Weird Defender Joo Ji-Tae

147 – The Enemy of Italy

If the World Cup is the dream stage for national representatives, the Champions League is the dream stage for professional players.

Dubbed the “War of the Stars,” the Champions League is the center of world football, featuring only the best teams from Europe, where everything is top-notch – from the attention of the people to the desire of the officials and the prize money at stake.

The Champions League is also known as the sports competition with the largest prize money in the world. To put it into perspective, if you win just three out of six group stage matches, you’re guaranteed a revenue of approximately 27 million euros. And that’s not including additional income.

The championship prize money alone reaches 27 million euros.

While the prize money for winning three group stage matches might seem similar, this amount is exclusive to the championship prize money.

When you add up the winning bonuses from the group stage to the final, sponsor revenue, marketing, broadcasting rights, ticket sales, and other sources of income, the actual amount the winning team takes home is staggering.

Last year’s champion! Real Madrid received a whopping 172,140,000 euros, equivalent to 250 billion won.

This is an astronomical amount, more than double the prize money for the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship.

In this capitalist era, it’s only natural that such a massive sum of money would attract immense attention.

For players and football officials, it’s a symbol of ambition and desire; for football fans, it’s a source of excitement and anticipation. And for journalists covering football, it’s a treasure trove of news.

Especially when there’s a “special” element to the match, it’s even more captivating.

“Gol Italia! Today’s match is a long-awaited clash between Barcelona and Juventus. What’s your impression of the game -“

“Corriere dello Sport asks: Both teams’ starting lineups are highly anticipated. Do you have any special strategies for this match -“

“Zeta dello Sport -“

“Popotutto -“

It’s the media day for Barcelona and Juventus’ round of 16 match.

Normally, the Champions League, especially the matches between mega-clubs in the knockout stage, would garner immense attention. But the Italian media’s interest in this match is exceptionally high.

“Alfredo Vitiello from Agresti. I’d like to ask Juventus coach Giuseppe Pochettino. Coach, you wrote on your personal SNS after the match was confirmed, ‘This match is not just a Champions League match. There’s more at stake.’ Is this connected to your post-World Cup SNS post, ‘No Italian will forget this day’?”

“…I did write that on my personal SNS, but that’s just my personal opinion. It has nothing to do with this match.”

Throughout the interview, Juventus coach Giuseppe Pochettino’s tone was cautious.

“But coach, you used to lead the Italian national team, and you publicly expressed anger after an interview with a certain player, didn’t you?”

“Again, that was just an expression of my emotions at the time.”

“Italian fans are calling this match the Risorgimento. They have high national expectations for this match. Do you have any comments on that?”

“I appreciate the support, but I don’t have any other opinions.”

“Are you saying you have no opinion on the revenge match against the Korean player who humiliated Italy?”

As the journalist continued to ask questions, Giuseppe Pochettino’s face, as well as those of the Barcelona and Juventus officials present, turned stiff.

“Next question, please.”

Although the coach dodged the question, the murmurs among the journalists didn’t die down easily.

“What’s the Risorgimento?”

“Originally, it means revival or rebirth in Italian, but usually, it refers to the Italian unification movement.”

“Why is this coming up all of a sudden? What does it have to do with this match? …Wait a minute. Is this about targeting a player? Not Barcelona, but Juzitae?”

“Why?”

“Why? Because Korea’s ace player was Juzitae last year, and he was the mastermind behind the interview that poured oil on the fire of Italy’s World Cup exit.”

“Ah, that interview.”

In Italian football history, there have only been three instances of defeat to Asian teams in the World Cup – all against North Korea and South Korea.

The first was in 1966 when Italy lost to North Korea in the group stage and got eliminated. The second was 30 years ago in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.

And the third was last year’s defeat to Korea. Italy, which had been building up for revenge, ended up losing again and getting eliminated from the World Cup.

And that sparked nationwide protests in Italy.

Of course, the protests weren’t just about football. The anger that had been building up due to economic stagnation and discontent with the government finally boiled over, and the World Cup had been the only thing holding it back.

The defeat in the Korean War was just a small spark.

However, it was enough to detonate the accumulated anger.

The aftermath still lingers, even half a year later, in Italy.

Only then did the Barcelona and Juventus officials realize the gravity of the situation.

“He really wants to kill Joo Ji-tae.”

“This is a ploy to shift all the blame for the World Cup failure onto Joo Ji-tae. They’re using him as a scapegoat to vent their anger, which is overflowing throughout Italy.”

That day, Italy was on fire.

The anticipation for the game was palpable, accompanied by the intense meaning of protests.

* * *

If you had to pick the top Italian club, Juventus would undoubtedly be one of the top three, with its roots in Turin, Piedmont.

Turin, a city that represents Italy alongside Milan, was bustling with people as usual, but today it was overflowing with an unprecedented number of fans.

The peculiar thing was that the crowd was all wearing football team uniforms.

Not just Juventus or Torino FC, but also uniforms from various Serie A teams, lower league teams, and even the Italian national team.

People of all ages, wearing diverse and colorful uniforms, packed the Juventus Stadium and spilled over into the surrounding areas.

As the Barcelona players took to the field, the crowd’s cheers reached a crescendo, but what erupted was not cheers, but a massive jeer.

It was not aimed at the Barcelona team, but at a single player.

The malicious jeer echoed throughout the stadium, but Joo Ji-tae remained calm.

“Wow, my ears are ringing. I’m really popular in Italy, huh.”

“I was worried, but it looks like everything is fine? Ah, Asian. Long time no see. But the situation doesn’t seem to be good for a warm greeting.”

“Rodrigo Silvio?”

It was Rodrigo Silvio, wearing Juventus’ signature zebra-striped uniform.

Despite meeting after a long time, his name came to mind quickly, showing how deep their connection was. Of course, it was a one-sided connection from Joo Ji-tae’s side.

In the past, whenever Joo Ji-tae met Rodrigo Silvio, he would get torn apart.

So later on, he earned nicknames like “Joo Ji-tae’s exclusive punching bag” or “Joo Ji-tae’s vitamin.”

“Ah, he’s a guy with a deep connection, indeed.”

However, that was only a connection from the past.

Now, his connection with Rodrigo Silvio was…

“Ah, we met at the World Cup.”

“Yeah, we met at the U-20 World Cup, and I couldn’t do anything and got substituted in the middle of the game.”

Ah, that’s right.

Originally, he was supposed to use the U-20 World Cup as a springboard to join the Spanish league, but something changed, and he ended up in Italy instead.

What a shame.

If he had joined the Spanish league, he would have been a great asset.

Joo Ji-tae’s regretful expression made Rodrigo Silvio furrow his brow.

“There’s something unpleasant in his eyes.”

“It’s just a misunderstanding. But why did you come suddenly? It doesn’t seem like you came to make amends.”

“Maybe there’s some misunderstanding. We have nothing to do with this incident. Juventus didn’t want this to happen.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

Joo Ji-tae smiled faintly.

Individual Juventus officials might have negative feelings towards him for eliminating Italy, but that’s not a reason for the club to treat him as an enemy.

After all, as the ace that Barcelona cherishes, he wouldn’t want to ruin the club’s relationship, and more importantly, Asia is still a significant market in European football.

Even if Juventus has negative feelings towards Korea, they wouldn’t openly criticize him like this if they weren’t crazy.

“That’s what a ki-re-ki does.”

“A ki-re-ki…?”

“It’s Korean. A combination of ‘journalist’ and ‘trash’.”

“That’s a really fitting phrase. Ki-re-ki, ki-re-ki… I like it, I’ll use it too.”

As Rodrigo Silvio’s awkward pronunciation of ‘ki-re-ki’ faded away, Joo Ji-tae suddenly felt like he had taught him something unnecessary.

‘Would they really write about me teaching him somewhere…?’

A large flame of anxiety erupted above Joo Ji-tae’s head.

The moment had arrived for the Champions League Round of 16 match between Barcelona and Juventus.