1,012,414 views
The footballers Kevin Großkreutz, Konstantin Rausch and Assani Lukimya played in the biggest arenas in Germany. After the end of their professional careers they continued to play. The number of spectators is now lower, the dressing rooms are spartan and the level of play is manageable. What has not changed is their love of the game. Kevin Großkreutz won two championship titles with Borussia Dortmund, he won the cup, played in the Champions League and became world champion in Brazil in 2014 (albeit without playing). There is no more prominent player in German amateur football. Großkreutz has been playing in Dortmund for a good two years for TuS Bövinghausen, who managed to get promoted to the Oberliga. At first many thought his signing was a marketing gimmick. But Großkreutz doesn't miss a game, fights for every ball like he used to at BVB and often leaves the pitch with bloody knees: "It's great to get into tackles, play with the boys and score goals. I've always had the ball with me since I could walk. Football is my great love.” It was recently announced that Großkreutz wants to play for Wacker Obercastrop in the sixth-tier Westphalia League next season. Konstantin Rausch has played 246 times in the Bundesliga, for Hannover 96, VfB Stuttgart, 1. FC Cologne and in Russia for Dynamo Moscow. Since this season he has been playing for SC Vorwerk II in Celle, Lower Saxony, in the third district league, right at the bottom. The defender ended his professional career last summer at the age of just 32. In Celle, the nine-time Russian international now plays in attack - and is extremely accurate. He is also fulfilling a family dream in the lower leagues of football: Konstantin Rausch wanted to play on the pitch with his brother Alex in one team. At 37, former Bundesliga professional Assani Lukimya (Hansa Rostock and Werder Bremen) is twice as old as some of his teammates at the top division club MSV Düsseldorf. His colleagues look up to the defender, and Lukimya enjoys playing in the fifth division after difficult times at the end of his professional career. "I've regained the fun of football here and I still want to win every game. I sometimes laugh myself at the fact that at my age I still get so worked up about it as if I were playing in the Bundesliga." The Congolese-born player is indispensable in the relegation battle. He is also an important identification figure at MSV - the Moroccan sports club. Players from twenty different nations are active on the outskirts of Düsseldorf, and the club is committed to integration on and off the pitch. More information: https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendunge... You can find more documentaries in the ARD Mediathek: https://www.ardmediathek.de/dokus First broadcast: April 9, 2023 #ndr #doku #amateurfußball