The decisive victory to return to the Bundesliga after 13 years was a reflection of the season. On March 30, 2002 – 20 years ago today – 41,500 spectators cheered a brilliant 6-0 (4-0) win against Schweinfurt. Hannover, which had already collected 68 points and scored 80 goals at the time, could no longer be pushed out of one of the top three promotion places.
“It was a great time. We went through the season in a frenzy,” defense chief Carsten Linke looked back in an interview with NDR. “That was at the end of my career, which I was able to crown with promotion and a year in the Bundesliga.”
Impromptu celebration next to the stadium
“Hanover is the most beautiful city in the world,” was the message around the Lower Saxony Stadium hours after the game. Linke, Jörg Sievers, Steven Cherundolo, Daniel Stendel and Co. celebrated on one stage.
Scarves, t-shirts and hats flew into the crowd. The fans chanted “No more second division” and “You see Braunschweig, that’s how it’s done”. Only after more than an hour did Altin Lala end the little improvised celebration with a beer shower for the cheering followers.
Spectacular football under Rangnick
After many years in exile in the second and even third division, Hanover was finally back on top: And how! Driven by the outstanding playmaker Jan Simak (18 goals), the “Reds” developed unexpected offensive power. In the end, 93:37 goals and 75 points were recorded, and it was only eleven years later that Hertha BSC broke the record with one more point.
“It was wonderful how we went through the league. At some point we were absolutely unstoppable.”
— Steven Cherundolo on Hanover’s 2001/2002 season
Last year’s ninth was unrecognizable under Rangnick, who had only been signed by President Martin Kind before the start of the season. There was a spectacle at home (4-4 against Bielefeld, 5-0 against KSC) and abroad (6-2 in Duisburg, 5-1 in Fürth). In the end, Lower Saxony had a ten-point lead over second-placed Bielefeld. For Hannover’s Bundesliga record player Cherundolo, the season is still one of the most emotional seasons of his career.
“When you look back on the season and I still remember it well, then we played fantastic games,” Linke recalled. “It was a great team, we had great players and a fantastic coach. It was really fun. Many of our fans will certainly have very fond memories of this season.”
Stadium reconstruction and high-scoring games
The strong season made you want more – and in the Lower Saxony state capital there was a spirit of optimism, both sportingly and economically. In February 2003, the renovation of the stadium for 66 million euros began in view of the 2006 World Cup. And Rangnick also played offensive combination football in the Bundesliga – for example, there was a 4: 4 against Werder Bremen and a 3: 3 at FC Bayern. Relegation succeeded on the penultimate matchday.
The circle closes with Stendel
But the soaring didn’t last long. Things didn’t go so well the following season, and Rangnick was released on March 6, 2004 after a 1-0 loss in Mönchengladbach. After all, successor Ewald Lienen managed to stay up in the league.
In the period that followed, Hannover remained in the first division for 14 years under six other coaches – but apart from two European Cup participations mostly ended up in the dreary midfield. With furious attacking game, the Lower Saxony never inspired more. Irony of fate: In Daniel Stendel, the man who made a decisive contribution to the ecstatic promotion to the Bundesliga with 16 goals in 2002 was unable to prevent him from going into the second division as a coach in 2016.
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Sports current | 03/30/2022 | 09:17 am
Source: NDR