Chapter 66
***
[Union Berlin wins the 2. Bundesliga opener.]
[Union Berlin stages a comeback to beat Köln 2-1.]
[Niklas Eisen's equalizer right before halftime and Yannik Voigt's winner right before full time.]
[Thomas Meyer receives the M.O.M. award after the match. “I can't think of anything else. I'm just happy we could win.”]
[Park Chan-hyuk boosts the team's morale with a fantastic celebration.]
└ Kyaa lol, that knee-slide celebration was sick.
└ But if the manager gets that happy, the scorer must feel pretty proud too.
└ That's right, yeah.
└ That's basically stealing the celebration, but Park Chan-hyuk fans are defending it;;
└ Hey, are you slandering our Republic of Korea's National Treasure No. 1, Manager Park Chan-hyuk?
***
We opened the season with a win over Köln.
The opening match is important. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say a season's fate hangs on it.
Football has momentum, after all.
In fact, after the opening-day win, the mood at training was cheerful.
Leaving the sound of the players' laughter echoing across the training ground behind me, I headed to the chairman's office.
***
After I was appointed Union Berlin's manager and our family made a massive second-round investment in the club, I had many talks with Chairman Dirk Zingler.
From Chairman Dirk Zingler's perspective, it was only natural that he would worry about club operations as our family's stake increased.
“How far do your ambitions go?”
And today, Chairman Dirk Zingler asked me about my goals.
Well, of course.
A mere manager bringing in a main sponsor and investing his own assets to build a bigger stadium wasn't just about getting Union Berlin promoted to the first division.
‘Besides, a regular manager wouldn't even have that kind of money.’
That day, we talked a great deal.
I told Chairman Dirk Zingler about the goals I had in mind.
“First, get promoted to the top division and become a selling club.”
Right now, the goal is to become a selling club like SL Benfica.
Brazilian players first make their mark in Portugal's league to adapt to Europe, then move on to other clubs for huge transfer fees.
‘I could do that too.’
It was a model that could be applied to Union Berlin.
Because Asia would fill that role for me.
‘Asia keeps churning out good players too.’
Players like Son Hong-min and Kim Jae-min from Korea, Khusanov from Uzbekistan, Mehdi Taremi from Iran, and Shinji Kagawa from Japan.
The differences in country and continent existed, but Asia's potential was more than enough.
And the Bundesliga, where Union Berlin belongs, also had clear advantages.
In the Bundesliga, there was no limit on the number of first-team players, so you could sign as many foreign players as you wanted.
‘Getting as far as a selling club won't be easy....’
A goal like that would be easy to achieve at Union Berlin.
We'd already get there just by reaching the top division.
But becoming a selling club wasn't my final goal.
“…And my final goal is for Union Berlin to become a world-class powerhouse.”
After all, when you talk about a final goal, it's becoming a powerhouse.
Of course, buying an already famous club wouldn't be bad either.
But I preferred being there from the club's difficult days and growing it myself.
“Hmm….”
After hearing my goals, Chairman Dirk Zingler fell into thought.
Naturally, the road to get there would be rough.
I was basically declaring that I'd be another Busby or Ferguson—the kind of man who turned Manchester United into a world-class powerhouse.
‘Will he think I'm delusional?’
It would take that long for Union Berlin to become a powerhouse.
What's more, the Bundesliga had a black-hole-like monster called Bayern Munich, which swallowed up German prospects and stars without mercy.
‘Honestly, if all I wanted was to clear the mission, moving to another team would be better.’
By then, I might even receive a managerial offer from a powerhouse capable of challenging for the Champions League.
‘Still, lifting it with Union Berlin would be way cooler.’
Someone might ridicule my dream as absurd.
After all, I was talking about turning a club that had nearly gone bankrupt just a few years ago because it couldn't even afford its licensing fees into a powerhouse.
But dreams are meant to be dreamed.
Even if it's a dream you may never achieve, there's value in trying.
It was fine if they called me a fool. Fine if they mocked me.
A world where you can't even dream is too bleak, isn't it?
“That's a very impressive goal.”
And there was one more fool here, just like me.
Chairman Dirk Zingler smiled and extended his hand.
“Until then, I'll be counting on you to take good care of Union Berlin.”
“Likewise, I'll be counting on you until then.”
Chairman Dirk Zingler burst out laughing at my words.
He must have thought I was going to ask him to step down from the chairmanship and leave.
‘Trying to sneak off on your own, are you?’
Well, I did bring it up as something ridiculous, though.
Union Berlin becoming a big club wasn't completely impossible.
‘Come to think of it, it's doable.’
Union Berlin's current limitations were clear, but the future looked good in many ways.
We were a club so small we couldn't even be compared to global giants like Bayern Munich, but the future is impossible to predict.
Who could have predicted that a world-class powerhouse like Manchester United would collapse so miserably after Alex Ferguson's retirement?
If Man U fell from giant status, then it was entirely possible for a poor, mid-sized club to become a giant too.
Of course, there's no denying that it's easier to fall apart than to build a tower.
‘Since when were they ever a prestigious club or a big club?’
Still, building a tower wasn't impossible.
I thought of how Manchester City, once a modest Premier League club, became a big club.
Manchester City didn't simply buy its way to big-club status by splashing cash around.
Of course, oil money played a decisive role in turning Manchester City into a big club in a short time.
‘How you spend it matters more than how much you spend.’
They invested heavily not only in player signings but also in infrastructure, including training facilities and youth systems, and worked in various ways to raise the club's brand value.
Appointing Pep Guardiola as manager and building a club identity was part of that, too.
After Pep Guardiola became manager, Manchester City built an image as an absolute powerhouse in the Premier League.
And in fact, more important than anything else was the size of the city Manchester City was based in.
Manchester's own population was only 500,000, but if you count the greater county, there were about 3 million people.
For reference, just look at how many Premier League clubs are clustered in London.
For a club to grow, the number of residents was potential itself.
When it comes to a team becoming a big club, the size and population of its home city are that important.
Honestly, if Union Berlin were based in a small or medium-sized German city, I would have boldly switched jobs to clear the mission.
‘A club based in a small or medium-sized city has limits to its growth, after all....’
Fortunately, Union Berlin is based in Germany's capital, the country leading the European Union.
Of course, right now it may lag behind Munich and the Rhine region, Germany's most developed areas.
Berlin currently posts GDP output below the German average.
But Berlin's population keeps growing and its economy is expanding.
A nation's capital is effectively a reflection of that nation's strength.
If the capital hasn't developed yet, that just means all the development still lies ahead.
‘As someone born in the Seoul Republic, I know that all too well.’
On top of that, we also carried the rare title of being from 'East Germany.'
The power of that title was tremendous.
Just by getting promoted to the first division and staying up, people from East Germany would give us fervent support.
Oh, and Dynamo has to be excluded, of course.
It's already lucky enough just not to come to blows with their fans.
Since the fans weren't far-right, unlike other East German clubs, the potential for expansion wasn't bad either. After all, a far-right image was off-putting in Germany.
On top of that, we had already forged a sister-club relationship with a club in Poland.
Our Asia-based global fanbase was also growing.
‘In the meantime, I've been living an incredibly busy life. Come to think of it, have I been talking only about the good points?’
Maybe I had.
Maybe I was just looking for excuses to stay with this club.
‘Well….’
Honestly, I had just grown to like this team.
It was the team that took in an inexperienced kid solely because a manager recommended him.
“…Wouldn't it be time for you to let go now?”
I looked at Chairman Dirk Zingler.
He was the one who gave managerial reins to a kid who had just turned 20.
When Thomas Tuchel left, it wouldn't have been strange for him to ditch me too.
But he believed in my ability and entrusted a club's fate to me.
It would have been strange to push out someone like that and put one of my own people in his place.
‘I should keep making use of him for a long, long time.’
In that sense, I gave Chairman Dirk Zingler an affectionate nickname.
“From now on, you're Chunsik.”
The moment I said it in Korean, Chairman Dirk Zingler's face scrunched up.
“You said something weird again, didn't you?”
“No.”
“Don't lie. When you speak Korean, it's 99 percent weird stuff.”
Thomas Tuchel was the same; the people here seemed to know me far too well.
***
Time passed quickly after that.
Union Berlin beat newly promoted St. Pauli and added three more points.
And then came league round 3.
Our opponent was the team that had been relegated to the second division.
[Jürgen Klopp, "Park is already a great manager."]
It was Mainz, led by Jürgen Klopp.