Chapter 58
***
Union Berlin launched a fierce assault on Bayern Munich from the opening whistle.
The Bayern Munich players couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
They hadn’t expected a second-division team to come at them so aggressively.
To begin with, the Bayern Munich players didn’t understand why they were even playing a friendly against a team that had just been promoted to the second division.
They had assumed it was a match arranged through Tuchel’s connection, since Thomas Tuchel had once managed that team.
They were surprised to hear that Korea and Japan wanted the broadcast rights for this match, but they were even more shocked that Union Berlin was more popular in Asia than they’d expected.
'So Union Berlin and Asia are about the same level when it comes to football.'
The players didn’t have much else to think.
The club director and board members may have thought differently, but for the players, the Asian market was just a place for exhibition matches while their bodies were worn down from long-haul flights.
'…Did these guys eat something bad or what?'
With Union Berlin pressing like crazy as if they’d eaten something wrong, they couldn’t help but be bewildered.
After all, Bayern Munich had fielded a half-strength side.
It was rare for all the regular starters to play in a preseason match.
“Ah…!”
Mats Hummels, who had come up from the youth team last season, made a mistake while hurriedly dealing with the ball under Yannick Voit’s intense pressure.
His back pass to the goalkeeper was far too short.
“That idiot!”
Oliver Kahn quickly reacted to Mats Hummels’s mistake.
The beast-like reflexes that had once earned him the nickname “the Beast” in his youth naturally faded with age, but Oliver Kahn filled the gap left behind by those reflexes with experience.
Oliver Kahn calmly lowered his center of gravity and looked at Yannick Voit.
'There’s only one place he can shoot from.'
It was the one-on-one situation he was most confident in.
The moment Yannick Voit took the shot, Oliver Kahn immediately threw himself at it.
Tap─.
And Oliver Kahn managed to stop Yannick Voit’s shot with his fingertips. His teammates came over calling it a super save, but to Oliver Kahn, it wasn’t anything difficult.
'At this level, any keeper with basic training could stop it.'
There was only one place Yannick Voit could put it.
Of course, that was all from Oliver Kahn’s perspective.
He was the one who adjusted the defenders’ positions to limit Yannick Voit’s shooting angle.
“Jaaaa!”
Anyway.
Oliver Kahn roared at the same time as the save.
The Bayern Munich players, starting with Oliver Kahn’s roar, began to take the match seriously. They realized Union Berlin was not an opponent to be underestimated.
Meanwhile, Philipp Lahm, who was playing at right-back against Union Berlin, quietly turned his gaze toward Bayern Munich’s bench. He was curious about Thomas Tuchel’s expression now that Tuchel had pushed to arrange this friendly against Union Berlin.
On the bench sat Thomas Tuchel, wearing the expression of someone who had known this would happen.
***
[Wow…. Even if this is just a preseason friendly, Union Berlin is really pushing ‘that’ Bayern Munich hard.]
The Korean commentators let out admiring sighs at Union Berlin’s refusal to back down against Bayern Munich.
[Honestly, before the match, I thought this would be a David-and-Goliath game. But now that they’re actually playing, it feels like Union Berlin is dictating the pace.]
[It looks like Coach Park Chan-hyeok sharpened his blade and prepared for this showdown against his mentor, Thomas Tuchel.]
It was a rather heavily pro-Union Berlin broadcast, but no one complained.
- Please, let Korea win!
- It’s Union Berlin, not Korea.
- Ahem, if Koreans are on the pitch and a Korean is leading them, then that’s Korea!
For Korea, this was now basically a national-team match.
Anyway, the match between Union Berlin and Bayern Munich had become so intense it was hard to believe this was a preseason friendly.
[By the way, this is a friendly, you know? The players need to calm down a little.]
[Yes, things are getting rough. The referee is already calling the captains of both teams over.]
[That’s right. The referee handled the game well by stopping it when he did. If things had gone on, someone could have gotten hurt.]
***
'Tuchel still hasn’t fully taken control of the squad, has he?'
It seemed there was a power struggle between the players and the coach inside the Munich camp.
Thomas Tuchel must have expected us to come out aggressively.
Well, thanks to that, Union Berlin had taken control of the match’s momentum.
The Union Berlin players also began to gain confidence from the fact that they were putting up such a close fight against Bayern Munich.
If they could keep this feeling going, they’d be able to do well even in the second division.
To be honest, I wasn’t confident that I could get Union Berlin promoted this season. The regular starters still hadn’t fully unlocked their potential yet.
'Well, still, let’s do our best until the end. And damn, Bayern Munich’s squad quality is insane.'
I looked at the Bayern Munich players on the pitch. Their talent pool was on a completely different level.
Seeing the potential of the players on the field, I let out a dry laugh.
Particularly, Toni Kroos was impressive.
Toni Kroos had that level of ability, but he hadn’t been able to establish himself at Bayern Munich and had to go out on loan to Leverkusen.
'If they’re going to loan him out, couldn’t they send him to us instead?'
Once the match was over, I’d have to ask Thomas Tuchel about it.
'Tuchel, man! Come on, we’re practically family!'
Of course, since a loan also depended on Toni Kroos’s own opinion, it was important to make a strong impression in this match.
'Looks like I’ve already made a strong enough impression.'
Just as I was drooling over Toni Kroos.
Under Thomas Meier’s intense pressure, Toni Kroos lost the ball.
Thomas Meier was running like a madman in this match.
Union Berlin’s ability to control the flow of the game right now was possible thanks to Thomas Meier’s dedication.
After winning the ball, Meier connected it to Markus Matchke.
Markus Matchke immediately tried a pass forward.
In the path of the pass, Yannick Voit was making a run into the space behind Bayern Munich’s back line.
Son Hongmin was currently playing as a left winger, but he was having a hard time against Philipp Lahm.
'Hang in there, Hongmin.'
Today’s match would be a good experience for Son Hongmin in many ways.
Anyway, with the ball at his feet, Yannick Voit tried to cross it.
There was no angle at all to cut into the box.
Yannick Voit’s cross headed toward the penalty area.
The penalty area saw an aerial battle between Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummels.
The winner of the aerial battle was Mats Hummels, who had claimed the better position first.
But fortune smiled on Union Berlin.
The ball Hummels headed clear drifted to Son Hongmin.
“Shoot!”
I clenched my fist on the touchline and shouted.
Son Hongmin immediately took the shot.
Seeing the ball drift to Son Hongmin, Philipp Lahm tried to muscle him off and disrupt the shot, and because that threw off his balance, he couldn’t make proper contact.
Ripple─.
Son Hongmin’s shot found the back of Bayern Munich’s net.
Son Hongmin could hardly believe he had scored against Bayern Munich. He stood there dazed for a while until his teammates slapped him on the back, and only then did he break into a bright smile and celebrate.
Though Oliver Kahn’s pride seemed to have been a little bruised in the process.
I didn’t think Oliver Kahn would get angry at Son Hongmin.
For one thing, Son Hongmin was still only sixteen.
On top of that, being Asian made him look even younger.
I figured he wouldn’t be petty enough to get angry at a happy kid.
Anyway, Son Hongmin’s shot had torn through Bayern Munich’s net.
I carefully turned my gaze and looked at Tuchel.
And, as if by coincidence, our eyes met.
Thomas Tuchel glared at me, eyes wide.
He must have been that happy to see me.
'Hah. I’ve got to do my part too.'
I smiled and slowly moved toward Thomas Tuchel.
“Grow! Hair, hair!”
That day, I saw heaven.
***
Oliver Kahn let out a sigh as he looked at the ball inside the goal.
'I really have gotten old.'
Despite his outwardly calm expression, Oliver Kahn was boiling inside.
He hated conceding goals, even in an exhibition match against a kid.
It stung even more that he knew his prime self would have been able to stop it.
The face of the kid who had scored against him and was now celebrating came into view.
If this had been the old days, he would have exploded in anger, but Kahn decided to endure it this time.
It was awkward to get angry over conceding in a preseason friendly.
“Kid, that’s a goal you scored against this Kahn. Take it with you.”
Seeing him bow in thanks eased his mood a little.
'Hmm…. Is bowing to express thanks an Asian custom?'
To Kahn, that kid looked like he had quite a bit of promise.
'He scored against this Kahn, after all.'
Anyway, did he think that made him look cool?
Bayern Munich’s bench started getting noisy.
Oliver Kahn cautiously turned his head toward the bench and couldn’t believe his eyes.
Because he saw the Union Berlin coach being strangled by Thomas Tuchel.
“…What?”
And the truly shocking part was that no one around them was trying to stop Thomas Tuchel.