Chapter 96
***
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
Football fans watching Union Berlin's match against Oseong Red Wings in person were in shock.
The gap in quality between them and Union Berlin was far wider than they had expected.
Oseong Red Wings were a team with enough pedigree in Korea to be called Oseong Madrid.
Fans of the Korean league thought they could put on a good match against Union Berlin, who had been promoted to the Bundesliga.
People who had followed Union Berlin regularly knew the team had considerable strength, but those who hadn't still thought of them as, at best, a second-division side.
In fact, Union Berlin's players were ones Korean league fans had neither heard of nor seen before.
But once the match actually began, Union Berlin's brutal slaughter unfolded.
[(Live) Union Berlin 6 : 0 Oseong Red Wings.]
└ Wow, holy shit, is this level gap for real?
└ Six goals conceded in the first half alone, lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ This is last season's league champion?
└ Bundesliga second-division champion >>> an insurmountable gap >>> the Korean league champion?
└ That's not it. Union Berlin is just insanely strong.
└ Just look at how Union Berlin handled Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal. These guys were above second-division level from the start.
└ Holy shit, where did those bastards who said they could manage a Bundesliga team and mocked Park Chan-hyuk go?
└ They're all in hiding.
└ Isn't it just because of the players?
└ Developing players is also part of a manager's skill. Bluntly speaking, how many players from over there have you even heard of?
└ Fair point. Being able to spot players and develop them well is also a manager's skill.
└ And the tactical gap is pretty huge too. They're not doing anything against Union Berlin.
Meanwhile, as the managers who badmouthed Park Chan-hyuk started getting cursed at by football fans,
they pulled every string they had and got articles published that were as favorable to them as possible.
[Netizens, the difference in squad market value alone is enormous. Union Berlin's rout was only natural.]
└ Hey, reporter bastard, did you take money from the football association to write this?
└ Union Berlin's players aren't even that expensive....
└ But Kafu's there—doesn't that make them expensive?
└ Dude, Kafu is 38.... Park Chan-hyuk coaxed an already retired player back into action.
└ And even if there is a market value gap, how the hell do you explain 6-0?
└ It's 7-0. They just started the second half and conceded another one from a penalty.
└ Ugh, this is ridiculous. Seriously.
└ Ah. Please, Chan-hyuk hyung, stop beating up our team T_T Why are you taking your anger out on us T_T
└ Wow... it's hilarious that we're actually glad we didn't finish first in the league last season.
But public opinion among football fans did not turn so easily.
The match was far too one-sided for clumsy media spin to undo.
***
The second-half match between Union Berlin and Oseong Red Wings was one-sided as well.
“Ah.... The referee has pointed to the spot! Penalty for Union Berlin!”
“The kicker is Yanik Foyt!”
“The referee blows the whistle! Yanik Foyt is charging in—!!”
“Goooooal—! It's in! 7-0! Union Berlin make it 7-0!”
Union Berlin added another goal as soon as the second half began,
“Kafu's cross! Lewandowski brings it down! Yanik Foyt lets fly with his right foot!”
“Ahhh—! It's in! It's a goal!!!”
“That's Oseong Red Wings' eighth goal conceded. What on earth is happening! Oseong Red Wings are completely collapsing at home!”
“Ssshh.... This is just a difference in tactics from the start.”
“Union Berlin, who last season blasted eight goals past Oseong, the league leaders....”
“Yes, it looks like Manager Park Chan-hyuk has really made up his mind.”
Union Berlin kept the scoring run going.
“……At this rate, aren't they going to cry? Shouldn't we stop now?”
“Should we slow the tempo a little? Yeah. It's a friendly, so let's not overdo it.”
The Union Berlin players tried to slow the game down at the sight of the Oseong Red Wings players, who seemed mentally shattered,
“Don't slow the tempo! Keep pressing!”
but whenever Union Berlin's players tried to deliberately slow the pace, a shout rang out from the touchline.
Behind them was Park Chan-hyuk, still hungry.
- 9 goals... 9 goals. Union Berlin have scored nine.
And a little later,
- Ah! Thiago Silva's extra goal puts Union Berlin into double digits.
Only after Thiago Silva scored his debut goal from a corner to make it 10
did Park Chan-hyuk finally nod with a satisfied expression.
***
The moment the score between Union Berlin and Oseong Red Wings became 10-0,
I ordered the players to ease up on their opponents.
Seeing the Oseong players, whose minds were shattered, made my heart soften.
“Hoo.... Right, what did those guys do wrong? It's all the fault of the incompetent adults.”
“......Now?”
Daniel Teixeira, who heard my muttering, looked at me with a sour expression, but I was in the right.
When, and where,
would they ever get to take a real, full-strength punch from a Bundesliga team?
For the Oseong Red Wings players too, today's match was sure to be a valuable experience.
‘If the Club World Cup gets revamped, they might get to take one then, but that's a long way off.’
Well. Anyway.
The reason I slowed the tempo of the match was not only because I felt sorry for Oseong's players, but also to reduce the risk of injury for Union Berlin's players.
‘It's preseason. No need to push ourselves for no reason.’
Today's match was a preseason match.
It was right to think about the team rather than personal revenge.
The Union Berlin players under my orders gradually slowed down the attack tempo, and I substituted the tired players.
Just before the match ended, Oseong Red Wings managed to score a consolation goal,
but by then the game was already completely decided.
And shortly after, the match ended.
I approached the Oseong Red Wings players, who were on the verge of bursting into tears, and offered them comfort.
“Lift your heads.”
There were actually quite a few Oseong Red Wings players who would later go on to do livestreams or work on YouTube,
and I was starting to work on my image for the future.
“Losing to a strong team is nothing to be ashamed of.”
I manufactured a feel-good story that would be talked about for years to come.
“You aren't weak. We are simply strong.”
Hmm. That should have been enough consolation.
***
[Union Berlin crush Oseong Red Wings 10-1.]
[Oseong Red Wings suffer a shocking blowout defeat.]
[A match that revealed the gap in football level between Europe and Asia.]
[Union Berlin manager Park Chan-hyuk offers unsparing criticism of Korean football. “A manager's job is one where you have to constantly study tactics....”]
***
With the wake-up call delivered to Korean football, Union Berlin's preseason came to a successful close.
But the calls for reform from the public did not come out as much as I expected.
Well. I could understand that.
It was still a time when the memories of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup were still fresh.
I was a little sorry about my current choice, but I didn't go around loudly saying the football association needed reform.
‘……No need to damage my image with the public for no reason.’
As a Korean, I'd like Korea to do well at the World Cup,
but with my mission still uncleared, I wasn't exactly in a position to talk.
Anyway.
Union Berlin thus finished its schedule in Korea and returned to Germany.
***
[Thomas Tuchel secures UEFA Cup qualification after a perfect qualifying run.]
[Bayern Munich suffer a 2-1 defeat to Dortmund in the Super Cup....]
[Jürgen Klopp defeats Bayern Munich and lifts the first trophy of his career.]
***
Back in Berlin, Union Berlin prepared for its league opener.
Union Berlin's opening league opponent was set to be Bayern Munich, once the Bundesliga's nightmare.
“Are you all right? It's Bayern Munich.”
“I'm actually glad the first match is against Munich.”
The chairman, staff, players, and fans were all expressing concern that we might have gotten a team too strong for our first top-flight match, but...
[Union Berlin manager Park Chan-hyuk confident of victory.... “A Tuchel-less Munich isn't last season's Munich.”]
I was confident of victory.
No, I was so confident of victory that I was practically trying to figure out how I should win.
‘If we beat them too hard, Jürgen Klinsmann will get sacked too early. Better go easy on them. A light 3-0, maybe?’
From there, time passed quickly,
and the day of the opening match between Union Berlin and Bayern Munich drew near.
What greeted me at Bayern Munich's home ground, the Allianz Arena, was Philipp Lahm's face, looking like he'd been hit with a heavy dose of reality.
I quietly patted Philipp Lahm on the shoulder as if I understood him and carefully began to speak.
“Philipp, if you can't win, join us.”
It was a proposal that would normally have been unthinkable, but now I felt like I could persuade him.