Sascha Watzlawik has been the face of FV Engers 07 for 13 years. First he was a player coach, then only a coach – now he stops. Two games, then it was. One of which is the final in the Rhineland Cup.
Maybe Sascha Watzlawik will look again, but he actually knows that everything is fine. The shoes are in the sports bag – they are always in the sports bag. He has worn them eight, nine or even ten years, he is no longer so sure: sports shoes of a well -known brand, at some point they had holes, their feet got wet. He bought new ones, he no longer wears the old shoes – but he doesn’t want to dispose of them either. After all, are lucky shoes. He says the sports show: “The things are ready for museum.”
Watzlawik, 46, has been with top division FV Engers 07 for 13 years, in the first three years he was a player coach, then only a coach. He was on the line in more than 400 games and celebrated some successes, such as the two ascents. Well, when it comes to saying goodbye and the question of whether he succeeds in leading Engers a third time into the DFB Cup, this is of course not entirely unimportant with the lucky shoes.
Final training in the Neighboring community, no question
Watzlawik was once a sergeant at the Bundeswehr, today he works as a judicial specialist in the land registry of the city of Neuwied. They are jobs that demand different things. You don’t get connected to superstitions. This does not apply to football. When it comes to sports, says Watzlawik, he is superstitious.
The shoes are an example, another the lawn in the neighboring community, which you rented in Engers for the final training before the final in the Rhineland Cup against Rot-Weiß Koblenz on Saturday (May 24, 2025, from 12.30 p.m.). The final takes place on natural grass, but in Engers you have artificial turf in your own stadium.
So it happened that the club had already moved to the neighboring community in 2020 and 2022. In the end, FV Engers cheered. You have not considered long for the club where you want to stop your final training this time.
Sascha Watzlawik, coach of FV Engers 07
A lot will change, but the phone calls will remain
The day before his penultimate game as a coach in Engers, Watzlawik took vacation. He will prepare the final training and think about the tactics. Still on the phone with Martin Hahn, the 1st chairman of the club. They often do this, almost every day, always in the morning, between six and half past six.
If you ask him what Watzlawik distinguishes, Hahn tells of a man who is not an option for his standstill. Watzlawik, says Hahn, be “Never satisfied”. One without “Big jumps in the brain”. He sees this as a commitment, that is important to him. And when he speaks of the farewell, of the two games that still stay to them until the separation, then be there “Of course also melancholy”.
The phone calls may then become less common, but Watzlawik and Hahn will continue to call. After all, Watzlawik stops as a trainer, but he is preserved for the club. He will support in marketing and in the care of sponsors. He says: “I firmly decided to continue to strain it.”
When a new time begins in Engers, Watzlawik goes on vacation
How his coaching career continues, whether it continues – Watzlawik has not yet decided. He did the A license as a trainer at the DFB, should also train in the regional league. Maybe, he says, he will really work there once. Or in a youth performance center. “If something excites me, I’ll think about it.” First of all, however, he would like to say goodbye, preferably with two victories.
Then in Engers Julian Feit will take over as a trainer. He will plan the preparation and make calls with potential new additions. Watzlawik will then be on vacation, somewhere on the Baltic Sea, for two weeks. He says: “I will enjoy it if the phone doesn’t ringe so often.”