Union Berlin striker Jordan Pefok believes that they are a special club as they continue to be the surprise packages in the Bundesliga this season. Ordinarily, replacements would be sad to be on the bench, yet there sat the striker, singing along passionately as one of Europe’s most fervent fanbases screamed their pre-match hymn: ‘Eisern Berlin’.
“I recognized the tune! I’ve been attending German classes, and a few of my teammates have been assisting me with memorizing the vocabulary. It shows that I’m having a good time, and it even assists me by singing along,” Union Berlin striker Jordan Pefok said. “These fans are extraordinary; they are what I refer to as proper fans. That means they are unaffected by the outcomes, which is extremely advantageous. You can win and climb the table, but they are always there to encourage and push us, and they genuinely care about the team.”
That occasion epitomizes the closeness between supporters and squad at this amazing club, which nearly went bankrupt around 20 years ago but has gone from second-division regulars in 2019, to an established European side and outsiders for the Bundesliga crown in four seasons. Hertha Berlin, which owns the 60,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Berlin but is fighting relegation, is falling behind in the German capital. Instead, the focus is on a little club with a 22,000-seat stadium in the city’s outskirts of Kopenick.
Even calling this bunch “overachievers” may be an understatement. The club with the third-lowest wage bill in the Bundesliga is threatening the trinity of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig – and they have seven points from three games against those teams this season. Union was also surprised by the Bundesliga leaders at the beginning of the month. Their league form has fallen since then, and they are now fourth in the table, but beating Ajax in the Europa League play-off in the midst of that setback has reminded everyone just how special this club is.
“It may appear incomprehensible, but it is to me. Because we lack world-class players on the team, we must struggle every game and every weekend. That policy has not changed. It’s the club’s mindset. It’s almost like we’re a family,” he added. “We have a group only for the team. We don’t have any arrogant members on either the team or the staff. The vast majority of visiting teams claim it’s difficult to play here because of the support and environment we have, making it more difficult to play against.”
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