In JTBC's 'We Must Unite 2' broadcast yesterday (5th), the 'Somehow Avengers', who are undergoing winter training in Geoje, lost 4 to 0 in a special match against 'Ulsan H High School', headed by 'Human Catapult' coach Hyun Young-min. . ‘Somehow Avengers’ had 11 players and ‘Ulsan H High School’ had 9 players, but they could not overcome the vast difference in skill.
Previously, the conflicting educational policies of coach Ahn Jung-hwan and coach Hyun Young-min, who was a member of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, attracted attention. Coach Hyun Young-min, who pursues a horizontal relationship, was implementing a free counseling system where he consulted over the phone with 'Ulsan H High School' players, but coach Ahn Jung-hwan made people laugh by expressing an opinion that was against the introduction of 'Somehow Avengers'.
In particular, when coach Hyun Young-min, who led the team to the championship, introduced the famous saying, “If you don’t go crazy, you won’t go crazy,” coach Ahn Jung-hwan said, “I don’t like this kind of thing,” and “We just talk. “If you lose today, there will be no appearance fee,” he said, creating the best stimulant, “unpaid fire,” and causing laughter.
In addition, coach Hyun Young-min, who began commentating immediately after retirement, shared an additional story that during the 2018 Russia World Cup, coach Ahn Jung-hwan not only took good care of him, but also gave him pocket money worth more than 1 million won. When head coach Lee Dong-guk showed jealousy and disappointment, coach Ahn Jung-hwan resolved the situation by mentioning that he had provided the first commentary monitoring for head coach Lee Dong-guk and coach Cho Won-hee.
In addition, MC Kim Seong-joo revealed an episode in which a drunken coach Won-hee Cho came to coach Ahn Jung-hwan during the 2022 Qatar World Cup and asked, “Please teach me the commentary.” Director Ahn Jung-hwan was said to have provided advice as well as hangovers and pocket money, making him feel like the 'father of commentary'.
With the success of the Lewandowski water bottle challenge by Kim Beom-hwan, the strongest striker of 'Ulsan H High School', and the header match between 'Lion King' head coach Dong-guk Lee and 'Defense King' coach Hyun Young-min, interest was heightened, and the curtain finally came to the end of the game. The 2022 U17 Championship winning team 'Ulsan H High School' played the game with 9 players, 2 less than 11 players, and a handicap was applied to replace all 8 field players in the first and second halves.
'Somehow Avengers' coach Ahn Jung-hwan strengthened the defense with a 4-1-4-1 formation and a ten-back strategy, but the opponent began to apply intense forward pressure from the beginning of the first half and drove through with breakthroughs, flashy dribbling, and high speed to capture the team's spirit. I left it out. In the end, the 'Somehow Avengers' lost the first goal and ended the first half with a score of 1 to 0 without being able to shake the opposing team's net.
In the second half, an additional goal was conceded early due to goalkeeper Kim Yo-han's failure to handle the goal. The 'Somehow Avengers', who had a numerical advantage, had an opponent who did not feel outnumbered at all, so it was not easy to build up the attack and allowed two more goals. They struggled until the end to score a proud goal, but the game ended with a score of 4-0.
Unfortunately, the 'Somehow Avengers' undefeated record during training camp was broken, but coach Hyun Young-min and the players of 'Ulsan H High School' selected the MOM of the day, which confirmed the bright future of Korean soccer. Lim Nam-gyu, who hit the crossbar by a narrow margin, was selected as the man of the match and achieved the feat of being named in two consecutive games.
Meanwhile, at the end of the broadcast, a cookie video of the Avengers members on the second night of Geoje Island was also released, attracting attention. It was fun to watch with fresh scenes such as eating a late-night snack together, expressing regrets about the last game, bickering, joking around, and taking a break.
JTBC's 'We Must Unite 2' airs every Sunday at 7:40 pm.
Ryu Ye-ji, Ten Asia Reporter ryuperstar@tenasia.co.kr