Chapter 21
***
Ahead of MSV Neuruppin's match against Union Berlin, manager Wolfgang Sidka was in high spirits.
"Manager, have you heard? Apparently, a mere 18-year-old rookie is going to serve as the acting manager for the next match."
"Ahem. Still, we can't let our guard down."
While talking with the assistant coach, he broke into a broad grin. Word had come that Thomas Tuchel had been hospitalized with the flu.
'Heaven is helping us.'
He told the assistant coach not to let his guard down, but inwardly he was the most excited of all.
[Thomas Tuchel subdues rival BFC Dynamo with overwhelming firepower.]
After all, the one stepping in for the monstrous Thomas Tuchel was nothing more than an 18-year-old greenhorn.
[League standings.]
1. Union Berlin. Points: 40.
2. MSV Neuruppin. Points: 33.
Although the gap between them and league-leading Union Berlin was nearly seven points, if Union Berlin started to wobble from this match onward, MSV Neuruppin would have a chance to climb to first place.
Of course, MSV Neuruppin could also lose to Union Berlin.
Realistically, there was no way they would lose.
Wolfgang Sidka had spent more years as a manager than that brat Park Chan-hyeok had been alive.
So he could say with certainty.
That it was hard for an unprepared rookie manager to produce results.
What could a brat who was only 18 possibly do?
The genius manager Thomas Tuchel had praised him in the media several times, but that was probably little more than lip service.
Even if he really did possess outstanding talent, it didn't matter.
Either way, he was clearly lacking in experience.
A manager's job isn't a place where a flash of inspiration can solve everything.
On top of that, Union Berlin were unbeaten.
There were still many matches left, but since they had already played half the season, whispers of an unbeaten championship run had started to surface now and then.
And in that situation, an 18-year-old rookie had suddenly been thrust into the acting-manager role.
Park Chan-hyeok was surely suffering under an enormous amount of pressure.
He'd definitely come out defensively.
The pressure would clearly force him into a defensive approach.
If it were me, I'd have done the same.
Believing Union Berlin would play defensively, MSV Neuruppin manager Wolfgang Sidka prepared an aggressive tactic for the match.
[Park Chan-hyeok, assistant coach, provokes the opposition. "Either we crush them or get crushed. But it doesn't seem like we'll be the ones getting crushed."]
[Park Chan-hyeok, on the provocation controversy. "Anyway, we won't be seeing them from next season on."]
Park Chan-hyeok's aggressive, sharp-edged interview only strengthened the manager's conviction.
As the saying goes, barking dogs don't bite.
Manager Wolfgang snorted at the sight of Park Chan-hyeok barking like a frightened puppy.
Come to think of it, I heard that Thomas Tuchel guy has a wild personality. This could even split them apart.
Before long, his thoughts had moved from his match against Park Chan-hyeok to the showdown with Thomas Tuchel later in the season.
***
The news that Park Chan-hyeok would become the youngest acting manager also spread quickly in Korea.
Even though Union Berlin was only a fourth-division amateur side.
[Let's take a look at Union Berlin, the club built on blood.]
[Berlin's 21st-century gold-collection drive, a heartwarming tale.]
The touching story had gained a fair amount of fame in its own right.
That was thanks to the club's pro-Korean behavior, which had earned it quite a few fans.
[Title: Union Berlin site, Korean translation 100% complete.]
(Union Berlin site with Korean text .jpg)
Maybe because the assistant coach is Korean. They've even made a Korean-language site.
There are a few awkward bits of grammar here and there, but the translation is still pretty clean.
Did Chan-hyeok translate this?
Yeah. Apparently the volunteer and the assistant coach translated the site together.
What is this familiar scent?
This is the very picture of a Korean small company.
And on top of those pro-Korean moves, there were plenty of people who became fans because Union Berlin had such a human, down-to-earth feel.
[Title: Union Berlin, the small-company club, latest update.]
Thomas Tuchel collapsed from overwork, so the 18-year-old assistant coach ended up taking over as manager too.
As a result, Park Chan-hyeok was now handling the duties of assistant coach, club director, and manager.
Didn't Tuchel collapse from the flu, not overwork?
I thought it was the flu too.
Is the amount of work Park Chan-hyeok has to handle for real?
That familiar feeling of one person having to juggle several jobs at once.
Park Chan-hyeok is the very essence of small-company elite, that bastard.
Chan-hyeok, if you get fired from Union Berlin, come work at our company.
Get lost. He's coming to our company.
But if Union Berlin keeps blowing up like this and makes it to the Bundesliga, does that mean the small company turns into a mid-sized one?
A Bundesliga team is a global giant, you idiot.
They're playing in the top flight of one of the world's four major leagues, so "mid-sized" my ass, lol.
A team in Germany's second division would be about mid-sized, though?
Nope. Starting from the upper reaches of the third division, it's mid-sized. If you're near the top of the second division, you'd have to count as big business.
***
After the provocation toward the opposing team, time passed quickly, and MSV Neuruppin's manager made his response.
[MSV Neuruppin manager, advising Park Chan-hyeok: 'He's still young and full of youthful fire... A manager always needs to stay calm.']
[Union Berlin assistant coach Park Chan-hyeok sharply escalates his criticism of Manager Wolfgang... "Old soldiers never die. They just fade away. But it seems Wolfgang missed his chance to fade away."]
The sudden war of words between the managers drew people's attention and started heating up both inside and outside the stadium.
After all, even a small-time scrap is more entertaining.
I snorted as I watched the old man blowing up in the interview.
He really got triggered, huh?
Even though he'd baited the other side in an interview, MSV Neuruppin's manager had once had a splendid career, leading a lower-tier second-division team to promotion to the top flight in his prime.
But... now he's washed up.
That wasn't just Wolfgang Sidka's problem. That's simply the nature of being a football manager.
A football manager's job is one where you're left behind in an instant if you can't accept new tactics and new paradigms.
And once a manager falls behind, it's hard to get back into the mainstream.
Because catching back up after you've fallen behind once is difficult.
Still, it wasn't as if no fallen manager had ever made a comeback.
There were managers who were fired by their clubs and called washed up, then clawed their way back into the mainstream through blood, sweat, and tears.
Well, that just means that manager had that much prestige.
If a manager has a strong reputation, they keep getting chances despite repeated failures, but most managers don't get a second chance.
So this match was important for me too. It was a precious stage, my de facto managerial debut.
Thump.
My heart started pounding like crazy again at the thought of returning as manager after such a long time.
I deliberately provoked them, so they'd definitely come out attacking, right?
I spent the whole night fine-tuning tactics for the MSV Neuruppin match.
***
Before long, the day of the Union Berlin and MSV Neuruppin match arrived.
Since it was an away game, we headed to Volksparkstadion in Neuruppin, Brandenburg.
MSV Neuruppin's home ground had 5,300 seats, far smaller than Union Berlin's, but that was because Union Berlin used a stadium far too large for a fourth-division side.
Union Berlin had, after all, once reached the second division.
The basic gap in size between MSV Neuruppin and Union Berlin couldn't be helped.
In any case, the stadium was packed with home fans.
As soon as they saw an East Asian entering the stadium, they unleashed a storm of boos.
The racist jeers hardened the Union Berlin players' faces.
Watching that, I nodded.
This could be useful.
Just as I was about to use the MSV Neuruppin fans' racist abuse to fire the players up.
"I knew it, that's why you sent me out first, didn't you?!"
Kim Seon-myeong, who had taken the racist abuse in my place, grumbled.
I told the complaining Kim Seon-myeong the truth.
"Yeah."
"Because my parents said lying is bad."
***
Before kickoff.
I walked up to the opposing manager and shook his hand, putting fair play into practice.
"I look forward to a good game today."
"Heh. You're young, so your interviews sure are bold. I don't know what you were thinking, giving that interview when you might lose today, you know."
"That unfiltered alpha move. Isn't that the German spirit?"
After the brief battle of wills, the MSV Neuruppin manager's face twisted for a moment, but he composed himself when he saw the reporters in the stands.
And then, a moment later.
With the referee's whistle, the match began.
As Wolfgang watched Union Berlin's defensive line drop deep, his smile grew broader.
Union Berlin's mood changed in an instant.
Daniel Teixeira, who started up top in a two-striker setup, cut off MSV Neuruppin's attack, and the counterattack followed immediately.
Yannick Poit, who had been waiting near Neuruppin's center backs to cover the counter, sprinted forward.
Daniel Teixeira immediately sent a long pass straight ahead.
Yannick Poit controlled the ball and fired a low shot that rippled MSV Neuruppin's net.
I pulled a Yu-Gi-Oh! card from inside my jacket, then gave the flustered manager a crooked grin.
"You just activated my trap card."