Chapter 68
***
Jürgen Klopp let out a dry chuckle at Park Chan-hyuk's knee-slide celebration.
Park Chan-hyuk's knee-slide celebration could, in a way, be seen as provoking and taunting Mainz's fans, but for some reason Jürgen Klopp didn't mind it.
“That was a great knee slide.”
Jürgen Klopp smiled and shook hands with Park Chan-hyuk.
“Want me to teach you?”
“Oh. If the chance comes up, I'd like to learn.”
Jürgen Klopp liked this cheerful young man.
***
As I chatted with Jürgen Klopp about this and that, an old, worn-out stadium came into view.
‘This team's stadium is old, too.’
Mainz was currently building a new stadium, just like Union Berlin.
‘Was the new stadium called Coface Arena?’
Mainz's decision to build a new stadium was for expansion.
Once Mainz reached the Bundesliga, even fans who normally had no interest in football came to the stadium, making it too small.
“You'll never walk alone!!”
And before long, they naturally became Mainz fans.
‘Considering they had even reached the Europa League the previous season, they probably never expected relegation.’
In any case, the new stadium Mainz was building was about 34,000 seats in size.
‘We've won.’
I looked at Klopp and smiled in triumph.
Union Berlin's stadium had already exceeded 40,000 seats.
This is where the importance of the city a club is based in becomes clear.
Mainz has a population of 220,000, but
Union Berlin's home city of Berlin has 3 million people, and including the metropolitan area, nearly 7 million.
‘Come to think of it, Mainz filling a 30,000-seat stadium with only 220,000 people is insane too.’
Anyway.
Union Berlin definitely had the potential to grow into a big club.
Even now, in the second division, the influx of fans was increasing rapidly.
‘If we make it into the Bundesliga, it'll explode in no time.’
It looked like the day we'd fill a 40,000-seat stadium wouldn't be far off.
‘...I'm glad we made it so it can be expanded to 55,000.’
Maybe because I'd seen Mainz fill 30,000 seats with a population of 220,000.
Union Berlin's stadium somehow looked small.
“So, when are you going to teach me that celebration?”
“After today's game, if we win, I'll tell you.”
“Oh, in that case, I'll have to learn it next time.”
I promised Jürgen Klopp that I'd show him how to do the celebration after the match.
‘At this rate, is he going to blow out his ACL instead of just a hamstring?’
I was a little worried by Jürgen Klopp's enthusiastic attitude.
‘...Either way, it's not my leg, is it?’
On second thought, it wasn't really my problem.
Anyway.
While I was building camaraderie with Jürgen Klopp.
The first half between Union Berlin and Mainz ended in a scoreless 0-0 after a fierce back-and-forth battle.
***
In the halftime locker room, I briefly explained the second-half plan to the players, cutting straight to the essentials.
They were breathing heavily, so my words probably weren't sinking in well.
So I had no choice but to explain the same thing over and over.
“In the second half, our opponents will definitely come at us aggressively.”
If our top priority this season was survival, then Mainz, having been relegated, would naturally have promotion as its goal this season.
That was unavoidable.
The expectations of the fans and the board had already been set for the Bundesliga.
‘The coach is probably the same.’
Once a team has played in the first division, it can't think about going back down to the lower leagues.
The gap in attention between the first and second divisions was bigger than people thought.
‘And so were the revenues.’
Even the second-division crowds in Germany, which Koreans envy, were nothing compared to the first division.
As I said earlier, Mainz was hastily building its own home ground for that reason.
And that was also why we were building a new stadium in preparation for promotion to the first division.
“Yannik!”
Yannik Voigt had been a little sulky for a while because of the celebration theft incident, but he got over it quickly.
Our friendship wasn't damaged by something so trivial.
It was because we had grown up together through the club's difficult times.
…
Yannik Voigt's gaze turned to me. Meeting his trust-filled eyes, I nodded and made my demand confidently.
“Score me a goal.”
I was an honest man.
***
Of course, the match between Union Berlin and Mainz was also being broadcast in Korea. Even in the early hours of the morning, it still guaranteed decent ratings.
Rather than playing the national anthem, airing a football match was also better suited to a terrestrial network's image in terms of variety.
[The second-half match between Union Berlin and Mainz, Mainz and Union Berlin, is about to begin.]
As the second half began, the commentators started broadcasting without any sign of fatigue.
[Both teams fought fiercely in the first half but failed to score. I hope we see a few more goals in the second half.]
[Yes, and I also hope Son Hong-min gets his league debut today.]
[That's right. Son Hong-min showed good form in preseason and in the cup, but he still hasn't gotten a chance in the league.]
└ Damn it, Chan-hyuk hyung! I bought a Son Hong-min jersey because I trusted you, hyung! Hurry up and get him on the pitch already! If this keeps up, I'm seriously gonna get dizzy and die?
└ Park Chan-hyuk is only 22, so if you're calling him hyung, shouldn't you be studying instead of watching soccer at this hour?
└ If you make a lot of money, then you're hyung.
└ That's true, but does Park Chan-hyuk even make that much money?
└ Still, he's a famous manager, so wouldn't he make a lot?
└ Famous manager = only famous in Korea lol
└ Ugh, that Park Chan-hyuk hater is back again.
└ Besides, Park Chan-hyuk's family is rich. Didn't they win first prize in the lottery?
└ Ah. Right, was that Park Chan-hyuk's family?
└ I'm Not Park Jeong-ah: Yep, back then Park Chan-hyuk's younger sister was still little, and apparently she was hurt a lot by people, so she said she'd never show her face to the media.
└ Sorry, Korea ㅠㅠ
***
If the first half had been Union Berlin's flow, the second half was Mainz's.
Mainz pressed Union Berlin hard right from the kickoff.
Mainz's center forward Felix Borja laid the ball off with his back to goal.
Bang─!
The midfielder Miroslav Karhan's long-range shot narrowly skimmed over the crossbar.
“Ah!”
Mainz's home fans held their heads in disappointment, while Union Berlin's away fans let out sighs of relief.
The match was still 0-0.
Mainz and we were both just one step away from scoring.
I looked out at the pitch.
I could see Timo Breitner (LW) looking exhausted.
‘He ran a lot in this game too, just like the last one.’
It seemed I'd have to make a substitution.
When I turned my head toward the bench, I saw Son Hong-min's eyes blazing with the desire to play.
“You want to play?”
I walked up to Son Hong-min and said in German.
Using Korean in a public setting like this would probably make the players feel uncomfortable.
“Yes!”
Son Hong-min answered in German as well.
There was already public grumbling in Korea about why Son Hong-min wasn't getting any playing time.
But that was unavoidable.
Hong-min's potential was higher, but Timo's current ability was better.
‘Son Hong-min is still a prospect.’
And we had to be careful not to overprotect him too much when he was young.
Even if Son Hong-min was an ironman who rarely got injured.
Injuries when young can be devastating in various ways, including trauma.
‘Actually, he was a player who worked hard at heading duels, but after he got injured, he stopped going for headers as often.’
But when I looked at the eager Son Hong-min, I couldn't help but change my mind.
‘...Well. Maybe overprotectiveness is bad too.’
I lightly dangled a carrot in front of Son Hong-min.
“Then go out there and show me something good. If you do well, I'll consider starting you in the next match too.”
***
Son Hong-min, who came on for Timo Breitner, slowly began to get used to the pace of the game.
‘Don't force it because you don't have much time.’
In his mind, the moment he scored against Leverkusen came back to him.
That match was one of the most thrilling moments of Son Hong-min's life.
Right now, Son Hong-min wanted to run as much as he could.
He wanted to feel that same excitement once again.
‘If I do well here, he said he'd consider starting me.’
Park Chan-hyuk had said he'd think it over carefully, but in Son Hong-min's mind, it had become a starting spot. This was a memory distortion caused by Son Hong-min's own greed.
Son Hong-min gradually blended into the rhythm of the game.
And before long, his chance came.
“Damn it!”
As soon as Thomas Meyer won the ball, he linked a pass to Markus Matschke.
“Here—!”
Son Hong-min called for the pass from Markus and immediately sprinted forward.
Markus's pass headed toward Son Hong-min.
Son Hong-min accelerated and shook off the defender.
The crowd in Union Berlin's stands roared louder at Son Hong-min's rapid sprint.
“Ooooh—!”
“Go!!!”
The moment he reached the edge of the penalty box, Neven Subotić blocked Son Hong-min's path.
Son Hong-min cut slightly inside, then attempted a curling shot with the inside of his right foot.
The shot Son Hong-min took from the spot that would later be called the 'Hong-min Zone'.
Swish─.
It tore through the Mainz net guarded by goalkeeper Dimo Wache.
****
The moment Son Hong-min's shot ripped through the net, I was about to dash off.
‘If I steal Yannik's celebration too, Hong-min might feel left out.’
But my plan failed.
“Stay put. It's a league debut goal, so the boss stealing the celebration would be shameless.”
It was because head coach Daniel Teixeira, who was on the bench, grabbed me.
“Ah, no. My celebration!!”
“How is that your celebration?”
While I was being held back from the Union Berlin players.
My eyes caught sight of Son Hong-min celebrating at the corner flag,
‘...The celebration you're doing should have been my celebration!’
At that moment, I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of loss.