Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Debut Match -2
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***
The moment Park Chan-hyuk's shot rattled the net, the stadium was engulfed in Union Berlin's roars.
“Jaaaaaaaa─!”
“There’s a reason he’s not just a coach but the assistant coach!!”
“Score two goals and take over as manager too!”
“What if he gets a hat-trick?”
“Then he’s president right away!”
The fans had planned to cheer calmly no matter the score until the end, thanks to the media labeling Union Berlin as relegation fodder.
But contrary to expectations, once Union Berlin took the lead with the opener, the fans started getting extremely hyped.
Some fans tried to climb over the barriers onto the pitch, while most pulled red flares from their pockets, ready to light them.
This was a do-or-die(?) situation where Union Berlin could face a fine.
Right now, Union Berlin’s finances were so fragile that even the fine for flares—essentially their German Football Association membership fee—would hurt.
A penalty from the DFB could force them to seriously discuss disbanding.
The moment Union Berlin teetered on the brink of life and death.
“Everyone, stop!!”
Fortunately, the ultras leader Wolf managed to calm the fans.
“Stay calm! We could end up having to pay a fine like this!”
Wolf had stripped off his shirt the instant Park Chan-hyuk scored, but he still had the rationality to analyze the club’s dire situation.
“Screw it, we’ll just pay the fine!”
“You idiot! It’s the club that pays it, not us!”
“Oh, damn. The club can’t afford a fine—put those flares away right now!”
In any case, thanks to Wolf’s efforts, Union Berlin survived unscathed once again today.
***
[The Union Berlin bench got rowdy, but it’s settled down now.]
[With Park Chan-hyuk’s goal, Union Berlin’s top internal scorer is now their assistant coach—an odd record.]
The game continued even after Park Chan-hyuk’s opener.
[Union Berlin’s intense pressing has FC Anker Wismar players all at sea!]
Union Berlin hammered FC Anker Wismar relentlessly.
[Yes, incredibly organized pressing. Union Berlin’s manager has built a truly fine team. Pros might handle it, but at amateur level, shaking it off won’t be easy.]
[Indeed. Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyuk—those two young men might just bring a fresh wind to Union Berlin.]
As the broadcasters praised the fruits of Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyuk’s blood and sweat.
[Matthias with a great read on the passing lane!]
It started with a Union Berlin defender intercepting a pass, sparking a counterattack.
[Union Berlin on the counter! The pass goes to Park Chan-hyuk!]
The defender’s long ball headed to Park Chan-hyuk.
And Park Chan-hyuk unleashed a fantastic bit of pressing escape.
[Wow! A clever header over the defender! Park Chan-hyuk pulls off a perfect press release!]
Park Chan-hyuk slyly used his hand without the ref noticing. As he nodded the ball, he smacked the underside with his palm, effortlessly shaking off the FC Anker Wismar defender’s pressure—truly “hand”-ily.
[An FC Anker Wismar player claims handball, but the ref firmly shakes his head!]
Even as the Wismar player vehemently protested the blatant handball.
The ref and linesmen, having missed Park Chan-hyuk’s foul, let the game continue.
[Park Chan-hyuk tries to dribble! But a Wismar defender blocks his path.]
Park Chan-hyuk faced danger from his crude dribbling.
[Park Chan-hyuk passes to a teammate when it doesn’t work!]
But with his teammates’ help, he safely kept possession.
[Park’s dribbling is a bit rough even for fourth-division level.]
Rough by fourth-division standards.
Surprisingly, this was a big improvement from his past life. The effect of training his ball control since childhood.
Though it didn’t seem like much to him.
Anyway.
Park Chan-hyuk’s pass went through the midfielder to the striker up top, Yannick Foight.
[Excellent first touch.]
Yannick shook off the defenders in a flash with one touch. Even the broadcasters gasped in admiration at Yannick Foight’s delicate trap.
‘Our assistant coach sure has the skills.’
In his past life, Park Chan-hyuk had been criticized for rough soccer, but he was a tactician in his own right.
He was a manager who’d diligently studied advanced European soccer and papers.
The problem was twisting it into his own weird way, but his theoretical knowledge of soccer was rock-solid.
[Yannick Foight enters the box!]
And the one who benefited most from Park Chan-hyuk’s training regimen was his prized pupil, Yannick Foight.
‘Relax the ankle, focus on impact for a clean strike? If there’s space, a shot feint cutback isn’t bad either.’
Thanks to systematic training from the future, Yannick Foight improved rapidly.
[He strikes! Yannick Foight!]
The shot veered central because Yannick put too much into it.
But the fourth-division keeper couldn’t stop a properly powered shot from Yannick Foight.
It ripped into the net.
The away end erupted once more.
[Goaaaaaaaall─! Yannick Foight! Yannick Foight adds the second!]
Yannick Foight bolted straight for the assistant coach.
[Yannick Foight heads for assistant coach Park Chan-hyuk!]
[Yes. They say Park strongly recommended Yannick Foight to the club after he failed the entry test. Now Yannick repays that faith by sealing the game.]
[Just 15 minutes into the first half, and Union Berlin leads 2-0!]
***
The match between Union Berlin and FC Anker Wismar ended.
[The ref’s whistle blows—full time! Union Berlin, pegged as the weaklings, pull off a stunning 4-0 upset victory!]
Union Berlin, leading 2-0 after the 5th-minute opener and Yannick Foight’s 15th-minute follow-up, added two more in the second half for a dominant 4-0 win.
Despite media predictions of relegation, Union Berlin crushed their opponents with overwhelming play.
[With the exploits of two young geniuses, the fan-owned club declares its revival! We hope they soar to the top!]
Soccer fans watching were floored by the odd duo: the 30-something young manager and the 18-year-old Asian assistant coach playing on the pitch.
With results and performances as the foundation, their quirks soon felt special.
Union Berlin flags fluttered in the stadium,
“Too~~~~mas!”
“Park! Park! Park!”
For a while, Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyuk’s names echoed from the Union Berlin fans’ mouths.
***
[Union Berlin crushes FC Anker Wismar with dominant display in opener.]
[Where’d all those relegation-favorite experts go?]
[Chairman Dirk Zingler satisfied with Union Berlin’s performance. ‘Those two are geniuses.’]
[Two geniuses blowing winds of change through fourth division.]
[‘1 goal, 1 assist’ Yannick Foight thanks assistant coach. “I’ll do my best to become a better player and repay his belief.”]
[Park Chan-hyuk dodges handball questions: “God is everywhere.” A dig at Maradona’s Hand of God?]
***
Meanwhile.
Kim Sun-myung, a Korean student in Berlin, heard about a fourth-division team with a Korean assistant coach and visited the away ground out of curiosity.
“Hey! What’s with the yellow guy next to you?”
“He’s from the same country as Park!”
After the game, he found himself arm-in-arm with a German dude he’d never met, heading naturally to a nearby pub.
“Oh! Park! Park! Our hero!”
“You’re from the same country as that guy? Then you’re our friend too!”
He shrank under the fierce glares of the booze-soaked construction-worker types when they entered the pub.
But thanks to soccer as common ground, they bonded instantly.
Before long, Korean student Kim Sun-myung was drunk, mumbling Union Berlin chants in broken German, lyrics half-forgotten.
The student who’d come to the stadium lightheartedly found himself falling for Union Berlin.
“Da…mn… fla…res… wanna… set… ‘em… off…”
“Th…is… the… with…draw…al… sym…ptoms…?”
Of course, behind the pub where he couldn’t see, hardcore ultras groaned through withdrawal.
The dark side of soccer.
***
A few days after the game ended.
“…What’s this?”
I arrived at the club and stared puzzled at the envelopes piled on my desk.
“They say they’ll pay any flare fines in advance before every game from now on?”
An staffer helping with finances answered.
“…What do we tell the press.”
Union Berlin was in financial crisis, but we had our pride—we couldn’t report it straight.
[Union Berlin fans pledge to continue pre-match donation campaigns until the club stabilizes….]
We packaged it nicely as donations.
***