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About a month ago, Marco Reuss signed a new contract at Borussia Dortmund, and it was completely natural - no one had any doubt that it would be. The captain would like a two-year deal instead of just 2024, and there have also been negotiations over the amount of the pay cut, but these are trifles in terms of an entire career.
Royce wants to end his career with his beloved team, and the club doesn't want to part with him. In fact, he can't afford his image, even if sporting director Sebastian Kehl somehow thought the team should do without him. It is impossible to leave such a symbol. His reputation is too strong and the love for him knows no bounds – just like his love for the yellow-and-black stands, of which he is a part.
The love for him at Dortmund knows no bounds. Royce (Photo by Getty Images, INA FASSBENDER)
Be loyal even when Borussia was last
Everyone in the city remembers how Royce signed a new contract in February 2015. When he did so, he was 25 years old, considered one of Germany's most respected stars and beyond, received countless offers to move to prestigious clubs in Spain and England, not to mention the Bayern Munich option, and all doors were open to him because he had a release clause of only €25 million – a very funny sum that any team would be happy to pay to add him to their ranks.
At the same time, Borussia found itself in a rather deep crisis in Jurgen Klopp's seventh season, and as of this point in time had slipped to last place. Yes, the very last one - 18 out of 18. While there was no fear of relegation because it was inconceivable with such a quality squad, there was also no chance of qualifying for the Champions League. Kloppo's future was not at all clear, and in fact the whole project went in an unknown direction, like a ship caught in a storm.
So - precisely then! Without waiting and without setting any conditions, Royce waived the release clause, took the pen and pledged to stay until 2019, i.e. for another four years. "I'm happy with my choice. This is my club, this is my city, and I look forward to a promising future with our wonderful fans. There is a lot of work ahead of us, and we will do it," he declared at the time. The message was simple: "Are we lacking stability right now? Here, take something stable." Indeed, everything worked out quickly. Dortmund finished the 2014–15 season in seventh place. Klopp did leave that May, but the project continued without him. Royce's action was critical, and that's how it entered history. No fan of the Yellow Wall will forget it.
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An off-the-field action that went down in history (Photo: Reuters)
Gave up the dream of becoming a pilot
Royce is even more admired for showing endless loyalty to the club even though the club dumped him when he was 17. For a whole decade, Royce studied at the academy of the team he had loved for as long as he could remember, and at most stages he was highly praised, but was suddenly informed that he was too short and skinny and that with such physical stats he had no chance in professional football. It didn't happen in fourth grade, but right before the senior team could be made. Just imagine the depth of the mental crisis he went through then, in 2006, when he was informed how much the professional staff did not appreciate him. Practically, he was told he needed to seek employment outside of sports.
Marco had an intriguing alternative - his second dream was to become a pilot. Maybe in the parallel world it would have succeeded, but something inside him told him that the chance on the grass was still higher than in the sky and he preferred not to give up. His broken heart gradually healed when he joined little Rot-Weiss Allen, and in 2008 he played a small part in the team's rise from the third division to the second division. There he was already quite a prominent player, and Max Eberle, the sporting director of Borussia Mönchengladbach, decided to test him.
Dortmund admitted the mistake and eventually opened the pocket (Photo by Getty Images, Martin Rose)
Never held a grudge
A million euros were paid to Allen in the summer of 2009, and even that was considered a kind of gamble. Commentators barely noticed the skinny teenager coming on as a substitute in the first few games, while Roberto Colauti started in the lineup. But Royce forced everyone to look at him. His first goal, back in August, for Mainz was spectacular. As of October, he was already a bunker on the pitch, and by the end of the season he was the team's most exciting star. In the 2010/11 season, he was one of the critical players who saved Gladbach from relegation, and in 2011/12 he raced with them to Champions League qualification in a tremendous season with 18 goals and 12 assists - in fact, this is the most impressive statistical line on his resume to date.
Needless to say, Bayern really wanted to bring him to Munich, and another player might have issued a virtual triple finger to Dortmund's youth coaches who disqualified him, but not Royce. As far as he was concerned, there was no hesitation, and he saw himself only in the yellow-black uniform. As early as January 2012, the deal was closed for the summer, and Dortmund paid €17 million to bring home a player who was already theirs. She was happy to do so and was willing to spend even larger sums, because the potential was divine.
He won trophies. Now a championship with Dortmund is on the agenda (Photo: Reuters)
The memories of April 2012 are still fresh
Then, fate seemed to give Royce a special gift on the occasion of his return. On 21 April, Dortmund hosted Gladbach knowing that a victory would officially crown them champions for the second consecutive time. It did so with a 0-2 lead and Royce was wearing the opponent's shirt at the time, but he was there when the final whistle blew and experienced the intensity of the celebrations. As a fan, it was a huge and defining moment for him - as if he was practicing the feeling ahead of the seasons when he would win the championship with Dortmund in this amazing stadium, in front of the yellow wall known all over the world. Marco stood there, breathed that air, heard this crazy singing and imagined how much fun it would be to be a part of it when he was in the right uniform.
He's still waiting for it. More than 11 years have passed since 21 April 2012, and Royce has yet to win a title with Dortmund. Bayern gathered plate after plate for an entire decade, and with each passing year the story became an increasingly difficult sporting tragedy for Royce – the sad hero in so many ways. Everyone loves him because it is impossible otherwise, but everyone also feels sorry for him, because there are not many players with worse luck.
It wouldn't hurt him even a little bit of luck (Photo: Reuters)
Unlucky on all fronts
He missed the 2014 World Cup, where the Germans won the gold medal, because he injured his ankle in the last preparatory game. He also did not make it to Euro 2016 because of a groin injury. He himself waived participation in Euro 2020 due to the need for physical and mental rehabilitation, and was also absent from the last World Cup because he was not fit. In fact, the only World Cup he took part in was in 2018, and the team was eliminated in the group stage. His only European Championship was back in 2012. 48 games for the national team doesn't reflect his talent at all, and it's hard to grasp the magnitude of missing out on titles for his beloved team is even more jarring. How is it possible that justice has not been done here until now?
Because the longer the streak of disappointments lasted, the more Dortmund was stigmatized as a loser team, and as a result, Royce was also labeled a loser. Some criticized him for not being able to take the team on his shoulders and decide games on his own, as big stars supposedly should. Some have suggested that he can be tremendous when the whole team is playing well, but may disappear if his teammates do not rise to the required level. This is not necessarily true, and all Dortmund managers have emphasized Reuss's great contribution to nurturing all the young players who have come to the club, especially since coach Lucien Faber – the same Faber who groomed him at Gladbach – awarded him the captain's ribbon in 2018. But that's the image, and the only way to remove it completely is to win. Two German Cups in 2017 and 2021 aren't exactly enough in this respect for a career spanning more than a decade at the club.
Borussia Dortmund player Marco Reuss celebrates a goal (Photo by Getty Images, Alex Grimm)
One red card was fateful
It's easy to say, much harder to do. In most seasons, the gap in Bayern's favour was too large, and everything was decided to Borussia's detriment long before the lockout cycle. The last close match was in 2019, when business was shattered in a home derby against Schalke in which Royce – a generally fair player – suffered the only direct red card of his career for a violent and irresponsible tackle. Borussia lost 4-2, the captain was suspended for two games in Money Time, and Bayern celebrated a plate again. Some felt at the time that hope was simply lost, but Royce continued to believe. He never gave up, and tomorrow the reward for perseverance may be his.
In the World Cup break, when Dortmund plunged into sixth-place seat, it was impossible to imagine that this season could be theirs, but miracles can happen - especially when Bayern's management is so helpful. This is certainly not Royce's best season personally. He is not the team's most prolific player, with 6 goals and 4 assists in the league. He has started only 14 times, both because of injuries and coach Edin Terzic's decision in recent weeks to opt for the trio of Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Mullen on the flanks, with Sebastian Haller in the centre. "It's not a move against someone, it's for something," the boss explained, and Royce accepted it with understanding. Ego was never a consideration for him. Otherwise he would no longer be at Dortmund, or at least he would not have enjoyed the love pouring out at him from all directions.
Good time to take a championship. Marco Reuss and the Dortmund players (Photo: Reuters)
Everything is ready for closure
Because even those who despise Borussia Dortmund can't help but get excited about Marco Reuss' possible title win. It's too magical a story, and its brokenness would be too great a tragedy. Tomorrow at 16:30 p.m. (live on Sport3), when the team hosts Mainz knowing that a win will give them the plate, he will be there alongside other figures who last celebrated in April 2012. Sporting director Kel was in Dortmund's line-up at the time, as was Mats Hummels - the one who later moved to Bayern Munich only to return. Terzic then worked as a scout at the academy and watched home games as a simple fan on the yellow wall. And on the Mainz bench will sit Denmark's Svensson - he was on the pitch as a defender when Royce scored his first league goal in 2009. This too is closure. Now he has 150 league goals, and his foot is still tilted.
Because the contract for next season had already been signed, even before Bayern threw everything in the trash and allowed the yellow-and-black to pass by. And next season he will try to keep the plate. But first you have to take it at last. On Wednesday, Royce will celebrate his 34th birthday, and it's a good time to be a champion.
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- Marco Reuss
- Borussia Dortmund