Rudi Völler’s phone rang. It was early Sunday morning. Training-free. Actually. At the other end of the line was his trainer at Werder Bremen, Otto Rehhagel.
Otto’s brief command: “Rudi, you have to come immediately.” Völler first thought of an emergency. He asked the coach. “Here’s a player, if he’s faster than you, we’ll take him!” So Rehhagel explained it to him almost hectically. Almost as if the wonder professional would leave immediately if Rudi Völler did not show up. In times when scouting was not yet a separate department at the Bundesliga clubs, the “discovery” of the then 25-year-old could not be overestimated. The English clubs had an eye on Scandinavian professionals long before the Premier League was introduced (1992).
So what was Rudi Völler doing? He got dressed and drove to the Weser Stadium with the training bag. A bitterly cold winter Sunday in Bremen. There, in the icy, wide area, next to Rehhagel and Werder manager Willi Lemke, a 1.93 m tall, gigantic player awaited him. It was a certain Rune Bratseth. From Rosenborg Trondheim.
Rehhagel put the test to the test. He had Völler complete 10 sprints over 100 meters against Bratseth on the running track of the Weser Stadium. Of these 10 sprints, Bratseth won 9 … Rudi Völler tells this anecdote about the first encounter with the “elk”, Rune Bratseth with pleasure and in his inimitable way.
What neither Völler nor Rehhagel knew at that moment. With Rune Bratseth, the Bremen team got a real hit from the far north. The defensive warrior became the boss of the Bremen defense. With Bratseth in defense, Werder Bremen won the German championship twice, in 1988 and 1993. Plus the DFB Cup twice (1991 and 1994). The crowning glory: European Cup winners 1992 in Lisbon against AS Monaco (2-0).
On Friday, Rune Bratseth celebrates his 60th birthday in his hometown Trondheim. The Norwegian, for whom Cleverle Willi Lemke paid the equivalent of 200,000 euros (!) To Rosenborg Trondheim in 1987, is still a legend today. Not just on the Weser. In the Bundesliga he was the most popular Norwegian until Erling Haaland (20) served at BVB. Even if his compatriot Jörn Andersen was the first foreign player to become Bundesliga top scorer at Eintracht Frankfurt in 1990. And played 13 more games. However, Andersen also played for 5 clubs.
Rune Bratseth only worked at Werder Bremen and that documents his down-to-earth attitude. The highlight and conclusion of Bratseth’s career as a national player, after a total of 60 international matches, was the 1994 World Cup in the USA. The classic Libero has been voted Norway’s “Footballer of the Year” three times. That graded him just as often Foosball sports magazine into the “World Class” category. Most recently in the summer of 1993.
He is currently a member of the supervisory board of his parent club Rosenborg Trondheim. From 1995 to 2007, Bratseth was also the club’s sports director.
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