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From amateur to professional: These footballers made their breakthrough!
Discover how stars like Miroslav Klose and Jamie Vardy made the leap from amateur football to the professionals.
From amateur to professional: These footballers made their breakthrough!
A dream comes true! For many young footballers, the big goal is to make the jump to the youth team of a professional club. But not everyone can do it directly. Some stars have fought their way through the amateur classes to finally shine in professional football. These extraordinary stories show how talent and perseverance can lead to success.
One example is Jonas Hector, who played in the green jersey of the upper division club SV Auersmacher in 2010. At the age of 20, he moved to 1. FC Köln and quickly became a Cologne legend. Florian Niederlechner also had a rocky road: After being eliminated from TSV 1860 Munich, he fought his way through the Landesliga and Bayernliga to the 3rd division, where he finally made it to the Bundesliga. Julian Gressel, on the other hand, found his way to the USA, where he started at Atlanta United at the age of 23 and played alongside Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in 2024.
From the regional league to the world championship
The story of Miroslav Klose is equally impressive. He only made his professional debut with Kaiserslautern at the age of 21, after previously playing in the regional league for Homburg. His greatest success? Winning the 2014 World Cup! Robin Gosens, who never attended a professional club's youth academy, only moved to Vitesse Arnheim's youth team shortly before his 18th birthday and celebrated sensational successes with FC Dordrecht. Fabian Klos, who stayed with his youth club SV Meinersen until he was 19, fought his way through the Oberliga to VfL Wolfsburg and ended his career as an Arminia legend in 2024.
And not to forget: Jamie Vardy, who at the age of 23 was still playing in England's seventh division before moving to Leicester City via Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town and winning the championship there. These stories are proof that the path to becoming a professional is often unconventional and full of challenges, but with talent and determination anything is possible!