and the cheers continued.

The commentator's voice came from the fallen earphones.

[41 minutes in the second half! Park Ji-ho!! He achieves his first hat-trick after his pro debut, and gets promoted to the second division at the same time!!]