Fortuna is omnipresent in Düsseldorf. In the old town there is now even a cast-iron manhole cover with a delicately incorporated club coat of arms: a serious present for the 150th anniversary of the city’s drainage system – and hopefully a taboo for energetic souvenir hunters.
Of course, a manhole cover as a symbol does not adequately reflect the current mood in the football city. Fortuna is by no means afraid of falling into a hole, on the contrary, it dreams of climbing to football heaven. There are chances of reaching the cup final and returning to the Bundesliga.
This Wednesday (8:45 p.m., ZDF) the second division team will be playing in the cup semi-finals against Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who have been undefeated in 39 competitive games. Fortuna was unlucky in the draw. This means that the probability of reaching the cup final again for the first time in 44 years (1980 cup win against 1. FC Köln) is manageable. Things look better in the second division, where Düsseldorf is in third place seven game days before the end of the season.
Fortuna’s soaring has a lot to do with a player for whom everything in Düsseldorf is still new and who last summer had no idea about Fortuna and Altbier or “Flönz met Ölk un Mostert” (blood sausage with onions and mustard). The 22-year-old Greek Christos Tzolis is on loan from English second division club Norwich City for a season and is currently shaking up the second division in Germany.
By advancing to the semi-finals, Fortuna earned 6.5 million euros
According to reports, it would cost Fortuna five million euros if they wanted to sign the Hellenic winger permanently via an option in the summer. However, that seems almost impossible for the cash-strapped club, even though they have already earned more than 6.5 million euros by advancing to the DFB Cup. Fortuna received bonuses of this total amount for their four away wins against the fourth division club Illertissen, the third division club Unterhaching and the two second division clubs Magdeburg and St. Pauli.
Fortuna’s sports director Klaus Allofs is curbing hopes that Tzolis can be signed permanently: “Given the current financial situation, such a transfer is definitely not possible for Fortuna; the Bundesliga would be of particular interest to Christos Tzolis in terms of sport anyway. But even if it were Although it seems almost impossible, we naturally see it as our duty to explore all possible creative avenues in order to perhaps find a solution.”
Fans are already taking creative paths. They started a campaign on an online donation platform to collect money for a commitment from Tzolis. “Donation goal: 5,000,000 euros,” it says. By Tuesday, only just under 23,000 euros had been raised. If the donation goal is not reached, the sum should be donated to a good cause.
Union Berlin and Werder Bremen are said to be interested in Tzolis
There are now said to be more wealthy interested parties for Tzolis; the name Union Berlin has already been mentioned, as has Werder Bremen. With his 17 goals and six assists in 24 league games, the young man from Thessaloniki has come highly recommended everywhere.
That wasn’t necessarily to be expected when he was loaned out from Norwich last August, after the club had already loaned him out to Dutch first division side Twente Enschede the previous season. For the first time in his young career, Tzolis is now posting such inspiring statistics. That has to do with the emotional and tactical empathy of Fortuna coach Daniel Thioune as well as the mood in the team. Tzolis said on Fortuna TV: “I have never experienced such team spirit in any other team. I really like my teammates, we do a lot together, and that’s important when you’re new to playing for a club in another country.”
Tzolis had a sobering experience last week with, of all people, the national team of his home country. Greece lost the decisive playoff game for the European Championship on penalties in Georgia and thus missed the European Championship. Tzolis wasn’t allowed to play for a single minute, although he would have been able to score the golden goal in a goalless 120 minutes.
Greetings to the city drainage system: the Fortuna manhole cover in Düsseldorf.
(Photo: Fortuna Düsseldorf/oh)
In his role as Fortuna coach, Thioune didn’t think it was so bad that Tzolis was spared to a certain extent. The Greek already contributed two goals to Düsseldorf’s 3-1 win on Saturday in Kaiserslautern. He has eight goals and three assists in the last six league games, resulting in four wins and two draws for Fortuna. “Christos is a wonderful footballer,” says Thioune, “he’s fun.”
The Greek, who is strong at dribbling and can out-dance opponents in tight spaces (manhole covers!), would have played a significant role in Düsseldorf’s ascension. However, Thioune explains, “other parties will decide what happens to him in the summer.” Perhaps a cup sensation could improve Fortuna’s position. This would be a miracle in every respect, but it is well known that the heroes of Greek legends have a special connection.