Chapter 78
***
[Lee Sung-jae's strong pressure forces the ball out for a throw-in.]
[For a substitute, it’s important to run a lot and cover for the tired player, you know? He’s doing really well right now.]
The match between Union Berlin and Stuttgart was fiercely contested.
[Stuttgart are dropping back and going defensive.]
[Yes... it’s fair to say Union Berlin has put everything into finishing this within the remaining time, hasn’t it? The longer time passes, the more it has to favor Stuttgart.]
After the equalizer, Stuttgart dropped back and locked things down.
Union Berlin attacked Stuttgart hard.
'They’ve thrown everything into scoring with the time left.'
The Stuttgart manager realized that Union Berlin’s current onslaught was their last gasp.
While Union Berlin battered Stuttgart in search of a goal, the clock raced on.
[Ah... two minutes of added time will be played.]
Before long, regular time came to an end, and the fourth official held up the board for stoppage time.
[Lee Sung-jae wins the second ball! This match is not over yet!]
And just before the match ended....
[Lee Sung-jae to Yannick Voigt! Yannick Voigt immediately starts sprinting!]
Union Berlin was heading into its final attacking chance.
Yannick Voigt, who received the ball at midfield, began to sprint.
He began burning through every last bit of energy he had left.
His legs were giving out, and his mind wasn't working fast anymore.
[The last attacking chance! Union Berlin!]
But he ran forward with everything he had.
He sensed that if they didn't score this time, they would lose the match anyway.
“Yannick Voigt! Fußballgott!!!!!”
As Yannick Voigt sprinted toward the opposition half, the cheers of Union Berlin fans rang in his ears.
Even for the fans who had come all the way to Stuttgart, he had no choice but to keep running despite being out of breath.
'I’m the captain of Union Berlin....'
By the time Yannick Voigt reached the penalty area, he used his pace to slip past the defender blocking him.
Yannick Voigt had no idea how he had beaten the defender.
When he came to, the defender was gone.
In the penalty area, he saw a flustered expression on the goalkeeper's face.
At the moment a fantastic goal was about to happen, maybe one that would be chosen as Bundesliga Goal of the Year.
Within his unusually sharp senses....
Tap.
[Yannick Voigt’s pass!!]
Yannick Voigt let go of all his greed.
He passed to Lewandowski, who had the better chance than he did.
He gave up personal glory for the team's sure victory.
Boom─!
[Roberto Lewandowski!!!]
Roberto Lewandowski’s shot off Yannick Voigt’s pass shook Stuttgart’s net.
[Go, gooooooal─! It’s in! Roberto Lewandowski! Union Berlin’s go-ahead goal! Union Berlin are back in front!!]
In effect, the winning goal went in, and the Union Berlin players rushed onto the pitch.
They had defeated Stuttgart, last season’s Bundesliga champions, to advance to the quarterfinals.
“Jaaaaaaa!!”
And while the players were cheering in front of the away fans.
Da-da-da.
Park Chan-hyeok sprinted full speed toward the spot he’d had his eye on in the first half.
His consideration for his old club.
“Hoooooo─!”
One time was enough.
It wasn't like he was bitter that the fans hadn't recognized him.
***
The match between Stuttgart and Union Berlin ended in a Union Berlin victory.
[Union Berlin beat Stuttgart 2-1 and advance to the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals!!]
└ Wow, holy crap, they won this? I thought they’d lose for sure since the opponent was last season’s Bundesliga champions.
└ Yesterday’s match was seriously legendary. The game itself was great, but Lee Sung-jae’s debut too.
└ I’m going to go watch the highlights.
Football fans who saw the result had no choice but to be stunned.
Since an upset had occurred in which last season’s Bundesliga champions were beaten by a second-division team.
[Union Berlin, the giant-killer, reveals Park Chan-hyeok’s true worth?]
Union Berlin succeeded in hunting down the giant called Stuttgart and became the center of attention right after the match.
The Stuttgart and Union Berlin match was discussed on football shows.
“Chan-hyeok’s gamble paid off. Bringing on Lee Sung-jae at the end was practically the same as injecting energy into Union Berlin.
Even though he’s still young and made a few big mistakes, it’s clear that Lee Sung-jae’s introduction helped.”
“That’s right. After all, what coach could have sent a debuting player out in such an important match? It’s a choice only a young coach could make. The older you get, the more you tend to favor safety, after all.”
“Oh. Still, that doesn’t mean Chan-hyeok is a coach without a sense of stability. He has his own sort of stability. This time, the gamble just paid off. It’s not as if he always throws out gambling plays.”
After that, the football panelists naturally started talking about Park Chan-hyeok’s celebration.
“And next is Chan-hyeok’s celebration.”
“Compared with the celebrations he’d shown so far, it was a highly impressive one.”
Park Chan-hyeok’s name began to spread gradually, starting with German fans.
***
[South Korea’s great son Park Chan-hyeok! Takes down last season’s Bundesliga champions!]
Meanwhile, when news of Union Berlin’s advance to the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals broke, Korea erupted in cheers as well.
Even with the recent controversies, Park Chan-hyeok was still a South Korean national.
On top of that, the match also featured Lee Sung-jae, another South Korean player, making his debut.
Naturally, interest in that match in Korea had to be high.
[In a fiercely contested DFB-Pokal quarterfinal battle, it was Union Berlin that came out smiling!]
In that situation, they played a thrilling match against Stuttgart, last season’s Bundesliga champions.
Union Berlin ultimately claimed victory.
Football fans couldn't help but be flooded with dopamine.
1. Son Hong-min assist.
2. Union Berlin Stuttgart.
3. Union Berlin result.
4. Park Chan-hyeok
5. Lee Sung-jae debut.
6. Yannick Voigt.
It was only natural for Union Berlin to dominate the real-time search rankings.
[Union Berlin’s Park Chan-hyeok: ‘The second Mourinho?’ No, Park Chan-hyeok is the one and only Park Chan-hyeok.]
And the media, as if they had never attacked Park Chan-hyeok before, flipped their stance and started praising him.
[Union Berlin crushes Stuttgart, and we are now living in Park Chan-hyeok’s era.]
└ Damn, when they were trashing him like crazy before, and now they’re already praising him lol.
└ I heard the outlets that crossed the line got sued.
└ Honestly, there were some articles so excessive they were painful to read.
└ But why are they so stubborn about trashing him?
└ Isn’t it because of reporters who are close to the Football Association?
└ Isn’t Park Chan-hyeok on good terms with the FA too?
└ I heard they’re jealous because Park Chan-hyeok is the chairman’s pick.
└ It’s not just the FA—there are actually quite a few people who dislike Park Chan-hyeok.
└ Why.
└ Because his family is rich.
└ ???
└ Seriously, that’s the reason. There are tons of people who hate him because his family is well-off.
└ Wait, wasn’t Park Chan-hyeok originally from an ordinary family? Even after getting rich from winning the lottery, does that still count?
└ Well, because he’s from the same ordinary background, they criticize him even more.
└ When a rich person succeeds, they just curse society, but when someone from the same ordinary background succeeds, it feels like they’re saying they failed because they weren’t good enough.
└ Honestly, being poor isn’t shameful, but hating someone over that is what’s shameful.
└ In my view, Koreans’ bigger problem is a poverty of heart rather than material poverty.
[DFB-Pokal round-of-16 blockbuster, Bayern Munich vs Schalke 04.]
└ Please, Schalke brothers, take down Munich!
└ Munich can’t win! Munich can’t win!
└ The winner here is Union Berlin’s next opponent, right?
└ Yeah.
└ Please let Schalke winㅠㅠ Munich is way too strong.
And for quite a while, the praise for Park Chan-hyeok and the festive mood celebrating Union Berlin’s advance to the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals continued.
But the next day.
The festival was over.
Union Berlin’s quarterfinal opponent had been decided.
[Match over) Bayern Munich crushed Schalke 6-0.
Union Berlin’s fans had no choice but to despair.
[DFB-Pokal quarterfinal bracket confirmed, Union Berlin to face Bayern Munich! A master-and-disciple showdown is set.]
└ GG....
└ I-I say we just let this one go....
└ This is really hopeless, lol.
└ Chan-hyeok, let’s just focus on the league....
└ Honestly, looking at the bracket, it felt like the cup was the one to give up on.
└ Advancing to the quarterfinals alone is already amazing. Good job.... Just seeing Schalke get beaten like that, it was brutal.
└ How the hell does a 6-0 scoreline happen against another top-flight team?
DFB-Pokal quarterfinals, Union Berlin’s next opponent was Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich.