With the Würzburger Kickers he made it to the 2nd Bundesliga in the summer, this season Simon Rhein is supposed to help FC Hansa finally achieve this goal. At the start of the year against SpVgg Unterhaching (Saturday, 2 p.m.), coach Jens Härtel promises the midfielder his premiere in the Ostseestadion. “I’m ready,” says Rhein, who could benefit from Björn Rothers yellow card suspension. The 22-year-old presents himself self-confident and determined at his new club.
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His goals with Hansa: “I came here to play as much as possible. In the medium term, my goal is to play in the second division again. We’ll see whether that will be possible after this season. We have to get out of the break well now, ”says Rhein, who came from 1. FC Nürnberg and signed a contract with Hansa that will run until 2022.
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These are the best Hansa scorers in the 2020/21 third division season:
Blooming: Coach Jens Härtel (left) and his assistant Ronny Thielemann congratulate Hansa striker John Verhoek for his performance and the two goals in the 5-1 against Viktoria Köln.
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His reasons for the winter change: After the promotion with Würzburg, loan player Rhein returned to Nuremberg in the summer, but (almost) nothing worked for him at the club. He played two minutes in two games – most recently in November against Düsseldorf (1: 1). “I came back from Würzburg in the summer with a lot of self-confidence and had imagined that I would get more time and a bigger role. Unfortunately, things turned out differently. I ticked off the Nuremberg chapter, it was a nice and instructive time, but now I’m looking forward with Rostock. “It was not a lost half year for him, says Rhein:” They were difficult times, but that strengthens him Character and trains the mentality. “
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His first steps in Leverkusen: Rhein learned the football ABC at one of the top addresses in Germany. Born in Hilden (near Düsseldorf), he came to the Bayer 04 youth academy as a seven-year-old. At the works club, he played alongside highly talented footballers. The most prominent: today’s national player Kai Havertz (Chelsea FC). “I played with him for two years in the U17s and U19s before he finally made it to the pros.” Benjamin Henrichs (on loan from AS Monaco to RB Leipzig) and Rhein also played for the Bayer offspring. He met Leverkusen and Havertz with Nuremberg in the 2018/19 Bundesliga season. “That’s when I got his jersey,” says Rhein. From Bayer, the midfielder went on to Nuremberg, where he signed his first professional contract in November 2018.
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His time in the Bundesliga: Eight appearances in the elite league are in the balance of the new Rostockers. Nuremberg’s coach Michael Köllner helped the then 20-year-old make his debut in October 2018 (1-1 against Frankfurt). Seven other appearances were added, including the derby at Bayern Munich (0: 3). Rhein could not celebrate a victory in his Bundesliga games, nor in his two short appearances in the 2nd division this season at the club. “That annoys me, of course, but it doesn’t bother me in any way,” says Rhein. In 2019 he was awarded to the Würzburger Kickers, with whom he made promotion as a regular player last season.
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Seine Position: Simon Rhein feels most at home in the central midfield, “I don’t really care whether on the double six or the eight,” says the left-footed man, who has the highest market value at Hansa (500,000 euros) and describes his footballing qualities as follows: “I think that I am a very strategic player who can direct the game, who has a good game overview and game intelligence and who can structure the game well with a sure pass and technique. I’m trying to bring that into play here. “
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His first impression of Hansa: “If I compare it to Nuremberg, the first days of training are much more physical and stressful. It’s very intense, exhausting and demanding. ”He thinks the difference between the 2nd and 3rd league is“ not that big: financially yes, but not in terms of football ”. With Aaron Herzog, Björn Rother and Erik Engelhardt, Rhein meets familiar faces in Rostock. Shortly before he signed the contract, he asked the latter about his new employer: “He only told me positive things about Hansa and the city, and that also played a role in my decision.”
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