What Rocco Reitz is currently experiencing can confidently be described as a little football fairy tale. The 21-year-old rushes from highlight to highlight in his career – and not just at his club Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Reitz has been a Borussia member since childhood, was a former season ticket holder and has carried the foal on his chest since he was seven. In 2020, the Duisburg native made his first appearances in the Bundesliga. Even if these were rather unspectacular, they still aroused a great desire among the fans back then: namely, to train the young players who were emotionally attached to the club into valuable professionals.
First goal then U21 premiere?
And that is exactly what Reitz achieved in an exemplary manner. After making his starting eleven debut on matchday 3 against Bayern Munich, he has found himself in the starting line-up under Gladbach coach Gerardo Seoane in recent weeks. After a number of good performances this season, the 21-year-old was now able to celebrate his first Bundesliga goal in the 4-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg.
“I always dreamed of scoring my first goal at Borussia Park. I don’t know how many times I imagined it. In real life it was even better than in my imagination. It was unbelievable and hard to put into words “,” Reitz told the “Bild” newspaper. And the Gladbacher’s story doesn’t end there. The shooting star is now set to make his debut for the German U21 national team.
DFB comeback after six years
If he were to play, “the next item on the list of dreams would be ticked off,” said the midfielder on Tuesday: “Being able to wear the eagle on your chest – that’s the most beautiful thing there is.” Reitz played one game for the German U16s in November 2017 (0-4 against the Czech Republic), but has not played a game for a DFB team since then. “U21 national team, that’s a big deal. That would be great,” said the Gladbacher.
The fact that Reitz was nominated during the last international break proves that national coach Antonio Di Salvo has had him on his list for a long time. However, it was not used there. That could change now – Di Salvo at least is full of praise: “Rocco performed very well in Gladbach. He always wants to have the ball and is not afraid of being played in tight situations,” said the national coach.
Kimmich as a role model
Reitz himself has a lot planned for the games on Friday against Estonia and four days later against Poland. Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich serves as a role model: “That’s a bit of a benchmark for where I want to go. That’s impressive, you can learn a lot of things from there.” In addition to Reitz, 20-year-old Luca Netz is another Gladbacher in the DFB squad.
