The perfect symbiosis

In part seven of the series ‘From Kurtekotten to professional football’ we tell the extraordinary goalkeeping story of René Adler and Rüdiger Vollborn.

Summer 2006. René Adler and Rüdiger Vollborn walk from the BayArena car park in the direction of the stadium. "For me, you don't have to be a Bundesliga goalkeeper, René," said Vollborn. Adler is 21 years old. Everything had gone like clockwork up to then. The talented keeper joined Leverkusen from Leipzig at the age of 15, trained with the senior squad as a U19 player and was on the bench for the Werkself in the Bundesliga. In addition, Adler was the first choice number one with all the Germany youth teams and at the U20 World Cup in 2005 he was named in the team of the tournament alongside Lionel Messi and Co.

And then came. February 2006. Chest pains. Training? Not possible. The doctors can't find anything. "It was the first time I had to deal with obstacles," recalls Adler. Suddenly everything was in doubt. At that point, it paid off that Bayer 04 goalkeeper legend Rüdiger Vollborn was his coach and he knew him inside out.

convinced at first sight

Flashback. At the beginning of 2000, Vollborn was invited by the Germany coach Jörg Daniel to train potential U15 goalkeepers. The first contact with René Adler – and Vollborn is amazed: "René's movements were much smoother than with all the others I'd seen before. In addition, there was an incredible jumping ability given his age. That impressed me."

When he returned to his family in Leverkusen from Leipzig, Vollborn said to his wife Marion: "I've seen the next national keeper," and everything fitted in from the other side. René enthusiastically explained to his parents in Leipzig what it was like to train with Vollborn: "I have so much fun and we understood each other." Now everything should fit into place. But it isn't quite that easy.

GET STUCK IN 'Rüdi'

It quickly became clear to René Adler after contact with other clubs and visits to Hamburg and Stuttgart: He wants to go to Leverkusen, to Vollborn: "The Kurtekotten Performance Centre had just opened. Leverkusen had a good reputation but the main factor at the end of the day was 'Rüdi’. There was just one problem: Where was the teenager supposed to live? The host family system at Bayer 04 was still being set up. Nobody responded to a newspaper ad. "I said to René: First, do your Abitur in Saxony after Year 12 and then come to Leverkusen," explained Vollborn. But Adler wants to join Bayer 04 straightaway.

The decisive input finally came from Germany coach Daniel. He said in a telephone conversation with Vollborn: "Then you take him." And when Rudi took the suggestion to his wife at home on the terrace, she just smiled and said: "That's what you wanted to do anyway." Everything went really quickly after discussions with youth boss Michael Reschke. The builders came to the Vollborn's and the attic was converted in a flash. Adler moves in in the summer of 2000.

keeping goal 24/7 

From now, it is just school and football for René – or even better: keeping goal. "On the way to training, if we didn't listen to music, we'd talk about keeping goal. Then I was able to work on it in training straightaway and then we talked about it afterwards. That was the optimum scenario," says Adler in describing coach and player being together.

At times, the Vollborn household is completely focused on goalkeeping because the sons Jerome (in Burscheid) and Fabrice (Bayer 04 youth) are also between the sticks. "The lads carried on in the garden," according to Vollborn. Adler's talent and ambition paired with Vollborn's idea of a modern, skilled with his feet, forward-thinking goalkeeper allowed the young keeper to get better and better. The sky appears to be the limit.

four-month rollercoaster ride

Until the summer of 2006 arrives. With pain. With doubts. Vollborn knows his charge after six years of working together. He relieves the pressure, Adler gets time and finally the nth doctor discovers the problem: A broken rib, not healed due to constant strain, is handicapping the young keeper. "The diagnosis in November was a sort of salvation," recalled Adler. And from there the only way was up. And how.

Adler resumes training in January 2007. He returns to full training in the middle of February and after two sessions and a match with the U23s, head coach Michael Skibbe wants to give him his debut in the home game against Hannover 96 because first choice goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt is suspended. But again Vollborn had his finger on the pulse: "That would simply have been too much."

Perfect Debut at Schalke

But in the Sunday training session after the 1-0 defeat against Hannover, Skibbe takes Adler to one side and says: "You're playing at Schalke." The gap between total desperation and fulfilment of a dream was four months. "We then had a week to convert nervousness and stage fright into fun. Rüdi and I did that well," says Adler without exaggeration. The step up to the Bundesliga stage comes with a massive surprise.

At league leaders Schalke 04, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Adler is a hero straightaway as he saved everything that comes near to his goal. Bayer 04 win 1-0. Adler is man of the match with top marks. The countless hours in the Performance Centre and on the pitch of the Leverkusen hockey club, conversations in the car and at home, the focused work on positioning, the countless matches culminate in a perfect debut.

flying high

For Adler a "match in progress" and for Vollborn confirmation of a vision he had at the first meeting in 2000: "That's how I imagined René. That's what it was supposed to look like." What happens next is Bayer 04 history: more impressive games, the number one, playing for Germany, three years of flying high.

 

Another rib injury shortly before the 2010 World Cup puts a stop to the success story. "That was the big shock," says Vollborn in describing his inner feelings. Looking back, Adler sees it somewhat differently: "I wanted it too much, wanted to show the world what I can do." Understandable for a 25-year-old goalkeeper but not essential for his career in the end.

twelve years never to be forgotten

In the following period, impressive performances are mixed with injury problems. Adler leaves Bayer 04 in 2012 to join Hamburg SV. Nevertheless a lot remains. "Leverkusen became like home. I was there for a formative phase of 12 years. It's a feeling that’s deep within me," said Adler who got to know his wife in Leverkusen, the actor Lilli Holunder.

And Vollborn also knows: "On a personal level, something came to be that will last for a lifetime." Until recently his wife always spoke about having three sons. Symbiosis. At all levels.

'From Kurtekotten to professional football’ – Part VI: Kim Falkenberg

‘From Kurtekotten to professional football’ – Part V: Jonas Meffert

‘From Kurtekotten to professional football’ – Part IV: Fabian Giefer

‘From Kurtekotten to professional football’ – Part III: Stefan Reinartz

‘From Kurtekotten to professional football’ – Part II: Erik Zenga

‘From Kurtekotten to professional football’ – Part I: Gonzalo Castro