The visit of honorary guest Edin Terzic put a smile on the faces of the young footballers of the Nordstadtliga. With a mixture of pride and gratitude, they listened to the short speech by the BVB coach in Dortmund's inner city district, which is considered a multicultural melting pot.
The social project, which is also intended to give those young people access to regular football sport who are unable to join a club, is very popular with Terzic. "I used to live in Nordstadt too. When I see what's growing here now, it makes me proud," commented the 40-year-old.
Appearances like Terzic's during the international break are particularly well received in a district city like Dortmund. In addition to sporting success, local color and closeness to the people pave the way to the hearts of the fans. Unlike his prominent predecessors such as Thomas Tuchel, Lucien Favre or Marco Rose, Terzic seems to be well on the way to stepping out of the long shadow of the former BVB cult coach Jürgen Klopp.
Pointless in Munich since 2014
Before the Bundesliga summit on Saturday (6.30 p.m. / Sky) at Bayern, which has been dominant for years, and which is gaining in explosiveness due to the surprising exchange of coaches in Munich from Julian Nagelmann to Tuchel, the euphoria from past championship times is back. After all, Dortmund are leading the table again for the first time since 2019.
Since Klopp in April 2014, however, no BVB coach has won a point in one of the following eight Bundesliga games at FC Bayern. Terzic wants to change that: "We're on the right track. That makes us very confident. If we not only approach the game with a dose of respect, but also with courage, then we have a great chance."
His team's impressive race to catch up with 28 out of a possible 30 points in the last ten Bundesliga games of the new year improved the already good reputation of the German-Croatian. Terzic described the fact that his team had to go into the long winter break in sixth place after defeats in Wolfsburg (0:2) and Mönchengladbach (2:4) as a key experience: "This feeling of looking at this shitty table for two and a half months has awakened a lot of energy in us ."
Terzic as a figure of identification
He is as well received by his pros as he is by the fans. "He is very approachable, very empathetic. Anyone can talk to him at any time," enthused Alexander Meyer. Above all, the coach's strong identification with Borussia commands respect from the reserve keeper: "I can see in his eyes what the club means to him and hear it in every dressing room speech. That's very authentic."
Hans-Joachim Watzke also appreciates the emotional closeness of the coach, who was born in nearby Sauerland, to the fans, players and the club. "Dortmund is a club that is also sensitive. And our millions of fans want someone to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the club. He does that. And he doesn't do it artificially," said the BVB managing director in the "Welt" . Watzke is in good spirits to have found the right coach for the ambitious Borussia: "We hope that he can shape an era. Such a long tenure as a coach is what everyone longs for. In any case, Edin has a very large leap of faith and a high credit line, that's clear."
Terzic himself makes no secret of his great passion for black and yellow. As a former fan on the south stand, as a former scout and youth coach of the club, BVB has grown dear to him. That's why he thinks he's in the "greatest job in the world". But this deep bond alone does not protect against possible setbacks. When answering the question of how the Dortmund fan Terzic got along with the Dortmund coach Terzic, he began to ponder for a short time. "The fan thinks he's really good," he commented, smiling with his usual quick wit, but quickly became serious again: "But he also knows that the fan always wants to see results."
