“Luca Herrmann’s Emotional Return to Freiburg: Overcoming Injury and Making a Comeback for Dynamo Dresden”

Freiburg/Dresden. Overtime has just started, Niklas Hauptmann runs off the field. Dynamo Dresden’s head coach Markus Anfang wants to make one last change – a very special one. As soon as Luca Herrmann steps onto the lawn of the Dreisam Stadium, some Freiburg fans in the grandstand are so ecstatic that you might think the 23-year-old is a pop star, a teenage idol.

It’s a real pleasure that the highly talented midfielder, who played for Dynamo’s opponent SC Freiburg for twelve years until 2021, can now get back into action after almost 500 days of downtime due to a long-term knee injury. “Yeah, I’ve got a few people here just now. They were all there – family, friends, acquaintances, everything around. Of course, that makes you extremely happy,” says Luca Herrmann, overjoyed immediately after the final whistle.

“Extremely strange” feeling against ex-club

His debut of the season is the icing on the cake of an otherwise poor game that ended 1-1 in his hometown of Freiburg im Breisgau. “It was a bit emotional, I have to say. Of course I would have liked to have taken the three points with me. But all in all it was really a great trip away. It’s really cool that I can celebrate my comeback here,” says the former German junior international.

However, the feeling of playing against his home club for the first time was “extremely strange”, even if he no longer knows many of the Freiburgers from his own team: “It’s not like I’ve played with so many people here most of them have already left,” says Luca Herrmann. Claudio Kammerknecht, who was active for Freiburg’s second team until the summer of 2022, knows a lot more people there.

But everyone should have been happy for Luca Herrmann. And even if it’s only a short assignment at first: The agonizingly long waiting time, the almost eternal drudgery in rehab was worth it for the midfielder. “Overall it was good physically. It was only a few minutes, but everything had its time,” Luca Herrmann remains patient. “One would have liked a few more minutes, but it’s difficult to make a comeback in such a tight game.”

Certainly Dynamo’s current personnel misery also has its share in the fact that Herrmann works out with a mission the first time that Herrmann is part of the match day squad. But the screenplay with the guest performance in his homeland also fits too well. “Of course he’s not at 100 percent yet, but somehow today is a great day for him and for us that he was back on the field,” says SGD head coach Markus Anfang.

Captain Knipping: “I’m very, very proud of him!”

“It’s nice that he gave me a few more minutes at home, I think it was a bit about that,” says Luca Herrmann happily. But it’s more than just a gesture, it also has a noticeable effect on the field: “I think he calmed down a bit when he came on,” says Beginning, who adds: “I’m really happy for him personally. I hope that he continues on his path, picks up his old level of performance and stays injury-free.”

Dynamo captain Tim Knipping, who himself was about to end his career due to an injury, is also happy with Herrmann: “Incredible. This is perhaps the most beautiful situation ever. I can speak from experience, I know what a tough road it is. The boy had been out for a year and a half now. He fought back, had so many setbacks, was close to the end of his career. That does a lot with a player, also in the head. And that he can make his comeback here at his old club is great. I think that will give him a lot of strength for the next few weeks. I’m very, very proud of him!”

Successful fight against early career end

Luca Herrmann himself drew his strength and hope from Dynamo and himself during his time of suffering: “On the one hand, it’s the belief in your own footballing quality. On the other hand, it’s the whole club, the fans and everything. You look at the videos, want to experience it again, be there. If you sit in the stands yourself, that’s cool too, but not comparable. Something like that carries you through a bit of a time,” he says. Many doctors and of course his family would also have their share.

“And you have to believe in it the most. Otherwise it won’t work,” Luca Herrmann makes clear. “I’m still very young. Now that was a big injury, which is also a bit more complicated. But I said from the start that I would give everything to keep playing football!” That hope is now being fulfilled. In his euphoria, Luca Herrmann even slips out a word that the dynamos have so far strictly avoided – namely the one with an “a”: “If we get up in the end, the story is fantastic. Then it’s great!”