If you wanted to plan the miracle, there couldn’t be any other cast than Dickson Abiama for the lead role. Nobody in Fürth could embody the football miracle proclaimed by coach Stefan Leitl better than the 22-year-old Nigerian from the metropolis of Lagos. And because the football god – Almighty – probably speaks a little Franconian these days, the ascent actually worked: despite being behind against Düsseldorf, despite being outnumbered. In the 3-2 victory of the Fürth Abiama scored the victory, which lifts the Fürth to second place and brings the Franks into league one, only for the second time in the history of the game association.
Briefly, the key data to sound out the height of the fall for the Fürth promotion: The player budget of 8.5 million euros is actually hardly competitive in the league, and the game association is the youngest team of all clubs. And yet every opponent praised the famous style with which Stefan Leitl’s team has now earned the right to be at the top of German football for at least 34 games – which the coach had previously classified as a “miracle”. The rise of Fürth is likely to cause the heavyweights of the league such as Hamburger SV to ponder, whose millions of euros invested in the attempt to balance their way back into the Bundesliga just fizzle out.
It didn’t look like miracles on Saturday at first, but rather like the earthen course of things. The Düsseldorfer routinely choked off the attacking game of the Fürth and took the lead through Christoffer Peterson (26th minute). Although it was no longer about anything for Fortuna, Düsseldorf wanted to spoil the game, and the game association had to feel that early on. And after referee Harm Osmers punished the hard boarding of Fürth’s clearer Anton Stach against Shinta Appelkamp with a dismissal (45th), the hope of direct promotion seemed only a pious wish. League leaders Bochum (against Sandhausen) and Kiel (against Darmstadt) both led 1-0, Fürth needed a slip of the competition.
The tricky question then was: Should Stefan Leitl spare his players for the upcoming relegation games against 1. FC Köln? Or hoping for the turnaround outnumbered and for help from Sandhausen and Darmstadt? Leitl, which can be considered certain in view of the following 45 minutes, wanted to believe in the fortune.
And indeed: Captain Branimir Hrgota equalized with a penalty kick after a handball (53rd), Düsseldorf hit back immediately in the person of Shinta Appelkamp, but Fürth equalized again with Julian Green (69th). This goal opened the door to the first division because the ex-Fürth Serdar Dursun scored twice for Darmstadt against Kiel. And then came Dickson Abiama.
Three years ago Abiama was still playing in the Nürnberg / Frankenhöhe district class
Abiama is the man for special moments for Stefan Leitl, he likes to change him late and is rarely disappointed. Abiama likes to wear the socks like Thomas Müller: They cannot get hold of the calves and slide down to the ankles. Like Müller, Abiama also has a talent for appearing in the right place at special moments, which is why he is the best joker in the league. After losing the ball in Düsseldorf, there was another special Abiama moment: He ran up to goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier on his own and scored as if it were a regional class game against Sportfreunde Großgründlach (83rd). His fifth joker goal marks the end of a breathtaking development.
Three years ago Abiama was still playing for SpVgg Mögeldorf in the district class Nürnberg / Frankenhöhe, season 4. He came to the cloverleaf in 2020 through the regional league team Quelle Fürth and the Bayern league club SC Eltersdorf. Manager Rachid Azzouzi recognized his talent as soon as Abiama scored in a friendly against Fürth and immediately gave him a contract. From the district class to the Bundesliga in just three years: It’s a dishwasher story that warms the heart in the often cool football game, where the little ones annoy the big ones less and less.
That can also apply to the entire Fürth team, which is an amazing mix of homegrown players and players who are looking for another chance to prove themselves in the Bundesliga on their second educational path. The former Guardiola student and FC Bayern player Julian Green found the right words after the final whistle: “Before the season, everyone said: It would be difficult with the team. But in the end we made it.”
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