Pure HSV passion: how hard Polzin used to graft for tickets | OneFootball

Much has been reported about Merlin Polzin's deep connection with HSV. Now, the coach has revealed another exciting detail.

Merlin Polzin has done it: He is the coach who has led Hamburger SV back to the Bundesliga after a seven-year drought! His career often seems like a modern football fairy tale. Because before the 34-year-old stood on the sidelines as head coach at Volksparkstadion, he was a fervent supporter of the club, especially in his youth.

"The time I spent going to the stadiums with my friends on weekends was somewhat of a guide for me as a teenager," Polzin reports in an exclusive interview with Sport Bild. As a teenager, he regularly stood on the north stand and even traveled to many away games. But the money for the tickets didn't just fall from the sky: Instead, he looked for ways to finance his fan passion early on.

"I received pocket money from my parents, was also active as a youth coach and distributed match announcement posters for my home club Bramfelder SV in supermarkets, at the shoemaker's or vegetable shop. I always rode my bike there on Mondays and hung them up. This earned me additional money," he recalls.

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Polzin's motto: "We want to stand for honest and hard work"

Diligence and pragmatism have been a constant throughout his career. Even then, Polzin learned that tireless commitment is the basis for special moments. He now also applies this motto to HSV: "We want to stand for honest and hard work, with the city of Hamburg behind us."

Once, Polzin even got to experience the Bundesliga atmosphere as a mascot. At just nine years old, he walked onto the field hand in hand with a player from SpVgg Unterhaching. "When you walk onto the pitch and see yourself on the big screen, it was incredible. It sparked an incredible enthusiasm in me," raves the Hamburg native.

Today, he stands there as HSV's coach and lives the dream for which he once hung up posters. The provisional climax of this fairy tale could be reached with a derby victory against FC St. Pauli (Friday, 8.30 p.m.).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.