He is the only world champion in the 2nd division. And that’s exactly how Ron-Robert Zieler (32) has held up in the past few weeks. There was zero three times, in 2022 the 96 star has not yet scored a goal. The world champion talks about the new feeling, his serious injury and the professional pension.

Aim over…

► zero series. “It’s a nice snapshot, feels a bit like spring, but when you look outside… It’s also good for me personally, especially after the long injury break.”

► Injury. “Now it hit me too, it was my first serious injury. That was totally unexpected. After that, it was a special time to suddenly be on the outside. It wasn’t easy to watch the games from the stands, I was already very emotional there – and I couldn’t sit still. At the end against HSV I had to get up and go in from time to time.”

► rehab “It was completely new to me. Now I know what it means to work towards a comeback on your own. It’s not always easy, but we managed it well.”

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► Coach change. “I’ve known Dabro for a long time, he was an assistant coach here at 96 seven years ago. I see him as a very good coach. He was a professional himself for a long time, played an incredible number of games – and knows a dressing room inside out. That’s good for him, he has a very good connection to the team and gives us the right content.”

► relegation battle. “None of us can be satisfied when he looks at the table. That’s not where we all see each other. But we shouldn’t forget where we come from either. We had a brutally difficult first half of the season but if you look at the last few games we’ve got four wins out of six games. You can then be satisfied with the development.”

► Old love. “Everyone knows what Hannover and 96 mean to me. I really like being here, I’ve had a lot of great moments. It was therefore also a corresponding concern of mine to come back and confirm my performance. I’m very happy with how things went now.”

► Rise. “I try to be realistic and factual. Of course, there is still hope of experiencing the Bundesliga again at 96 at some point. But that’s not our topic at all at the moment, we have to remain humble. Even if I have the feeling that we are taking the right steps and that things are going in the right direction. We must continue to work with this conviction.”

► Cup Draw. “I don’t have a favorite opponent for the quarter-finals. In the end it always turns out differently. I just wish for a home game and for fans to be allowed to play. Because such evenings are always special. For me it is also the first cup quarter-final of my career.”

► Berlin final. “The fans can dream. A cup evening like that against Gladbach has become far too rare. that’s why we enjoyed it so much. But we know that there is still a long way to go. Nevertheless, it would of course be a dream for each of us to experience a cup final in Berlin.”

► career end. “Of course I know that a career is finite and doesn’t go on forever. The good thing is that I can play as a goalkeeper for a few more years. I also have the feeling that my body will keep up for a few more years. But I have to do a lot for it. I want to play four or five more years – and hopefully for a very, very long time for 96.”