Chapter 191
Chapter 191
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Park Chan-hyuk's Country -1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
***
[Dreams★ Come True! South Korea Clinches World Cup Semifinal Spot.]
As soon as the World Cup Round of 8 match against Ghana ended, South Korea erupted into a frenzy of excitement over advancing to the semifinals.
[Korea Makes Historic Away Semifinal Run! Nothing's Impossible for the Korean People!]
Media outlets began reporting on the semifinal breakthrough, and SBC hit the jackpot with their exclusive broadcast bet.
Having struck gold with the exclusive rights to the South Africa World Cup, SBC decided to double down and bid for exclusive coverage of the Brazil World Cup based on this success.
The result was a disastrous failure, leading to a massive boardroom purge at SBC, but that was a story for the future.
[Who's the Next Korean Soccer Star After the National Team's Success?]
In any case, Korea was buzzing with high spirits over reaching the World Cup semifinals.
[Park Chan-hyuk Addresses World Cup Broadcast Controversy: "I Simply Upheld the Value of Neutral Commentary."]
And just as much buzz surrounded Park Chan-hyuk's neutral commentary now that South Korea had made the semifinals.
└ Neutral commentary makes sense, but damn;; isn't that just tone-deaf in that situation?
└ Our manager doesn't really read the room that wellㅠㅠ
└ Come on, isn't the traitor framing too much?
└ Fr, he contributed to Korea reaching the semis.
└ ?? What did Park Chan-hyuk even do for South Korea's semifinal run?
└ He raised Yi Sung-jae and Son Hong-min, right?
└ Wow. What a massive contribution.
└ But isn't that manager German? Why's he commentating for a Korean broadcaster?
└ Sorry, but Manager Park Chan-hyuk still holds Korean citizenship.
└ Then how's he handling his military service?
└ Doesn't he get exemption for Asian Games or Olympics medals?
└ Does that apply to managers too?
└ No idea.
└ Already exempt 'cause his ACL got wrecked.
└ Damn... how'd that happen? Rough tackle during his playing days?
└ They say he blew it out doing a knee-slide celebration at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam-dong.
└ ...? Don't joke around.
└ It's true.
└ Why the hell is this true? ㅅㅂ;;
└ Our team manager's an even bigger idiot than you can imagine ㅇㅇ.
└ You just called God Chan-hyuk an idiot?
└ Even idiots can be gods.
***
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
The SBC production team, still handling World Cup coverage, was deep in thought.
- Gooooal! It's in! Asamoah Gyan equalizes! While Korea's defense wobbled, Asamoah Gyan sliced through sharply! And as I mentioned, Andre Ayew picks up an assist in this match.
They had witnessed the broadcast mishap live and felt strongly that they couldn't have Park Chan-hyuk on commentary for the semifinals.
"Hey, kid, you said you like soccer, right?"
"Yeah? Yeah, I do."
So the team huddled for a countermeasures meeting. The main PD cautiously asked the young PD who loved soccer.
"Objectively speaking, can we beat the Netherlands?"
If there was even a chance South Korea could beat the Netherlands, Park Chan-hyuk's commentary wouldn't be so bad.
The public's anger would fade the moment South Korea made its historic World Cup final run.
"That'd be pretty tough, I think."
Unfortunately, the young PD firmly predicted defeat. South Korea had virtually no shot against the Netherlands at their peak.
"Yeah? Not even a sliver of hope?"
"Yeah. Seriously tough. Aside from Argentina, the Netherlands are on a whole different level from the teams we've faced so far."
"Aren't Ghana and Uruguay good teams?"
"Well.... Not top-tier strong, y'know? They were worth going all-out against."
Hearing the young PD's response, the main PD's mind raced with calculations.
'Can we control Manager Park Chan-hyuk?'
Memories of Park Chan-hyuk's past antics flashed by.
- Whooooa!
Suddenly, his path forward crystallized.
"For the semifinals, we'll go without Special Commentator Park Chan-hyuk."
They had to avoid another broadcast disaster.
***
Around the time preparations were underway for the Korea-Netherlands semifinal broadcast, word came that he'd been cut from the special commentator role.
He was floored by the sudden contract change.
But they were still paying him in full, so he accepted quietly.
Plus, after the neutral commentary backlash, anti-fans had latched on, so a bit of caution was in order.
'Hmm. I was really planning to just do straight commentary this time....'
In the end, I wrapped up my Korea schedule a little early and headed back to Germany. Time to gear up properly for next season.
And while I was busy prepping for the next season.
[Can Korea Pull Off a Win Against the Netherlands?]
The Korea-Netherlands semifinal took place.
Korea lost to the Netherlands 3-1.
[South Korea Takes the Lead But Falls 3-1.]
Defying expectations of a Dutch rout, Korea stunned everyone by scoring first and putting up a surprisingly strong showing.
- Van Persie goal replay .gif
└ That's clearly offside, how'd they miss it?
└ Offside or not, fucking block the runner first before calling it...?
└ Fr, letting the attacker through and just raising an arm is straight-up moronic.
Plenty of issues cropped up during the match against the Netherlands, but Korean soccer fans were satisfied with the World Cup semifinal achievement.
Around the same time, in the other semifinal, Germany fell to Spain.
[South Africa World Cup Final: Spain vs. Netherlands.]
The final matchup was set: Spain vs. Netherlands.
[Spain Defeats Netherlands to Claim World Cup Title.]
In the final, just like original history, Spain lifted the World Cup trophy.
The first World Cup on African soil wrapped up successfully. As soon as it ended, transfer rumors flooded in.
And topping the list was none other than Gareth Bale's transfer.
The deal had been finalized before the World Cup, but for my request and marketing reasons, the announcement was delayed until after.
Anyway.
Gareth Bale left Union Berlin, fetching an astronomical fee.
[Manchester City Eyeing Shakhtar Donetsk's Fernandinho.]
[Union Berlin Makes Bid for Fernandinho.]
[Shakhtar Donetsk Declares 'Not For Sale' After Union Berlin's Interest.]
Europe's hyenas started swarming Union Berlin with their "me too" bids.
'Whew, good thing I locked him in before the rumors blew up.'
I breathed a sigh of relief watching them. Dodged paying extra for players.
For reference, post-World Cup, Union Berlin's only "transfers" were pure trolling.
I'd intentionally inflated Fernandinho's price tag.
Sure, it earned me a double helping of curses from Manchester City's manager Thomas Tuchel, but no big deal.
Anyway, the World Cup didn't just bring transfer rumors. Thanks to the standout performances from the Korean exchange students at Union Berlin helping Korea's great run, soccer associations across Asia started getting more aggressive.
Even Belgium—one of Europe's teams—showed interest. Belgium's soccer association, mired in a dark age since the early '90s, felt the crisis and launched youth development initiatives.
Union Berlin, hot on everyone's lips lately, made their list of partner clubs.
Not full-on support like Japan or other Asian nations, but the terms weren't bad.
With Belgian Kevin De Bruyne transferring to Union Berlin, their association ramped up even more.
'Hmm. Too early to snag Dokku now?'
I pondered future Belgian talents, wondering who to bring in.
Didn't have to be a big name; partnering with the Belgian FA let me scout and grab potentials directly.
'Man, just looking at Union Berlin's roster now makes me full.'
Anyway, Union Berlin players—excluding those in the World Cup semifinals or better—started gathering at the club for preseason.
New signings Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah joined promptly too.
Leaving the tense-faced hyungs De Bruyne and Salah behind, we headed to South Korea for preseason matches.
'Alright, time to make that money.'
It was the so-called Asia tour to rake in a fat profit.
The plane touched down swiftly at Incheon International Airport.
Not long since I'd left Korea, but the fans' passion for me—the world-class manager—was still red-hot.
- Manager Park Chan-hyuk! Any plans to scout the next Son Hong-min or Yi Sung-jae?
I turned to the gathered reporters.
"Is this Park Chan-hyuk's country? I've wanted to visit so badly."
Prime self-PR time.