Homegrown stars put Dortmund on map
0 
 |
Newly-crowned German champion Borussia Dortmund is hoping to keep hold of its homegrown stars after its young guns dominated the season under the guidance of coach Jurgen Klopp.
Dortmund's 2-0 win over Nuremberg on Saturday handed Borussia its seventh German league title and puts Klopp's team in the Champions League, having led the Bundesliga since October.
Its eight-point lead means it cannot be caught with two games left.
In the Ruhr valley city, 100,000 fans partied into the early hours of Sunday morning to celebrate their first title since 2002.
But some of the happiest Dortmund fans had been celebrating on the pitch.
Teenage midfielder Mario Goetze, 18, is the son of a professor at Dortmund's technical university while fellow Germany teammate Kevin Grosskreutz, 22, is a Borussia fan who was watching from the terraces just two seasons ago.
"It's an outstanding feeling to achieve this with my club in the city where I was born," said Grosskreutz.
"Two years ago, I was still on the south terrace and went as a fan to the away games. This is amazing."
He certainly allowed the success to go to his head.
Having vowed last October to skip the barbers until Dortmund was German champion, Grosskreutz allowed himself to be shaved bald on the pitch in front of 80,000 fans once his side was confirmed title winner.
In just his third season in charge, the team Klopp assembled suddenly came of age with Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin and rising Germany star Goetze helping produce some eye-catching soccer.
The results have been impressive as previous champion Bayern Munich was beaten both home and away while only Bayer Leverkusen posed a serious threat to Dortmund's domination of the league.
The squad was assembled with an annual budget of 35 million euros ($51.97 million) and many come from the surroundimng Ruhr valley.
"The title is fully deserved and everyone in Germany, Europe and perhaps even the world can see that," said Sahin, who also hails from western Germany.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments