GOAT: All Football Talents Are Mine

194. Champions League Final (2)

Stadio Olimpico.

It is a stadium located in Rome, Italy, and was mainly known as a soccer stadium used by SS Lazio and AS Roma.

And today, the final of the 2008-09 Champions League was scheduled to take place.

The 62,000 seats available have already been sold out.

As the day went on and the crowd started to fill up, the stands split in half.

On one side, a card section with 'MUFC' written on it was completed, and on the other side, the Real Madrid emblem was created.

Finally, at 8 p.m., a celebratory performance by the Rustavi Ensemble dance troupe was held.

Afterwards, Italian tenor Andrea Boselli heightened the tension by singing the soundtrack to the movie Gladiator.

It felt like I was in the Colosseum.

Soon, the players who came out of the stadium with the Champions League theme song could not keep their mouths shut at the incredible spectacle.

Woo Ho-young, the tenth member of the team, was so overwhelmed by the grand scale that he could not say anything.

I felt intimidated just by standing on this stage.

And it reached its peak around the time I shook hands with Park Ji-seok.

"Nice to meet you. I'm counting on you."

"i look forward to."

Idol.

My meeting with him was short but intense.

But it didn't end there.

Manchester United's number 7.

An unprecedented soccer player who is Hoyoung's eternal idol and is now his rare rival.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

It was Cristiano Ronaldo.

[Cristiano Ronaldo]

Talents

-Transcendent crack (T)

-Transcendent crack non-rotating shooting (SU)

-Phenomenal dribbling (SS+3)

-Artistic ball control (SS+2)

-Undefeatable will to win (SS)

– Unrivaled individual skill (SS-)

– Amazing goal-making ability (S+3)

– Astounding power (S+2)

– (More)

– Fantastic positioning (A+3)

– Excellent heading (A+2)

-( See more)

(You can covet one talent when you meet the conditions.) ( You can acquire some of the senses when you covet a T-rank (Title). However, you must be over 18 years of age to covet it.)

(For S-tier or higher, you can covet a talent.

You must achieve the hidden condition to receive it.)

(Condition 1: Start as a starter)

(Condition 2: Score more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo)

(Condition 3: Play full-time for 90 minutes)

(Condition 4: Successfully break through against Manchester United 3 times)

(Condition 5: Record an activity of more than 9 km)

(Hidden condition: Open when you desire one or more talents)

(Special condition : Win the European Champions League Golden Shoe)

(Special condition If you achieve 〉, you can additionally explore Cristiano Ronaldo's potential)

The game started right away from there.

Beep!

[The long-awaited Champions League final has begun! Manchester United on the left takes the lead first. As soon as the right to attack is taken, the formation quickly changes to 4-3-3.]

[As expected, Alex Ferguson is the master of psychological warfare. [We played mainly 4-4-2 until the semi-finals, but in the final we are playing 4-3-3 from the start.]

With Park Ji-seok, Ronaldo, and Rooney as the top three, and Andersson, Carrick, and Giggs in midfield, Manchester United is more aggressive overall. had a tendency.

The defensive line was composed of Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, and Evra.

And of course, Van der Sar defended the goal.

Schuster clutched his forehead at the sight.

Real Madrid, which has been training in preparation for 4-4-2, has never experienced such negative news.

[Real Madrid also came out with a 4-3-3 formation. With Raoul, Van Nistelrooy, and Ho-Young Woo at the forefront, they are using their tremendous offensive power as their weapon.]

[But the game is not getting any better. 10 minutes have passed since the game started, but they are not able to attack effectively.]

Manchester United's four-back line consisting of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, and Patrick Evra was truly worthy of being called the world's strongest.

While Liverpool's defensive strength was based on organizational skills, Manchester United's defense not only had the best organizational skills but also the individual defenders were among the best in the world.

When Hoyoung tried to break through, Gary Neville took time by narrowing the space.

Meanwhile, Michael Carrick quickly joined in and tried to cut off Hoyoung's ball.

Of course, that method alone had its limitations.

Hoyoung used the strength he had gained from Adriano to engage in a physical fight with Michael Carrick.

And in the end, it was Carrick who was thrown out.

"This is crazy!"

He was one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.

I was 27 years older, so I had a lot of experience and experience.

However, it was too much to handle Woo Ho-young alone.

Although it was blocked thanks to the cover play of Rio Ferdinand, who is famous for his quick feet, Michael Carrick could not help but doubt his eyes for a moment.

Isn't the other person a teenager who hasn't even finished growing his muscles?

'The director was right.'

What Ferguson said at training over the past few weeks came to mind.

-Woo Ho-young is a player who evolves in every game.

That was a hundred times right.

Woo Ho-young has grown even more than when I saw him in the video before.

Now I understand why the intensity of the training was so high.

'All I can do is buy time.'

Michael Carrick made excellent decisions as a man of great football intelligence.

As Coach Ferguson had advised us, we had to play the game with the mindset of preventing goals rather than focusing on stopping Woo Ho-young.

[Manchester United's defense appears to be greatly shaken. That means Woo Ho-young's breakthrough was very sharp.]

[Manager Ferguson is still screaming loudly.]

[That's his style.]

From that moment, Manchester United's play style began to change.

Park Ji-seok, who played right wing forward, switched positions with Wayne Rooney and moved to the left, then moved down the line and actively participated in blocking Woo Ho-young.

[With this, Manchester United's midfield becomes even more solid. The attack is left entirely to Ronaldo and Rooney, and the overall balance is focused on defense.]

This was Ferguson's second strategy.

Manchester United, who were playing on the wing, constantly dug into the space behind Real Madrid, aiming for counterattacks centered on long balls.

And whenever Woo Ho-young caught the ball, Park Ji-seok and Michael Carrick rushed in, and if they got through, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville responded with organized defense.

If that didn't work, Park Ji-seok stuck to him again like a leech and persistently blocked it.

[The all-out pressure on Woo Ho-young is gradually getting worse.]

[It seems difficult to even receive a pass now. There is no space at all.]

Hoyoung was isolated.

But Real Madrid wasn't just Wooyoung.

In the midfield, Zidane was still showing formidable build-up, and at the front line, Raul and Van Nistelrooy were busy moving around and creating space.

When two or three midfielders were close to Hoyoung, he created space in the gap and launched a powerful attack.

In that case, the pressure on Hoyoung had no choice but to relax again.

[Woo Ho-young takes advantage of the pressure and aims for the front at once! Cross to the center! Van Nistelrooy jumps in!]

[Van Nistelrooy! Jumping and heading Shoouuuut!]

[Ah, too bad!]

It was Nemanja Vidic who won the header, not Van Nistelrooy.

He showed off defensive skills that could truly be called an absolute air superiority player.

[You can see Manchester United's earnest desire to win the Champions League for the second time in a row. It's really amazing.]

[Same goes for Real Madrid. In particular, Van Nistelrooy was very disappointed as he gritted his teeth against Manchester United, who abandoned him. Still, Nemanja Vidic and I turned around, encouraging each other.]

The game was tense, with repeated ups and downs.

However, as the end of the first half approached, Real Madrid's midfield was noticeably losing strength.

It was a big problem.

Schuster placed Sneijder and Zidane in midfield at the same time to distribute the ball smoothly, but they were lacking in defensive terms.

As time passed, it got worse.

In the end, after a tight battle in the 42nd minute of the first half, the score was lopsided.

The first goal came from Ronaldo's head after receiving Evra's cross.

[The ball jumped high to the opposite post! Ronaldo puts his head on it!]

Poop!

Casillas made a miraculous save, but the ball ended up in Wayne Rooney's hands.

It was a goal conceded by Real Madrid.

[Gooooooo! Manchester United scores the first goal in the 43rd minute of the first half!]

Real Madrid's hardships did not end there.

From a corner kick given just 4 minutes later, Nemanja Vidic gave up an additional goal with a headed goal.

[Real Madrid will be quite busy at halftime.]

[If they don't want to collapse like this, they need to come up with a way to collapse Manchester United's spider-like defensive line.]

Each team's halftime went similarly.

Schuster made the players aware of the areas they needed to pay attention to through thick and short tactical explanations and delegated the remaining 3 minutes to Captain Raoul.

Meanwhile, Ferguson's majestic voice was coming from the visiting team's locker room.

"If you lose despite giving your best, I will take full responsibility. However, on the other hand, if you run around and fail to properly carry out your mission and are defeated, everyone will have to be prepared. That's something I'll bet my entire career on. "No one here can wear a Manchester United shirt forever."

Ferguson, who spoke as if warning everyone, called one player separately to the corner.

It was Michael Carrick.

"You must be completely mistaken. If it's not today, your chance may never come back. "But why aren't you doing your best?"

"… sorry."

"I'm not trying to scare you to get an apology or something. It's only an apology now, but if we lose the game, we all have to pay the price. To hundreds of millions of fans around the world. And you don't get angry when you hear that?"

"which…?"

Ferguson said, lowering his voice.

"It's because the information is so late. I guess you haven't heard it yet. "Not long ago, there was an informal interview between Woo Ho-young and the media, and your name was mentioned there."

"I beg your pardon?"

"When asked about you, Hoyoung Woo said, 'Who is Michael Carrick?' "When I heard that, I was angry to the core."

"Is that true?"

Michael Carrick frowned.

Ferguson continued.

"We'll see if that's true or not after the game."

"You damn bastard."

"Hey Michael. You are the pride of the team. If you lose, we lose. Even if you break down, stay focused until the end."

"All right."

Michael Carrick gritted his teeth and started preparing for the game.

The next people Ferguson called were Nemanja Vidic and Park Ji-seok.

They were equally motivated and the work continued until halftime.

This was the biggest difference between the two teams.

When halftime ended, cheering songs for each team filled the stadium.

Kick-off began when Manchester United's official cheer song 'Glory Glory Man United' was finished.

Beep-

[The second half has started. Both teams made some changes, right?]

[That's right. Manchester United appears to be narrowing the gap between defense and midfield and focusing on counterattacks. On the other hand, Real Madrid made many changes by replacing players.]

Schuster replaced Higuain and placed him as a frontline striker in place of Van Nistelrooy.

Additionally, they attempted to turn the situation around by replacing Zidane with Van der Vaart.

Playmaking was handled by Hoyoung, who was moved down to the second line.

However, despite various changes, Real Madrid showed no signs of survival.

[Real Madrid faces a crisis once again. The pressure from the midfield is not working properly.]

[Manchester United is not allowing Real Madrid's playmaking and build-up. Michael Carrick and Park Ji-seok are showing their fighting spirit. [It's getting more intense than the first half.]

Hoyoung read the flow of the game and tried various tactical changes, but Ferguson wasn't the type of person who could be easily dealt with.

If Real Madrid made a change, Manchester United also made a change accordingly to balance the game.

If you put scissors, you get a rock, if you get a rock, you get a paper, and so on.

It may seem easy to say, but it was a difficult play to make unless it was a team with the best organization.

Although Hoyoung and Raul's switching play occasionally created threatening movements, there was no change in the score.

And by the time we reached the 80th minute of the second half.

It was almost time to give up, but Real Madrid still played with determination and the mindset that they could do it.

It soon produced results.

It was the only opportunity created by Hoyoung, who forced his way down to receive the ball and began the build-up.

Michael Carrick tried to stick to him, but he got away with a Marseille turn, and Park Ji-seok, who was close to him, fought and pushed him away.

and.

"Sigh!"

Pfft!

Hoyoung hit a right-footed shot before Rio Ferdinand could catch up.

Although the distance was over 24 meters from the goal, that number seemed meaningless in front of Woo Ho-young's mid-range shot.

Because it was so powerful.

Crash!

[Gooooooooooooo!]

[Woo Ho-young's exhilarating mid-range shooting! Achieving his 9th goal in the league!!]

Hoyoung's mid-range shooting was even more powerful.

That's because he had been coveting Sneijder's destructive mid-range shooting (S-) for some time.

The combination with 'Cannon Shooter's Mid-Range Shot (U)' has not yet been completed, but its power has clearly increased compared to before.

I felt like I could score at any time given the right opportunity.

But chances did not come every time.

There was definitely not enough time.

[Alas, time has almost passed. Will Real Madrid eventually bow down?]

[In fact, it seems difficult to turn it over now. I don't have time or stamina.]

That's the end.

Beep –

the game ended just like that.

It was the moment when Manchester United's second consecutive Champions League defeat became a reality.

Cheers and sighs filled the field.

"Huh…"

Hoyoung let out a long sigh and blinked.

Compensation was given immediately, as if to console the defeat.

[Transcendent crack non-spin shooting (SU)]

[Potential (SS+)]

Cristiano Ronaldo's talent.

And potential.

It was a reward for achieving the great feat of becoming the youngest 'Champions League Golden Shoe' winner.

But that alone was not enough to comfort Hoyoung.

It hurt like my heart would break.

After the final whistle sounded, I couldn't breathe properly for a while.

There are times when I win and times when I lose, but this time I really didn't want to lose.

In the end, tears flowed.

But wait for a while.

"Don't cry. "Because you were always the best. I'll admit that."

Before I knew it, it was Zidane who came next to me and gave me a thumbs up.

Hoyoung wiped away tears as he looked at the night sky of Rome.

Then, as I looked at Ronaldo, who was looking inwardly regretful from a distance, I made a promise to myself.

No matter what happens, I will never lose the next time we meet.

And at dawn that day.

Hoyoung, who returned to Madrid, took advantage of Ronaldo's potential and combined his talents in ball control into one.

A change that could overcome human limitations was beginning.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

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