Chapter 117
At the same time.
“Gooooooal─! It’s in!”
The commentators calling the match between Union Berlin and Dortmund couldn’t help but grow flustered.
“Huh? Park Chan-hyuk is running! He’s running! Park Chan-hyuk! And─!!”
The moment Union Berlin conceded, Park Chan-hyuk began running toward the corner flag.
- Hoooooo─!
“Hoo─! Park Chan-hyuk’s spectacular celebration! Park Chan-hyuk is celebrating Union Berlin’s second goal!”
The commentators continued their commentary, having completely forgotten that Dortmund was the team that had scored.
“The Dortmund fans are booing… Wait, they aren’t? Why not?”
“……Huh? But wait a moment. Come to think of it, a Dortmund player scored, didn’t he? And it was Union Berlin’s net that was shaking.”
“Then why did Manager Park Chan-hyuk celebrate?”
The commentator couldn’t answer the caster’s question.
‘……How would I know.’
Even the commentator had no idea why Park Chan-hyuk had celebrated.
Meanwhile, as the commentators searched for something to say, the scoreboard displaying Union Berlin’s increased score was restored to normal.
A soccer fan who noticed this wrote a post on a soccer community.
[Title: Union Berlin vs. Dortmund Scoreboard—Live.]
(Park Chan-hyuk’s celebration and Union Berlin’s second goal .gif)
└ Wow lol, I kept staring at it, wondering what was wrong, but why is Union Berlin’s score going up?
└ Fuck lol, even the person handling the broadcast must’ve been confused lol.
└ I only realized it after reading the comments just now, fuck lol.
└ But why was Park Chan-hyuk happy?
└ No idea. Did he mistake it for our goal?
└ Go...! A shut-in jobless bum must not doubt the youngest manager in the Big Four leagues!
└ Go...! “Just” the youngest manager in the Big Four leagues? He’s the youngest manager to win one!
***
I managed to steal Dortmund’s celebration.
“Why is this a card?”
“Didn’t you provoke the opposing team’s spectators?”
“The opposing team scored, though. Was celebrating with them provocation too?”
And I collected a yellow card from the referee.
“……”
The referee was bewildered by the situation as well, but apparently considered a manager celebrating in front of the opposing team’s fans an act of provocation.
‘Then would it be okay if I did it in front of Union Berlin’s fans?’
Since my curiosity had to be satisfied, I decided to try it next time.
‘They say curiosity killed the cat…. But I’m not a cat, so I should be fine.’
Anyway.
Dortmund should have had its morale boosted by this equalizer,
but the opposing manager’s sudden celebration threw the team off so badly that it missed its chance to build momentum.
‘……Everything went according to plan!’
On top of that, the defenders, galvanized by my celebration, blocked every one of Dortmund’s attacks.
The match ended in a 3–1 victory for Union Berlin.
***
[Union Berlin Defeat Dortmund 3–1.]
[Jürgen Klopp, Called Park Chan-hyuk’s Rival, Has a Miserable Head-to-Head Record….]
[Park Chan-hyuk Respects Jürgen Klopp. “Klopp Is Destined to Become a Great Manager….”]
[Will Union Berlin, on an 11-Match Winning Streak, Break Bayern Munich’s 14-Match League Winning Streak?]
└ Wow, only three matches left now ㄷㄷ
└ Park Chan-hyuk is a god! Park Chan-hyuk is a god! Park Chan-hyuk is a god!
[Park Chan-hyuk on Celebrating a Conceded Goal…. “I Just Didn’t Like the Stadium Falling into a Gloom After We Conceded.”]
[The PD of Eccentric People Wants to Recruit Park Chan-hyuk….]
***
The season continued even after the match against Dortmund.
Union Berlin won its next two matches, reaching thirteen consecutive victories, but
unfortunately, it failed to break Bayern Munich’s record.
The players became excessively tense because they were conscious of the record, resulting in a draw.
[Union Berlin Draw with Leverkusen in Disappointing Match….]
[Union Berlin’s Winning Streak Ends at 13.]
Well, such things happen in life.
The important thing for us now was to shake off our disappointment.
“Gentlemen, I like winning streaks.”
“……”
“But I like celebrations even more.”
I instantly dispelled the players’ disappointment with a truly historic piece of nonsense.
“Ha, none of you are laughing. Starting now, we’re doing laughter applause.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.”
Laughter soon echoed through the locker room,
and Union Berlin quickly recovered its spirits.
‘Is this leadership…!’
Anyway.
It was common for players to get injured over the course of a season.
It would have been nice if every player could finish the season without an injury, but unfortunately, that was impossible.
When players collided with one another during a match, injuries were bound to happen.
[Son Heung-min Given Rest with a Minor Bruise….]
And Union Berlin couldn’t escape the specter of injury, either.
Fortunately, none of the players suffered an injury serious enough to end their season, but they did suffer many minor injuries.
‘Spending a fortune on the medical team is paying off.’
[Hoffenheim Suffer a Shocking Eight-Game Losing Streak….]
In fact, Hoffenheim began plummeting down the standings after Vedad Ibišević suffered a cruciate ligament injury during training over the winter break and was ruled out for the season.
Thus, Hoffenheim, which had climbed as high as second place in the first half of the season and become one of the surprise teams alongside Union Berlin, suddenly fell all the way to fifth place in the league.
Taking advantage of Hoffenheim’s slip, Wolfsburg began a winning streak at the start of the second half of the season and started fiercely chasing us.
‘……It’s nice having some breathing room thanks to our points lead.’
Anyway.
The season continued, and Union Berlin was eliminated from the DFB-Pokal, in which it had fielded mostly prospects and rotation players.
The youth players were disappointed, but simply reaching the quarterfinals was already enough.
Since we had reached the quarterfinals, I had considered seriously going for the double, but taking away the opportunity created by the prospects and reserve players was not something I could do, so I continued to field mostly prospects.
‘……They have a good look in their eyes.’
As a result, although we suffered a defeat, it was a fairly good trade because I had earned the loyalty of Union Berlin’s prospects.
Then came the 26th round of the Bundesliga against Karlsruher SC.
A major blow struck Union Berlin.
[Union Berlin on Alert! Yannick Voigt Out for the Season!]
[Yannick Voigt Injured—Will Union Berlin Follow Hoffenheim’s Downward Path?]
Yannick Voigt was injured in a collision while contesting the ball with a defender.
As soon as news of Yannick Voigt’s injury broke, the media cursed Union Berlin, saying that we would collapse just like Hoffenheim.
Many fans hoped to see a fairytale title for the newly promoted team, but just as many wanted to see Union Berlin fall.
[Roberto Lewandowski Scores a Furious Hat Trick!]
└ Wow, Lewandowski’s expression ㄷㄷ;;
└ They say Lewandowski and Yannick Voigt are close.
Anyway, we won the match against Karlsruher SC thanks to Roberto Lewandowski’s outstanding performance, but
from Union Berlin’s perspective, it was a hollow victory.
[Yannick Voigt, Not Seriously Injured…. Could Return Before the End of the Season.]
Fortunately, Yannick Voigt’s injury was not serious enough to require surgery.
With the end of the 2008/2009 season approaching, he stood on the boundary between being ruled out for the season and returning, but
he had a slightly higher chance of appearing in Union Berlin’s final match.
“Don’t worry about the team. Take this opportunity to get plenty of rest.”
I comforted Yannick Voigt, who had suffered a long-term (?) injury.
Considering how he had been run into the ground without suffering any serious injuries until now, it was fair to consider this a vacation.
And since Yannick Voigt’s wife had recently given birth to a son, it seemed appropriate to view it as parental leave.
“Have fun playing with Jonas Chan-hyuk Voigt.”
“Heh heh, yeah.”
It was a little awkward that he had given his son my name….
But I couldn’t stop him.
When he said that meeting me had been the greatest piece of luck in his life and that he would give his son my name,
‘Still, it’s a good thing it wasn’t a daughter’s name.’
I couldn’t say anything in response to that.
‘Meeting you was lucky for me, too.’
I only said it inwardly.
Because that would have been too cringey between two guys.
Anyway.
Although Yannick Voigt, one of the team’s key players, had suffered an injury,
Union Berlin maintained its form, unlike Hoffenheim, which had been collapsing ever since its main striker was sidelined.
The defense I had worked so hard to build this season proved helpful.
And above all,
rather than stubbornly sticking to our existing tactics, I changed them immediately.
Union Berlin switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Roberto Lewandowski moving up as the lone striker.
Roberto Lewandowski gradually began to fill the void left by Yannick Voigt, and
when there was only one match left before we could clinch the league title early,
[Bayern Munich Sack Jürgen Klinsmann…!]
our next opponent was confirmed to be Bayern Munich, whose manager Jürgen Klinsmann had been sacked.
“……No, why did they have to sack him now of all times!”
And the man appointed as Bayern Munich’s firefighter was none other than ‘Munich Hwang Hee,’ Jupp Heynckes.