Debut as “Man of the Match”
Modest Pascal Groß is the ideal BVB puzzle piece
He made his debut with the DFB team at the age of 32 and arrived at the club of childhood dreams at the age of 33. Pascal Groß is a late arrival, but one who can be really important for Borussia Dortmund. He shows that right from the first competitive game.
Pascal Groß won the first trophy for his favorite club in his first competitive game. Borussia Dortmund's new midfield organizer was named “Man of the Match” in Hamburg after the 4-1 win against regional league team 1. FC Phönix Lübeck in the first round of the DFB Cup. “I try not to hang things too high,” he said of the award. “If they believe that I play football well and the coach sees it that way, it's perfect.”
With two goal assists to make it 1-0 by Waldemar Anton (3rd) after a corner and to make it 3-0 by Julian Brandt (45th+1) with a long pass from his own half, the new pace setter in Dortmund was instrumental in a successful competitive game – Nuri Sahin contributed to the premiere as the new BVB head coach – and demonstrated his own importance.
“Of course I'm happy that I can help. Otherwise, I think there's still room for improvement,” he said in Hamburg's Volksparkstadion, where the game was moved due to a lack of suitable options in Lübeck. “That was the first competitive game, we had to win it. Now in the Bundesliga, a completely different caliber awaits us,” said Groß, referring to the first division opener on Saturday (6.30 p.m./Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker) against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The late-career's childhood dream comes true
It took Groß around 14 years of professional football to arrive at the club, now 33, that he loved as a child. He last played for Brighton & Hove Albion in the English Premier League for seven years and remained below the attention threshold in Germany for a long time.
He only made his debut for the national team at the age of 32 and was immediately part of the squad for the European Championships this summer. Now BVB has also discovered the latecomer. When Borussia called, the decision to return to the Bundesliga was easy for him.
After his delayed start to training due to the European Championships, Groß only had a few units. But this short time was enough to show that he could be the decisive element that was missing last season: a source of inspiration in midfield and organizer in front of the defense – in short: a boss.
A player can do this in such a short time, “if he is intelligent, thinks football and knows what's going on. And Pascal knows that. That's why we brought him in,” said Sahin. “He is very, very important for our game. He is very dominant. He can set the rhythm. We were missing that a bit in our game last year.”
Groß is looking forward to “something special”
Coach Sahin already knows from his own time as a BVB player what it means and what it is like to play with the Dortmund crowd in your own stadium. This force was now also felt abroad in Hamburg. The home of the second division team HSV was primarily bathed in black and yellow, the support was loud.
“It was unbelievable. From the warm up it was something very special for me. The first time in a competitive game,” he said. The test last week against Aston Villa in Dortmund in front of more than 80,000 spectators was crazy. “Next Saturday will be the first time in the Bundesliga at home. It’s happening in quick succession and is something special for me,” said Groß. “I try to play football well. Then I can enjoy everything around it even more.”
