Hamburg legend Hrubesch: Club fame means nothing, team must deliver
Horst Hrubesch, then coach of the women's German football team, gesticulates during the UEFA European Championship qualifying soccer match between Germany and Poland at Ostseestadion. SV Hamburg legend Horst Hrubesch has warned of too much euphoria at the club after their return into the Bundesliga. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
SV Hamburg legend Horst Hrubesch has warned of too much euphoria at the club after their return into the Bundesliga.
Former Bundesliga and European champions Hamburg were relegated for the first time from the top flight and it took them seven years to clinch promotion last month.
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There were big celebrations in the city and at the club, but former West Germany and Hamburg striker said the club and the players must now prove their worth.
"We all know the talk: That we belong in the top flight. That we have a brand that is recognised worldwide. That HSV has an importance that can't really be measured,' Hrubesch told Kicker sports magazine.
"But one thing is clear: once you've been away for five, six, seven years and then have to start again, you have to reorganise, reassess, redo, do something new."
Hrubesch, 74, won the European Cup in 1983 and three Bundesliga titles with Hamburg and Euro 1980 with the national team. He returned to Hamburg in 2020 as head of their academy.
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Hrubesch said that it was now essential to form a competitive squad in summer to stay up.
"We have to go through the entire squad and make sure that we fill every position adequately. And I believe that's what those responsible will do," he said.
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