Thursday, June 26, 2025
Said El Mala, who moved to the 1st FC Köln after an outstanding third division season at Viktoria Köln, has already made an impression on Lukas Kwasniok in the past. Even as a coach of SC Paderborn, he met the 19-year-old in a friendly against the Viktoria: “Then he turned our right-back quite a bit. I hadn’t known him at the time and thought ‘Wow, what a talent’.” Kwasniok’s first impulse was to be able to guess the player to Paderborn until he learned that El Mala “the Great Cologne”.
Kwasniok is looking forward to the left wing, but also steps on the brake: “Logically we have to leave the church in the village – or the cathedral in the city. It is a young player who has just taken a great development.” It is clear to the FC coach that El Mala has a lot of talent, but “at 19 this development was not complete. There will be different phases.” It is important to accompany the striker, protect it, “but also let him run when he has the potential”.