Weird Defender Joo Ji-Tae

68 – After the Break

068

『Spectacular Goal Celebration Against Indonesia’s Marzioho』

『Goals, goals, goals! Achieving a perfect 7:0 victory』

Following the 3:0 defeat in the Japan match, Indonesia collapsed disgracefully, conceding 7 goals in the match against Korea.

A staggering 10 goals conceded in just two friendly matches.

The Indonesian citizens, already angered, were about to explode. However… do they know that their anger from the Japan match defeat played a role in the loss against Korea?

The rage of the Indonesian people and the resulting pressure ultimately led to Indonesia’s massive goal difference.

Against Japan, a team of similar strength, they conceded only 3 goals, but against Korea, they let in 7 for various reasons.

For example, unexpected stellar performances, like Ju Jitae’s.

But if we pinpoint the most crucial reason, it’s undoubtedly Indonesia’s aggressive approach.

In short, driven by public opinion, they came out excessively aggressive, resulting in a collapse.

While not the mindset a professional and national team player should have, their excessive enthusiasm contributed to providing opportunities for a massive goal difference. In a way, it might be considered not worse than passive management that anticipates defeat.

Ju Jitae suddenly became curious.

If the infuriated Indonesian citizens knew this fact, what would their reaction be?

Regrettably, there might not be much of a reaction.

After all, the public tends to be more immersed in emotions of the moment rather than facts.

Regardless of the situation in Indonesia, thanks to that, Ju Jitae became the hero of the record.

『Ju Jitae’s Name Echoes in Sangam!』

『The “goal-scoring defender” Ju Jitae! Setting a new record with a hat-trick!』

『Debut match hat-trick hero, a central defender? Ju Jitae fulfills the defensive miracle!』

In the end, he did it.

A hat-trick.

Surprisingly, it’s a fact that quite a few players have recorded hat-tricks in their debut matches.

Even a player who scored ‘3 goals’ in their ‘national team debut.’

Among the renowned athletes, Germany’s Serge Nabry made history in 2018 by scoring a hat-trick in his debut match against San Marino, marking the first debut hat-trick in 40 years since Dieter Muller. In the rival match against Japan, in 2019, Goki Ogawa became the protagonist of the third debut hat-trick in Japanese football history, achieving this feat in a match against Hong Kong.

When Japan did it, Korea couldn’t be left out of the picture.

In Korea too, there is a protagonist of a debut hat-trick. However, the difference is that it wasn’t a Korean player but rather Korea was the sacrificial lamb for the debut hat-trick.

The protagonist was Mexico’s Alan Pulido, who recorded a debut hat-trick against the Korean national team led by coach Hong Myung-bo in 2014.

Unfortunately, Korea has been confined to being a superb antagonist, and until now, there hasn’t been a debut hat-trick record holder… until now.

It’s someone from an extremely unconventional position worldwide, that of a ‘center-back,’ perhaps to emphasize how extreme a nation Korea is.

And this has become a sensation not only in Korea but also globally.

“Korea’s center-back sensation sets a debut hat-trick record.”

“A defender who scored three goals, the protagonist is Korea’s Joo Ji-tae.”

“Bundesliga rising star center-back scores 3 goals in national team debut!”

“He did it, Asia’s big brother! The world is amazed, the debut hat-trick hero is Korea’s Joo!”

No wonder Joo Jaeshin found himself awkwardly smiling at the overly enthusiastic articles from neighboring countries.

“Seriously… how did this happen? Is the world mocking me?”

“It’s not the world, it’s me mocking you, isn’t it?”

Inside the plane heading to Germany.

Seated in first class with a dignified air, Joo Ji-tae smirked irritatingly.

“…Yeah. It was you. You were the cause. Damn it to hell!!”

Joo Jaeshin couldn’t contain his anger.

Dodging Joo Jaeshin’s swift hand aimed at the adjacent seat, Joo Ji-tae immediately burst into laughter.

“Ouch, brother-in-law! You can’t do that!”

“Who’s a brother-in-law!!”

“Who else? Your sister’s husband.”

On the smartphone extended in front, a star-studded Instagram was displayed.

Sure enough, it was Joo Jaeshin’s Instagram.

< J_dea >

Posts 265 Followers 470,000 Following 17

< (Emoji) Our proud little brother! (Emoji) >

#JooJitae #HatTrick #3Goals #NationalTeam #AMatch #NewRecord

—Yeosini’s boyfriend is seriously cool.

—I almost fell for him because he was so cool during the ceremony!

“Are they really dating?ㅋㅋ”

ㄴStop making fun of it, because the goddess is really datingㅡㅡ

“But isn’t the goddess’s brother not setting any records this time?”

ㄴWho?

ㄴI heard J_dea’s brother didn’t do anything that made headlines.

ㄴ J_dea: My husband is more important >_<

ㄴ Kyaa~~ The goddess has a husband, how niceㅜㅜㅜ

ㄴ Am I feeling too excited? Is this normal!?

ㄴ I’m so thrilled, I totally support this coupleㅎㅎㅎ

“Why is the atmosphere here like this;;”

“Guys are so unpredictable.”

“I can’t have fun because I’m feeling down.”

Jo Jaeshin’s hand, holding the phone, trembled.

From Noble mtl dot com

“I don’t care at all that my little sister stole my record… It’s really heartbreaking.”

* * *

As the A-match period ended, players were returning to their clubs one by one.

Even 1860 Munich had players who had been called up for the national team returning.

But still, there were only four of them, including Ju Jitae and Jo Jaeshin.

“The youngsters came back as superstars.”

“Wow~ Our superstars are back. Congratulations on your national team debut.”

Especially the attention on Ju Jitae and Jo Jaeshin, who made their debut in the national team, was significant, not just because they set records in their debut match.

The players’ main interest was the ‘debut’ itself.

“Envious. What would it feel like to represent the country?”

“I can’t even imagine how thrilling it would be.”

If you’re a soccer player, dreaming of representing the national team is natural. The players of 1860 Munich also admired the national team, but as a team that had been bouncing between the second and third divisions, most of them were German.

In other words, German players dominated the squad.

And unfortunately, the German national team, despite being called a football powerhouse, was lacking compared to any other country in order to be included in the ‘Tank Corps,’ even for players from Munich who were currently at the top of the league this season.

Even if they are causing a sensation this season and sitting at the top of the league, they, Munich players, are no exception.

In the sinking atmosphere, Jo Jaeshin offered words of comfort.

“If you keep going like this, you’ll be called up soon.”

“Will it really continue like this?”

“Thank you for the kind words, but it won’t work for us. Still, seeing you represent the nation is a sight to behold.”

Ju Ji-tae was moved.

The atmosphere of resignation already reminded him of himself in the first round.

“Why is everyone so serious?”

“We’re fine, Ju. This is enough for now.”

“Right. Even the Bundesliga was just a dream.”

So, he couldn’t stay silent any longer.

“Do you all remember what I said before the season started?”

“…?”

“At the home party, I said it. Let’s easily beat teams like Werder Bremen in the first game.”

“Oh, right. You did. That was already a month ago.”

Only now did the players seem to recall, nodding.

“Yeah, it’s been a month. How did it go? We won just as I said! And I’ll say it again this time; we won’t stop, we’ll keep running and winning. I guarantee it. Everyone here will get much more attention than now.”

Ju Ji-tae’s German, without going through an interpreter, resonated with the players.

“How much? To the extent that the national team can’t ignore us! To the point where Tony, the coach, can’t ignore us! Got it? We’ll keep winning, and we’ll shake up the Bundesliga.”

After a moment of silence, the first to respond was the captain, Daniel Rout.

“The youngest is right. When did we start getting expectations? Did anyone see the season preview? How’s reality compared to that?”

“Ha! The so-called experts pegged us as the top candidate for relegation. But we’re now at the top of the league. Above those noisy Munich guys.”

Seeing the players raising their voices, Ju Ji-tae sighed deliberately.

“They’re just kids. Still, it’s fortunate they’re not succumbing to defeatism.”

While the players’ attitudes moved him emotionally, he didn’t act impulsively.

The A-match period was, in other words, a break, a time for everyone except the players called up for the national team to prepare for the next challenges. This included not only the uncalled-up players but also the coach, the coaching staff, and analysts.

The given two weeks were a time for struggling clubs to regroup financially and for successful clubs to analyze meticulously, as they faced a break in momentum.

For a club doing well, the immediate post-A-match period was crucial.

Especially for a club like 1860 Munich, which benefitted greatly from being the ‘unprepared’ one.

Now, Bundesliga clubs would have thoroughly analyzed 1860 Munich.

Above all, the analysis of Ju Ji-tae and Cho Jae-shin, the new engine that hadn’t been revealed, would likely be complete. From now on, they would truly feel how challenging the Bundesliga, known as one of the top four European leagues, was.

He was already worn out, but the real issue was this guy.

Ju Ji-tae sighed as he looked at Cho Jae-shin.

“Why do you sigh when you see me? Does it bother you?”

“Just because. You seem so carefree.”

“What’s there to be uncomfortable about? Anyway, when you retire, consider going into politics instead of football. Not some agitator, and there’s no shortage of devil’s advocates. Since you’re in Germany, why not change your name to Hitler or Goebbels? It might suit you well.”

Indeed, blood is thicker than water.

Oh, Jea Shin…