My Girlfriend Wants Victory

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After Lewandowski scored the opening goal, the fierce ultras of Schalke turned their ire towards him.

“Boooooo─!”

“You disgusting Polish pig!”

As our eyes met, Lewandowski once again sent a wink my way.

Thanks to him attracting the aggression of Schalke’s fans, perhaps I regained a bit of composure?

I successfully found my playing style again.

Ignoring all the noises around me, I began to move my feet busily as usual.

This match was crucial for Schalke, ranked 3rd in the league with 57 points, vying for Champions League qualification, while Dortmund had already secured the championship.

Schalke started to furiously rush forward to level the score.

My eyes caught sight of Julian Draxler, playing as a left winger, managing to shake off Lucas Piszczek.

As the attention of Dortmund’s defenders drifted towards Julian Draxler, Raul Gonzalez, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar,

defensive midfielder Jermaine Jones raised his hand and began to penetrate the penalty box.

Julian Draxler, spotting Jermaine Jones making the run into the box, executed a cutback.

Just before the ball reached Jermaine Jones, I managed to clear it out of touch with a quick touch.

“Nice Jinho!!”

“Focus on defense! Don’t lose sight of the players!”

As Schalke’s throw-in resumed the game, Raul Gonzalez passed to the open space ahead of Julian Draxler.

With confidence, Julian Draxler attempted a one-on-one against Lucas Piszczek.

However, unlike his previous breakthrough, this time Lucas Piszczek successfully blocked Julian Draxler.

As Dortmund counterattacked,

Lucas Piszczek, after intercepting the ball from Julian Draxler, quickly passed it to me and began overlapping.

As soon as Lucas passed, Schalke’s pressure applied.

With a simple movement, I evaded Schalke’s pressure.

Feigning to control the ball with my left foot, I deceived my opponent and deftly slid the ball through their legs to pass it into the space ahead of Lucas Piszczek.

The ball directed perfectly towards Lucas Piszczek, who sprinted along the touchline.

I, too, dashed forward to join Schalke’s territory as soon as the ball was returned.

Before long, Lucas Piszczek found himself near the edge of the penalty box.

He delivered a low, swift pass to Lewandowski.

A Schalke defender rushed towards Lewandowski, who had controlled the ball with a smooth first touch.

“Reba!!!”

In that moment, I dashed into the open space while calling Lewandowski’s name.

Lewandowski, with his back to the Schalke defender, nudged the ball into the space I was dashing into.

I quickly struck the ball through the legs of the rushing goalkeeper to narrow the shooting angle.

The Schalke keeper tried to close his legs in a panic, but unfortunately, the ball had already slid through.

The ball rattled the Schalke goal net.

I immediately sprinted into the Schalke goal.

After all, this was far from enough.

Just as I was about to pick up the ball and dash to the half line,

“Hey! Calm down! Look over there!”

Sebastian Kehl, who had rushed over, grabbed me and pointed to a corner.

In the direction Sebastian Kehl pointed, the Dortmund fans were waving flags they brought with my jersey number scribbled on them, singing chants in support.

“Walk on, walk on.”

Perhaps because I focused on their voices, the cheers of the Dortmund fans which I hadn’t heard began to faintly reach my ears.

It was certain that among the Schalke fans here at Veltins-Arena, the Dortmund supporters were only a handful.

“With hope in your heart!”

The Dortmund fans had been sending out messages, “You’ll never walk alone!!!” at the start of the game, assuring me that I wasn’t walking alone in solitude.

*

As the Schalke fans started singing racially charged songs aimed at Son Jinho, the Dortmund fans raised their voices from the away section.

They sang loudly, hoping desperately.

That their little star wouldn’t get hurt by the ugly adults.

That the cheers would reach the little star, piercing through the jeers.

They held onto their hopes, continuing to sing without rest.

After some time, when Son Jinho scored an additional goal, the jeers from Schalke quieted down.

Their voices reached the players.

At Sebastian Kehl’s gesture, Son Jinho turned his head to look at the Dortmund away section.

Son Jinho’s eyes widened, and the Dortmund fans began to cheer for him even louder.

*

[Ahhhhh! It’s in! Overcoming all discrimination and adversity, Son Jinho scores at Schalke’s home ground!!]

[Dortmund players rush over to congratulate Son Jinho on his goal!!]

└? By the way, what’s that noise I hear?

└ What noise?

└ Why do I hear some annoying Liverpool chants?

└ Sounds good to me.

└ Way better than monkey screams, for real.

At that moment, when viewers expressed confusion over the sudden chant,

the broadcast camera caught sight of the Dortmund crowd.

Fans of all ages were singing passionately, their voices reaching a fever pitch.

[Ah…. Dortmund’s away fans are singing at the top of their lungs at Schalke’s home ground.]

└ Wow….

└ What the heck is going on…?

└ I can see my brother’s eyes are tearyㅠㅠ

[Dortmund fans’ cheers have made Son Jinho’s eyes glisten with emotion.]

└ Damn ㅠㅠ Son Jinho is crying so artistically ㅠㅠ

└ For real, just a single tear running down his cheek, what’s that about?

└ Hah… I wanna lick Jinho’s tears.

└ May Schalke’s scumbags get relegatedㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└ㅠㅠ Not all Schalke fans are racists ㅠㅠ Speaking as a fan who supported Schalke during my time studying in Germany, it’s kind of sad ㅠㅠ

*

The first half ended with a score of 2-0, leading into the second half.

“Are we going to lose in front of our home fans!? Don’t be scared! Attack!”

After Ralph Rangnick’s resignation due to burnout, Huw Stevens, who took over as head coach, smirked while giving orders to the players on the field.

“Damn it. Their movement has completely changed.”

In the early parts of the match, Son Jinho appeared heavy and repressed, but after the second half began, his movement transformed entirely.

In Huw Stevens’ eyes, he could once again see Son Jinho easily evading Schalke’s pressure.

Christoph Moritz pulled on Son Jinho’s jersey as he rushed past, trying to draw a foul,

and the referee blew the whistle, declaring a foul against Schalke04.

“Scheiße!”

About 26 meters from the goal, in a threatening position, Huw Stevens let a curse slip from his mouth.

“Jinho, are you okay?”

“Of course.”

Son Jinho stood up, having held onto Shinji Kagawa’s hand, and began preparing for the free kick with a blank expression.

*

The Schalke crowd, upon seeing me prepare for the free kick, began jeering again.

The familiar sound of racist lyrics echoed in my ears.

And simultaneously, albeit faintly, the cheers from the Dortmund fans reached my ear.

Despite being hoarse, they raised their voices once more to sing.

It conveyed the wishes of the Dortmund fans for me not to get hurt by this incident.

I slowly gathered my breath.

A fierce tussle broke out among the players as they formed a wall.

As the referee approached to mediate, the preparations were finalized, and he brought the whistle to his lips.

Peeeeeep!!

The sound of the referee’s whistle rang out as I slowly ran towards the ball.

Fixing my gaze on the football, I swung my left foot.

Bang─!

At the moment of impact, the Schalke players covering their vital areas jumped up in shock.

Though Schalke players desperately tried to clear the ball, the shot I took soared over their heads and into the zone known as the “Yashin Zone,” where only a deity could save it.

The Schalke goalkeeper reached out desperately, but the ball slipped right past his hands and shook the goal net, causing the jeering Schalke fans to fall silent.

As the referee pointed to the center circle, recognizing the goal, I sprinted towards the Schalke fans.

Unlike before the match started, silence filled Veltins-Arena.

I lifted my jersey to show my name and number clearly.

It was a protest against the racist comments they made, as well as a display of who the winner of this match was.