Emotional reunion for Johannes Eggestein

From talent to “class representative”

Former Werder jewel is flourishing at its northern competitor

For Johannes Eggestein, the duel between St. Pauli and Werder Bremen will be a special reunion. A lot has happened to him since he left the Weser.

On Saturday evening (6.30 p.m.) FC St. Pauli will face Werder Bremen in the Millerntor Stadium. This game will be a very special encounter for Johannes Eggestein. The 26-year-old then faces his former club, where he took his first steps into professional football.

“I grew up a bit there too,” says Eggestein. “When I was 15 I went to boarding school and was there for a long time. That’s why I naturally have an emotional connection to the club and the city.”

For the first time, Eggestein will play against his training club in a competitive game on Saturday evening. He was once considered a great talent at Werder Bremen: in his last A-youth season in 2015/16, he scored 33 goals and later also played minutes in the first team.

Eggestein looks back on his time at Werder with satisfaction: “After all, I played 46 Bundesliga games for Werder and provided goals and assists,” he emphasizes.

However, Eggestein was unable to establish himself as a regular player on a permanent basis. “It certainly wasn’t just me that was affected,” he explains. The competition in attack was high. When he returned from Austria in 2021 after a loan, Werder had meanwhile been relegated to the 2nd league. “Those were difficult times for a young player to really find his footing.”

An important supporter during his early days in Bremen was his brother Maximilian, who is two years older and had already been playing for Werder for longer when Johannes joined the youth team. Today Maximilian is a fixture at SC Freiburg.

“I got along well on my own,” says Eggestein, looking back. “If you have a brother with you who can give you a hand and pass on experiences, that is certainly very helpful.”

In 2021, Eggestein said goodbye to Bremen for good and ended up at FC St. Pauli via Belgium a year later. It seems as if he has found his footballing happiness.

Eggestein has developed, both as a footballer and as a personality. Coach Alexander Blessin praises him as more or less the “striker leader” who sets the pace on the pitch. “He has a very fine nose and is therefore extremely important.” They just need to put him more often in a position where he can exercise his “insane finishing strength,” says Blessin.

Eggestein is also making progress off the pitch. After games, he is the one who faces the media and analyzes the games. “He’s a very sociable guy. Very reflective and clear-headed,” describes Blessin.

Aside from games and training, Eggestein devotes himself to studying psychology. His career with “obstacles and challenges, where of course you inevitably have to think a little bit” would not be far removed from the subject of psychology, he said in the NDR “Sportclub” in 2023.

Eggestein also convinced his coach with this. “The yo-yo found a really good moment,” says Blessin, who studied sports during his playing career. “He does it very cleverly so that it doesn’t put too much strain on him, but rather pushes him a little bit. And building up a second mainstay so early on makes sense.”

In the cabin, Eggestein devotes himself to another passion: coffee. Almost a year ago, he and his teammates bought an espresso machine, which the team likes to gather around on the training ground and talk about football. “How do you see the tactical approach or your own game? That of course helps with cohesion, no question about it,” says Eggestein.

Eggestein doesn’t want to describe himself as “the barista par excellence in Hamburg,” as his teammate Hauke ​​Wahl describes him. “I’ve done barista training once or twice because I’m just interested in it,” says Eggestein. “But unfortunately I’m not that good at it yet that I could claim to be the best.”