Season 05/06: When Sylvie and Rafael van der Vaart come to Germany, they are happily welcomed in Hamburg as the "Holland-Beckhams". Fans and press celebrate the beaming couple. In Mainz, on the other hand, they worship their coach Jürgen Klopp - and give him a very special nickname.
They had waited a long time for such a couple in the Hanseatic city. Accordingly, they enthusiastically celebrated their two new stars on and off the green pitch in Hamburg. Because the Dutch national player Rafael van der Vaart not only excited the football fans. HSV goalkeeper Stefan Wächter was also audibly impressed: "The little Dutchman? He's quite good, isn't he?!" Unsurprisingly, Hamburg started the season with six wins and two draws. That was the best season start ever for an HSV team in the Bundesliga.
Coach Thomas Doll was also a supporter of van der Vaart. When the Dutchman scored one goal with his right hand and one with his left hand in the 3-0 win in Kaiserslautern and then prepared another one with a dream pass, the HSV coach gave him a warm hug and smacked him enthusiastically on the bottom: "Is that cool, boy!" Within a very short time, 6000 jerseys with van der Vaart's name went over the counter - also a record in Hamburg. Many sizes sold out quickly.
But the new HSV professional Rafael van der Vaart also cut a good figure off the pitch. Glamor came to the Hanseatic city together with his attractive wife Sylvie. The people of Hamburg celebrated their Dutchmen alternately as "Holland's best import hits", the "Holland Beckhams" or the "Young Becks". Colorful stories reported that the football star's wedding to the former MTV presenter, who was five years older than her husband, was watched live on TV by more than 1.4 million Dutch people. The van der Vaarts sold the broadcasting rights exclusively and invited 380 guests to their wedding. A true dream world in which the two lived at that time. There was just one problem: Sylvie wasn't that interested in football at first. Or as her husband Rafael told journalists when his wife wanted to ask questions about his job: "You can ask her a lot of questions - just don't expect answers."
On December 6, 2005, one of those scenes happened in Duisburg that will stay in the memory of all Bundesliga fans forever: The legendary slapstick interlude took place during the MSV game at home against 1. FC Köln. MSV coach Norbert Meier and Cologne's Albert Streit clashed on the sidelines. The two amateur actors ended their heated confrontation with a Hollywood-style interlude. After a mutual headbutt, both of them fell to the ground with their hands in front of their faces. An unforgettable scene to this day!
Money was already being distributed in Dortmund back then. Major shareholder Florian Homm wanted to spend one million euros for the championship and 500,000 euros for reaching the Champions League. Pretty generous. In view of the unbelievable sums burned in Dortmund in previous years, it is doubtful whether such sums actually represented a special incentive for the well-paid BVB professionals.
In Mainz, coach Jürgen “Harry Potter” Klopp (“I prefer Harry Potter than if they had named me Kermit”) slowly but surely developed his status as a talented Bundesliga coach after initial difficulties. However, his methods were not always to the liking of his players - especially not those who had been on the pitch with him, such as goalkeeper Dino Wache: "In the past he was always number one at the Wurstbude after friendlies. Today he prefers this strange food combination."
As soon as Peter Neururer was back on the job, his famous sayings machine was started. In Hanover, the coach, who had been sacked a few months earlier in Bochum, finally wanted to build something in the long term. In order to find the looseness in the club again - after the somewhat strenuous time under Ewald Lienen - he threw a few things overboard. Lapwings were again warmly invited to training, and he accommodated the players when it came to questions of nutrition. The phase of asceticism was over. The trucks were allowed to be maintained again. Beers and greasy food were no longer completely taboo, because Neururer was certain: "I'm not interested in fat values. I'm interested in leather values!"
At Schalke, in the late summer of 2005, everything was still fine for Rudi Assauer. His young junior manager Andreas Müller was now even allowed to say "du" to Rudi, as Assauer himself said: "He already has the journeyman's certificate. Not quite the master craftsman's certificate. But it's enough to say you to me. Andi and me no man in the world can divide." Assauer was still particularly proud of his Arena Auf Schalke; even if Uli Hoeneß meanwhile said in Munich that his stadium would be even nicer. But not with Assauer: "The Allianz Arena is primarily effective on the outside. It has charm, but no roof!"
And his age - he was 61 years young - was no reason for Assauer to worry. When the journalist from "Sport Bild" asked him if he wasn't "depressed" from time to time, Assauer replied: "Depressed? Is that a new type of wine? Or a new coffee? No, hey, hey, hey!" But how, with such an attractive girlfriend? Assauer told a reporter about the rumors that the actress Simone Thomalla was no longer with him: "How? She moved out? Then I must have been in a deep sleep for 14 days. She sometimes goes shopping. But she always came back ..."
