Eleven years ago
Diaz and the free kick: The HSV miracle in Karlsruhe
Updated June 1, 2026 – 3:26 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Eleven years ago, HSV already had one foot in the second division. Then a controversial handball by Karlsruher SC and the subsequent free kick made history. A look back at the 2015 Bundesliga relegation.
Otto Rehhagel once put it succinctly: “Football remains a game of imponderables. Something can always happen within a few seconds.” Exactly those seconds lasted HSV On June 1, 2015, they were alive in the Bundesliga relegation – and brutally tore the second division team Karlsruher SC out of all promotion dreams.
“I think it’s time for us to turn off the clock,” said KSC defender Philipp Max confidently before the relegation – a tip against the famous Bundesliga clock in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion. Hamburg’s sports director Peter Knäbel, on the other hand, was grateful that HSV was “allowed to do this extra round again”. In the first leg, KSC set the tone, but missed the best chances. Bruno Labbadia’s “Rothosen” barely saved a 1-1 draw.
Relegation 2015: Karlsruhe puts HSV under great pressure
The “Dino” from Hamburg had to win the second leg. Motto: all or nothing. The Wildpark was sold out with almost 28,000 fans, and in Hamburg 15,000 HSV fans were excited in the stadium. Descent has never been so close. But what followed was a dramatic showdown for the history books.
HSV presented itself as courageous and aggressive as rarely before in the entire season. The KSC mainly concentrated on dangerous counterattacks and a secure defense. It worked: Rafael van der Vaart, Pierre-Michel Lasogga, Ivica Olic and Ivo Ilicevic had numerous opportunities in the first 60 minutes, but they failed to score.
Yabo shoots KSC to almost certain promotion – then comes Diaz
Then Karlsruhe got better and better into the game: Daniel Gordon headed just wide (63′), Marcelo Diaz saved on the line against Manuel Gulde (69′). Reinhold Yabo came into the game after 72 minutes – and scored 1-0 just six minutes later. Now HSV was one goal short of even reaching extra time. The stands in the wildlife park were in an exuberant celebratory mood: they were only a few minutes away from the climb. The Baden team even had their promotion shirts ready to hand next to the bench.
