Forgotten talents: Berlin's football stars who never got up at the top!

Forgotten talents: Berlin's football stars who never got up at the top!

Cottbus, Deutschland - Football is known for its ups and downs, and in Berlin in particular there are many stories of talents that could bring it far but often step in the shade. Hertha BSC is no exception, and in the past few days there are some remarkable news. The club has extended the contract with Mamuzah Lum, the youngest player in Hertha's history. But what happened to other Berliners?

injuries and career fate

Another shining example is Damir Bektic, who was born in 1997. The talented player won the DFB junior cup with Hertha in 2015 and was later awarded the Fritz Walter medal in silver. Despite a promising start, he only came up with a few missions and in 2022, after drastic injuries, gave up his career to take on a coaching position.

Leander Siemann, another talent that saw the light of day in 1995, switched to Arsenal London early. Unfortunately, the leap went into the first team, and after a short stay at FC Porto and several other stations, he is currently without a club. The situation was similar to Anthony Syhre, who has had many ascents and departures and has also been without a club since his latest transfer to SV Horn in the Austrian 2nd League.

But the list forgotten talents does not end here. Gedion Zelalem, whose career began in 1998, made a name for himself as a player at Arsenal, but is now a regular at New Mexico United.

another way: From football star to the lawyer

Not only the football career of the talent influences the course of their life story. Lennart Hartmann is a prime example. The 33-year-old was the youngest player in the history of Hertha BSC in 2008. Unfortunately, he still plagues injuries that only let him come to seven missions until 2011. After the football career, he turned to studying law and has been working on Sat.1 as a TV lawyer at "Lenßen helps" since December 2022. He perceives his new role as a "dream job" and he also built up a small football school.

The approx. 700,000 injured professionals of the past few years doctip.de show how serious injuries are in sports. For many, not only the career ends, but also the fulfillment at work.

The question remains what has become of the many talents that were once under the spotlight. Her stories not only offer an insight into the life of an athlete, but also into the challenges that many athletes encounter when the career plans are thwarted by injuries or other circumstances.