Weird Defender Joo Ji-Tae

143 – Assemble!

143

Most European leagues adopt the spring-autumn system.

As its name suggests, it starts in the fall, when the weather is good for soccer, and ends in late spring, just before the summer heat becomes unbearable.

The advantage of this system is that it avoids the scorching summer heat, which is the worst for playing soccer and for live spectators. However, it means enduring the cold winter, which is a trade-off.

You can’t say which is better, the summer heat or the winter cold. It’s all about personal preference.

But from the perspective of player injury management, winter is the worst. The cold weather stiffens the body and muscles, increasing the risk of injury.

Therefore, most European leagues have a winter break around January, coinciding with Christmas, which is the most important holiday in Christian culture. This break can last anywhere from one month to just a few days.

The league with the longest winter break is Germany’s Bundesliga, with a whopping one-month break. However, this is possible because the Bundesliga has fewer teams than other leagues, and it’s not like they get to relax for the entire month. They usually take two weeks off and spend the remaining two weeks training.

On the other hand, the league with the shortest break is the infamous EPL, notorious for its “Boxing Day” matches. Here, the break lasts only a week.

Excluding the Bundesliga and EPL, which are at opposite extremes, most leagues have a winter break of around two to three weeks. La Liga has also officially announced a 17-day winter break this time.

However, this is only based on the league schedule, and for Barcelona, which has the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España, the break is only 10 days. But even this can’t be considered a full vacation.

The last schedule before the break, the Supercopa de España, was held in Saudi Arabia, and they returned after a day, so they can’t take a break right away. They need to return to training after a few days, and if you subtract 2-3 days, the actual vacation time is only about a week.

For various reasons, it keeps getting shorter, but a week is still not a short time.

If you put yourself in the shoes of a working person, you can understand. Is a one-week winter break like a summer vacation? Of course not, it’s long.

However, the perceived time is different. From an absolute perspective, it’s “a week-long break?”, but from a personal perspective, it’s “what? Is the week already over?”.

So, Joo Jitae would have enjoyed the sweet one-week break, but unfortunately, he didn’t get one this season.

He was selected for the Korean national team to play in the Asian Cup in Australia in January.

“Ugh… do I have to go?”

Coach Hoze sighed as he read the KFA’s call-up notice.

In reality, Barcelona didn’t want to send their key players to the Asian Cup. They didn’t even want to send them to the Euros, let alone to a distant Asian tournament like this.

“Just reject it, then?”

“Coach, the Asian Cup is an official A-match tournament with a mandatory call-up rule. We can’t not send them, even if we don’t want to.”

“Who do you think I am, an idiot? Don’t you know that?”

Of course, if they could, they would have rejected the call-up.

But the Asian Cup is one of the continental football championships.

Europe has the UEFA European Championship, South America has the Copa America, Africa has the Africa Cup of Nations, and Asia has the AFC Asian Cup.

What about North and Central America, or Oceania?

Well, they have the Gold Cup and the Nations Cup, but the Gold Cup is more famous, isn’t it?

Anyway, even if Barcelona didn’t want to send their players, they couldn’t reject the Asian Cup call-up, just like they couldn’t reject the Euros.

It’s a mandatory rule for official A-matches.

“Please, please… just don’t get injured.”

“If you must, just get eliminated quickly and conserve your energy.”

The first day of the winter break.

Coach Jose and the coaching staff were holding the KFA’s call-up notice, unable to do anything but pray. They had already become bodies that couldn’t live without the national team.

* * *

Each continent has its own national team championship.

The Asian Cup is one of those continental championships. Although it’s a prestigious tournament that doubles as a World Cup qualifier, the Asian Cup has a unique characteristic – its schedule varies from year to year.

Sometimes it’s held in January, and sometimes it’s held in June. This is the Asian Cup’s peculiarity.

It’s a disaster that occurs because the range of “Asia” is too broad.

From East Asia to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and even the Middle East and Oceania’s central country, Australia.

It’s the Asian Cup, but compared to other continental tournaments, it’s a mess of different countries and ethnicities bound together under the name “Asia”.

Given the situation, the climate varies greatly from region to region in Asia. Naturally, the period during which the tournament can be held also varies depending on the host country.

That’s why when the tournament is held in East Asia, Southeast Asia, or Central Asia, it’s usually in June, but when it’s held in the Middle East or Australia, it’s in January. This time, the 21st Asian Cup is scheduled to be held in January, according to the climate of the host country, Australia.

Australia, which hosted the 16th Asian Cup in 2015, was selected as the host country again 20 years later, in 2035, making it the 21st Asian Cup.

During the 16th Asian Cup, the host country, Australia, won the championship, and Korea also made it to the finals for the first time in 30 years, achieving a remarkable runner-up finish.

Although Korea boasts of being a powerhouse in Asia, they haven’t been doing well in the Asian Cup, with only two championships and four runner-up finishes in their entire career.

Two championships and four runner-up finishes might seem decent, but excluding the 2015 Asian Cup runner-up finish, all of their achievements are from the 20th century.

The two championships were in 1956 and 1960, and the four runner-up finishes were in 1972, 1980, 1988, and 2015. It’s embarrassing to call themselves a powerhouse in Asia.

But Korea isn’t a hotbed of football, and they’ve been consistently producing results in the more important and prestigious World Cup. They even won third place in the last World Cup.

The football association is riding the momentum of the World Cup and has decided to finally win the Asian Cup.

As part of that effort…

“Hey, Han Seung-joon!”

“Who’s this? Korea’s Olivier Giroud, Park Hye-chan?”

“Shut up, you idiot. Who’s Giroud? I’m not a post player anymore.”

“What? You’re disrespecting Giroud? He’s a heading specialist now!”

“Wow, you’re starting rumors again.”

“Well, compared to Giroud, you’re… well…”

“You’re fighting again, you attackers. Stop fighting and hurry up and change into your uniforms. Min-jin and Gyu-oh are waiting.”

“Wait, Han Seul-gi, you’re a Europe-based player, acting all high and mighty. Just wait, I’ll follow soon.”

The national team’s generational change coincided with the selection of several members who won the U-20 Asian Cup a few years ago, including Han Seung-joon, Park Hye-chan, Han Seul-gi, Gong Ji-hoon, Kim Myung-jin, and Park Gyun-oh.

And then, the second.

“These kids are already getting tired. Hey! Hurry up and run!! Ji-tae and Jae-shin are already preparing here! Oh, yeah?”

The national team’s coach, Jang Ki-seok, who led the U-20 team to win the Asian Cup and World Cup.

With the addition of Ji-tae and Jae-shin duo.

After Jang Ki-seok’s U-20 team won the Asian Cup and World Cup, 17-year-old Ji-tae and Jae-shin, who were the youngest members of the team, grew up to become key players in Barcelona and Arsenal. Other players also took steps towards growth, becoming professional players in the K-League, J-League, and eventually Europe.

Han Seung-joon and Park Hye-chan, who were the team’s main strikers, joined teams in Belgium and the Netherlands, while Han Seul-gi, who was a midfielder, joined the English Championship. Gong Ji-hoon, Kim Myung-jin, and Park Gyun-oh, who were the team’s main center-backs, joined teams in Portugal, Croatia, and the German 2nd Bundesliga, respectively, all becoming European players. Other players also established themselves as professionals.

This was a reunion of the members who achieved the best results in the history of the national team’s underage teams.

“Wow, Ji-tae~ You’re 20 years old and already the captain! You’ve really made it, haven’t you?”

Ji-tae and Jae-shin’s generation were slowly becoming the main players of the national team, signaling a generational change.

『Again 2031! Meet again at the 2035 Australia Asian Cup!』

『”Champions assemble!”』

『The ‘Ji-tae generation’ rising to the core of the national team!』

『National team’s new coach Jang Ki-seok appoints the youngest captain in history, 20-year-old Ji-tae!!』