The 1st FC Cologne is celebrating its 75th birthday. The mood could hardly be better if it weren’t for Ellyes Skhiri.
The mood? Could hardly be better. The form curve? Pointing steeply upwards. And Ellyes Skhiri? Outstanding, but most likely to be gone soon. 1. FC Köln celebrated his 75th birthday on Monday, but the uncertain future of the courted Tunisian was still haunting the cathedral city during the anniversary.
“The one who belongs to Cologne,” Cologne’s stadium announcer had shouted into the microphone after the midfield motor had scored the goal for the 3:0 (0:0) final score against Eintracht Frankfurt. Michael Trippel was saying what the FC supporters were longing for: The retention of their most important player.
“He influences the game. He is always playable. He does a lot right,” coach Steffen Baumgart praised his director. But even the coach knows that FC will probably not be able to keep Skhiri beyond the summer. The World Cup player’s contract runs out. And Skhiri recently declared that he wanted to try “something new”.
Besides Frankfurt, other top clubs from the Bundesliga are said to be interested in Skhiri, and there have already been offers from abroad. The coveted Skhiri could help any top club with his two-fighting strength, he hardly makes any mistakes – and impresses with his incredible running performance.
Two-Fight Monster with Horse Tongue
The 27-year-old ran more than 13 km in the match against Eintracht, in which he scored twice. With a total of more than 230 kilometres, Skhiri is the strongest runner of all Bundesliga professionals. The 27-year-old could confidently appear as Forrest Gump at carnival – if Timo Hübers hadn’t already snatched that idea away from him.
“I think I will go as Forrest Gump,” said Hübers, referring to the club’s traditional carnival session on Tuesday. And the centre-back is taking on even more for the fete than just dressing up as the main character from the legendary US tragicomedy. “I’m banned on Saturday. I get to stay an extra half hour,” joked the scorer of the 1:0.
But before that, the FC’s big birthday party was on the agenda. However, the Effzeh themselves provided the best present a few hours before the day of honour. While the Rhinelanders had previously narrowly missed out on a win against a top team at Bayern Munich (1:1) and against RB Leipzig (0:0), now it was Eintracht’s turn.
“The boys gave the club a present,” enthused Thomas Kessler, head of the licensing department. Immediately after the game, Baumgart’s team started the party marathon with wild chants in the dressing room. Before the big party, however, there was an official act.
Represented by the club’s top management, the club signed the city’s Golden Book on Monday, followed by the “jecke Geburtstagsparty” (birthday party) in the Lanxess Arena in the evening. Four days before Altweiber, Ellye’s Skhiri was probably the subject of philosophical discussions, accompanied by live music from the cult Cologne band Höhner.