Versatile Genius Midfielder - Chapter 149

Episode 149: The reason I came back

The role I played at AT Madrid was very different from my existing role.

He was more of a defensive midfielder than an attacking midfielder, taking on the role of leading his teammates, and playing more of a super sub role than a main player.

Of course, it is inevitable that his playing time will decrease as he gets older and his physical strength has decreased significantly.

After the season ended, I looked back and saw that the season playing time was about 900 minutes.

However, just seeing the 34-year-old player play on the field gave AT Madrid players and fans infinite gratitude.

In addition, all 7 goals and 8 assists recorded this season were offensive points that had a significant impact on the winning score.

As he was selected as the La Liga player who accumulated the most attack points compared to his appearances, he shocked the antis who thought it was the end and silenced them.

And Eugene’s efforts… … .

[AT Madrid beats Real Madrid and Barcelona to lift the league championship trophy for the first time in nearly 10 years!]

[With this, Eugene leaves Metropolitano with one more trophy!]

[Praise wherever you go! Praise! Praise! Everton’s legend resonates throughout downtown Madrid!]

Fans chanted Eugene’s name until their saliva ran dry.

The AT Madrid players were all impressed when they saw Eugene with wrinkles around his mouth.

“Damn, I never dreamed we would win!”

“It’s all thanks to that brother. “Especially in the last game against Real Madrid, I really thought we were going to lose, but he dramatically scored the tying goal to confirm the win.”

“Wasn’t it more dynamic than at Everton? Once it comes out, it’s an attack point, a reversal or a tie. “Will there be another player like that?”

“No, there is not. They even go to play for a team that is far away from another championship… … . “That guy must be crazy with emotion!”

AT Madrid recommended a one-year extension, but Eugene’s answer was firm.

“I am of the position that I should give a chance to players who are younger than me… … .”

Despite the earnest requests of the board and players, he moved to the next club.

34, 35, 36, 37.

Eugene, who continued his playing career until he was almost 40, was now approaching 40.

[Eugene is more apt to be described as an impressive contractor than a winner! [A Legend of Legends midfielder who ended his career by promoting Derby County in the 3rd division to the 2nd division!]

[Everton, AT Madrid, AS Roma, Blackburn, Derby County. An unusual player who chose only relatively weak teams and gave them the joy of winning or being promoted!]

[There has never been a player like this in soccer history. A great player who left a mark wherever he went!]

Unlike the fact that he spent all of his prime at Everton, Eugene moved from team to team on a yearly basis in his later years to fulfill the team’s long-held wish. Now, he has become more than just a star player, he has become an idol to soccer fans.

And then back to Bramley Moordog Stadium.

The retirement ceremony to welcome the returning legend was grand.

Five years have passed since he left, but in recognition of Eugene’s contribution to returning Everton to the past when it was a big club in name and reality, a statue of Eugene trapping himself with his chest appeared in front of the stadium along with a retirement ceremony.

“Everyone is gathered, right?”

“everyone! Everton legend? No, the best one! Eugene’s retirement ceremony will be held!”

“Aktum! “Aren’t you going to put the camera down?”

“Why, it’s good to see everyone together!”

As time went by, Hilston, who retired a few years ago and was much loved as a football panelist, criticized Aktum for holding a cell phone.

Actum, who was expected to leave the soccer world after retirement, was thriving as a soccer YouTuber by utilizing his unique cheerfulness and humor.

“Wow, that little kid of yours, Heelston, is so big!”

“I am not your father, uncle. Dad has already entered there… … .”

Just as all of Eugene’s acquaintances came to visit during the World Cup 3rd and 4th place match, so many stars were present at the retirement ceremony.

Van Duserk was once competing for the Ballon d’Or.

Arela and Thomas Holly are also called the hearts of Manchester City.

All relevant stars attended and graced the occasion.

The stands are full.

Everton teammates, who had been waiting with bated breath for Eugene’s retirement ceremony entrance, screamed loudly when they saw the players come out of nowhere.

“what! Those crazy guys! “Is this your first time seeing them?”

“Did you get kidnapped? Hey, right now… … !”

“Wait a minute! “He’s the current captain of Everton!”

Colleagues who shouted in confusion at the five players who entered first soon realized their identities.

“AS Roma captain and Derby County captain and AT Madrid captain?”

“They are the captains of the team Eugene played for, right?”

“No, why is Brother Smith over there!”

The team captains, who had received many gifts from a player named Eugene, stood in a line, each holding a trophy in one hand, and the retirement ceremony was held with former Everton captain Winter Smith lifting the EFL Cup as a signal.

“Wow!”

“It’s coming out! Come out! Eugene! Eugene!”

“damn! A performance like this!”

The captains of the teams Eugene passed by raised the trophy they had received into the sky as if it were a nobility ceremony and blessed Eugene’s entrance.

“Eugene! Eugene! Eugene!”

“Ha, why do I keep crying?”

“Spill! “If I don’t shed it in times like this, when am I going to shed it?”

His colleagues also watched him for the last time, with tears in his eyes and chanting his name at the top of his lungs.

[Eugene! Eugene! The midfielder comparable to Steven Gerrard is on our team, not you!]

[He tears up the opponent’s goal net with incredible movements!]

[Oh, oh, oh, Eugene! My lovely genius midfielder!]

Now it’s really the last time.

“Thank you for coming.”

“It’s nothing compared to what my brother did for me.”

The captains I stayed with also wiped away tears.

Although we only spent a little over a year together, he was such a professional role model that his younger self had a great influence on him.

[Eugene! Eugene! Eugene! Eugene!]

[He lifts trophies wherever he goes!]

[His level of coloring Liverpool blue cannot be compared to other players!]

[Yujiyiyin!]

Fans who now know that there is no way this cheering song will be sung on the field.

And Daniel, who had been watching Eugene’s activities since he was young, cried and sang a cheering song.

The cheering song, in which not only fans of one team but fans of five teams gathered together to chant a player’s name, resonated louder than any other cheering song in the world, and indeed throughout the UK.

* * *

It was a retirement ceremony that seemed like it would never end, but time passed quickly.

“So, that time you suddenly threw your fist… … !”

“Eugene, wasn’t that an unwritten rule?”

On a British sports channel, the main characters of Everton’s promotion and domestic treble story, which have now become myths of the past, were broadcasting.

[ha ha ha! This is a really fun team every time I see it!]

“Unless there’s just one person.”

“You don’t mean me, do you?”

Actum reacted sharply to Hilston’s criticism, but it soon became humorous.

Actum, who is currently working as a professional soccer streamer, has now become the most famous member of the old Everton squad.

“Best player I’ve ever seen? “Of course it is.”

“Hey, why are you like this, really?”

Everton colleagues joking in response to the host’s question.

After that, a few more questions were asked for entertainment purposes.

After checking the sign that broadcast time was running out, the host suddenly weighed in,

[Then, due to time constraints, I think this will be the last question.]

“Let’s do it.”

The host, who cleared his throat with a somewhat solemn expression, finally spoke to Eugene.

[Yujin transferred to a relatively weak team, that is, a team that was a little far away from winning, or a team that was not in the first division, and ultimately achieved results that made the fans happy. Is there any particular reason for this?]

[There are even people who laugh at your choice, Eugene, calling it foolish. It is said that he turned down the astronomical salary he would have received if he went to Saudi Arabia, the American league, or at least China, and went to a club that could not provide Eugene’s weekly salary.]

“You call Eugene an idiot?”

“money? Does he look like he has no money?”

“Wait a minute, calm down.”

Eugene, who stopped the two people from going berserk after hearing the host’s words, hardened his expression and thought quietly for a moment.

Because it was being broadcast live, the comments were rotten and rotten.

-Hey, I have no sense of being a host? Who are you?

-Isn’t it too unexpected to say that he is the next best person to Conan O’Brien?

-Suddenly criticizing a Korean legend? What role did that player play?

-It might be difficult.

Compared to the reaction in the chat window defending Eugene, what Eugene said next was unexpected.

“That’s a good question. “I wanted to answer that someday.”

[I’m glad it wasn’t rude.]

The host heaved a sigh of relief at Eugene’s cool reaction.

And the chat window changes its stance 180 degrees to Eugene’s reaction.

-Well, well, actually, I was curious too.

-Honestly, I was told that if you came to Saudi Arabia, you would be given shares in some company and even a jet key, but I wonder why you turned it down and went?

-Of course, even after decades, people who use chat are disgusting.

Eugene answered the host’s question with an expression as if he was looking at a distant mountain.

“Hmm, have you ever regretted a failed choice?”

[Why wouldn’t there be that!]

Eugene continued speaking after seeing the panelists’ cheerful reactions.

“If not, have you ever had the experience of accidentally receiving an opportunity that others would have loved to have?”

Eugene imagined the first time he came back.

“I just thought that if I was given the opportunity that everyone wants to have at least once, even though I didn’t deserve it, there was something I had to do.”

[is that so? Hmm… … .]

Eugene continued his explanation.

“I would like to say that I just did what I had to do, as I happened to receive an opportunity that everyone wants to receive at least once and an opportunity that I aspire to. It was a duty! To be honest, when I received a huge salary offer from Saudi Arabia, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes because I am only human.”

The live broadcast ended with Eugene smiling broadly after finishing his reminiscence.

Even after the broadcast was over, the host came and urged Eugene to explain further.

“Eugene, honestly, I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s natural not to know. What I will say is the same as before. “I only noticed it when we won the league one or three times.”

The return of someone who was no better than trash.

There are many other players, but if there is a God, Eugene wondered why he chose him, and realized this after seeing the happy faces of the fans every time they lived together at Everton, achieved promotion, and won several championships.

[The reason I was given the unique opportunity to return is to make the fans who cry and cry over soccer happy after the game.]

“I did well at this point. “I can’t do it anymore.”

After completing his retirement reflections, Eugene coolly left the broadcasting station with the friends he made at Everton, as if he had done his job.

“Eugene, where is your next destination?”

“Well, let’s get away from soccer for a while. “How about a city famous for tennis?”

“We will follow you wherever you go!”

Now to really live a life for yourself.