Not much was missing and Christian Groß could have played at the NDR Sportclub with his first second division goal. It might even have been the winning goal against 1. FC Nürnberg. But his long-range shot ten minutes before the end hissed past the goal, and so it remained at 1:1 in the duel between two promotion aspirants, which had taken a rather disappointing course, not only for Groß. “Of course a goal would have been great; hopefully one will fall in the near future,” said the defender, who doesn’t really believe in ifs and buts.
Top game at Schalke is coming up
The 33-year-old is much too down to earth to not realize how much the points dropped in the four-game promotion race can hurt. Werder is second in the table, two points behind Schalke, who are their next opponents in the next top game in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday (1.30 p.m., NDR Livecenter). “I’m really looking forward to the game. It would be bad if it were only about the golden pineapple,” says Groß.
“We’re still in a good position and have everything under our own hands. We have to do our homework and then we’ll reach our goal.”
— Christian Gross
The defensive all-rounder, whom Werder’s professional football boss Clemens Fritz describes as a “significantly underestimated player”, is proud of what has been achieved: “When I think about the first half of the season and see where we are now, we have every reason to. We have it in hand, we have to do our homework. Then we will reach our goal.”
Big: Schalke is not yet a final
It sounds relaxed, Groß seems almost relaxed in the sports club. “Of course the final is getting closer,” said the native of Bremen. “But there are still twelve points to be won, so it’s not yet a final what we’re facing in Schalke.” You can believe him, given the clarity and calm that characterizes him on the pitch. Lothar Gans, his former sports director and sponsor at VfL Osnabrück, already knew that he was also strong in running and tackling and had always been willing to take on responsibility.
Fixed size – whether six or defense chief
So it’s no wonder that Groß has long been a fixture in Ole Werner’s plans. The fact that the Werder coach is the same age doesn’t matter, emphasizes Groß: “The coaches are getting younger and younger these days. I don’t really care if the coach is 33, 50 or 60 years old. Ole makes a very good impression on me, he’s a very authoritative person, so it’s not a problem.”
Groß is also doing well – whether as a six or against the “Club” as a representative of the injured defender Ömer Toprak. He could not muster the playful and organizational brilliance of the former Turkish national player, sometimes there was a lack of coordination and stability in the green-white defence. But the reliability with which Groß took on the part commands respect.
“Grosso” actually wanted to retire
“The fact that everything has developed the way it has and that I’m now even on the team council is of course a nice thing,” said the highly praised player, who was not actually intended for the Bremen Bundesliga professionals when he moved to Osterdeich after four years in Osnabrück. He should and wanted to end his career in the second team of the Hanseatic League. But Werder’s long injury list and then coach Florian Kohfeldt had other plans with “Grosso”.
Late fulfilled Bundesliga dream of a stopgap
As a stopgap, Groß made his debut on August 11, 2019 in the 6-1 victory of the Green-Whites in the cup against the Oberliga side SV Atlas Delmenhorst and was even in the starting XI. The dream of the Bundesliga, which had remained in vain for the U20 international (one appearance) at Hamburger SV in three years, finally came true three weeks later against FC Augsburg (3-2) when he came on as a substitute in added time. “I’m not the best player, he always said, but for twelve or thirteen kilometers I’m always good at the game,” Osnabrück’s kit manager Mario Richter at the sports club recalls with a grin on the tireless player.