After I finished playing, a lot of people wanted to know which coach impressed me most during my professional career. And even if it doesn’t make much sense comparing different characters, coaches with different ways of working and completely different approaches to the game – Jupp Heynckes was the best.
I believe that and I’m sure no other coach I’ve played for would hold it against me for saying so. As Jupp Heynckes, who will be 75 years old on Saturday, has been above it all for a long time. He’s appreciated like hardly anybody else.
As a former world class striker, he had a goals return that would be unbelievable today. And later as a coach, he followed a path with highs and lows to finally become what he is today: A cornerstone of football! A popular figure far beyond Germany’s borders. A sage of our sport, whose opinions carry special weight.
Particularly in the current social crisis, people like Heynckes are more important than ever for football. In the final years of his career, he still had the ability to learn from mistakes. He didn’t take himself too seriously, always remained keen to learn, was modest and warm-hearted. He was able to ‘guide’ teams like nobody else, fill players with enthusiasm for the common good and create a team spirit that led to lots of wins and titles, to fantastic success.
For me, as I said, he was the best! Happy birthday, Jupp Heynckes!
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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