19 years after departure from S04 youth
© Imago
Striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga showed himself emotionally after his unexpected debut for Schalke 04 in the game against SV Elversberg (1: 2). “This cannot be described in words,” the 33-year-old told “Territory“After his substitution under loud cheers. The fans. On the square, he fought his tears and said afterwards:” I would not have thought that it triggered such a positive euphoria. That already touched me a lot and took me away. You saw how much this club just means to me. ” The majority of the team had been mocked by the audience in the again disappointing performance of the Schalke.
In the 70th minute, interim coach Jakob Fimpel helped the former HSV professional Lasogga to debut at Schalke, where Gladbeck’s native once played in youth. Previously, Yassin Ben Balla (29), Lasogga’s colleague from the S04 reserve, also came to his first team in the first team and promptly got the 1-2 goal for the royal blue. “Of course, I would have liked a more conciliatory degree for the team,” said Lasogga. “But personally I celebrated the relegation with the U23 last week and now made my first game in the Veltins-Arena for Schalke. Yassin also scored a goal. Despite the defeat, it was a positive moment in our life.”
Lasogga was initially denied a professional career at Schalke after being sorted out early in the S04 youth. Instead, the former junior international had four other training clubs after leaving Gelsenkirchen; Rot-Weiss Essen, Wattenscheid, Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen. He then experienced his breakthrough as a professional at Hertha BSC. For the Berliners and later for the HSV, he scored 34 Bundesliga goals and 27 in the 2nd league. In the meantime, Lasogga went to Qatar from Hamburg and landed on Schalke again in 2023.
“I started here as a child and took many, many ways to achieve the goal of becoming a professional, and then somehow land here and playing in the Veltins Arena for Schalke,” summed up Lasogga. “This is an indescribable moment. I will remember it forever.”
