Late in the first half.
Ho-young's play no longer carried the instability it once had.
He cut out unnecessary movements, found teammates in the right positions, and controlled the tempo with steady ball retention.
Through that, he reduced his own stamina consumption and instead forced the opposition to drain theirs.
Fabinho, who had been instructed to man-mark him, stuck to him persistently but failed every time.
The ball was already gone from Ho-young's feet.
"Damn it!"
He reacted instantly.
Ho-young calmly played the ball out to the fullback in space.
Using that gap, he slid into the open channel and caused the opponent's defensive line to collapse.
A weakness of strict man-marking.
It was exactly what they targeted.
Carlos's strategy was to distort the opponent's defensive shape and open up the flanks.
Ho-young kept inducing defensive errors that would make the opponent self-destruct.
That effort finally paid off in the 20th minute.
As Ho-young and Douglas switched positions and forced Paulista's defensive line to narrow, the ball was sent to the left side which had been left wide open.
The winger sprinted at full speed to receive it, then looked straight at Ho-young.
Just as they had practiced, Ho-young was already positioned inside the penalty area.
"Here!"
A low cross drilled toward him in front of goal.
Tap.
A quality first touch.
Ho-young controlled the ball with delicate precision and timed his move.
Right now.
He struck a bold left-footed instep shot.
Thap.
"Agh!"
Damn it.
The goalkeeper punched it away.
Because he had used his weaker left foot, the accuracy and power had suffered.
You saved that?
It was disappointing, but not pointless.
He gained confidence.
The confidence that he could create chances like this anytime.
Just stick to what you practiced.
Before, he simply enjoyed football.
Now, he was starting to play with a sense of real control.
His ball control, passing, and dribbling had become ingrained in his body, letting him remain composed no matter the situation.
This is it.
The future felt promising.
Until now, his dream of becoming the best player in the world had been vague.
For the first time, he felt like it might actually be possible.
And.
This is fun.
Football had become even more enjoyable.
Beep.
When the first half ended 1-0 with Ho-young's opening goal, angry shouting erupted from the away locker room.
"What are you all doing out there?"
It was the CA Paulistaano manager, Bruno, venting his frustration.
In his mid-30s, Bruno was known in São Paulo as a strict disciplinarian.
His football philosophy was far removed from the typical Brazilian style.
It was the very reason he had taken the team to third place in the league.
Rigid tactical discipline based on strict control.
They had been rising steadily through that approach, but today they were on the verge of being tripped up by São Paulo FC.
Bruno pointed at a single player.
"Fabinho. Are you going to get it together or not? Is it that hard to mark a kid smaller than you?"
"He keeps switching positions..."
"How many times have I told you? When the opponent switches, you shrink the defensive zone and defend by area."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not just Fabinho. The rest of the back three too. When the opponent uses unorthodox plays, adapt to them. What did we practice? Understood?"
"Yes..."
The second half began.
CA Paulistaano stepped onto the pitch with their discipline tightened.
Meanwhile, the home locker room was far calmer.
"In the second half, use what we practiced as much as possible. Go wild if you want."
"Yes, Coach."
It was Carlos's instruction to Ho-young.
The plan was for Ho-young, who had conserved his stamina, to unleash pressure as the opponent's defenders tired.
They were winning 1-0, and simply reinforcing their defense could have closed the game out.
But that was not Carlos's style.
He wasn't telling them to mess around.
He simply didn't want them wasting time aimlessly.
A minute in youth football has a different value than a minute in senior football.
That was why Carlos wanted his players to experience as many in-game situations as possible to build real match sense.
It was his coaching philosophy.
Winning was good, but developing players and preparing the club's future was the true purpose of the youth team.
Not long after the second half began, Carlos noticed something.
They changed their defensive approach.
As expected from a veteran coach, he instantly recognized the opponent's adjustment.
So they're shifting to zonal defense to stop our switching play.
A textbook tactic.
But Carlos's eyes softened as if he had already anticipated it.
Eight minutes into the second half.
Ho-young sensed that attacking through open play was no longer as easy as before.
This is the zonal defense the coach mentioned.
Watching Fabinho and the opponent's back line confirmed it.
Zonal defense.
Unlike man-marking, defenders guarded specific areas, preventing Ho-young from exploiting switching movements.
That reduced the positional imbalance and defensive disarray they had caused in the first half.
In that case.
Ho-young loosened the tension in his ankles.
He drifted subtly between defenders, waiting for the moment a pocket of space opened.
"Now!"
Tap.
Ho-young received a pass with his back to goal, then nudged the ball sideways with a short touch and burst into the space behind the defense like a charging bull.
Douglas received the pass and immediately threaded a return ball into the gap.
Thip.
Nice.
Ho-young touched the ball cleanly and drove into an awkward angle.
It was an area where the defensive zones of both center-backs overlapped.
Their movements clashed, and the two center-backs ended up converging on Ho-young at the same time.
Fabinho sprinted in from behind, but he couldn't match Ho-young's speed.
Got it.
Because of that, the side channel was left completely open.
Ho-young stretched his leg, keeping his balance under heavy pressure.
He had practiced passing under pressure endlessly for this moment.
Fortunately, the pass landed perfectly at Douglas's feet.
And.
Thud.
Douglas buried a composed inside-foot shot into the net.
"Hooooo!"
"Nice!"
Douglas ran to Ho-young to celebrate, grateful for the perfect assist.
The goal carried special meaning.
It came from Ho-young's explosive ball-carrying and the team's coordinated movement, all built on solid fundamentals.
Beep.
After the restart, CA Paulistaano tried to shift the momentum, but once the match flow changed, it stayed that way until the final whistle.
The score ended 2-0.
With one goal and one assist, Ho-young led São Paulo FC to a valuable win.
And he gained something even more valuable.
[Select the talent you wish to obtain.]
- Precise Ball Distribution (C)
It was Fabinho's talent.
Satisfied, Ho-young remained uplifted long after the match ended.
The insights he gained during the game were burned vividly into his mind.
I think I finally understand how to use these talents properly.
Even though he had Chaminator's Run and Drive, he couldn't use it as well as Cha Du-ri.
But as the football prodigy talent grew and his fundamentals improved, he was gradually learning to make full use of it.
And.
I'm still far from finished.
He now had even more reason not to become complacent.
After the match, the São Paulo FC bench was in a festive mood.
"Good work."
Carlos encouraged each player as they came off the pitch.
Then it was Ho-young's turn.
Breathing heavily, he walked over.
Carlos flicked the back of his head.
"Ow!"
"Well done."
"I'll do even better next time!"
"You little brat. Go home and rest."
"Yes, Coach! You too!"
That evening, once he returned to Vitória de Recife, Ho-young bought a pile of snacks and brought them home.
The greasy aroma drifted through the house, and Choi Maria came to the door.
"Ho-young, you're home. What is that smell?"
"I bought some snacks. Let's eat with the kids."
"What? All of a sudden... Wait, you won today, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"See? I knew it!"
"Hehe."
"Congratulations. But you didn't have to buy all this... I'll enjoy it anyway."
"It's nothing."
He sometimes helped her with language studies, so treating them like this once in a while felt right.
Besides, he had earned a 60 real appearance fee and a 40 real goal bonus, so he decided to treat them.
After greeting her, Ho-young hurried upstairs.
"Where are you going? Aren't you eating?"
"Go ahead first! I'll be right back!"
There was someone he wanted to tell the good news to before anyone else.
He stopped at the hallway phone.
Ring, ring.
Click.
Ho-young?
The familiar voice reached his ears after barely a few rings.
Ho-young opened his mouth.
"Dad! I got MOM today!"
The person he wanted to tell first was, of course, his family.
(To be continued.)