Ex-professional in TM interview
In the eighties and nineties, Germany and the associated Bundesliga was Jörn Andersen’s home. The Norwegian striker made a total of 243 appearances in the top flight and in 1990 became the first foreign player to be the Bundesliga’s top scorer. As a coach, however, Andersen has had a desire to travel. He has already worked in seven different countries and has been the national coach of Hong Kong for almost a year and a half. At Transfermarkt, the 60-year-old talks about his work there and looks back on his professional career.
A few weeks ago Jörn Andersen had his big day. The former Bundesliga striker received a multitude of congratulations from all over the world on his 60th birthday. But instead of a big celebration, it was just a round anniversary in a small family gathering in Hong Kong. The metropolitan and special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China has been Andersen’s current home since November 2021. He is fascinated by the Asian continent. Before this engagement, the native Norwegian was active as the national coach of North Korea and as head coach of the South Korean first division club Incheon United.
“I love the Asians and their mentality. I got to know them as very open and, above all, inquisitive people and this is also reflected in the training. Football is very important here, the big European leagues in particular are broadcast in the bars and it’s not uncommon for people to get up at night to watch Bundesliga games,” says Andersen.
Andersen on the start in Hong Kong: “I wanted to quit after a few weeks”
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He got off to a rocky start as Hong Kong coach. “In fact, after just a few weeks I wanted to give up and leave again. Due to Covid-19 there were a number of restrictions, normal team training was out of the question. Since I didn’t know what the quality and abilities of the individual players were, it was difficult for me to create a suitable training program at the beginning. When the restrictions were lifted and two Hong Kong clubs traveled to the training camp, I went with them to see the players personally. What you see on videos is one thing. I always want to see the player live to be able to assess him,” emphasizes the 60-year-old.
Andersen took office with a 2-0 defeat against Malaysia. The ex-professional took this as an opportunity to question many things within the national team and at the same time to incorporate new ideas into his training. He also had to do a balancing act, because on the one hand the Norwegian was aware that he had to change something, but at the same time he didn’t want to overwhelm any of his players.
“Hong Kong has only played defensive football for the past 20 years. It felt like only defenders were on the field. The boys also lacked the right mindset. You went into a game with the attitude of not wanting to lose too high. When I explained to them that they are able to play offensively too, that they don’t have to hide, their attitude completely changed. In the meantime, I’m very proud that we’ve managed to bring an aggressive, offensive style of play onto the pitch,” confirms Andersen and adds: “I try to use a lot from Europe in training and notice how open the players are to it are. However, sometimes I have to slow them down, because we can’t go too high an intensity here due to the temperatures that prevail. So I start the training either very early in the morning or very late in the evening and rather include drinking breaks.”
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The changes began to bear fruit in the Asian Championship qualifiers. Internally, participation in the tournament was considered more of a pipe dream than a realistic goal. After all, Hong Kong last attended the Asian Cup in 1968, after which they failed in every qualification. But last year Andersen’s team created a sensation and qualified for the finals. That surprise brought the Hong Kong national team back into the limelight and sparked enthusiasm.
“We couldn’t save ourselves from invitations. I hope this success will start a boom. What also made me very happy was the fact that Kitchee was the first club from Hong Kong to reach the second round of the AFC Champions League. Improvements have to be made, particularly in the area of infrastructure, but there has been no money for this in recent years. Now movement comes into play. A new stadium is scheduled to open next year. I notice that the national team is getting more attention again and you can see that in the number of spectators. In the past, no more than 3,000 or 4,000 spectators came to the stadium. At our last home game it was over 20,000. From everywhere the lads can feel the pride of the people telling them they are happy to finally see a national team worthy of the name again.”
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The country still can’t compete with the really big ones, which was shown at the East Asian Championship. It was one defeat each against Japan, South Korea and China. But here, too, Andersen sees positive approaches. “It will take years, if not decades, for us to get to the same level. Nor do we see these countries as competitors, but rather as role models. We wanted to learn from the best in the games and shouldn’t look at the defeat itself, but at the learning effect that we draw from it. I think we’re on the right track,” said Andersen, who has set himself the goal of attracting Hong Kong players from abroad to the national team. Something that his predecessors didn’t consider and put their bets primarily on local footballers.
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Andersen would also like to work to ensure that the professionalization in the domestic Premier League progresses, because in his view many players have talent. “I would be very happy if German players would also switch to our league, but it has to become more attractive for that. It is difficult to describe or compare the level of the league. Kitchee and Lee Man are the two strongest clubs battling the championship each year. These two clubs also have a patron behind them. The remaining clubs depend on small sponsors. Hong Kong has set itself the goal of taking part in the 2034 World Cup, and whether that is realistic remains to be seen in the years to come. We’ve also been scouting for players with Hong Kong roots abroad for a long time. Michael Udebuluzor (FC Ingolstadt U19) and Aaron Keller (Unterhaching), for example, are two such players that I would like to see with us. My goal is to bring every national player to the highest possible level,” emphasizes Andersen.
Andersen becomes top scorer: “Unknown from skier’s country gets the cannon”
He himself had this great career. At 22 he moved from Vålerenga to 1. FC Nürnberg. Over time, he developed into a goal threat personified at the “Club” and was partly responsible for the fact that in the 1987/88 season they finished fifth, which was their best-ever placement in the Bundesliga since the 1968 championship.
He then moved on to Eintracht Frankfurt. It was to take a while before he developed into a crowd favorite and top scorer. In his debut season he only scored two goals and so there were considerations to leave the SBU. “When I switched to Eintracht, they were reigning cup winners. Nothing went right during the season. Everyone on the team was struggling. We only stayed in the Bundesliga thanks to the relegation games we won against 1. FC Saarbrücken. But somehow this failure also welded us together,” he recalls.
Jörn Andersen in the Eintracht Frankfurt jersey in 1990
In the following season, the 1989/90 season, the SBU found itself back in the upper ranks and finished third in the table. The knot also burst for Andersen – and how: With 18 goals, he was the first foreign player to become top scorer. “When you think about the great strikers who played in the Bundesliga before me and then an unknown person from a skier’s country takes the gun, that makes me very proud,” says Andersen with a laugh, but also emphasizes that he was in the wrong year won the trophy.
“I let my contract in Frankfurt expire with the belief that I could move to a bigger club. The inquiries from Italy, the best league in the world at the time, were there. Inter Milan and CFC Genoa signaled their interest. However, the clubs still wanted to wait for the 1990 World Cup. In the end they decided on other strikers and I was left without a contract,” he recalls with a smile. Eventually he came to Fortuna Düsseldorf, but returned to Frankfurt after just one season. His greatest success follows him to this day, so he is even approached on the streets of Hong Kong and asked for a photo or autograph.
His contract as national coach runs until the end of July and if he has his way, nothing stands in the way of an extension. “I feel absolutely fine, there has to be an extraordinary offer. In addition, I really want to take care of Hong Kong at the Asian Championships next year,” emphasizes Jörn Andersen at the end.
Interview by Henrik Stadnischeko
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