Chapter 61
***
Currently, Union Berlin was undergoing several renovation projects at once.
And among them, the overhaul of the training-ground facilities was progressing quickly.
After all, the players had to train there, so the repairs on the facilities were carried out with special focus.
While the training-ground facilities were being fixed, they had to use other training grounds nearby, which was nothing short of inconvenient.
Anyway.
Union Berlin's training ground had been reborn in pristine condition.
“Ohhh. What’s this? The club spent some money?”
The players also burst out in admiration at the sight of Union Berlin’s newly reborn training ground. They had even brought in state-of-the-art equipment.
Manager Park Chan-hyeok had chosen to trust the existing players and invest in training facilities rather than bring in new signings.
‘I guess I picked decent guys from the lower-league days, since everyone’s potential is more than enough.’
From Park Chan-hyeok’s point of view, it was just a simple investment.
But to the players training there directly, it felt different.
‘At this rate...’
‘Are we really going to the first division?’
The players could feel in their bones that their club was growing fast.
***
The Union Berlin training ground in the Köpenick district was now shrouded in tension.
The season opener was just around the corner.
The players were sweating buckets in training in order to earn a starting spot in the season opener.
A starting appearance in the first match was important to the players in many ways.
It meant the lineup the manager had in mind for this season.
Of course, being a starter wasn't guaranteed forever.
But the advantage was clear: you got the first chance.
The players trained with tense faces in order to make the starting lineup.
However, not everyone was training with a tense expression. There were also some who looked relaxed.
Yannick Voigt, Union Berlin's ace, was one of them.
“Yannick! Focus!”
And when Daniel Teixeira saw that, he immediately barked at him.
Yannick Voigt complied with Daniel's orders without a word.
Even if he was just a new coach now, Daniel Teixeira had been a respected veteran player at Union Berlin.
‘...Was this how Chan-hyeok felt too?’
Daniel Teixeira looked at the players as they trained.
Things he hadn't noticed when he was a player came into view.
Who was slacking off, and who was training diligently.
‘I was originally going to go back home...’
In fact, Daniel Teixeira had planned to retire last season and return to his hometown.
But he was now a coach at Union Berlin this season.
There was no special reason. The club had simply held on to him.
‘Phew... I need to work harder too.’
Daniel Teixeira was also currently handling the assistant coach role.
Union Berlin was currently looking for an assistant coach, but it had not been easy to find one.
There was no assistant coach who wanted to work under a 20-year-old Asian manager.
They had achieved financial stability, but they still couldn’t throw a huge sum at an assistant coach.
Still, they couldn’t hire an assistant coach with a bad reputation either.
If the assistant coach and the manager ever got into a power struggle, the squad could be split in two.
Given Park Chan-hyeok's control over the squad, it might have been an unnecessary worry, but from Chairman Dirk Zingler's perspective, he always had to consider the worst case.
And no matter how strong a manager's hold over the squad was, as the season progressed there would inevitably be points where the players grew dissatisfied. If someone exploited that gap, it could be fatal.
Daniel Teixeira, a veteran player of Union Berlin, was the perfect fit for that role.
The tradition of nurturing assistant coaches at Union Berlin began with Park Chan-hyeok.
***
The preseason ended and time passed quickly before the season kicked off.
[DFB Pokal Round of 64, Union Berlin vs. Leverkusen,]
Union Berlin's first match of the season was a DFB Pokal game against Leverkusen.
- Scheiße! It's been ages since we were in the Pokal, and it's Leverkusen?!
- We even played well against Bayern Munich, so Leverkusen is nothing!
The fans’ reactions to drawing Leverkusen as the opponent were all over the place.
- Who cares about the result!
But overall, Union Berlin's mood was much the same.
That was thanks to the strong bond the club had built with its fans through the many crises it had faced.
They had begun cheering for the club regardless of the result.
From the outset, Union Berlin was a team more accustomed to defeat than victory.
After all, it had been a team people rallied around simply because it once beat BFC Dynamo in a single match.
Of course, most of them had scattered after German reunification, while Union Berlin spent years in the lower leagues.
But once Union Berlin's news spread through the media, they began gathering again one by one.
- Have you ever built a home stadium together with your squad?
In particular, the squad's visit to the construction site during preseason was remembered as an unforgettable event. For the fans, the simple fact that someone remembered their devotion was reward enough.
[Union Berlin to Erect Statue for Volunteers.]
But Union Berlin didn't stop there; it decided to erect a statue near the home ground and engrave the volunteers' names into it.
Anyway.
Leverkusen and Union Berlin were both professional teams.
According to DFB Pokal regulations, in this case the team drawn first is granted home-team rights.
Fortunately, Union Berlin, which had been drawn first, got the home-team rights.
August 4, 2007.
Union Berlin welcomed Leverkusen at the home ground they were temporarily using.
***
Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
As the name suggests, it's a club sponsored by Bayer, the German pharmaceutical company.
Fifteen years after the Bundesliga's 50+1 rule was revised, the club's ownership would completely pass to Bayer.
It was a club with fairly deep ties to Korea, having fielded Korean players like Son Hong-min, Cha Bom, Hwang Seon-hong, and Cha Do-ri, and in the original timeline GL Group had once served as its main sponsor.
Leverkusen, which had gone unbeaten to a title under Xabi Alonso, was currently being called Neverkusen, a mocking nickname for its inability to win a title.
‘Honestly, from our point of view, even second place would be impressive.’
For Leverkusen's fans, it could only be disappointing.
Anyway.
Leverkusen, unlike Union Berlin, wasn't a club that was desperate for money.
Because it was a club backed by the German conglomerate Bayer.
In the first place, Bayer Leverkusen was founded to improve the lives of factory workers and citizens.
‘...Man, I’m seriously jealous.’
In other words, unlike our workers' club, they were born with silver spoons in their mouths from the start.
Was it because of Leverkusen's stable finances?
The strong solidarity that existed at Union Berlin was absent at Leverkusen.
“Kill that plastic club over there!!”
***
Maybe because it had been a while since I'd taken the field as manager.
My heart started pounding like crazy.
We had played preseason matches too, but a league match felt different, didn't it?
And in the Pokal, a loss meant elimination.
“Is everyone here?”
Still, I didn't show any sign of being nervous.
It wouldn't be good for the manager to look tense.
‘Everyone looks fine.’
I glanced around and began a brief pep talk.
“Some of those who couldn't make it here might be listening to the live broadcast on a radio at the construction site.”
The players, remembering the construction site before preseason, grew serious. Their resolve seemed to settle in.
“Let's tell them we won. Eisern─!!”
I looked into the players' eyes and led the chant.
“Union!!!!”
The Union Berlin players answered back.
And a moment later.
The match between Union Berlin and Leverkusen began.
***
The DFB Pokal was important, but unfortunately it was not Union Berlin's top priority.
The top priority for a second-division club was, after all, promotion.
But even so, it was awkward to simply throw away the DFB Pokal this early in the season.
If they suffered a crushing defeat in this match, the morale they had built up by facing Bayern Munich in preseason could be shattered.
So I sent out all the starters.
And looking at the way the game was going now, my choice seemed to have been the best one.
“Thomas!”
Thomas Meyer, who had also put in a strong showing against Bayern Munich, wiped out Leverkusen's midfield the moment the match began.
It wasn't just Thomas Meyer.
The players' steps were light across the board.
Their experience of holding their own against the strongest team in the Bundesliga seemed to have given them confidence.
‘At that level, he's basically a vacuum cleaner.’
But even among them, Thomas Meyer's performance was impressive.
Thomas Meyer's play allowed Union Berlin to dominate the midfield battle.
Thomas Meyer won the ball and immediately gave it to Markus, whose pass was launched long upfield.
Thwoong—!
The ball dropped right in front of Yannick Voigt's feet.
“Damn it! Cover!”
A Leverkusen defender screamed.
He himself had to fill another player's space, so he hoped someone would cover his own position.
But before the defender's cover could arrive, Lewandowski darted into the space that had opened up.
- Lewy, watch Yannick's movement closely.
Robert Lewandowski, deployed as an attacking midfielder, couldn't quite understand Park Chan-hyeok's intention,
- And when space opens up, cut into it.
He remembered Park Chan-hyeok's second instruction very clearly.
Yannick Voigt's cutback headed toward Lewandowski.
Bang─!
Robert Lewandowski's shot brushed the goalkeeper's fingertips and tore straight into the net.