Interview | Maccabi coach Sandu
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“The boys smoke hookah together, but things really happen on the field.”
Maccabi Berlin will be the first Jewish club to play in the DFB Cup on Sunday. Cult coach Wolfgang Sandow also played a crucial role in the success. Talk about his approach to football, childhood on the farm and religion.
Wolfgang Sandow, 69, rode his bike to the Julius Hirsch facility in Maccabi Berlin. He was wearing a tracksuit and a blue cap. Sandhowe is an energetic, original coach. “There was a period when I didn’t have a job for three months,” he says. Then my wife said to me: ‘Please, please go back and do some practice, you need the grass under your feet. “
McCabe has been training for four years. The greatest successes during this time: promotion to the fifth Oberliga and winning the Berlin State Cup, which qualified the team for the first round of the DFB Cup against Wolfsburg (Sunday, 3:30 pm).
rbb | 24: Mr. Sandhowe, you are considered a sore thumb in football, for the past four decades you have been an assistant coach in Turkey at Galatasaray Istanbul and at many clubs across Germany. How would you describe your approach?
Wolfgang Sandow: I’m an honest and crazy trainer, that’s the best description. I am a friend of many cultures. For me, it is very important that the person I work with is okay. That’s what matters.
What do players say about you?
When I cross the white line in training, the players say I become an animal. I am a qualified soccer teacher and sports educator. I want us to skip from the outside. I don’t want someone to dribble impossible, and then the ball goes to the other colour. I have some principles. It takes a certain amount of time for boys to understand. But then they put it into practice, which is why we’ve been so successful. Sometimes it’s the little things that decide football. I’m working on that too.
What influence was important to your later work in football?
I grew up in Münsterland, on a farm. We had no money, it rained everywhere, and in winter we froze inside. But we had an uncle who used to give me a ball every year. We played football with her all day on the farm. Come on live, we imitated Gerd Müller and whatever their name is. This laid the foundation.
You are now in your fourth year with Maccabi. What makes the club special?
It is a multicultural club. And we are a big family. Whatever it is, we stick together. This is what makes this club so successful. There are players who don’t want to leave us anymore. The boys smoke hookahs together, we grill together. But on the field, that’s where things really go. It must be like this. I am relentless.
I mentioned that the club includes many nationalities and religions. How do you deal with that?
We give everyone freedom of belief. One can celebrate Shabbat every Saturday. Everyone can do it as they want. I think this is very important. We never want to upset anyone.
How important is success to you?
I love success Two years ago I said we would go up. Then you all laughed. And we did, and were promoted to the Oberliga. It was the best moment Cup success against Sparta Lichtenberg. And how the president and I bumped into each other. I will never forget that. It still sends chills down my spine to this day when I think about it.
Her son Leon also plays in Maccabi. How’s that for you?
My son is going through a tough time. Sometimes I don’t put it on because it doesn’t train the way I want it to. in Turkiyemspor (Note: 2018/2019) I once had the case where the captain came up to me and asked, “Coach, why don’t you insert Leon? It’s good.” I said, “I’m having a hard time putting my son in there. It should be a better class.” I don’t want to be told I’m only going to put him down because I’m his father. I do not do that.
How do you actually address the team?
With you”. I’m over 50 so you have to say ‘you’ to me. Unless: Anyone who climbs with me and is over 30 can say ‘du’. There are already four guys on the team. I have to be Careful what I say. I guess the next thing I have to say is: “Anyone who becomes a champion with me and wins a trophy and is over 30 years old can only call me on a first name basis.”
Thank you for this interview!
Interviewed by Uri Zahavi, RBB Sport.
Broadcast: rbb, Sunday 08/13/2023, at 10 p.m
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