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"Extremely emotional": Robert Glatzel looks back ahead of his 100th game for HSV

HSV striker Robert Glatzel is set to make his 100th competitive appearance for the club this weekend. In an interview with HSV.de, our number 9 spoke about some of his favourite moments leading up to this milestone.

Last weekend's 2-0 win at Schalke marked HSV head coach Tim Walter's 100th match in charge of the club. This weekend, one of his players prepares to also mark a century of his own. The home game against Karlsruher SC is set to be Robert Glatzel's 100th match for the Rothosen. The striker who, like Walter, arrived in Hamburg in summer 2021, has therefore only missed one match over the last two and a half years! He was left out of HSV's squad for their DFB-Pokal match away at RB Leipzig in October 2022 due to back problems. With the exception of that one game, Glatzel is an ever-present figure in HSV's team and has paid back the faith shown in him with consistent performances. He's scored 59 goals and provided 18 assists for the Rothosen to date, meaning he has been involved in 77 goals in 99 appearances – an incredible return!

The striker has also featured in 86 straight Bundesliga 2 games, overtaking Rostock goalkeeper Markus Kolke as the holder of the record for most consecutive appearances in the division. How does our number 9 manage to avoid any enforced breaks through injury or illness? "There's many reasons for that," said Glatzel, "The main ones being hard work and a professional attitude, as this is a 24/7 job. Luck also plays a part, for example, in avoiding any serious injuries after being subjected to hard tackles." There you have it: hard work and a bit of luck – the secret to Glatzel's success. Ahead of his 100th appearance for the Rothosen on Sunday, HSV.de spoke to Robert Glatzel about…

... his most emotional win: My first game with HSV at Schalke was something special. The home game against Schalke this season where I scored a last-minute winner in injury time was also extremely emotional. To this day, I still don't know what caused me to celebrate by taking my shirt off – I've never done that before. The moment just took hold of me, as we celebrated with the ball boys and the fans in the Nordtribüne. None of it was planned; it just happened. The cup game against KSC was also crazy, as we came back from 2-0 down at home and I managed to make it 2-2 in injury time after an assist from Baka, and we then went on to win on penalties. There have been several special wins for sure.

... his best goal: The goal I'd choose wasn't even that nice, it wasn't a bicycle kick or anything like that. It was the goal to make it 4-2 last season in our final game before the Christmas break at the Volkspark against Sandhausen. I got on the end of a wonderful pass from László Bénes and went on a solo run from the halfway line towards goal – I had the entire Nordtribüne in front of me as well. That was a very special moment. I then rounded the goalkeeper, slotted the ball into the back of the net and finished the chance. Also the winning goal against Schalke at the start of this season – that wasn't just an emotional goal, but also a nice one.

... his toughest defeat: Our 2-0 loss against Hertha BSC in the second leg of the relegation play-off. We were so close to returning to the Bundesliga, having put in a strong performance in a 1-0 win in Berlin and were convinced that we'd seal the deal at home. We were at home in the Volksparkstadion, in front of our fans and had set ourselves up well – everything was in place. We then conceded early on and threw away everything that we had worked so hard for. It took several days to process it. Matchday 34 in Sandhausen was even worse. We won that day but it still felt like we'd lost.

...the most emotional moment: It sounds silly, but I think the whole journey has been really emotional. There have been wins, losses, highs and lows – all of those things are very moving when you’re at a club like HSV. That being said, there is one moment that comes to mind - when we got the news in Sandhausen that we’d got promoted. We were celebrating with the fans, everyone was hugging each other. Then, we went into the dressing room and found out that they were still playing in the other game. The whole team huddled around a radio in the dressing room and listened along as our dream was ripped away from us. It was a really emotional moment, with the silence and the feeling of emptiness.

...the most important win: I hope that my most important win is still in the works, since we’ve not managed to get that one, elusive win to seal promotion back to the Bundesliga and achieve our biggest goal yet. It could well have been the win in Sandhausen, if it hadn’t ended so tragically. The victory over Rostock at the end of the 2021/22 season was also really significant, as it marked our fifth win in a row and meant that we finished in third and had the opportunity to play in the relegation play-off. Like I said, though, we’ve not achieved our goal just yet and we’ve not won our most important game. We’re still working on it.