Chapter 14
***
As soon as Park Chan-hyeok's shot rippled the net, the stadium was drowned in Union Berlin's cheers.
“Jaaaaaaaa─!”
“So there was a reason you're not just the coach, but the head coach!!”
“Score two and go ahead and become the manager too!”
“And if he gets a hat trick?”
“Then he'd be the chairman, right away!”
Because the media had pegged Union Berlin for the relegation zone, the fans had said they'd calmly support the team until the match ended, whatever the result.
But contrary to expectations, once Union Berlin scored first, the fans began to get extremely excited.
Some fans tried to jump over the fence and storm the pitch, while most pulled out the flares they'd tucked into their pockets, preparing to light them.
At this rate, Union Berlin was in a life-or-death situation(?) where it would be fined.
Right now, Union Berlin's finances were so fragile that even the DFB membership dues—the so-called flare fine—were a burden.
If the DFB imposed a fine, they might seriously have to discuss disbanding.
The moment Union Berlin reached the crossroads of life and death.
“Everyone, stop!!”
Fortunately, Wolf, the leader of the Ultras, calmed the fans down.
“Stay calm! At this rate, we might have to pay a fine!”
Even Wolf, who had stripped off his shirt the moment Park Chan-hyeok scored, still had enough sense left to calmly assess the club's situation.
“So what, we'll just pay the fine!”
“Idiot! Not us—the club pays the fine!”
“Oh, damn it. The club can't be the one paying the fine. Put the flares away right now!”
In any case, thanks to Wolf's efforts, Union Berlin was able to survive another day safely.
***
[The Union Berlin bench had been in an uproar, but it has quieted down again.]
[Thanks to Park Chan-hyeok's goal, Union Berlin has achieved the remarkable feat of having the head coach as its top scorer.]
Even after Park Chan-hyeok's opener, the match continued.
[Union Berlin's intense press is leaving FC Anker Wismar's players completely unable to settle down!]
Union Berlin was pressing FC Anker Wismar hard.
[Yes. It's a very organized press. Union Berlin's manager has really built a good team. For professional players, maybe not, but at the amateur level, escaping that press won't be easy.]
[That's right. Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyeok. These two young men may well be bringing a fresh wind to Union Berlin.]
As the commentators praised the culmination of Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyeok's blood and sweat.
[Matthias, that's a good interception, reading the passing lane.]
Union Berlin's defender intercepted the pass, and a counterattack unfolded.
[Union Berlin counterattack! The pass is headed to Park Chan-hyeok!]
A long pass from the defender headed toward Park Chan-hyeok.
Park Chan-hyeok pulled off a fantastic escape from the press.
[Wow! An exquisite header that sails over the defender's head! Park Chan-hyeok shows perfect press resistance!]
Park Chan-hyeok quietly used his hand so the referee wouldn't notice. As he thrust his head forward, he slapped the underside of the ball with his palm, slipping away from FC Anker Wismar's pressure far too easily.
[An FC Anker Wismar player is appealing for a handball, but the referee firmly shakes his head!]
With a spectacular press escape that would make Maradona cry, the Wismar player strongly insisted it had been a handball foul.
But the referee and linesman, having failed to see Park Chan-hyeok's foul, let the match continue.
[Park Chan-hyeok attempts to dribble! But Wismar's defense is blocking his way.]
Park Chan-hyeok also faced danger because of his clumsy dribbling.
[Park Chan-hyeok, finding no other option, passes to a teammate!]
With his teammates' help, he was able to keep possession safely.
[Park's dribbling is a bit rough, even for the fourth division.]
Even by fourth-division standards, it was rough dribbling.
Surprisingly, though, it was much better than in his previous life. It was the result of training his close control from a young age.
Still, it didn't seem to have much of an effect on him.
Anyway.
Park Chan-hyeok's pass went through the midfielder to the striker up front, Janik Foyt.
[A very fine first touch.]
Janik took just one touch to shake off the defenders in an instant. Even the commentators burst into admiration at Janik Foyt's delicate control.
'Our head coach really does seem to have the skills.'
In his previous life, he had been criticized for his rough football, but Park Chan-hyeok was a tactician in his own way.
He was a manager who had steadily studied advanced European football, papers, and the like.
The problem was that he twisted it and adapted it in his own way, but when it came to football theory, he was razor-sharp.
[Janik Foyt enters the penalty box!]
And the one who benefited most from Park Chan-hyeok's training mechanism was his beloved disciple, Janik Foyt.
'You said to keep your ankle loose and focus on impact so you could strike cleanly, right? If there's room, taking a shot-feint touch isn't bad either.'
Thanks to systematic training from the future, Janik Foyt was able to improve rapidly.
[He shoots! Janik Foyt!]
Because he put too much force into it, Janik Foyt's shot went straight down the middle, though.
But the fourth-division goalkeeper couldn't keep out Janik Foyt's power-packed shot.
It tore through the net.
Once again, the away supporters' section erupted.
[Goooooaaaal─! Janik Foyt! Janik Foyt scores the second goal!]
Janik Foyt began running toward the head coach.
[Janik Foyt is running toward Head Coach Park Chan-hyeok!]
[That's right. We hear that Park strongly recommended Janik Foyt, who had failed the tryout, to the club. The Janik Foyt that Park recommended is now repaying that faith and has succeeded in netting the sealing goal.]
[After just 15 minutes of the first half, Union Berlin takes a 2-0 lead!]
***
The match between Union Berlin and FC Anker Wismar came to an end.
[With the referee's final whistle, the match ends! Union Berlin, once rated as an underdog, pulls off a 4-0 upset and succeeds in a blowout victory!]
With the opener in the fifth minute and Janik Foyt's second goal in the 15th minute of the first half, Union Berlin also added two goals in the second half that followed, securing a 4-0 rout.
Even though they had been labeled by the media as a likely relegation candidate, Union Berlin crushed their opponents with overwhelming play.
[Thanks to the performances of two young geniuses, the club the fans had protected with their blood declares its revival! We don't know how far they'll fly, but if possible, we hope to see them at the top!]
Football fans who watched the match were literally overwhelmed by the bizarre sight of a young manager in his thirties and an 18-year-old Asian head coach who was also out on the pitch as a field player.
As the results and the quality of play became the foundation, the strangeness the two men possessed came to feel special.
A flag symbolizing Union Berlin fluttered in the stadium,
“To ~~~~mas!”
“Park! Park! Park!”
For a while, the names of Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyeok rang out from Union Berlin's fans.
***
[Union Berlin crushes FC Anker Wismar with overwhelming play in the season opener.]
[Where did the experts who called them strong relegation candidates go?]
[Chairman Dirk Zingler is satisfied with Union Berlin's performance. ‘Those two are geniuses.’]
[The wind of change blowing in the fourth division, brought by two geniuses.]
[‘1goal1assist’ Janik Foyt sends his thanks to the head coach. “All I can do is do my best to become a better person in return for his faith.”]
[Park Chan-hyeok dodges the answer to the handball foul: “God is everywhere.” A dig at Maradona's ‘Hand of God’ comment?]
***
Meanwhile.
Kim Sun-myeong, a Korean exchange student who had heard that there was a fourth-division team in Berlin with a Korean head coach, visited the away stadium out of curiosity.
“Hey! What's that yellow guy next to you?”
“He's from the same country as Park!”
After the match ended, he naturally headed to a nearby pub arm in arm with a German middle-aged man he'd never met before.
“Oh! Park! Park! Our hero!”
“You're from the same country as that guy? Then you're our friend too!”
The moment he entered the pub, he shrank back at the fierce gazes of the drunken construction workers.
They were able to become friends in an instant thanks to their shared topic of football.
Before long, the Korean exchange student Kim Sun-myeong was drunk, humming Union Berlin's chant in clumsy German and not even knowing the lyrics properly.
That was how the Korean exchange student who had visited the stadium on a whim began to fall naturally for the team called Union Berlin.
“D...am...n... I... wa...nt... to... set... off... flares...”
“I...s... th...is... the... with...dra...wal... symp...t...oms...?”
Of course, in the back room of the pub he couldn't see, the hard-core Ultras were suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
It was the dark side of football.
***
Several days after the match ended.
“...What is this?”
I asked, puzzled, about the envelopes piled on my desk when I came to the club.
“They're saying they'll pay the fine in advance for setting off flares before every match?”
the employee helping with financial affairs replied.
“...What am I supposed to report to the media?”
Union Berlin was in a financial crisis, but it still had its pride, so we couldn't report the truth as it was.
[Union Berlin fans say they will continue a donation campaign before every match until the day the club returns to normal....]
We dressed it up under the nice-sounding label of donations.