Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Goodbye, Cafu -2
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***
Even on a weekday, San Siro Stadium, AC Milan's home ground, was starting to fill up with people early on.
Today was Cafu's retirement match, after all.
You could occasionally spot fans in AS Roma kits, which showed that Roma supporters had come to celebrate Cafu's farewell.
Union Berlin's fans felt a bit intimidated by the historic aura of San Siro.
But with the pride of being last season's Bundesliga champions, they strode in confidently, shoulders back.
As soon as they entered the stadium, they saw Union Berlin players signing autographs. Ahead of the match against AC Milan, the players looked remarkably relaxed.
Sure, it was the first preseason game where you could evaluate both teams' summer transfers, but since it was Cafu's retirement ceremony, they weren't exactly coming as full enemies today.
"Yannick!! Sign this, please!!"
Most fans flocked to established Union Berlin players like Yannick Peit.
But plenty approached the new signings too.
They were die-hard Union Berlin fans who had already collected signatures from all the veterans.
"Gareth! Can I get your autograph!!"
At the sudden request, Gareth Bale's eyes darted around nervously. It had been a long time since home fans asked for his signature instead of jeering him.
"H-here you go."
"Chan-hyuk said you're gonna be the best soccer player out there!"
And just that simple encouragement made him feel comforted.
‘...The fans trust the manager this much?’
Honestly, Gareth Bale found Union Berlin's fans a bit baffling.
Everyone in soccer knew about his underwhelming performances at Tottenham Hotspur.
Yet here, the fans firmly believed he'd shine just because the manager had signed him.
Truth be told, it was unavoidable.
Park Chan-hyuk had taken a team on the brink of collapse due to financial woes and won the Bundesliga in just four years.
At Union Berlin, he was practically a living god.
Anyway.
Gareth Bale felt the fans' love for the first time in ages.
And a sense of responsibility to repay it began to take root in his heart.
Just as Gareth Bale was tensing up too much,
"Gareth, you're too stiff like that. It's no good. Keep a moderate level of tension."
Captain Yannick Peit approached slowly and placed a hand on Gareth Bale's shoulder. He now carried the seasoned air of a true captain.
"Fans trusting the Boss that much is kinda wild, right? But I get it. When I first met the Boss, Union Berlin was in the fourth division, and I was working at a car factory..."
Yannick Peit began recounting his story with Park Chan-hyuk.
Meanwhile.
"...Ugh, the captain's telling that story again."
Union Berlin players watching from behind made faces like they were sick of it.
"But honestly, it is kinda amazing."
"Marcus, what do you think? You came up from the lower leagues together."
"What do you mean? It's not normal for the Boss to have that unconditional trust that Yannick could play in the Bundesliga, and it's not normal for that guy to grind in training every day to live up to it."
"But I get where the captain's coming from. When someone believes in you like that, you can't help but work hard."
Marcus Matzeke nodded at Thomas Mayer's words.
‘...Yeah, that trust-filled gaze is what got me here too.’
***
Van Dijk and Dante were locked in fierce competition for the starting spot. Thiago Silva, with his overwhelming skill set, had secured his position as the undisputed starter.
‘I was a bit worried he might not develop like in the original history since he didn't go to AC Milan... but he's learned a ton from Cafu over the past year.’
For reference, Cafu was retiring from playing but had decided to join Union Berlin as a defensive coach to keep teaching the players. That's how much potential he saw in Thiago Silva.
"Boss, I'm having a tough time too."
I suggested he take on a playing-coach role when I saw that, but he flatly refused to play.
Anyway, Van Dijk was putting up great performances for his age, but he was still a notch below Dante right now.
For Virgil van Dijk, building experience through rotation seemed more important than starting every game.
With the increased number of matches, managing the squad's stamina was crucial anyway.
‘My tactics eat up a lot of player energy to begin with.’
That's why I'd signed versatile multi-position players like Azpilicueta and the Bender brothers.
‘Sven Bender's high work rate means I can rest Thomas Mayer when he tires out. That's satisfying.’
Last season, Thomas Mayer had been run ragged.
As harsh as it sounds, it was a stroke of luck for the team that Thomas Mayer hadn't gotten injured instead of Yannick. There was no one to replace Thomas Mayer last season.
[Union Berlin jersey sales rankings. 1st: Yannick Peit, 2nd: Luka Modrić, tied 3rd: Son Heung-min and Shinji Kagawa, 5th: Thomas Mayer...?]
└ Why is Thomas Mayer's jersey sales so high?
└ He runs his ass off.
└ Saw a game live, dude runs like crazy fr.
└ And he's got romance to him, even if Yannick overshadows it.
└ Lmao, legend for firing the agent who tried to poach him away.
└ He still has no agent?
└ Yeah, he just trusts Park Chan-hyuk to take care of everything.
└ That's actually knowing how to use Park Chan-hyuk.
└ Fr, from Park's perspective, he couldn't not take care of him lol.
It wasn't for nothing that local Union Berlin fans loved Thomas Mayer.
Without the hype from rival fans, he'd have taken third place.
‘Luka Modrić... lived up to his "Balkan Maestro" nickname with insane performances last season.’
Anyway.
Before kickoff, I met and greeted AC Milan's manager and board members.
There had almost been bad blood during Thiago Silva's transfer, but Cafu's signing and the ripple effects had smoothed things over.
‘Clubs don't fall out over a single transfer anyway.’
Teams like rising power Union Berlin and heavyweights like AC Milan crossed paths often, especially in the summer window.
If anything, they griped more about the 2002 World Cup refereeing than Thiago Silva.
‘...It's been seven years?’
Possessing Moreno and pulling out that red card— their reactions were delicious.
Italians definitely had more humor sense than Germans.
Anyway, with AC Milan getting called "the old folks' home" these days, talk of loaning out Union Berlin's young players came up too.
***
The preseason friendly between AC Milan and Union Berlin kicked off.
Cafu had decided to wear AC Milan's kit and play only briefly in the second half.
They considered alternating jerseys between halves, but his stamina probably wouldn't hold up.
No hard feelings, though.
He'd spent more time at AC Milan to begin with.
If anything, AC Milan fans might've been upset if he'd played in Union Berlin colors.
Anyway.
Union Berlin fans showed they understood Cafu's situation with gestures of support.
The applause thanking him for his dedication echoed briefly.
But as the game got underway, fans started chanting.
I'd agonized before kickoff between 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 formations.
After much deliberation, I went with 3-5-2.
Against a defensively strong team like AC Milan, it felt better to maximize Union Berlin's attack with 3-5-2.
We had Yannick and Lewandowski up top, after all.
‘I can switch tactics mid-game depending on the situation.’
With a utility player like Azpilicueta, formations were flexible anytime.
Anyway.
Union Berlin created the first real threat.
Gareth Bale took the ball on the right flank and burst forward.
Thiago Silva's long pass dropped perfectly into space ahead of him.
Gareth Bale charged, ball at his feet.
AC Milan's aging players couldn't keep up with his speed.
Cutting into the penalty box, Gareth Bale unleashed a shot that rippled the net.
"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
I ran toward the corner flag for the celebration the moment he scored.
"Boss!!"
But Gareth Bale reached me first.
Waack—.
In this touching scene of a discarded prodigy reborn under a genius manager, my one thought was,
‘...Damn, why is this guy so fast?’
I'd have a hard time celebrating his goals from now on.