Shortly before the end of the transfer, BVB signed Marin Pongracic from VfL Wolfsburg – and the newcomer convinced immediately. He once almost torpedoed himself that the central defender was allowed to prove himself at the highest level.
“Absolute ox”, replies Unterhachings Patrick Hasenhüttl (24) in an interview with SPOX and Goal when asked about his memory of BVB’s newcomer Marin Pongracic, whom he knows from a time together in the U19 of FC Ingolstadt.
According to Hasenhüttl, Pongracic has everything you need to establish yourself in the Bundesliga. “He is physically extremely robust, fast, tall, exudes calm on the ball and can shape the structure of the game,” enthuses the son of Southampton coach Ralph Hasenhüttl: “He also has great technology that is almost reminiscent of a ten. ” With these skills you have to “do a lot wrong in order not to get to the top.”
But at the beginning of his career, Pongracic was about to do just that. Because things didn’t always go smoothly.
Born in Landshut, he grew up in the youth team of FC Bayern Munich. There he was first in the front line as a striker, later retrained to six and finally to central defender.
BVB – Pongracics career beginnings: “Wrong” stop in Munich
However, Pongracic could not really gain a foothold with the German record champions. This was partly due to the consequences of growth problems. The defender, who is now 1.93 meters tall, grew 20 centimeters within two years and suffered numerous minor injuries as a result.
In any case, FC Bayern was not his dream destination, but Pongracic kept it with its city rivals. “I always wanted to play for 1860, I thought the” Sechzger “was cool from an early age,” recalled Pongracic at the beginning of the year in the VfL Wolfsburg magazine Among wolves: “Back then in the U14 I already had the option of joining them or Bayern. I said to my dad: ‘I want to be 60’, but he replied: ‘No, you are going to Bayern’. “
The German-Croatian would later celebrate his professional debut with the Löwen, but initially it went to the Ingolstadt offspring. There he was not only noticed because of his extraordinary skills.
Dortmund’s Pongracic and the tendency to indiscipline
“He’s a bit of a mess. In Ingolstadt he wasn’t always the most disciplined player,” Hasenhüttl looks back: “He was often late, was a bit missed. Marin wasn’t the one who was there an hour before training and himself activated. “
Pongracic also had a penchant for extravagance on the lawn. “Marin took everything apart in the U19 Bundesliga. He knew how good he is. As a result, he fell into playful recklessness every now and then,” explains Hasenhüttl: “He liked to play the striker ten times as the last man and then the one Ball lost. Often there was a tendency towards something special. “
The accumulation of said events ultimately led to Pongracic being sorted out from the FCI in 2016.
“Fortunately, the talent was greater than the indiscipline”
About 1860, where he made seven professional appearances, Pongracic went to Austria for Red Bull Salzburg in 2017. There he celebrated winning the championship under today’s BVB coach Marco Rose and at the side of goal scorer Erling Haaland before moving to Wolfsburg three years later for ten million euros. There it became loud image sanctioned in March due to a violation of the Corona rules. Before his signature in the Autostadt should follow kicker-Information from FC Bayern have also considered a return campaign for their former youth player.
So now the loan to the black and yellow, which Pongracic is reported to be able to sign for almost 13 million euros at the end of the season. In his first appearances against Bayer Leverkusen and in the Champions League at Besiktas Istanbul, Pongracic already indicated his ability, took control of the build-up of the game, especially against the Werkself, and with his opening and clever balls reminded strongly of Dortmund’s defensive boss Mats Hummels.
The fact that the Croatian international (one international match) made it to the highest level despite repeated misconduct is only partly surprising to Hasenhüttl. “For a short time I doubted it when he was sorted out in Ingolstadt. But I was still sure that he would make it all the way to the top,” he says: “Fortunately, the talent was greater than the indiscipline.”
BVB just the beginning for Marin Pongracic?
Meanwhile, Hasenhüttl trusts his former team-mate to assert himself against the Westphalians despite the well-known competition – and sees the stay in Dortmund only as the beginning: “I definitely trust him that he will prevail in Dortmund and that BVB will commit him firmly . If you are a regular at Borussia Dortmund at the age of 24 or 25 and you are performing well, it is not a long way to the Premier League or another top club, for example. “
With his style of play, Pongracic, who according to his own statement is often compared to ex-Bayern star Lucio, basically fits well to England. “If he calls up his performance, I would generally not think of a club in the world where he could not assert himself,” adds Hasenhüttl: “With Marin, I would not set any limits.”
Pongracic could provide further proof of this next Sunday against Union Berlin (5.30 p.m. in LIVETICKER).
