My Girlfriend Wants Victory

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The moment Messi tumbled from Son Jinho’s tackle.

“How amusing.”

A smile unintentionally crept onto Messi’s lips.

Of course, separate from the smile, the competitive spirit inside him began to blaze.

As Lionel Messi struck the ground in frustration at missing a crucial scoring chance, a peculiar cry reached his ears.

“Ho-woo—!”

Strangely, hearing that shout sent a rush of heat through him.

But nodding at Dortmund’s renewed momentum, he thought to himself.

And he felt a sense of respect for the young player.

Dortmund, which had displayed clear signs of defeat, was starting to revive.

Messi hid his roaring competitive spirit and looked at Son Jinho.

At that moment, when Son Jinho turned his head and their eyes met, Messi gave a thumbs up with a smile.

For some reason, Son Jinho’s face turned pale, but Messi paid no mind and directed the attack toward him as much as possible.

“How delightful. You must be enjoying it too, right?”

Seeing Son Jinho not backing down and charging forward, Messi felt the joy of soccer after a long time.

“Today. It’s fun. Football, right?”

Lionel Messi, who shot towards the Dortmund goal, awkwardly asked Son Jinho, who was collapsed on the ground.

He managed to hear Son Jinho’s response through rough breaths.

“…Do you have multiple ankles?”

“…?”

However, that was something Messi couldn’t comprehend. It was in Korean, after all.

*

While Son Jinho was struggling against Messi, Dortmund, which had been taking one-sided hits, slowly began to counterattack.

[Look to the east! Look to the west! Son Jinho intercepts Xavi Hernandez’s pass this time!]

And at the center of it was Son Jinho.

[Here comes a rapid counterattack from Son Jinho! Xavi rushes in to apply pressure but fails to strip him of the ball!]

[To be honest, Xavi is usually overshadowed by the title of ‘pass master,’ but he’s actually a hard worker who runs over 11km on average and has excellent defensive skills! Son Jinho is impressively holding his own against Xavi!]

[Son Jinho slips past Xavi and keeps going! Here comes Sergio Busquets trying to stop him! Rather than forcing it, Son Jinho passes to Ivan Perišić on the flank!]

Son Jinho successfully retains the ball against Barcelona’s pressure, passing it to Ivan Perišić. Ivan Perišić swiftly evaded Puyol, who was starting as left-back due to Abidal’s injury, and delivered a cross.

Ivan Perišić’s cross met Roberto Lewandowski’s forehead perfectly and headed toward Barcelona’s goal.

[Ivan Perišić’s cross! Ah—! Roberto Lewandowski’s header just grazed over the bar!]

Unfortunately, it didn’t result in a goal.

[Son Jinho encourages Lewandowski, who is holding his head in frustration, with a round of applause!]

*

As time passed, Dortmund and Barcelona began to clash fiercely.

I was still getting wrecked by Messi, but at least I was managing to block some attacks better than in the first leg.

And occasionally, I was showcasing sharp counterattacks.

How should I put it?

Was it anticipation?

I couldn’t exactly express it, but I began to get a sense of the Barcelona players’ plays.

‘Now…!’

As I subtly lurked for a chance to press, the moment I felt Iniesta would pass, I sprinted forward to intercept the pass.

“Run!”

Beginning from my cut on Iniesta’s pass, Dortmund launched a counterattack.

As our eyes met, I saw Roberto Lewandowski sneak into the space behind Piqué and Mascherano.

I struck the ball just as Lewandowski crossed paths with the defensive line, laying it perfectly in front of him.

In a flash, Roberto Lewandowski found himself with a solo opportunity, shooting calmly, but his attempt was thwarted by Barcelona’s goalkeeper, Victor Valdés, resulting in a corner kick for Dortmund.

As the first half’s additional time was about to end, Marcel Schmelzer’s corner kick soared aggressively into the penalty box, but Carles Puyol triumphed in the competition with Lewandowski and cleared it with his head.

Positioned outside the penalty box to halt Barcelona’s counterattack, I watched the soccer ball bouncing back after hitting Puyol’s head and dashed forward.

Time seemed to flow slowly as if playing in slow motion.

In a state where I could barely catch my breath, a thought struck me.

‘Why am I running so hard?’

Countless answers flooded my mind.

Eliminating option after option, one remained.

‘I don’t want to lose.’

I simply didn’t want to lose.

No more reason, no less reason.

I just didn’t want to lose.

I wanted to defeat the prime Barcelona and the god of football.

With only the desire to win burning within me, I leapt to strike the approaching ball with my left foot.

“Block number 10—!!!”

The moment my foot impacted the soccer ball, Carles Puyol pointed towards me, but it was too late.

Boom—!!

The shot perfectly struck the top of my foot, dipped, and then soared in front of the goal, shaking FC Barcelona’s net.

In a wonder goal that defied the laws of physics, Camp Nou fell silent as if time had stopped.

“…Wow, waaaaaaaaaah!”

After a brief silence, cheers erupted from the Dortmund away section located on the third floor of Camp Nou.

Awakened from their rigidity by the roar of the Dortmund fans, the referee pointed towards the center circle, recognizing it as a goal.

“Ho-woo—!”

At Camp Nou, my celebration and chant reverberated.

“Ho—woo! Ho—woo! Barcelona’s scared of him! Soon, the whole world will know him! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho-woo!”

*

FC Barcelona 2(2) : 1(2) Dortmund.

[Son Jinho! He shoots—! Goooooooal—! Son Jinho with a spectacular wonder goal!!!]

└ ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ

└ Woah… What the hell is that?

[Wow. That goal has an undeniably beautiful trajectory that deserves admiration. The half-volley shot rises up like a torpedo!!]

└ Don’t you think it looks like it hit the ground?

└ How could it rise without touching the ground? Dummy!

└ For real lol.

└ Who cares if it touched or not? It’s a sick goal anyway.

[As Son Jinho celebrates, Jürgen Klopp rushes over to share the joy!!]

└ Why does the coach running around make me feel anxious?

└ Be careful with your hamstring, old man;;

[Just before the first half ends! Dortmund ties the aggregate score at 2 to 2, taking the lead due to away goals!]

*

Halftime was over, and the second half began.

FC Barcelona, needing to score one more goal due to away goals to advance to the semifinals, strongly pressed Dortmund from the start of the second half centered around Messi.

[Lionel Messi has the ball. Son Jinho stands in his way.]

[This is a scene we’ve seen multiple times, yet it still makes our hearts race.]

[Lionel Messi executes his patented La Croqueta, leaving Son Jinho off-balance and on the ground.]

Easily slipping past Son Jinho, Lionel Messi entered the penalty box.

[Here comes Lionel Messi entering the penalty box! Mats Hummels rushes in desperately, trying to stick a foot in!]

Mats Hummels’ tackle caught Lionel Messi’s leg, and referee Björn Kuipers pointed to the penalty spot, declaring a penalty kick for Dortmund.

[It’s been awarded! Referee Björn Kuipers declares a penalty kick for FC Barcelona!]

The atmosphere that had been flowing positively for Dortmund suddenly turned cold, as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown on them.

“Nein! I didn’t touch him!”

“That’s impossible. I saw it clearly.”

Mats Hummels protested to referee Björn Kuipers with an innocent expression, but the referee shook his head sternly, maintaining his original decision.

[Preparing for the penalty kick: the god of football, Lionel Messi. Come to think of it, if Messi scores this penalty, he’ll achieve a hat-trick.]

Tap.

Swoosh—!

With the referee’s whistle echoing, Lionel Messi successfully converts the penalty kick into the top right corner, achieving his hat-trick.

As Messi completed his hat-trick, the chants for the god of football echoed throughout Camp Nou.

Simultaneously, Jürgen Klopp called Sebastian Kehl to the sidelines, substituting in İlkay Gündoğan.

Time flowed quickly.

Before long, the end of the match was approaching.

Dortmund’s last attack unfolded as they barely intercepted Sergio Busquets’ pass.

“BVB! BVB! BVB!”

“Booooooooo”

Cheers erupted from the Dortmund away section, while jeers came from the FC Barcelona home seats.

Shinji Kagawa’s shot, penetrating the penalty box, was blocked by the goalkeeper, sending the second ball towards Son Jinho.

Boom—!

With his first touch, Son Jinho made a clean leap for a mid-range shot just before the referee blew the whistle.

Kaaang—!

Son Jinho’s mid-range shot soared quickly and struck the crossbar of FC Barcelona.

“Jefe-cito (Mascherano’s nickname)! Clear it—!”

With that, Mascherano frantically kicked the ball out of the penalty box, resulting in the end of the match.

Dortmund had lost.

*

As Mascherano cleared the ball, the match concluded.

“Ha. Damn.”

I slammed the ground once hard from my prone position.

‘Should I have passed to Perišić on the right flank?’

Regret for the options I had overlooked swirled within me.

“Jinho—! You were the best!!”

I heard the comforting voices of the away fans in my ears. I stood up to express my gratitude to the away fans who had come to cheer in Barcelona.

I applauded and thanked the away fans.

Caught up with lingering regrets, I hesitated to leave the pitch.

Suddenly, the dwarf who had tormented me all day approached.

‘…Is this guy here to do some teabagging?’

For a moment, I shot a fierce glare at Lionel Messi.

“Exchange jerseys.”

Messi awkwardly requested a jersey swap.

“I’ll win next time.”

I said to Messi as a spirited 17-year-old football player, not as a retired veteran.

Though our languages were different, I wonder if the meaning was conveyed accurately as Messi smiled and replied.

“Anytime.”

It was a moment not just fulfilling Gyeouri’s wish but also creating a new goal.