[Sports Seoul | Tokyo=Park Yeon-jun] The players saved me.
South Korea manager Ryu Ji-hyun, 55, had bloodshot eyes. He guided his team through one of the most dramatic — and brutal — turnarounds in South Korean baseball history and finally allowed the tears he’d been holding back to fall. The team pulled off a near-miracle, reaching the WBC quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years.
Facing Australia, South Korea had to meet two razor-thin conditions: win by at least five runs and limit the opponent to two runs or fewer. What flipped a team on the edge into victors? Ryu pointed to one thing without hesitation: preparation.
“We prepared a lot,” Ryu said. “Since I was appointed last February, we’ve spent the past year focused entirely on this tournament.”
The road to this point was anything but smooth. Back-to-back losses to Japan and Taiwan left the team staring at elimination. “The tension and frustration when things don’t go our way were beyond imagination,” Ryu said. “It’s hard to put into words the pressure the players felt. Their concentration and ability to overcome that pressure were remarkable.”
Once the victory was secure, Ryu collapsed into hugs and tears with his players on the field. When asked if this was the most memorable moment of his baseball life, he nodded. “I had been holding it in, but I cried a lot after the game. I thought my tears had dried up, but they keep coming,” he said with a smile.
Even as criticism aimed at him at times, the players stood by their manager. “It was a tough stretch, but in the end the players saved me,” Ryu said. “I’m sincerely thankful to the players who trusted the coaching staff and me and never gave up. Today’s win isn’t about any single individual — it’s something everyone wearing the South Korea uniform created together.”
After that improbable first round, the team’s next stop is Miami. The single-elimination quarterfinals will bring new variables, but Ryu’s approach is steady. “We’ll prepare again from the beginning. Preparation is the point,” he said. “We’ll prepare even more thoroughly so we can absorb and overcome any obstacle and aim higher.”
The fighting spirit that shocked the world 17 years ago returned to the Tokyo Dome. The “prepared miracle” forged by Ryu’s tears and the players’ sweat now heads to the U.S., where South Korea will chase an even bigger reversal. duswns0628@sportsseoul.com
