By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- When talking about German football heroes, rarely does one end up with Marko Marin.
It might be a surprise, but the 30-year-old midfielder is one of the country's most successful footballers when it comes to titles achieved with clubs abroad.
Europa League titles with Chelsea (2013) and Sevilla (2014) and domestic league titles with Red Star Belgrade and Olympiacos only tell parts of his overall unusual story.
After an odyssey-like journey through Europe, the Yugoslavia-rooted professional now seems to have found his late bliss in the country he was born in, before leaving due to a regional war at the age of two.
After the 2018-19 season, the Red Star and their team leader Marin for the second time managed to qualify for the group phase of the Champions League. Not least because of his deadly passes and goals, the Serbian champion secured what is said to be a miracle for an underdog club.
The Bosnian-born migrated to Germany and was capped 16 times for the national team in 2008. He was part of the squad of national coach Joachim Loew at the 2010 World Cup, which ended up being the tournament's third.
There might be various reasons why one of the most promising talents never made it to the top. Playing for his ninth club since 2008 might be one of them. In Germany, Marin quickly was known as the wayfaring man, a restless wanderer, in German unflatteringly called "Wandervogel," who didn't fit in no matter where he tried to do so.
He disappeared from the radar of public attention after he changed his clubs in an almost yearly rhythm. Moenchengladbach, Werder Bremen, Chelsea, Sevilla, Florence, Anderlecht, Trabzonspor, Olympiacos, and Belgrade - too many stops on a wired trip as it seems.
There must be something wrong fans assumed. He is claiming every single one of his moves had its understandable reasons. Marin might not be what you call an undisputed star, but he certainly is a footballer with rough edges and the unbreakable ability to never give up.
Now Red Star sporting director Mitar Mrkela called him a player of exceptional quality. "For long the club didn't have a performer of his quality," the 54-year-old Yugoslavian international commented after conducting Marin and his side qualified for the Champions League in two games against Swiss outfits of Young Boys Bern. "Marko has quickly won the fans' hearts," he added.
Marin said to join Red Star two years ago was the right step for him and the club. In 2018/2019 he was awarded the season's best player having scored seven goals and having delivered 13 assists.
He somehow got rid of the burden of his past.
Back in 2013, when in the shirt of Premier League side Chelsea, English media called him "the German Messi." Expectations grew mountain high; the so-called dribble king mostly couldn't fulfil what his coaches and fans expected.
Meanwhile, Marin has changed his game style. For long, he was the one who seemed to play with the ball for hours lacking the needed efficiency and neglecting his team-mates calling for the ball because in a far better position.
Today, Marin is the one deciding about Red Stars' game-rhythm. He is the one delivering passes and crosses at the right time.
