Chapter 16
***
Union Berlin fans' loyalty was already quite famous around Berlin.
Even though Berlin is the capital of economic powerhouse Germany, Union's home region is Köpenick in the southeast of Berlin, a former East German area heavily influenced by the Soviet Union before reunification.
The gap in economic strength between West Germany and East Germany had been so huge it could shake Germany's economy after reunification.
Most of the fans supporting Union Berlin were poor laborers, and their beloved club was no different.
Union Berlin was such a cash-strapped team that it couldn't even obtain its license, but the fans still loved the club they supported.
For them, what mattered wasn't the club's results or championships, but simply comforting their hard, exhausting daily lives through football.
To Union Berlin's fans, winning or losing didn't matter. As long as the players didn't give up until the end and gave it their all, the fans were satisfied.
“Park! Park! Park!”
In that sense, Park Chan-hyeok was exactly the kind of head coach Union Berlin fans adored.
Of course, when Park Chan-hyeok was first appointed as head coach, most of the fans were against it.
Understandably so. Who would like a head coach and manager who had shown nothing at all?
But the fans' opinion of Union Berlin changed quickly.
That was because Park Chan-hyeok's sincerity toward the club reached the fans.
Since the club had a history of being oppressed by the Stasi during East German times, Union Berlin was closely intertwined with its fans.
They heard through club staff that the new head coach and manager were working around the clock.
And not only that, when Park Chan-hyeok appeared on the pitch as a player and scored his debut goal in the opening match,
[Does anyone happen to know the address of a hardware store nearby?]
└ Hardware store address...? Damn it! Call Chan-hyeok! He'd know!
└ Of course. If it's Chan-hyeok, he'd naturally know the phone number of a hardware store.
└ Who the hell is this Chan-hyeok guy, you bastards!
└ You don't know Chan-hyeok, our team's ace player, head coach, and club director?
Park Chan-hyeok was starting to become a meme at Union Berlin.
***
“Boooooooo─!”
“Head coach, get out there and play!”
When I heard the fans' joking boos, I felt a mix of emotions.
A little embarrassment, and gratitude that they recognized me as a player.
In truth, if you compared only football ability objectively, Markus Matschke, who was playing in my place right now, was better.
Even though he was in the second division, Markus had once been a prospect who was offered a professional contract.
But after suffering a devastating knee injury as a player, he ended up dropping all the way to the fourth division.
There was no denying that Markus was a better player than I was.
[Name: Markus Matschke]
[Current Ability: ★☆]
[Potential: ★★★]
[One-line review: His potential has been reduced because of the injury.]
His current ability rating, as seen by the scout, was far better too.
The reason I started in the opening match was simply because I was worried the players still hadn't fully understood the tactics and might make mistakes.
And of course, the fans also knew that Markus was better than me.
But even so, the fans were chanting my name.
“Chan-hyeok.”
“Yes?”
“Don't forget the cheers the fans are giving you right now.”
I nodded at Thomas Tuchel's words.
Truthfully, I had never played for a team as passionate as Union Berlin.
No, to begin with, I'd never received cheers from the stands while on the pitch. In my previous life, once I entered high school, I realized the talent gap and quit football.
Because of that, I couldn't understand players who wanted to stay at their clubs even if they had to take a pay cut.
Even after becoming a manager, I would still tell players to respect the fans, saying that it was because of their love that they could earn money.
If you asked whether that came from the bottom of my heart, I'd probably answer no.
Of course, there was a huge difference between knowing something in your head and truly accepting it in your heart.
I stared blankly at the fans for a while.
“Chan-hyeok, the match has started. Focus.”
Not until Thomas Tuchel called me once more.
“Huh? Yes!”
I immediately turned my head and focused on the match.
Now was the time to focus on my real job as head coach.
***
Union Berlin's second league match against Tennis Borussia Berlin.
With the referee's whistle, the match began.
'The flow of the match isn't good.'
The Tennis Borussia Berlin manager looked out over the pitch with a serious expression.
Unlike the media or other managers, he didn't dismiss the combination of a young manager in his thirties and a teenage head coach.
Even though he was just an ordinary lower-league manager bouncing between the third and fifth divisions, the instinct he'd built up from coaching in the same post for decades told him so.
The instinct he'd accumulated through decades of managerial experience was sending a strong warning about Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyeok.
And seeing Union Berlin pressing hard in the previous match and again from the very start of today's game, he knew his judgment was right.
'They definitely don't seem like people who'll be stuck in the lower leagues forever.'
He was envious of the talent those young men had, but he didn't stoop to petty jealousy or get swallowed by the greed of old age.
Just as in life, everyone has their own way of doing things.
There was no such thing as a correct answer in football.
***
[G, gooooooal─! Tennis Borussia Berlin strikes first and takes the lead!]
Union Berlin had the run of play, but it was Tennis Borussia Berlin that scored first.
[A single counterattack shakes Union Berlin's goal! The ball cleared from the defensive area is sent to Frank Bortmann, and Frank Bortmann doesn't miss the chance that comes his way!]
Thomas Tuchel harshly scolded the player who had made the mistake. The defender should have prioritized delaying the attack, but he rushed into a tackle and was bypassed.
“Günter!! You idiot!”
After unleashing a barrage of curses,
Thomas Tuchel quickly analyzed the pitch with a calm expression.
There is no correct answer in football, but there are wins and losses.
He analyzed everything about the opposing team in order to raise their chances of winning even a little.
That made a flood of work rain down on Park Chan-hyeok, but
Park Chan-hyeok used the abilities from his previous life to the fullest and handled all the work that came his way.
Thomas Tuchel's eyes caught sight of Park Chan-hyeok encouraging the players and telling them it was all right.
Tuchel didn't pay much attention to individual players.
When he saw a player who kept working hard despite lacking talent, memories from the past sometimes surfaced and he felt a sense of kinship, but he generally kept his distance from the players.
'Then I can leave squad management to Chan-hyeok for the time being.'
Tuchel gave a slight nod and shifted his gaze back to the pitch.
Anyway.
Even though Union Berlin had conceded and was trailing.
Tuchel didn't think Union Berlin would lose.
'No flash of tactical brilliance.'
The opponent was an experienced manager, but not the type with exceptional talent.
“Schulz! Tell Janik to push a little higher and keep running. And tell him not to hesitate when he gets a shooting chance inside the penalty area.”
He gave concise instructions so even the most ordinary players could understand them.
While Daniel Teixeira drew the defenders' attention, the plan was for Janik to attack the space, but he didn't bother explaining that to the player.
'Anyway, they wouldn't understand everything during the match.'
It was a trivial, light instruction, but
his instructions brought about a clear change on the pitch.
Right before halftime,
Daniel Teixeira laid off the ball, and Janik Foyt buried it in the net, successfully scoring the equalizer.
***
Park Chan-hyeok's family becoming fans of Union Berlin was, in a way, only natural.
In fact, the quickest way to become a fan of any sports club was simply to put your own money into it.
“You damn bastard! How can you miss that!”
The news that their daughter and son had invested tens of billions of won in Union Berlin turned the two people who had never cared about football into the most fervent fans imaginable.
“Why, are they booing our Chan-hyeok?”
“I guess...?”
“They're telling Chan-hyeok to get on the pitch?”
“Then they weren't booing him in a bad way.”
Of course, they still had enough sense left to be flustered when Union Berlin fans booed Park Chan-hyeok....
“Oh my, isn't that a fire over there?”
“Mom, that's called a flare. It's like fireworks.”
“Where do they sell those? I'd like to join in too.”
Other than that, Park Chan-hyeok's family was quickly blending in with the other fans.
***
For Germans, flares were something that expressed their Germanic identity.
Germans' obsession with flares far surpassed Koreans' obsession with rice cultivation.
“If you go overboard, the fine will get bigger. Tell them to set them off moderately, just like we practiced beforehand!”
Under the adverse conditions of the club's financial crisis, Union Berlin fans' flare control....
They succeeded in reaching a level where they could feel maximum happiness for the minimum possible fine.