vs Olympiacos - 2
Before the Champions League match between Olympiacos and Dortmund kicked off.
Stepping onto the pitch, I slowly took in Signal Iduna Park.
“Borussia! Borussia! Borussia!”
Even though Dortmund had been struggling in the Champions League, the fans' cheers were still red-hot.
'About 15,000 empty seats, huh...'
But strangely, my eyes kept drifting to the vacant stands.
Maybe it was because I'd always seen them packed to the brim, shoulder-to-shoulder. The emptiness felt so alien, tugging at my heart.
It probably meant the Dortmund fans had given up hoping for anything from the Champions League.
“Captain, sorry, but can I say a few words instead?”
I cautiously asked Sebastian Kehl, who was about to start his pre-match speech with the team huddled up.
Truth be told, it was pretty rare anywhere—East or West—for the team's baby-faced rookie to butt in on the captain's moment like this.
Even with cultural differences in hierarchy, Europe had its own pecking order.
I might even catch some flak from Dortmund's veterans, including Kehl himself.
What I was doing could be seen as undermining team discipline.
But luckily, Sebastian Kehl—Dortmund's captain who would later succeed Michael Zorc as sporting director—met my eyes steadily, then nodded and graciously handed over the mic.
“Our little captain here has something to say in my place, so everybody shut up and listen good!”
As soon as Kehl finished, all eyes from the Dortmund players turned to me.
A younger kid might've stammered under the pressure. But I met their gazes calmly and opened my mouth. After all, I'd been a captain myself once, even if it was in a different league.
“Honestly, I don't care if we crash out of the Champions League. You all know I've got plenty of chances ahead at my age, right? But our captain here? Not so much.”
“...Is this payback for calling you little captain earlier?”
“Old captain, quiet down while our little captain's talking.”
Roman Weidenfeller—just six months younger than Kehl—drew laughs from the squad.
“Ahem...”
I chuckled too, then cleared my throat to refocus them.
“Last season, we won the Bundesliga and let all of Germany know Dortmund was back. Right?”
From Roberto Lewandowski, who'd pushed out last season's top scorer Lucas Barrios to claim the striker spot, to Roman Weidenfeller, Dortmund's guardian at the back—a spark of pride as German champions lit up their faces.
“So this time, let's show Europe! That the Dortmund who stood up to Bayern Munich is back!”
“Let's give the Dortmund fans hope for the Champions League again! Fill those empty stands over there! Heja!”
“BVB!”
As the speech wrapped and everyone clapped and hyped each other up.
“Jino, uh, those are the away stands, aren't they? You didn't mix it up, did you?”
Ivan Perisic said with a weird look.
'Ah. That's why.'
Setting aside the new knowledge, I stepped on Perisic's foot to shut him up for ruining the vibe.
“Ow! My foot! You dog bastard, Jino!”
Fluent Korean profanity poured from Perisic's mouth. “I taught you that was a swear.”
I let out a quiet sigh at his affectionate cursing.
He'd begged me to teach him greetings and swears in Korean, and now he went around greeting every Asian he saw with “Hey, you dog bastard.”
'...What a stone-headed idiot.'
No matter how I looked at it, this guy was nuts.
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└ Isn't this a problem with Son Jinho's personality? He knows good words too, why teach swears;;
└ Don't bring up personality over this. Our bro Perisic and him are besties, they hang out privately and grab meals together.
└ Reminds me of those clowns calling Park Ji-sung a bad influence for making Evra say 'I'm an idiot' ffs;;
└ They're close? They seem like such an odd pair
└ Our bro gave him a nickname first and they hit it off.
└ Damn lol our bro's star quality is on another level?
└ So what's Perisic's nickname
└ Aao!
└ Look at him swear right away lololol
└ Didn't they teach you netiquette in school? Your mouth's filthy af
└ Aao? Why Aao?
└ When he misses a pass, it's 'Aao! Perisic!' or whatever lolololol
└ Wait lol is it really that 'Aao!' lolol
└ The only Aao I know is Aao! Lee So-ra.... that's it....
└ Oh? Kickoff.
└ lmaoooooooo Man U doc's rotten drip ignored lightly again today lololol
└ Too harsh....
└ Harsh was your drip, punk.
└ Whoa! Son Jinho's pass is insane!!
└ Aao! Perisic! Can't you bury that?!
└ Aao! That's why our bro calls Perisic 'Aao'. Got it instantly.
└ Fml lol Perisic's Korean affinity shoots up then he bricks one goal and gets traitor treatment, hilarious af
Olympiacos came out in a 4-2-3-1 formation, just like Dortmund.
Though calling it a true 4-2-3-1 was a stretch—it was more like a defensive 4-4-2.
Unlike Dortmund, who had to win to reach the Champions League round of 16, Olympiacos had banked enough points in Group F and weren't desperate.
For them, snagging even a single point away at Signal Iduna Park—the away team's graveyard—would be a win.
And if luck broke their way, a counterpunch could even steal all three.
You needed basic skill to land those counters, sure, but Olympiacos was Bayern Munich in the Greek league. They had bite—couldn't sleep on them.
Dortmund saw through Olympiacos's game plan but had no choice but to push the line high.
Lewandowski's shot was sadly stonewalled by the keeper's save, but...
“Gut! Leva!”
“It's fine! Nail it next time!”
Instead of blame, Dortmund's players clapped and cheered him on.
The game rolled on to the 35th minute of the first half. Son Jinho, playing attacking mid, received from Mario Gotze and slotted it through to Ivan Perisic breaking down the flank.
Just as Perisic's low cross looked set to be cleared by an Olympiacos defender...
After scoring, Son Jinho sprinted to the home fans for a celebration in ages.
“Hooooooo─!!”
Signal Iduna Park united in the Hoo.