Word has gotten around among some students in a Freiburg suburb that Nico Schlotterbeck lives on their way to school.

The SC Freiburg football professional said in an interview that children keep coming by and ring his bell: "I'll open up and give them an autograph." After the 3-2 win on Saturday against VfL Wolfsburg, that's it It's quite possible that even more children and young people will ring the doorbell at Schlotterbeck in the future.

It was the 22-year-old who scored the late and highly emotional winning goal.

With the twelfth win of the season, the Freiburg team kept the chance to get involved in the next round in the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.

It was a gorgeous goal scored by the defender in the 87th minute.

With a drop kick after Nils Petersen's chest, he hit the ball precisely and powerfully with his strong left foot, "although I wasn't in a good position," as he noted.

Schlotterbeck celebrated the goal in his own idiosyncratic way. He offered the spectators in the Freiburg stadium the biceps muscles of his upper arms with his sleeves rolled up especially for this purpose. "I've never experienced such an emotional explosion very often," Schlotterbeck stammered afterwards.

When he said the word emotional explosion, he got muddled.

This is unusual for the self-confident footballer, who is usually not at a loss for a spell.

But these are not easy weeks for the Swabian native either.

His name is often mentioned in the industry, it's always about his future.

Large clubs from Germany and abroad are said to be courting the highly gifted.

On the one hand, this attention makes him happy, he admits.

On the other hand, it also burdens him because the headlines accompany him everywhere, including in his private life.

Already Schlotterbeck's fourth goal

Schlotterbeck still manages to be completely with himself and his football on the pitch.

He is a modern left-back, technically skilled, fast and robust in duels, who also likes to get involved in the build-up of the game.

National coach Hansi Flick, who has nominated Schlotterbeck a few times, also likes this courageous interpretation of his role.

However, the 2021 U21 European champion has not yet played in the senior national team.

But that's only a matter of time, he thinks.

"I know that I can play football well and how good I can still get," he said recently.

Not just preventing goals, but scoring them yourself is part of his self-image.

It should be three to six goals per season, he boldly announced before this round after returning to Freiburg after a year at Union Berlin.

The winning goal against Wolfsburg was his fourth goal.

So it works.

His coach Christian Streich also sees it that way, who remarked with a wink after the end of the game: "The ball was placed so well that he only had to swing his leg through.

With its quality, you can expect that to a certain extent.”

However, this was preceded by moments that are rarely seen in Schlotterbeck's game.

Before Maximilian Arnold conceded to make it 2-2 (84th), he looked pretty unhappy, his attempt at clearance seemed almost involuntarily funny, first Schlotterbeck hit the ball with his shin before he played it directly into Arnold's feet in the second attempt.

"I poked around and couldn't get the ball out," he described the scene self-critically.

Nico Schlotterbeck's path to becoming a highly regarded professional footballer was never free of breaks.

Already at the age of 15 he experienced a low point that some young footballers would not have processed.

The Stuttgarter Kickers had sorted him out.

It was said at the time that he was not good enough for the U16s.

"A slap in the face," that was, he admits today.

Schlotterbeck even thought of quitting.

He questioned everything and began to change his diet.

It took a while for him to find a new club.

He finally joined the VfR Aalen.

He landed in Freiburg four years ago via Karlsruher SC.

He could imagine staying in Breisgau beyond the summer, says Schlotterbeck.

"I have a coach at SC who gives me a lot of confidence." But he only wants to think about which club he will play for after the season is over.

Another reason is that he doesn't want to continue playing in a team with his two-year-old brother Keven.

They don't want to be competitors for each other.