Exclusive | Marcel Schuhen is living his “dream” but there’s work to do at SV Darmstadt 98 | OneFootball

Marcel Schuhen isn’t known by many outside of Darmstadt, let alone Bundesliga but the 31-year-old goalkeeper may soon become a household name in Germany if he gets the plaudits his form deserves.

Schuhen started his career with FC Köln and graduated into the first-team squad in 2012. However, Schuhen was third-choice in goal and moved to the third division with Hansa Rostock for first-team football.

After three successful seasons as the number-one goalkeeper on the north coast, Schuhen made the jump to SV Sandhausen in the 2. Bundesliga.

Schuhen didn’t miss a game in the 2017/18 season and grabbed the spotlight to warrant a move to SV Darmstadt 98 where he conceded just 33 goals, the fewest in the league, to lift his side into the Bundesliga for only the second time since 1981.

In an exclusive interview, he opens up about living his dream, recent form, and Darmstadt’s unlikely chances of survival.

“Every player has to play his best every week”

In the defeat to Union Berlin on Sunday evening, Schuhen was in the form of his life.

Union had 19 attempts on goal over the 90 minutes but managed to beat Schuhen just once. Time and time again, Schuhen single-handedly thwarted the host’s attack.

Two one-on-one stops from Benedict Hollerbach and then Kevin Behrens in the second half were stand-out moments in a faultless performance between the sticks.

Speaking after the game, Schuhen was humble but realistic about the overall performance:

“The thing is, every player has to do his job, every week. Even in situations when it’s getting tough and you’re losing a couple of games.

“It’s hard, everyone has to go on this journey, every player has to play his best game every week if we are to get over this, to win games in Bundesliga and that’s what I’m working for.

“We need to keep going, today and last week, when you make a good game, it is a close game like 1-0 you can always get a goal or two goals and that’s the job of a goalkeeper, to keep it tight.

“We knew we had to be proactive, we had to work hard against Union.

“This was a situation where there were many chances for them, of course, you felt that a little bit but you have to be brave.

“Of course, we didn’t have many chances, that’s clearly dangerous, a problem [for us] but money talks. They were better. Today Union had a home advantage.

“It was really surprising to us that they were so compact. They counter but stand at the back with their five-man chain. They were good today, hard to break and that was no surprise for us.

“Football is, sometimes, tough. Today it was just too tough, it was too big a game for us today.

“They had a few counter-attacks, we couldn’t press too high as they’re very good in those situations with long balls so we have to stay calmer in those situations.

“At the end of the game, we were trying more, more pressure with good ideas from the coach but there was not a real chance today. There were 50/50 situations that they won.

“Especially at home over the years, Union Berlin are so so (good). We have to learn that at home and do our best next week.

“But otherwise, there was relatively little between us and we have to keep going when it’s tough.

“We’ll now look at something else that we can do differently against a low-lying opponent. We did very well against Frankfurt, who were a low-lying opponent, but at our stadium we can [have a chance].”

“We believe”: Chances of survival

Since promotion to the Bundesliga, Darmstadt have managed just two wins, against Bremen and Augsburg within seven days in October.

The winless run has seen them languishing at the bottom of the league with 11 points.

However, Schuhen has been a rare shining light and believes that there is still a long way to go with many more opportunities for survival.

“We still have 15 games left in front of us, and many people forget that. Crazy things always happen in football even against very, very good teams when a team has some luck and wants to be a team, to work together. I have a good feeling in the way we play, yes it’s like that. We believe.

“Last week after the Frankfurt game, we gave people a big compliment, a big boost in our stadium and we need help against Leverkusen [next week] to show our supporters what we can do, to prove ourselves and give everything.

“Whatever happens, we will show them that we belong.

“Yes, they’re [Leverkusen] good at the moment but it’s still a football game.

“How brave you are, how active you are, makes the difference [in the Bundesliga].”

“A dream come true”

It has been a long journey to the Bundesliga for Schuhen.

At 31 years old, it is his first season in the German top flight and whilst Darmstadt have conceded a league-high 47 goals so far, his displays have been, at times, miraculous.

A rare clean-sheet against Mainz 05 has been a personal highlight in a challenging season but Schuhen has been his side’s stand-out performer against Köln, Augsburg, Bremen, Stuttgart and Gladbach. His performance against Union kept his side in the game and Schuhen admits that he is living his dream.

“First of all, it’s a dream come true. Even after this tough situation that we are going through. For sure I’m a sportsman that wants to win, that wants to get results and at the moment that’s tough but we are doing a great job and that’s what we always have to think about.

“We keep on going. We have 15 games to go and it’s not over. That’s the focus.

“We have a tough game next against Leverkusen but we keep on going and we want to make it a good game at home. We want people to be proud.”

Schuhen had a smile painted on his face for the duration of the interview and is evidently enjoying his season in the Bundesliga.

He assures me that whatever happens, that smile will keep shining. After all, “it’s a dream come true” but perhaps Schuhen should start dreaming bigger.

Whilst Darmstadt’s stay may be short-lived, Schuhen has shown that he belongs at the highest level of professional football.

GGFN | Oscar O’Mara