Dennis Abrosimov played at the highest level in his youth. But he explains in the RS Q&A why a professional career didn’t work out.

At the age of 25, Dennis Abrosimov has already seen a lot in the soccer business. Born in Essen, he played for Rot-Weiss Essen and Borussia Mönchengladbach as a youth player. In the 2016/17 season, Abrosimov played 21 U19 Bundesliga games for Gladbach. He then played in the Oberliga for FSV Duisburg, SpVg Schonnebeck and VfB Homberg as well as in the Regionalliga West for SV Straelen (6 games).

Since the current season, the all-rounder has been lacing up his boots for the Bezirksliga top team Blau-Gelb Überruhr. Abrosimov voluntarily moved down two leagues because his job has top priority. The 25-year-old is “Regional Manager Ruhr Area” at the Grenzland Football School, works as an U12 coach at Borussia Mönchengladbach’s NLZ and is in the final stages of his sports management studies.

Dennis Abrosimov now faces up to the forecasting questionnaire:

My greatest strength is… my will and my diligence.

My greatest weakness is… my right foot and my lack of self-confidence.

In our dressing room… there’s always a lot of laughter.

The best moment of my soccer career was… the Youth League games in Manchester and Turin, which were broadcast on Sport 1. The next day I came to school and the teacher said that he had seen me on TV. Those were cool moments and then against such top clubs.

The best goal of my career was… unfortunately I haven’t scored many (laughs). I would settle on a goal in the hall against Hertha BSC. That was a shot at 130 km/h easily.

My best teammate was… Ba-Muaka Simakala. He now plays for Kaiserslautern. What he can do, some Bundesliga professionals can’t.

My best coach was… I had very good coaches at youth level, but the last two were top: Sven Schuchhardt and Thomas Flath at Borussia Mönchengladbach. At senior level, I’ve only had well-known coaches: Christian Mikolajczak, Stefan Janßen, Marcus John and Dirk Tönnies. They were all good. But of course Dirk Tönnies made the biggest impression on me – as a person, but also in sporting terms. Actually a coach for higher.

My worst coach was because… I don’t want to expose him publicly now. But there was definitely one. He really had no idea.

When I was a little boy, my role model was… Michael Ballack and Andrey Arshavin.

I didn’t become a professional footballer because… there are a few reasons for that… I certainly made a lot of wrong decisions in my sporting life. I was a regular in the U19s at Gladbach and then didn’t make it into the regional league – that was quite strange. Then I played a very good first senior season in Schonnebeck and the move to Straelen broke my neck. I also never had a good player advisor who placed me. Many players who play in the regional league or 3rd division are simply lucky with their advisor, that’s just the way it is. I also believe that I didn’t have enough talent for the professional game. And what still stands in my way today is my self-confidence. One bad training session, one bad game and my head is down. It’s been like that since the Bambini.

The best thing about the Ruhr area is… the love of soccer.

Either, or?

Dortmund or Schalke? Actually Gladbach, but if I had to choose between the two, then Dortmund for sure.

Beer or water? 100 percent water.

Club or pub? Then rather club, although I hardly ever go to either.

Natural or artificial turf? 100 percent natural grass. Many amateur footballers break down on artificial turf. Many young players get so many injuries on artificial turf over the years. I recently spoke to a sports scientist about the subject. He showed me how bad artificial turf actually is for the body. That’s why I definitely prefer natural turf.

Fighter or artist? Fighter!!!

Cinema or Netflix? Both are great.

Soccer on TV or in the stadium? In the stadium, of course.

Finally, a few more questions:

Who would you like to have a beer with?

With my idol Cristiano Ronaldo. But then probably a protein shake. It’s impossible to put into words what he has achieved in his career with his discipline. In terms of emotion, he is the greatest footballer of all time.

At which club did you experience the most extreme team trip – and why?

With Schonnebeck in Mallorca in 2018. That was just awesome! What characters we were there with: Cello Grote, Marc Enger, Tommy Denker. It was more than outstanding.

What can you laugh about?

I laugh a lot about many different things. I think Matze Knop is very good.

My best vacation was?

Last year in Turkey with my girlfriend.

What is indispensable for you?

The three Fs: family, friends and soccer

What music do you like to listen to and what is playing in the dressing room?

I like listening to Apache, but also Helene Fischer. Albanian or Brazilian music is playing in the dressing room in Überruhr. There’s definitely a good atmosphere.

If you could start again, what would you do differently in your life?

I’m happy with myself. I hope to finish my studies soon, I work at the biggest soccer school in Germany and I’m a youth coach at Borussia Mönchengladbach. If I wasn’t a youth coach, I would still be playing in the top league. But the most important thing that many people forget is: as long as you’re healthy, that’s the best luck you can have.