Chapter 42
***
The match between Union Berlin and Osnabrück moved along quickly.
Once Osnabrück had been subdued, there was no choice but for Union Berlin to drag them along.
If it had been their home ground, they might have been able to hope for a shift in momentum.
Unfortunately, this was Union Berlin's home stadium, hell itself for lower-league teams.
Except for a handful of seats, everyone in Union Berlin's home stadium stood up and cheered. It was to squeeze in as many spectators as possible.
Of course, the stadium was packed with Union Berlin shirts.
“Scheiße!(Fuck!) Someone shut those bastards up!”
As the Osnabrück players started to get overwhelmed by Union Berlin fans' fervent support, flares began to rise from one side of the stands.
It was possible because donation projects were being carried out under the name of club normalization.
A Korean soccer fan with a normal sense of reason might ask what flares had to do with club normalization, but unfortunately, this was Germany.
For Germans, it was common sense that flares were part of club normalization.
If you still don't get it, just respect it.
“German chemical technology is the world's numbeeeer one—!”
I got high from the flares covering the stands and shouted at the top of my lungs.
“…There he goes again.”
Then Thomas Tuchel looked at me with a pitiful expression.
Well, it happened from time to time, so I didn't pay it much mind.
Anyway, the place where the smoke was rising now was the 'Wall of Fire' section reserved for fans who had donated to gain entry.
Originally, it had been called the 'flare' section, but after the club received a warning from the Northern Regional Federation in charge of the Regionalliga for encouraging flare use, it changed the name.
Officially it was now the Wall of Fire section, but both the club and the fans still called it the flare section.
Anyway, even though everyone knew flares were soulmates to Germans, I couldn't understand why the association was trying to control and suppress them.
The association said it opposed flares because they were dangerous and should be banned.
‘If flares are dangerous, wouldn't you just make safe flares?’
I should ask my younger sibling about this business idea later. Personally, I thought 'safe flares' would be a huge hit in Europe.
***
While I was mulling over that brilliant business idea.
Time passed quickly, and the match between Union Berlin and Osnabrück came to an end.
As expected, Union Berlin won. Yannick Voigt, who scored the opener, successfully assisted Thomas Meyer’s goal in the second half.
“Yannick, MOM interview!”
“Got it!”
Yannick Voigt, who was selected as MOM, moved off to do the interview.
“Leon!”
I went over to Leon, who had been invited to Union Berlin today, and said hello. Perhaps because the game had moved him deeply, Leon's face was flushed red as he ran over with a bright smile.
“Ah! It's the coach!”
He looked nothing like the gloomy, withdrawn kid he used to be.
‘Damn, he's handsome when he smiles. If he keeps growing up without an awkward phase, he'll sell jerseys like crazy.’
There was a reason Real Madrid's Galáctico policy involved recruiting handsome white star players.
Because it was lucrative from a marketing standpoint.
Even Real Madrid would later stray from that path and start valuing footballing ability over looks.
‘Ah. Was that because PC was the trend at the time?’
Come to think of it now, President Pérez really did seem to have had a plan for everything.
‘…Then was the no-show part of the plan too?’
Anyway.
“How'd you like the match?”
“Yes! I'll be able to play there someday too, right?”
Leon, clearly moved by the game, said that he would one day debut for Union Berlin.
“Of course. Sign here and you can play forever.”
Nodding at Leon's words, I carefully held out the contract.
It wasn't anything special; it was a lifetime contract.
Of course, due to FIFA regulations, it had no legal force.
It was simply meant to give me a bit of leverage later if he ever announced he was leaving.
***
[Union Berlin. A 2-0 home victory.]
[Yannick Voigt, who dominated the match: 'I ran hard for the sake of a child named Leon.']
[Who is the child named Leon that Yannick Voigt mentioned in the interview?]
[Shocking! Horrific racism in Germany!]
[Union Berlin anti-racism campaign. 'Germany's football leaders must wake up....']
[Youth club's explanation. "The cause was Leon's lack of ability."]
[Chairman Dirk Zingler, official declaration... “There will be no discrimination at our club.”]
[Leon Han, his face flushed, answering a reporter's question.... “It feels like a dream. I want to play someday while being cheered on by passionate fans.”]
***
This racism issue that had just blown up actually helped Union Berlin's image quite a bit. One characteristic of clubs from the former East Germany was that their supporters were gradually becoming neo-Nazis.
Along with Germany's struggling economy, the wealth gap between West and East Germany was one of the causes. The fact that East Germany had once been indirectly ruled by the Soviet Union was surely part of it too.
Anyway.
[Why is Union Berlin the only club free from neo-Nazi controversy?]
Thanks to the story involving me and Leon, Union Berlin could avoid that kind of controversy.
For short-term profit, rallying the fans was the right move.
But for Union Berlin's future, being inclusive was the right choice.
‘If it were a lower-league club, maybe, but once you get to the pro leagues you can't build a squad out of Germans alone.’
For players who weren't white, a racist club was naturally a deterrent to joining.
Athletes were people too, so they couldn't help but be hurt by the home fans' jeers. And if it was about race, even more so.
Naturally, once a club started being seen as racist, it had to offer players a slightly higher weekly wage to win out over other clubs in the race to sign them.
‘Then overall the squad's weekly wages go up, and the club takes a loss.’
Anyway, a few days after the match against Osnabrück ended.
In Korea too, where there was a lot of interest in Union Berlin, articles began to appear one after another. And among them was one that instantly caught my eye.
[Korean Football Association, in response to the Union Berlin interview... “We're glad we can send students to Union Berlin with peace of mind.”]
The fact that the association was actually doing its job was astonishing.
Judging by the timing of the article, it was practically as if news from Union Berlin had reached the association's top brass and they had replied immediately.
I couldn't believe it, so I rubbed my eyes with both hands and looked back at the monitor.
The monitor was still clearly displaying that article.
Only then did another possibility occur to me.
‘…Fake news?’
For a split second, I thought of fake news, but that wouldn't become a problem until much later, far in the future.
So this really was a legitimate article put out by the association.
While I was flustered by the fact that the association was actually working,
the association sent a cooperation request to the club.
It was a request for Union Berlin to send one scout to Korea if they had time to spare.
Union Berlin fully accepted the Korean Football Association's request.
Union Berlin decided to send the club's 'Korea expert,' who knew Korean culture better than anyone else at the club, to Korea.
“Chan-hyeok, you go.”
“Fuck. Why is it me again?”
Of course, for someone who had suddenly been handed extra work, swearing by reflex was only natural.
“Ah. Since you have some time before you head to Korea, make sure the next opponent analysis is all organized before you go.”
I quietly nodded at Thomas Tuchel's endless demands.
‘There's a reason the guy's bald.’
Of course, I didn't say that out loud. Thomas Tuchel was sure to get angry.
[Thomas Tuchel, shave your bald head.]
So I left an encoded note in the scout report I'd written overnight and took off.
It was the result of stress from staying up all night. An unknown impulse had taken control of my body.
Well. Since I wrote it in encoded Korean, there shouldn't be anyone who can decipher it...
‘…Huh? Wait. Come to think of it, there is Seon-myeong at the club, isn't there?’
***
Kim Seon-myeong, who had been recruited as a volunteer by Union Berlin, had gone through an internship and before long become an employee at Union Berlin.
Union Berlin's wages were on the low side, but Kim Seon-myeong was satisfied.
Because he was doing the work he wanted to do.
One day, while he was working peacefully.
He was suddenly called by Thomas Tuchel and moved to the manager's office.
“Come in.”
Tuchel greeted Kim Seon-myeong in English.
His German was so bad it was unbearable to listen to, so this was his way of telling him to use English.
“I called you because I couldn't understand what Chan-hyeok wrote.”
Thomas Tuchel briefly explained why he had called Kim Seon-myeong in.
Tuchel handed Kim Seon-myeong the problematic report.
Kim Seon-myeong was horrified when he read the report written by Park Chan-hyeok.
‘…That crazy bastard Park Chan-hyeok.’
Cold sweat broke out under Thomas Tuchel's icy stare. In the middle of it all, it was only natural that Tuchel's forehead caught my eye.
“Uh... this is about showing respect for the manager....”
“There's no way that guy would do that. Stop spouting nonsense and translate it properly.”
Kim Seon-myeong, who had been trying his hardest to gloss over it, eventually gave in to Thomas Tuchel's 'spiritual pressure'.
‘Chan-hyeok, at this point this is just natural death.’
Kim Seon-myeong quietly prayed for Park Chan-hyeok's soul.