“From the classroom to here”: young duo delight HSV | OneFootball

In the future, HSV deliberately want to rely even more heavily on their own youth players. The outlook is promising, with several homegrown talents pushing for places in the team.

That includes Otto Stange and Shafiq Nandja. Stange in particular has long been seen as the face of a new HSV generation. The striker has already been involved with the senior squad for a year and a half and enjoys extremely high standing among the fans at the Volksparkstadion.

Nandja, on the other hand, only made his debut toward the end of last season. He came on as a substitute against SC Freiburg (3:2) and Bayer Leverkusen (1:1). In the current pre-season, however, the centre-back has been one of the pleasant surprises and is making a strong case for more appearances. At just 19, Nandja is already very advanced physically and also impresses with remarkable composure in build-up play.

Photo: IMAGO

Stange and Nandja name their HSV mentors

It is no coincidence that Stange and Nandja are now taking the path toward becoming established first-team players together. Their paths had crossed repeatedly even in their youth days. “From the U15s onward, we then played together at HSV,” Stange recalls in an interview with the Hamburger Abendblatt. The biggest moment so far came in May, when both were on the pitch together in the Bundesliga for the first time. Nandja describes the moment emotionally: “After the Freiburg game, I went over to Otto and said: We did it, from the school class to here.”

Sportingly, both are now pursuing the same goal: to collect as many minutes as possible at the very highest level. The youngsters are on the right track. In the most recent friendly against OSC Lille (2:2), they were both given plenty of playing time again. Stange even scored the temporary 2:1 from the penalty spot.

The talents are receiving support from experienced professionals. While Stange benefits from conversations with his fellow strikers Patson Daka and Yussuf Poulsen, Nandja regularly gets tips from Jordan Torunarigha. “He was also a young centre-back when he broke through at Hertha. We talk a lot about the basics. He can give me a lot of tips,” the teenager explains. As things stand, most of that advice seems to be paying off.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.