Rachid Azzouzi knew it would be difficult. When he was still managing director of a second division club, he liked to draw a picture in discussions to illustrate the sporting challenge for his game association. Azzouzi spoke of the little Fürth Beetle, which had to take on Ferraris again and again. In the past football season, this small, not quite as fast car sped away but all the sports cars from Hamburg, Hanover and Düsseldorf.
When the Beetle rolled over the finish line in second place at the end of May 2021, it was no less than a miracle for many observers. Azzouzi and his colleagues had to save again because of the effects of a global pandemic. They had announced a loss of almost four million euros for the 2020 financial year, so many in tranquil Fürth with its down-to-earth financial policy were very worried.
So it was said: reduce the budget. For some experts, the shamrock was therefore considered a candidate for relegation just under a year and a half ago. But then the little old-timer set off on a journey, driven by hard-working mechanics, drivers and team bosses. On this one they overtook all the faster cars – and suddenly arrived in the Bundesliga six months ago.
Beetle souped up against Formula 1 cars
An artist from Fürth captured the picture of Azzouzi in the small car with a brush and paint, the work hangs in the manager’s office. For the adventure in one of the best football leagues in the world, Azzouzi has of course taken a little money into hand, also because of the many departures, the Beetle was pimped up with a budget of just under 18 million euros. But on the new route, figuratively speaking, he regularly encountered Formula 1 cars with hundreds of horsepower.
The difference between a restored Beetle and the luxury cars from Munich, Dortmund or Leverkusen was too great. Even the middle-class teams were faster. So two defeats in a row turned into four, then eight, at some point football Germany only talked about which negative records the people of Fürth would still set. The sad highlight of the first half of the season was the 7-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen in December. They had lost twelve times in a row, nobody had been that bad in the long history of the Bundesliga, not even the big rival from Nuremberg between 1984 and 1985.
Sports director Rachid Azzouzi
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Image: dpa
But on December 4th something happened. After the final whistle, the team and the coaching team sat together in the dressing room for more than an hour, saying they had to “lick emotional wounds”, said coach Stefan Leitl later. The many setbacks this season, the five corona cases before the game in Freiburg, the fact that all the central defenders in the squad were injured at the same time, the 44-year-old had accepted all of this with admirable calm. But now Stefan Leitl also looked scratched.
But just a few minutes later he had recovered. In 2021 they would have “two more home games to create something historic for our club,” said Leitl confidently. “We want to celebrate the first Bundesliga home win.” Eight days later, on a cold Sunday evening, employees and supervisors could actually be seen celebrating while the players sank to the ground without any power. With the 1-0 win against Union Berlin, they achieved this small but historic success in their 24th attempt. With unusually defensive football for a team that had shone in the second division with the “Fürth Flachpass”. With the virtues of a climber. Run. Scratch. Bite.
Trainer Stefan Leitl
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Image: dpa
At the end of the year they fought for another, the fifth point, against Augsburg. This Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and Sky) the Beetle’s adventurous drive against the somewhat battered sports car from Stuttgart continues. Only: where? With what aim? “We want to do everything we can to ensure that we play a very good second half of the season,” said Azzouzi. “We owe that to ourselves, but also to everyone out there.” He does not want to talk about staying in class, “We are neither fantasists nor dreamers, but we live our dream,” emphasizes the managing director. “We have high standards and are not satisfied. We’re definitely not giving away the season because we’ve worked far too hard for that. “
If she were to return to the second division on this journey in a few months, things would be different. The beetle would then still be a beetle, but an intact one. With a full tank and ready for heated duels on a hotly contested racetrack, where he could compete with many other small cars and a few scratched limousines. But Rachid Azzouzi doesn’t want to think that far.
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