„Go vote! So that we can collect votes against this unspeakable, xenophobic and anti-guest policy from some parties.“ A public appeal for democracy. But not spoken by a democratic politician, as one might assume. No. Instead, this quote comes from a football coach. Someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and stands up for his values away from the football field and also expresses them publicly. Christian Streich. The head coach of SC Freiburg.
The 58-year-old undoubtedly has outstanding qualities as a coach. In addition, his honest and open nature has given him a special standing, especially at press conferences. „We don’t have to make ourselves even sexier than we are, but we’re not completely unsexy. Well, I’m relatively unsexy now, I admit that. But the club and the structure are also a bit sexy,“ is one of many statements that will remain in mind even after Streich’s term in office. Because his era as head coach of SC Freiburg ends this summer.
The native of South Baden has been the coach of the first Freiburg team for over twelve years. But the love story between Streich and the SCF goes back much further: in the 1987/88 season he was active as a midfielder for the Breisgauer team in the 2nd Bundesliga. Streich returned to his old place of work in 1995, when he began coaching the A-youth team for Freiburg. The 58-year-old held this position until 2011, won the DFB Cup three times with the youth team and won the German A youth championship in 2008. Later national players such as Dennis Aogo and Oliver Baumann were part of his teams.
After he was also assistant coach for the first team, he took over the position of head coach at the beginning of 2012. Remarkable: Despite relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga, SCF stuck with its coach in 2015, who then managed to immediately achieve promotion. Promotion. Relegation. Fight to stay in the league. Battle for European business. Europe League. DFB Cup final. Christian Streich has experienced almost everything with his Freiburgers. Next Sunday he will be in charge of his 484th competitive game as coach for the SCF at the Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor. There will be another five games until the end of the season before he hands over the position of head coach to a younger one.
Julian Schuster. He will follow Christian Streich on the sidelines from summer 2024. The former midfielder played 219 competitive games for the sports club. The 38-year-old Schuster was, among other things, a player in the Bundesliga promotion in 2016, and ended his career two years later. Can he now shape a similar era on the sidelines at SC Freiburg…?