It’s over on his 33rd birthday. When 1. FC Köln finish the season against FC Bayern Munich on May 27th, it will be the last game for captain Jonas Hector. In an interview with the magazine “11Freunde” (quoted via “goat blog” and “Picture‘) Hector talked about the reasons for his career end.
The native of Saarbrücken was never a thoroughly happy professional. “When I think back on everything, I have to say: No,” says Hector, who can look back on 345 games for the “Effzeh”, which puts him in 16th place among the record players. Overall, he has 442 appearances at club level and “probably the positive outweighs the positive”.
Horn and Hector in the 300 club: Most appearances for 1. FC Köln
He doesn’t feel like “the public that you inevitably have to face as a professional, the constant pressure”. Hector first thought about ending his career in the 2020/21 season, when the club held the class through relegation. That “was already crisp. That’s when the first thoughts started.”
The unrest in the club at the time in the coaching position and in the management floor also played a role. “As a team councillor, we constantly had to go to some office to have talks. I’m someone who needs time to build trust. But we were constantly getting new contacts and we had the feeling that we were starting from scratch every year,” emphasized Hector. “At FC we have never found ourselves in calm waters in recent years. I don’t want to live with the feeling that I’m always struggling to survive, but devote myself to gardening on Saturdays, then stroll relaxed to the stadium and look at things from a neutral point of view.
Comeback at 1. FC Köln: Hector leaves the back door open
Hector also spoke about the hardest time in his life, when his advisor Rainer Derber died in 2020 and his brother Lucas died shortly afterwards. “The thought of simply throwing it away didn’t exist. But during this time I resigned from the national team. I don’t want to deny that there is a connection,” said Hector, who made 43 appearances for the German national team. National coach Hansi Flick reportedly wanted to convince the 32-year-old of a DFB comeback before the World Cup last year, but Hector refused.
FC coach Steffen Baumgart also recently struggled to persuade the defender to continue his active career. At least Hector left a back door open. “I can’t imagine it, but in football you should never say ‘never’.” Hector came to Cologne in 2010 and made his professional debut in the 2012 DFB Cup. In the following years he made two relegations and promotions and became a national player in 2014. The left-footed player was a regular at the 2016 European Championships and converted the decisive penalty in the quarterfinals against Italy (7:6). He also won the 2017 Confederations Cup. In the same year Hector reached its highest market value with 20 million euros.
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Jonas Hector (Last club: 1. FC Köln) – End of career in summer
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