Christian Groß is still trying not to think too much about Saturday afternoon. The 35-year-old will retire from playing after the home game against VfL Bochum. “I’ve got mixed feelings, both of sadness and of excitement for the near future,” Groß told media in the Mixed Zone.
Christian Groß has had one very special career. He finally made his Bundesliga debut aged 30, after even he had no longer expected to ever get a chance in the top division. In the twilight of his career at SV Werder, he has experienced a lot of firsts, including both relegation and then promotion a year later. “I’ve met a lot of people here. When I have to say goodbye to them, I’m going to get emotional,” said Groß. “That could also happen when I’m on the pitch with my two children.”
The midfielder wants to make more of a contribution at the weekend than just that though. SVW could climb to as high as eighth with a victory over Bochum. “The fact that we’re still in with a chance of that shows how well we’ve developed,” said Werder’s number 36, who’ll be looking to end his playing career in style on Saturday. “A few different things have to go our way for this to happen, so we’re just concentrating on the winning the game. Then, we’ll look at how the other teams have done.”
Saturday’s game will also mark the end of Groß’s time with Werder - his 83rd Bundesliga appearance is set to be his last before he moves to the scouting department at Bayer Leverkusen, where he will link up with his former VfL Osnabrück team-mate Kim Falkenberg. “It was a personal decision for me to do something different – my discussions with Werder have been good and I’m grateful to the club,” explained Groß. “The football world is a big one and I want to experience something new again.” But before he hangs up his boots, one last dance lies ahead of him.
