The start could have been more pleasant. In the first season game of the national league team STK Eilvese, newcomer Adrian Wagner was only a spectator. About a week later in the home game against TuS Sulingen, the 33-year-old was in the starting line-up, but tore his inner ligament. But he is by no means dejected. He uses the corona-related break intensively to work on his return.
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At the moment, no joint training units are possible for amateur athletes. But at the beginning of the season, STK trainer Thassilo Jürgens was enthusiastic about the zeal for something new: “His grandma could have a birthday five times a year, he wouldn’t miss a training session on any of these days,” the coach praised the attitude and commitment of his player.
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“I do sport four to five times a week,” says Wagner, who moved from league competitor TSV Burgdorf to Eilvese. Most of the time he goes for a run. He has already covered another 400 kilometers after the knee injury that has largely healed. When lakes were frozen in sub-zero temperatures recently, he took out his skates and played ice hockey on the frozen water.
He also occasionally duels badminton with an old companion, Yanik Strunkey, who also plays for the express vendors. Stabilization exercises are also regularly performed at home. The knee no longer gives him any problems, he has no pain. “I feel good,” says Wagner, who describes himself as “very ambitious”. This was evident, for example, on Boxing Day when he jogged 15 kilometers.
“That went really stupid”
When football should start and the national league leader from Eilvese is back on the hunt for points, Wagner will be ready. The fact that he was not taken into account by Jürgens at the start of the season annoyed him, as he frankly admitted. “The preparation went really well,” says Wagner looking back. But he understands the coach’s decision, who can ultimately only choose ten field players. Wagner was by no means stubborn after the small setback, on the contrary: “I just carried on and worked on myself,” says the 33-year-old.
The reward followed with the starting eleven debut on the second day of the game. After a punch, in which he hit the ball with the inside, but his Sulingen opponent the leather with full tension, the accident happened. He continued to play, but the substitution followed after 61 minutes. The realization that something was wrong with his knee did not come to him until after the final whistle. “I could hardly walk then,” reports Wagner. “That went really stupid.”
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The pictures of the 2020/21 season in Hanover’s amateur football
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Levestes Sascha Romaus overcomes Kirchdorf’s goalkeeper Jens Trampenau and hits the supposed 1: 1 equalizer.
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It was also really stupid when Wagner, a promising talent from the U19s, switched to the professional reserve of Hannover 96. However, a pubic bone inflammation – the first of a total of three injuries of this type – promptly threw him back there. After all, the trained full-back, who says he feels that he is in good hands in many positions, also had positive experiences.
In 2005 he was allowed to play against Lionel Messi and the other stars of the South American selection in a test match of the Argentine national team before the Confed Cup in Hanover. “That really made me want to take something like that with you in life is really great,” says Wagner. “When you took the ball from the professionals, you were really happy.” When the French national team tested against 96 in Germany before the start of the World Cup, Wagner was injured in his knee, but at least saw the stars up close.
Wagner likes to measure himself against the younger ones
Even at the age of 33, the postal worker who is responsible for fleet management does not want to think about retiring from football. “It’s still fun and enjoyable to compete with 18-year-olds,” says Wagner. But he also wants to guide the younger ones. “I would like to pass on my knowledge,” he says. This relates to tactical aspects, but also to sports medicine. For example, he helped his cabin seat neighbor Nico Kiedrowski when he complained of muscular problems.
He is aware that he still has to work a little on his liveliness, says the Eilveser kicker. “The trainer told me that too,” explains Wagner. He is also still not used to the ball. But he is confident that he will be fit for the next game. In any case, it shouldn’t be because of the right attitude and commitment.
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