Weird Defender Joo Ji-Tae

185 – Effort Beyond Excellence

185

Japanese football has made significant progress.

Although they were slow to develop, they have consistently caught up with advanced football, and their current national team is among the best in history.

Leading the team are players known as the “Ten Blades,” including Shimizu Ken from Kanto, Moriyabashi Genjin from Yokohama, and Tabuchi Masahiro from Shikoku.

These players, who created a legend in the U-17 World Cup, are now core members of the Japanese national team, playing in European leagues.

However, Japan’s ace is undoubtedly Hotaru Daijobu, also known as the “Prince of Urawa.”

Hotaru, who emerged as Japan’s top dribbler after Mitoma, played a crucial role in Japan’s U-17 team reaching the World Cup semifinals, earning him worldwide recognition as a promising young player. With his exceptional looks, he became a sports icon in Japan.

Although he suffered a crushing defeat against Ju Jitae in the U-20 Asian Cup, his impressive sportsmanship after the match earned him even greater popularity.

The reaction was so intense that a football manga inspired by Ju Jitae and Hotaru became a huge hit, with a spin-off featuring a villain resembling Jo Jae-shin.

Of course, this was from a Japanese perspective, and when the adult national team met in the Asian Cup, they were again defeated by Ju Jitae, and the gap between the two players began to widen.

Hotaru’s impressive performance in the Netherlands league, earning him a spot in the season’s best 11, and eventually becoming a key player for Dortmund, was overshadowed by Jo Jae-shin’s achievements.

While Hotaru has demonstrated exceptional skills and career, the Japanese are more interested in their rival, who has already become the captain of Barcelona, the world’s top club, and even won the Ballon d’Or.

Rivalry requires a certain level of competitiveness, and such a significant gap makes the rivalry lose its meaning.

A new rivalry between Jo Jae-shin and Hotaru was unfolding, but Jo Jae-shin’s explosive performance at Arsenal was breaking the hearts of Japanese football fans.

The Japanese Football Association tried to appease the fans by betting everything on this Olympics, using three wild cards, but alas.

Their neighbor took it a step further.

Originally, players who shouldn’t be participating in this lower-level tournament joined the team, not even as wild cards.

“What’s the point of having a Ballon d’Or winner in the Olympics?”

“What’s the significance of highlighting a country’s national pride, Korea?”

“Where has the Olympic spirit of amateurism gone?”

“This is Korea, where they’ll do anything to win.”

Just a month ago, the Japanese media was praising Ju Jitae and Jo Jae-shin as “Asia’s power” and “Asia’s pride,” but their tone has suddenly shifted due to these reasons.

Despite their growth and improved skills, the Japanese football fans’ morale was dwindling, and they were desperate to win in a tournament where they were expected to dominate.

—Kitaaa! Ju Jitae is selected for the Olympics!!

—Is this the great king’s debut?…

—Starting from the beginning, we’re going all outwwwwww

—The value of our name is too strong!

—The game is far from over, and we still have a chance

—Is it because your round head is lacking something?

—These kids are already showing signs of defeatwww

The Olympic quarterfinals stage.

The lineup that would crush the Japanese team’s hopes of winning was announced, and it was a blow to the Japanese people who were hoping for a miracle.

South Korea faced off against Japan with a full-strength lineup, including the duo of Joo Ji-tae and Jo Jae-shin, and the situation unfolded as expected.

“Ah… another goal for Korea…”

“Etto… this is really… Jo Jae-shin’s class is shining through with this goal, isn’t it?”

In just three minutes, Jo Jae-shin grabbed the ball in the half-space, broke through two defenders, and scored the first goal of the game, taking the lead.

“Smashing through Sumitomo and Takashi, and then shooting… this is a truly beautiful goal worthy of Arsenal’s main striker.”

The Japanese commentators, known for their low tension, sounded disheartened, and their broadcast didn’t recover until the end of the game.

“Ah… Korea is too strong. Too strong.”

“The players who fought with the samurai spirit… can’t get up. But we have to keep fighting. We have to show the spirit of Japanese men until the end.”

Unfortunately, the Japanese team, which had lost its samurai spirit after the Second World War, was crushed 5-0 by South Korea, which had made multiple substitutions in the second half.

＜ Red Prince ＞

Post 574 Followers 4.1 million Followers 124

＜ My rival, who was my soulmate, and I dreamed of a rematch, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Congratulations on your win, Joo Ji-tae, my rival who showed a Balon d’Or-level performance.

(Photo of a fatal angle, dripping with sweat and giving a thumbs-up)

My rival, Hotaru, who is training hard in Dortmund to overcome the wall.

p.s. To the young players who feel the wall of the world,

Don’t be discouraged, Japan! Keep pushing forward!

—Urawa’s idiot has finally gone crazy

—Joo Ji-tae doesn’t care about Hotaru anymorewww

—Ah, is this one-sided love?

—A man’s unrequited love is so pitiful

—The hero of the right-wing netizens is possessed by the large thing of the Korean hyungwww

Meanwhile, Hotaru Daiso was ridiculed for his SNS posts.

* * *

The reaction from the Italian team, their opponents in the final, was quite fierce.

From the media to SNS, everyone was shouting, “This time, we’ll crush Korea!”

When Joo Ji-tae heard the news, he burst out laughing, but U-23 coach Son Jung-ho couldn’t afford to be so carefree.

『Italian Olympic team captain Giacomo Immobile: “We’ll crush Korea”』

The photo of the player with a menacing gaze and a provocative headline made Son Jung-ho’s lips curl up in distaste.

“Hmm…”

The intense, burning gaze in the photo seemed to pierce through, and Son Jung-ho’s words were laced with sarcasm.

It was said that Immobile had even declared, “We’ll make sure they can’t walk off the ground after the game…” Is this okay?

Winning isn’t the issue.

The issue is ‘how’ you win.

‘If Juzitae gets season-outed…’

Then the national team would be in trouble.

Son Jeongho called Juzitae to discuss this. Juzitae smiled slightly, responding to the coach’s concerns.

“You still don’t know me, Coach.”

By age, Juzitae was still suitable for the youth team, but if not now, who would call him to the youth team?

Juzitae was already a mainstay in the national team, even serving as captain, so from Son Jeongho’s perspective, it was still unfamiliar.

Of course, Juzitae disagreed.

Originally, Juzitae had played for both the national team and the youth team during the first cycle, and had received military service benefits through the Olympics.

Son Jeongho knew this well, and the Olympic team members knew it even better. In fact, they knew the Olympic team members better than the current national team players.

After all, the members who had lived together with Juzitae during the first cycle were now the Olympic team players. The current national team players were active at the same time, but if you had to be picky, they were senior players from a different generation.

“I know your skills well. You’re not old, but you’re experienced and calm, I know that. But this guy is different. Zikomo, this guy is incredibly rough.”

“Coach, it’s not Zikomo, it’s Jacomo.”

“Ziko or whatever, this guy isn’t a soccer player, he’s just a thug, a thug. Haven’t you seen him play?”

“No, I know well.”

“…You know well? This guy?”

“Yes. I think there’s no one on the team who knows him better than me.”

Son Jeongho’s face showed a skeptical expression at Juzitae’s confident answer.

Skills were one thing, but information and analysis were another issue. No matter how great a player was, it was impossible to know everything about a player from a different league, especially one they had never met before.

“Isn’t his nickname ‘General Charl’?”

“Oh, that’s right. Is it really?”

“Yes. He’s famous as the second Charlie Adam. They say he’s a guy who dribbles people instead of the ball.”

In reality, it wasn’t that he was famous, but rather that Juzitae knew him from their time as concurrent players during the first cycle.

And this wasn’t limited to Jacomo. The players Juzitae really knew were the ones who had just started their pro careers.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know them until now, but it was just a hazy memory from the early days of his pro career.

From now on, Juzitae would really know… that is, the players he had directly experienced and seen as a ‘contemporary’ would become the mainstream.

“These Italian kids are especially rough. Not just Charlie Adam, but they have a strong tendency overall. But it’s okay. We’ll just win.”

Son Jeongho was impressed by Juzitae’s confident answer.

“Wow, you know well even before I give you the team analysis data. You’re really putting in an effort, aren’t you? You’re not getting complacent even after becoming the best, you’re really amazing.”

“That’s right. I’m a hard worker. Haha.”

Hard work?

I’m coming back.