If you search the idiom “Captain Fantastic” on the internet, I anticipate an image of Marco Reus popping up!
Marco has been a warrior on the pitch. A man with a discrete personality. In spite of having several offers from the big guns of European football, he has chosen to stay loyal to his one true love, Borussia Dortmund.
Today, Reus completed three decades of his rejoiceful existence. Hence we want to take a look back at the 30-year-old’s glittering career.
THE DAWN:
The German superstar started kicking the ball since the time he could walk. He was registered with a local outfit Post SV Dortmund at the age of 4. As things were predicted to happen, Marco was only found with a ball or a ball-shaped object ever since he joined his first club. Whenever Marco used to stay back at home, he often used fruits as his playing objects. His former coach, Andrea Schurmann recalls how Reus always used to stick with a ball. "He always loved playing, either here or at home. He was good on the ball and more than held his own in the team."
Reus joined the Dortmund youth academy in 1996. But his slight physique came as an objection in his career trajectory. He moved to Rot-Weiß Ahlen to play regular football. He recalls that moment very painful as he always wished to play for Borussia Dortmund since childhood.
But, endeavour prevails natural talent. Marco was offered a contract by Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2009. He immediately proved his worth there. He bagged a decisive goal which ensured the Foals not getting relegated during the 2010-11 season. Reus then went on to score a thumping 18 goals in the 2011-12 season, which played an important role to ensure a fourth-place finish and an entry ticket to the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage. He had a total of 97 appearances scoring 36 goals in his tenure from 2009-2012 for Borrusia Monchengladbach.
SIGNING THE DREAM CONTRACT:
On 4th January 2012, Reus signed his dream contract. He came back to Borussia Dortmund for a €17.1 million transfer-fee on a five-year deal. On 3rd October, Reus had his first ever Champions League appearance. He opened the scoring as Dortmund finished a 1-1 away draw against Manchester City.
Fast forward to 2019, Reus is still at Dortmund and has played a pivotal role in their title challenge against the defending champions, Bayern Munich. The German has pronounced his talismanic qualities. He has produced a total of 17 goals and eight assists this season. Only Robert Lewandowski and Jadon Sancho are ahead in the goal tally. However, he is very famous as an injury prone player. For the first time since 2015-16, he had more than 20 Bundesliga appearances for the club. Although he proved his worth and made sure he completed 84% of his passes, which is a sign of his essential role at the club. A recent statistics studied two months back show how important Reus has been for BVB. Since 2017/18, Dortmund has played 43 games having Reus in the squad, winning 25 of them. That makes it to 58% of winning and 2.0 points per game. Without Reus, Dortmund played 38 times. They won 14 of them. Making it a 38% of winning and 1.4 points per game.
Reus has an amusing individual achievement list. He has achieved the likes of Bundesliga Player of the Season twice, Bundesliga Breakthrough of the Season, German National Team player of the year, Bundesliga Player of the Year and many others. But, for the first time in 2015-16, he tasted success with his boyhood club Borussia Dortmund by winning the DFB Cup Final.
REUS’ SERVICE TO THE NATION:
Reus’ international career took off well as he scored in Euro 2012. He was having a good season during the 2013-14 season, which was a year before the world cup. During the second half of the season, he already had 8 goals and 5 assists to his name. But unfortunately, his dream of playing the World Cup was shattered due to a severe ankle injury against Armenia. The same happened before 2016 Euros, as Reus went on to miss another important international competition due to injury. He has a total of 39 appearances for the German national team and has scored 10 goals.
So far, he has had a glorious career with several ups and downs. But apart from his playing career, Reus is a proud father to a 2-month-old beautiful daughter. He was also the face of the EA Sports FIFA 17 cover. Marco also runs his brand - ‘MRXI’, which is a platform to know your favourite players better.
Being a superstar player to a wonderful father and businessman, he also has a very kind heart. He has always given back to the less fortunate. He regularly visits children at the Dortmund hospital as a part of the "ELTERNTREFF" ('ParentMeet') scheme. Reus supports children suffering from leukaemia and tumours and also donates a portion of the profit from his clothing line "MRXI" to charity.
Seriously, what a personality!
