My Girlfriend Wants Victory

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***

Son Jinho’s Ballon d’Or interview is airing.

While the power-enhancement chairman Choi Gi-hyun is going wild, riding the public opinion.

The EFL Capital One Cup semi-final match against Sunderland is approaching on January 23.

For the EFL Cup, matches are played as single-legged except for the semifinals, which are conducted in a home-and-away format.

[Can Manchester United, facing Sunderland at Old Trafford, pull off a comeback victory and reach the finals?]

In the first leg match on January 8, Manchester United lost 2-1 to Sunderland.

If they send out their main players, they could aim for a victory in the second leg home game and hope for the cup title.

“Let’s trust the players who’ve competed in the League Cup so far.”

“But boss… if we win this game, we’ll be in the finals, you know?”

Alex Ferguson thought the players who participated in the League Cup deserved to be rewarded.

“Anyway, if it weren’t for those kids, we wouldn’t have made it this far. Regardless of the match results, they deserve a fair reward for the sweat and blood they’ve shed.”

Even if they lose the match.

“But… would you make the same choice in the Champions League?”

“Are you out of your mind? How can the League Cup and the Champions League be the same?”

***

[Premier League! The Korean Derby is back again, with Son Jinho, Park Jisong, Lee Cheong-ryong, Ki Sung-yueng ready to deploy!]

└ Haha, it’s a time of national pride.

└ But wait, it’s honestly amazing that there are two Premier League players on the same team.

└ Wasn’t Ki Sung-yueng on loan?

└ Yeah, he’s on loan. But I heard Sunderland is considering a full transfer at the end of this season.

└ With both of the Dragons together, it seems truly OP,ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Manchester United has achieved the top spot in Forbes’ list of sports team value for four consecutive years.]

[After winning the Ballon d’Or, Son Jinho’s market value skyrocketed, marking 130 million euros, claiming the top spot for football player valuations! Messi is in second, and Cristiano Ronaldo is third.]

└ No way;; my bro surpassed Messi’s market value?

└ Haha, I’m not going home tonight, I’m staying here!

└ Yeah, my brother is 8 years older than Messi, that’s why. The younger you are, the higher your value, you know.

└ Still, surpassing Messi is seriously impressive.

└ Wow. By the way, how are the number one and three players on the same team?ㅋㅋㅋ

└ Haha King God Manchester United.

└ Oh, isn’t this the true Earth Defense Force?ㅋㅋ

└ Although the defense…

└ Yeah~ it changed since Virgil arrived, my bad.

└ Son Jinho says: Virgil is currently the best center-back.

[Ronald, expressing dissatisfaction over his market value. “I deserve to be rated higher.”]

***

The day before the match against Sunderland.

– Dobongsan Dragon: Little bro.

A message arrived from the Dragon duo who were staying in a Manchester hotel.

– Dobongsan Dragon: You must achieve an undefeated championship. Don’t come out.

– Ki Sung-yueng: Yeah, yeah, who cares about the League Cup, an undefeated title is worth more.

– Dobongsan Dragon: Just relax a bit even if you come out.

– Ki Sung-yueng: Or just say you’re not feeling well on match day.

– Ho-woo: Hahahahahahaha

I knew I was excluded from the starting lineup through my meeting with the old man today.

– Ho-woo: Brothers, be prepared.

– Ho-woo: I’m going to grind hard tomorrow, haha.

I didn’t bother to let my brothers know about that fact.

Even if they’re my close bros, they were enemies before a match.

And the next day.

– Lee Cheong-ryong: Did Son Jinho lie to you guys?

– Ki Sung-yueng: Hey, you said you were playing!

When the starting lineup was announced, my phone started blowing up.

***

On the match day.

I, who was excluded from the starting lineup, watched the game on TV while playing with Haeun at home.

“Goaaal!”

It’s astounding how quickly kids grow.

It feels like just yesterday that Haeun started crawling, and now she’s dashed all around the house in her walker.

“Is Man U winning?”

“It just started.”

Gyeouri sat beside me with Haeun cradled in her arms.

“Gyaa~”

Haeun touched her mom’s chest with a dazed look.

Hmm.

That is indeed something curious.

Anyway.

[The game is about to start! The red jerseys on the right are Manchester United. The left is Sunderland.]

With the referee’s whistle, the match began, and Sunderland aggressively pushed Manchester United from the start.

[Ki Sung-yueng receives the ball and spots Lee Cheong-ryong bursting in from the right!]

Classic winger Cheong-ryong charges into Man U’s backfield, and Sung-yueng’s long pass is heading towards him.

[Stopping him is Alexander Büttner, but Lee Cheong-ryong breezes past and enters the penalty box!]

All eyes turned to him.

Taking a look around, Cheong-ryong immediately chose to pass.

Cheong-ryong’s pass connects with Steven Fletcher.

[Steven Fletcher!!]

Steven Fletcher successfully meets the rolling ball with his foot.

[It’s in! Steven Fletcher!! And what a fantastic assist from Lee Cheong-ryong! Sunderland manages to stretch their lead to 3-1 on aggregate!]

The ball headed for the corner of the goal and ripped through the net.

With Sunderland controlling the flow, the first half ended.

The second half followed.

“Wow. Grandpa must have breathed fire in the locker room.”

As Alex Ferguson, sitting on the bench with a red face, appeared on screen, Manchester United’s counterattack began.

In the 70th minute.

Jesse Lingard’s low and fast cross from the flank was deftly tipped in by Chicharito.

Chicharito’s shot went straight into Sunderland’s goal net.

The bench players of United rushed to grab the ball and sprinted to the half line.

They still needed one more goal to level the aggregate score.

United launched a fierce offense to score another goal.

Then in the 90th minute, as regular time ended and additional time remained.

Manchester United got the final attacking chance.

A Sunderland defender cleared the ball, sending it towards Evans.

Evans quickly passed it to Danny Welbeck on the right side.

Danny Welbeck caught the ball from the flank.

He maneuvered past Ki Sung-yueng, then attempted a curling shot from outside the penalty box with his left foot.

With a beautiful arc trajectory, even the goalkeeper just stood there, dumbstruck, watching the ball.

“Oh!”

Feeling the goal was imminent, Gyeouri sprang up from her seat.

But Danny Welbeck’s shot hit the goal post hard.

“Ah! So close!”

The ball bounced outside the goal line, and the match ended that way.

The EFL Capital One Cup second leg match between Manchester United and Sunderland ended in a 1-1 draw.

[With the referee’s whistle, the match ends! Sunderland knocks out Manchester United and heads to the League Cup final!!]

An aggregate score of 3-2, Sunderland successfully reached the finals.

– Coach: Damn it Jinho! If we had played, we would have won!

After the match was over, Cristiano Ronaldo sent a message full of dissatisfaction.

I relayed that message straight to Ferguson.

And the next day.

Ronaldo had a cozy little meeting with Ferguson.

“Chris, you follow me to the manager’s room.”

“Siu?”

With a bewildered expression, Cristiano Ronaldo followed Ferguson.

Rumors spread that they heard his screams from the manager’s office, but no one knew the truth.

“I, Cristiano Ronaldo, as a proud player of Manchester United, firmly swear to recognize the authority of the manager and will not interfere with player selection.”

Hmm.

Is this brainwashing?

***

[Manchester United, eliminated from the EFL Cup by 2-3!]

└ Throwing away the League Cup for an undefeated championship, tsk tsk.

└ The kids who played in the League Cup played in this match, so what are they throwing away? haha.

└ Seriously, they’re so flustered that they’re tossing away the League Cup, saying, “That’s not a true undefeated championship,” building up the vibes, haha.

└ If Arsenal fans are worried about losing their only undefeated title in the Premier League, downvote! haha.

[Alex Ferguson said, “Reaching the League Cup semi-finals was thanks to the efforts of the players who played today. I wanted to give them a fair reward for their efforts.”]

└ Wow… God Ferguson.

└ Gunners, do you still think they did it on purpose?

[Arsène Wenger: “Manchester United’s undefeated championship? I will do everything to stop it.”]

└ At this point, isn’t it because they invested in not losing their only undefeated title in the Premier League and their club value?

└ Ah haha, now it makes sense why they brought in Juan Mata in the winter transfer market…

[EFL Capital One Cup final will be Manchester City vs Sunderland!]

└ Manchester City will win it.;

└ Isn’t this just a game with a predetermined outcome?

└ We still don’t know yet.

└ Please let the Dragons triumph ㅠㅠ

└ They can do it! They have a shot at winning!

[“Stoke City, the team of men”, Tony Pulis, the manager, regarding the home game against Man Utd: “The time for revenge is approaching. It’s time to find out who the true man is.”]

└ Oh, come on, don’t be ridiculous.

└ For the Stoke City match, I won’t even complain about my brother, old man ㅠㅠ

***

January 28.

Before the away match against Stoke City.

Manchester United, leading the league undefeated, called in Cardiff City, the bottom team, to Old Trafford.

An overwhelming strength difference.

Contrary to expectations that Manchester United would relentlessly pressure Cardiff City,

Man U struggled against Cardiff’s ten-man defense.

If Robin van Persie hadn’t scored with a surprise long-range shot right after the second half started, would the match have gone awry?

Anyway, Robin van Persie embarked on a hat trick starting from that long-range shot.

“Today, Robin was a fantastic player. As for Chris? I think he would recognize Robin’s performance today.”

After the match, I publicly praised Robin van Persie for his hat trick in the interview.

The jealous glares from Ronaldo were a little unsettling, but

‘Come on, there’s no way he would get sulky over something this trivial…’

I tried to ignore it.

But that evening I realized I was wrong when I received a message from Van Persie.

– Robin: Jinho.

– Robin: Chris blocked you.

– Ho-woo: Again?