Routine with ambition
© Imago
At the age of 36, goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler once again dared to jump into the Bundesliga and changed from a heart club, Hannover 96, on the other hand, the 1st FC Köln. The role as number two behind Marvin Schwäbe is clearly defined for the veteran right from the start, but Zieler is the task and the new season with great ambition.
“Nothing can be planned. Six weeks ago I would not have believed that it would happen,” said the goalkeeper in the “Kicker” interview about his surprising switch to the training club, to which he had already returned loan for a year in 2020. This time, however, a transfer from the leash flowed to the Rhine, albeit to a small extent. The decision to leave 96 was a process. “I quickly led the first talks in Hanover. Then I quickly felt: that could be a problem for everyone involved – and I wanted to avoid that,” said Zieler, who added to the new beginning with the Lower Saxony under Christian Titz that you have to “respect and accept and accept if the club would like to take a change that is without question.”
With 382 games, Zieler took sixth place in the 96 player ranking with the most missions. The keeper looks at the change at a few weeks’ distance “with a crying and with a laughing eye. Crying, because it is not easy for me and my family to leave Hanover. On the other hand, laughing because there was the opportunity to switch to my home club, the 1. FC Köln. The club in which I played for six years in youth. Then the circle closes somewhere.”
The perspective for the time after the career played a central role in the course of the change. “My first thought was that I didn’t get away from Hanover. But over time, the thought: Why not again to the 1. FC Köln? Because of my past, I found it attractive to take this step. It is Bundesliga again, it is all very familiar, a great club and of course you can already look far outside the box. (…) You also think about how it could go after the active career. To plan the career a bit after the career and take the next steps.
The target at 1. FC Köln: “If I am needed, I’m there”
For the target, however, it is clear, “that I am not here to let my career go out. I am still extremely ambitious and also know what to do.” With the new role on the bench, the 2014 world champion can make friends. “I am an absolute team player and try to support the colleagues to support the whole staff and everyone around it. If I am then needed in the field, I am also there. (…) I’m going to my 17th year of professionals now and I have now gained a lot of experience. I know what is important and will still be 100 percent fit. We have a very homogeneous goalkeeper team, Marvin is a really good type and Goalkeeper.
On August 17th, FC will travel to Regensburg in the DFB Cup, a week later the promoted team has to go to the Bundesliga start at Mainz 05 before the first home game in the upper house has been waiting against SC Freiburg since May 2024. “The mood is of course good after such a climb, the club takes a certain euphoria with it. Now it is the case that we have to get the balancing act between joy and fun, but also the necessary seriousness. We prepare for the 1st league and have to be full on matchday 1,” said, who added: “We have to look at that as a team, because a good team structure is also an important aspect. Of course, we are 100 percent fit. “
Either way, the FC does not see the veteran in the Bundesliga without a chance: “We are promoted and we are aware of how difficult this league is. We have to be uncomfortable and always be ready to get the absolute performance limit. But then I am also sure that we will win games.