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Not Mesut Özil, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, or Benedikt Höwedes were number one, when talking about the best German youth-football player of their age-group, Sergej Evljuskin was - twice. In 2005 and 2006 he has been awarded the Fritz-Walter-Medal in gold. Considered a great honour, this prize stirred up hope and expectations to a major breakthrough. But things turned out quite differently.
Mesut Özil played in Madrid this Wednesday; with Real Madrid against Manchester United – in the Champions League.
At the same time Mats Hummels played in Donezk – in the Champions League. He shared the responsibility for Schachtjor’s 1-2, but scored the equalizer.
Sergej Evlijuskin also had a game on Wednesday evening. He played in Darmstadt, with the SV Babelsberg 03 – in the 3rd league. The field was frozen; the final score was 0-0. That is professional football, but not the stage for Number-one players.
Regular player in the Under 16 to Under 19 German national teams
Evljuskin could question himself - he did it in the past, but "just briefly".
He is 25 years old, he is a regular player of his team and he is in good shape – it could be worth. Of course it could have been better, Evljuskin knows that, but he tries to attend to the future. To escape relegation with Babelsberg as soon as possible, that is his goal. Sometime he wants to play in the 2nd devision.
But when was it that he did not manage to join, where all the others of the generation went? Probably he missed the boat during the season 2007/2008. Until then it had gone well for the midfielder. He trained with the VfL Wolfsburg, played for the national teams of the U16 to U19 and he even was captain for some time. But what followed was another year in the second team of Wolfsburg, who had a screwed-up season in the 3rd division that also affected Evljuskin. When they hired the new coach, former Bulgarian international player, Petr Houbtchev, Evljuskin lost his regular place in the team.
"It may be that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time"
He had thoughts about a change of Club, but Lorenz Günther Köstner, the succeeding coach after Houbtchev, convinced him to stay. That is why he played seven years in Wolfsburg; was that the mistake? Evljuskin does not really know. "It may be that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time", he says. "For young players it was difficult to make it to the Bundesliga-team in Wolfsburg at that time." The examples of his teammates of that time, Alexander Esswein and Sebastian Polter, show a similar scenario. Both of them play for the 1.FC Nürnberg now.
In summer 2010 he defected to Hansa Rostock. At that time Özil and Boateng were part of the German national team for the World Cup in South Africa. One year before that, they won the European Under 21 Championships together with Hummels and Höwedes. Evljuskin last played for the team of the U-20. But he can look at the careers of his former teammates with no jealousy, just a little nostalgically. "I watch them from time to time and I am happy for them", he emphasizes.
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"It would be nice to experience the flair of the 2nd division"
He has played with the SV Babelsberg for 2 years now. Although he reached to be promoted to the 2nd division with Rostock, he has not been content with his subordinate position in the team.
In Babelsberg it is different. He played 20 out of 24 matches during the season, most of the time as a defensive midfielder. "I get along with team and I feel comfortable here", says Evljuskin.
He is contracted until summer 2014. If he will manage to play one or two leagues higher? Sergej Evljuskin is cautious about that. "In Football you never know, but I want to stay realistic. It would be nice to experience the flair of the 2nd division." The great expectations are from the past.
created by jb
[bild1]
Not Mesut Özil, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, or Benedikt Höwedes were number one, when talking about the best German youth-football player of their age-group, Sergej Evljuskin was - twice. In 2005 and 2006 he has been awarded the Fritz-Walter-Medal in gold. Considered a great honour, this prize stirred up hope and expectations to a major breakthrough. But things turned out quite differently.
Mesut Özil played in Madrid this Wednesday; with Real Madrid against Manchester United – in the Champions League.
At the same time Mats Hummels played in Donezk – in the Champions League. He shared the responsibility for Schachtjor’s 1-2, but scored the equalizer.
Sergej Evlijuskin also had a game on Wednesday evening. He played in Darmstadt, with the SV Babelsberg 03 – in the 3rd league. The field was frozen; the final score was 0-0. That is professional football, but not the stage for Number-one players.
Regular player in the Under 16 to Under 19 German national teams
Evljuskin could question himself - he did it in the past, but "just briefly".
He is 25 years old, he is a regular player of his team and he is in good shape – it could be worth. Of course it could have been better, Evljuskin knows that, but he tries to attend to the future. To escape relegation with Babelsberg as soon as possible, that is his goal. Sometime he wants to play in the 2nd devision.
But when was it that he did not manage to join, where all the others of the generation went? Probably he missed the boat during the season 2007/2008. Until then it had gone well for the midfielder. He trained with the VfL Wolfsburg, played for the national teams of the U16 to U19 and he even was captain for some time. But what followed was another year in the second team of Wolfsburg, who had a screwed-up season in the 3rd division that also affected Evljuskin. When they hired the new coach, former Bulgarian international player, Petr Houbtchev, Evljuskin lost his regular place in the team.
"It may be that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time"
He had thoughts about a change of Club, but Lorenz Günther Köstner, the succeeding coach after Houbtchev, convinced him to stay. That is why he played seven years in Wolfsburg; was that the mistake? Evljuskin does not really know. "It may be that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time", he says. "For young players it was difficult to make it to the Bundesliga-team in Wolfsburg at that time." The examples of his teammates of that time, Alexander Esswein and Sebastian Polter, show a similar scenario. Both of them play for the 1.FC Nürnberg now.
In summer 2010 he defected to Hansa Rostock. At that time Özil and Boateng were part of the German national team for the World Cup in South Africa. One year before that, they won the European Under 21 Championships together with Hummels and Höwedes. Evljuskin last played for the team of the U-20. But he can look at the careers of his former teammates with no jealousy, just a little nostalgically. "I watch them from time to time and I am happy for them", he emphasizes.
[bild2]
"It would be nice to experience the flair of the 2nd division"
He has played with the SV Babelsberg for 2 years now. Although he reached to be promoted to the 2nd division with Rostock, he has not been content with his subordinate position in the team.
In Babelsberg it is different. He played 20 out of 24 matches during the season, most of the time as a defensive midfielder. "I get along with team and I feel comfortable here", says Evljuskin.
He is contracted until summer 2014. If he will manage to play one or two leagues higher? Sergej Evljuskin is cautious about that. "In Football you never know, but I want to stay realistic. It would be nice to experience the flair of the 2nd division." The great expectations are from the past.
