Keep it in the Family (229) - World Cup • Group Stage • South Korea vs New Caledonia IV (Conclusion) (Patreon)

5-0

And that staggering result concluded the first half of South Korea vs New Caledonia.

Who would've expected such a result? Well, basically everyone who watched their performances in the AFC.

The press was on a high, the fans were on a high, we were on a high.

The coach's face was pulled into a straight line, but even he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from pulling into a self-satisfied smile.

In the locker room, Coach Ahn let us celebrate for a few minutes before we were to return to the pitch. "You did good." He said, letting his smile fully form. "You did very good. Five goals within the first half? The gods have finally blessed our small country. Keep this up, and we will have a very good chance of going far in this tournament. But remember, this is just the beginning. So don't get comfortable. No, we have to keep pushing, because the real challenges are ahead."

The coach's words were met with nods and shouts of agreement. 

A bottle of water somehow ended up being thrown in the air, leaving a tail of water, but the coach's hand lashed out and caught it before it could hit anyone. 

"But for now, go out there and show them what we're made of."

"Fuck yeah!"

"We just need to send Jae-il and Jun-hwan at them, and New Caledonia will shrivel!"

“We could probably just stay here for the rest of the match.”

I rolled my eyes. 

More shouts echoed off as the guys roughhoused a bit in good spirits, but within minutes we filtered out, back out on the pitch and ready to finish this game and go relax in the hotel.

The New Caledonian players' faces were rimmed with an overcast shadow. 

As for their supporters, no amount of cheering could wipe away the dejected look on their faces as the second half kicked off with a roar from the crowd.

Much like the first half, there was very little New Caledonia could actually do when there was such a disparity in terms of skill.

They were holding well for a solid ten minutes, only for their defense to start crumbling just like it had in the first half. They lost all shape and structure as their inexperience in handling a vastly better team than their previous opponents showed through. They'd have a lot to reflect on when they got back to their home country.

Our performance, of course, kept rolling. Dae-hyun and Sung-tae started to come alive with some unexpected Brazilian flair—not that it ever went far. 

Still, our pressing caused mistakes and opportunities aplenty. Our entire team was surging up, connecting pass after pass like a constellation of stars, before the star itself would emerge again and take the spotlight.

As Dae-hyun made a risky yet stunning outside-the-box run with two defenders chasing him, the pass eventually found its target as Jong-su's sharp chipped pass sent it right to me. The New Caledonia defense was essentially pulled wide by Dae-hyun's breakout. My feet blurred into a sequence of feints, until, right after I managed to weave myself around one of them, a ruthless push in the back sent me stumbling onto the pitch, the ball now a few yards to my left.

The referee was about to whistle, until he saw Jun-hwan getting possession of the ball. And then, he stole the show as only he could, dribbling past the last defender with an explosive speed and bursting towards the edge of the penalty box, taking three long strides with the ball on his feet.

He shot.

The keeper, already in motion, somehow deflected the ball to the other end of the box, and Dae-hyun, still scrambling to his feet, followed after it like an enraged bull and stumbled a clumsy shot that by pure luck entered the net.

Dae-hyun's hat-trick.

The crowd went ballistic.

The entire stadium was a red sea of thundering fans.

"Did he just...?"

"Dae-hyun scored a fucking hat-trick?! No way, right?! It must be a joke!"

Jong-su panicked.

Still.

The entire team ran to celebrate our fellow teammate, who had just made the top headlines in his career. For the third time today, we piled up on top of Dae-hyun, manhandling the motherfucker for having an illicit affair with Lady Luck in some wuxia-esque past life.

His cheeks were burning a bright red, likely from both embarrassment and excitement.

"Fuck, you guys are the best! I wouldn't have scored any of these without you! Especially you two!"

His eyes darted to me and Jun-hwan, his expression one of pure, unbridled joy and admiration.

He sounded like he'd go back home right after this and write a biography of all his most valued and cherished moments in football.

Jun-hwan looked positively smug as I nudged my side into his.

A camera panned towards us, and Dae-hyun posed, throwing his hands up in the air and basking in the adulation of the roaring fans.

I clapped his back. "You're welcome. Now go score us a fourth."

...

The 91st minute of the game arrived with no additional scores. New Caledonia came impossibly close to a consolation goal somewhere in the 92nd minute, which actually culminated into a penalty when Jong-su's overenthusiastic aggression sent their number 9 on his face in the penalty box.

As is natural in these cases, Jong-su and a couple of our fellow backline converged around the referee to try and argue his case, the entire Caledonian squad then storming over, an intense heated argument ensuing until the ref made them all back off with a sharp blast of his whistle and finally lifted a yellow on Jong-su.

Coach Anh ki-seok wore a disapproving frown, not towards the referee's decision, but his right-back's conduct, which was in his opinion quite unacceptable, at least, on the world stage. A yellow card in the opening match, right at thetail end of the game, when we were leading by a staggering six to nil was downright dumb and unnecessary.

Jong-su looked chastised.

The foul had, however, resulted in a penalty for New Caledonia.

And while it wouldn't change the result, and it was just for consolation at this point, the yellow card stung more than the penalty itself, as the card would carry over to subsequent matches and could leave us one man short if Jong-su was sent off for accumulating one more yellow.

The Caledonian Number 9 placed the ball down, lining himself up to take the spotkick. The referee started backing away, then, right as the tension was at its highest, whistled. The boy ran up and kicked the ball, and our keeper leaped to the side.

The keeper's hands connected with the sphere, but there was too much force behind the shot. The ball still went in.

The referee blew the final whistle. The scoreboard lit up with 6-1.

I looked at Jong-su, who was still staring at his feet, looking remorseful.

I jogged over and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry about it." I told him quietly. "Just try not getting any more cards. Got it?"

He nodded, glancing up at me, his face contorted in mild anguish. "I'm sorry."

I patted his back, then jogged away to join the rest of the team as we settled back into our positions. New Caledonia's Number 9 didn't celebrate the goal, instead took the ball from the violated net and carried it back midfield, maybe praying for a more dignified 6-2 if the gods were feeling generous enough to give us a few more minutes.

However, not even two minutes into the added time, the ref whistled a second time, and the game was officially over.

Our teammates started shaking hands with the opposing team, a couple of us congratulating them on their lone goal and a well-fought match.

We'd done it.

The first game was over, and we had won.

Now it was time to bask in the glow of a successful opening act, and go eat some sushi.

We clapped as we walked around the field, congratulating each other or waving at the fans. 

Jong-su got a couple of words from the coach. 

I jogged back to where my personal belongings were. I picked up my phone, only to find a slew of notifications from my Kakao. 

Mia. Su Ah. Mom. Dad. Dae Hee. Random notifications from strangers; I naturally ignored those and focused on the most important women in my life.

Mia: Congratssss, little bro. We knew you’d do it ♥

Mia: Btw, you lookin’ like a snack from here. Grrr~

Su Ah: Well played, Jae-il. Here, look at this ^^ 

Su Ah: [picture]

The picture showed Mia and Su Ah, in pajamas, sitting next to each other on their living room couch, and doing some peace signs while the TV showed my triumphant face as I celebrated with the team. 

Mom was in the background, smiling at the camera while holding a bowl of popcorn.

I chuckled. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of homesickness. Mia-sickness. Su Ah-sickness—yeah, these girls had lobotomized me.