My Girlfriend Wants Victory

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The match between Dortmund and Hamburg has ended, and countless articles have poured out.

The defending champion Dortmund’s opening match garnered a lot of attention not only in Germany but also in South Korea and Japan.

In particular, the most talked-about article in Korea was this one.

[German media evaluates Son Jinho as Weltklasse (World Class)!]

This article wasn’t entirely true.

No, to be precise, it was true but slightly twisted.

The German media referenced in the article is a local Dortmund outlet.

Naturally, it was something they had to say to showcase me, who was performing well in Dortmund.

It’s similar to how Korean media primarily reports on Korean players playing overseas.

The local Dortmund newspaper’s article was taken by Korean journalists and presented as if it had been written by Bild or Kicker.

Specifically, using the term WK makes it seem as if it’s rated in Kicker’s rankings for Bundesliga players and German nationality players in overseas leagues, which shows the malicious side of the reporters.

“…Isn’t this just nonsense?”

No. Is it more like a national pride channel?

I briefly took it seriously.

I decided to just regard it as a light-hearted incident.

It wasn’t my fault; it was the reporters who got it wrong. Would that be my fault?

I could just correct it after returning home…. Or I could really put on a crazy performance in the first half of this season and receive a WK.

Well. Honestly, I didn’t think receiving a WK would be easy.

Currently, Kicker’s rankings are divided into four categories: Weltklasse (WK), Internationale Klasse (IK), Im Weiteren Kreis (K), and Blickfeld (B).

Among these, getting a WK is as hard as catching stars in the sky. You really need to show an extraordinary season to receive a WK.

Even the likes of Michael Ballack, Mesut Özil, Effenberg, and Klose only received a WK once.

“Suddenly, I think it’s amazing that Coach Cha Bum-kun, who received a WK once in a time when racism was rampant, is so great.”

By the way, Cha Bum-kun is the only Korean who received above IK.

If I were to just receive IK, wouldn’t there be a commotion in Korea?

Well. Shinji Kagawa will receive a WK in the second half of this season.

That’s only possible because his form in the second half of the season is insane.

Due to his incredible performance this season, Shinji Kagawa joined Manchester United.

By the way, it’s not Moyes’ Manchester United, but Ferguson’s Manchester United.

There’s a gap between those two as vast as the difference between North and South Korea.

It means Shinji Kagawa’s form is so impressive that he could join such Manchester United.

If it were up to me, I’d want to receive a WK this season and transfer to Manchester United to achieve the goal of being big ears there….

Regrettably, even if I were to receive a WK, I would be 16 years old and unable to transfer.

I’d fall under FIFA’s youth transfer ban.

Right now, I’m playing at Dortmund as a foreign student without a professional contract.

So, I’m overly cautious that I might become just a dog chasing a chicken in Dortmund.

Because I might easily contract with another club for a pittance and leave.

Well. I never thought about transferring for a pittance but I didn’t mention this to Dortmund on purpose.

I want Dortmund officials to become more attached to me.

Well…. Anyway.

“Jinho! See you next week!”

“Yeah! Have a great time during the A match!”

As the A match period approached, the Dortmund players were called up to the national team and left the club.

[Emerging rookie master Jürgen Klopp asks Park Kwang-rae, “Son Jinho, let’s decide not to call him up.”]

Due to Dortmund manager Klopp’s strong persuasion and request that flying such long distances at a young age might harm my career, I wasn’t called up to the national team.

Thanks to that, I got to enjoy a honey-like break during the season.

*

Thanks to the unexpected break, I spent a long time with Gyeouri.

“I heard you have something you want to do lately?”

Gyeouri nodded her head at my words.

“Yeah. I want to be a manager.”

“A manager?”

At my question, Han Gyeouri shyly nodded her head.

– Hey! Son Jinho!

As I momentarily recalled Han Gyeouri shouting on the ground, a smile crept onto my face.

“…Doesn’t it suit you?”

Then, perhaps thinking my smile was mocking, Gyeouri gloomily asked.

“No, it really suits you!”

I shook my head quickly. After all, trivial misunderstandings often ruin relationships. The sooner misunderstandings are resolved, the better.

“Really?”

Upon hearing I said she’d look good, Gyeouri approached me with a smile.

Feeling Gyeouri’s warmth, I fell into thought.

Before the regression, Han Gyeouri always refused to share her dreams.

She was just like others, going to university to study.

It seems her personality has brightened since coming to Germany. She’s become more affectionate too.

“If your dream is to be a football manager, would you like to talk to Jürgen later?”

“…Is that okay?”

Seeing Gyeouri visibly excited at the question of whether she’d like to talk to Klopp, I thought, this was just a casual remark of mine. She’s too happy.

It seems I’ll have to invite Klopp to a meal soon.

Rather than leaving my mother-in-law to have dinner alone at home, it’s better to invite Klopp’s family and serve them Korean food.

“Okay. Then first, let’s get my mother-in-law’s permission….”

“I’ll get permission!”

Before I could stop her, Gyeouri disappeared outside the door.

“Mom─!!”

“Gyeouri… Since you suddenly said you wanted to study abroad last time, you calling me with a smile makes me anxious for some reason.”

Is it because that view hasn’t changed since Korea? A smile was already on my face.

*

While talking about Gyeouri’s future, all the spotlight in Korea was focused on the Korea-Japan match.

Before the Korea-Japan match even took place, various complaints emerged.

[Celtic’s manager Lennon seeks understanding about Ki Sung-yueng’s call-up. ‘Currently, Ki Sung-yueng’s condition is not normal. Please do not call him up.’]

Even though overseas players’ clubs opposed their call-up…

[Park Kwang-rae insists on Ki Sung-yueng’s call-up. ‘Ki Sung-yueng is a key player for the national team. I’ll see for myself what the problem is.’]

Manager Park Kwang-rae forcefully called up the players despite the pleas of the club managers.

Personally, what I didn’t understand was the likes of Sung-yueng and other overseas players.

They were the same guys who usually criticized the manager’s tactics in interviews or wrote bad things about him on their private SNS accounts. Why didn’t they rebuke him when being called up with an injured body?

Maybe it was a sense of patriotism in playing for the country… but honestly, if it were me, I would’ve quit the national team ages ago.

Perhaps I lack patriotism… but it probably has to do with what I experienced in my past life.

Remembering what happened after I lost Gyeouri to a car accident caused by vehicle malfunction makes me feel nauseous.

On a personal level, what I liked most about coming to Germany was that I didn’t see many company cars.

*

August 10, 2011. The day approached.

My mother-in-law and Gyeouri asked Klopp to watch the Korea-Japan match together while having lunch…

But knowing the result of the match, I desperately tried to dissuade them.

‘If Kagawa scores, Klopp will be ecstatic and it’ll be a disaster!’

I couldn’t bear that cold and awkward atmosphere.

Wouldn’t it be fortunate if I could enjoy my meal without choking while watching the match?

Then followed the friendly match between South Korea and Japan.

“Ugh… I don’t want to watch the match.”

After Kagawa Shinji scored the first goal, my mother-in-law stood up and went into another room.

“Ugh! Is this a match or what?!”

After Honda scored the second goal, Gyeouri, furious, started typing a post on her smartphone.

And then followed Kagawa Shinji’s multi-goal, Japan’s third goal.

Smash─!

I heard something breaking from the room my mother-in-law had entered.

Clickety-clack─.

Gyeouri was busy typing without saying a word.

[Gu Jachil on the left is open! Gu Jachil receives the ball! Shoot!! Ah! What the heck is this!! The ball flies off into the air!!]

└ Hey! What the hell! A solo chance, and he can’t score?

└ Can’t let it be a three-goal gap, for real!

└ At least score one! Damn it, you losers!

└ Park Kwang-rae OUT! Comic football OUT!

Ultimately, South Korea couldn’t score a consolation goal and lost to Japan 3-0, encountering the “Sapporo Disaster.”

Opinions for the dismissal of manager Park Kwang-rae began to surface quietly.

And here manager Park Kwang-rae dropped the bombshell.

As reporters criticized him for not calling me up…

[Manager Park Kwang-rae, “Next call-up will include Lee Cheong-ryong and all overseas players.”]

In an interview, he stated he’d include Lee Cheong-ryong, who was out for half a season.

[Bolton expresses concern over Park Kwang-rae’s comments. “Lee Cheong-ryong hasn’t recovered from his injury yet.”]

[Bolton’s Owen Coyle strongly criticizes manager Park Kwang-rae. “He’s the worst manager who sees players as expendable for his own credit.”]

Naturally, there was chaos in Bolton, Lee Cheong-ryong’s team.

[Celtic’s manager Lennon strongly criticizes the South Korea Football Association. “Korea has no will to protect its players.”]

Other foreign clubs also expressed their discontent with the continuous call-ups of injured players, including gastroenteritis.

[Park Kwang-rae, “Son Jinho is no exception. I’ll call all overseas players.”]

But what was most fatal was the mention of me.

When the younger brothers said that manager Park Kwang-rae was going to call me up, they unleashed all the grudges Kwang-rae had built up on the internet.

Naturally, public opinion worsened.

Taking advantage of the unrest in the South Korea Football Association, Jo Yeon-jong, who aimed for re-election, dismissed Park Kwang-rae through improper procedures.

Before the Lebanon Shock, it was a bit premature,

However, Park Kwang-rae’s dismissal became a much bigger controversy than in my past life.

As the South Korea Football Association grew a little disturbed, softly,

“Jinho, nice to meet you.”

The German Football Association (DFB) quietly approached.