It was persistence that convinced Deniz Undav. These people from Brussels talked to his advisor for more than a year and just wouldn't give up. Never before had a club fought so hard for him. So the professional footballer from the Bremen area, of which hardly anyone below the Weser had noticed until now, signed a three-year contract with the club for the summer of 2020, which in turn hardly anyone in Belgium had noticed. The 25-year-old striker could pat himself on the back every day: With him at the center of things at the Royale Union St. Gilloise, as the club is called, something like a miracle against all odds has now happened. Instead, however, Undav prefers a more humble exercise. "Sometimes I have to pinch myself," he said in an interview the other day.
Havelse, then with the second team from Eintracht Braunschweig and finally with the third division club SV Meppen: Little indicated that the career of the agile, 1.78 meter tall offensive player would pick up as much speed once. The 24 goals that he delivered over two seasons in Meppen were a respectable proof of work - it was not enough to be an insider tip for the top clubs.
In his first season in Brussels, Undav made a significant contribution to the fact that the almost 125-year-old traditional club (eleven championship titles until 1935) was able to return to the Belgian elite league after 48 years with 19 goals. In the meantime, both Union and Undav have suddenly reached the top. The promoted team, made up of many, often underclass, players: table leaders with seven points advantage. And Undav: With 16 goals, the most successful goalscorer in the Jupiler League.
So it's no wonder that in the charmingly aged Stade Joseph Marien, a listed arena for 9,000 witnesses, after just 21 match days one dreams of international competitions - if not of the twelfth championship. Here you can of course enjoy being the best club in Brussels for the moment. A title that the dearly rejected RSC Anderlecht (currently third place) has managed like its property over the past few decades. In the cabin, on the other hand, such fantasies are taboo. Immediately after the end of the winter break in two weeks, the Blue-Yellows will face some of the best teams between Bruges and Genk one after the other. Then it has to be shown whether good synergies and an extreme willingness to run and fight against teams with a higher quality in the squad are sufficient.
The ability to put one's own ego aside and run more than the opponent counts even more at Union when in doubt than anywhere else. According to this, the Northern Irish sports director Chris O'Loughlin has been selecting new acquisitions for years - based on an extensive database that also records mental qualities. And then the experienced coach Felice Mazzu selects the starting XI week after week. They both know that English club owners Alex Muzio and Tony Bloom, who also owns Brighton & Hove Albion, are firmly behind them. They also dig deeper into their pockets to lure accomplished players like English central defender Christian Burgess (most recently Portsmouth) to Lier - that is the small town southwest of Antwerp, where the team trains in Brussels due to a lack of suitable places.
"I don't think we have ever been beaten in the running statistics this season," said Burgess recently, enthusiastically about the spirit of the mixed team in relation to the "Independent".
It starts at the very beginning, where Undav, together with Dante Vanzeir, who was recruited from Genk, makes an extremely hard-working, well-rehearsed double top in the 3-5-2 formation: "Two have looked for and found each other." The fun that is currently being created , one hears quickly, and the German-Turkish migrant worker doesn't want to think any further: “It's all nice at the moment, but it can happen so quickly in football.” And in the other direction too.