Sasa Kalajdzic Eltern He was discovered during the U21 Football World Cup last summer. Saa Kalajdi, the 2-Meter-Riese, talks about his hometown of Kaisermühlen, his new VFB Stuttgart club, and a party on Ottakringer Straße. Saa Kalajdi has a plate.
He must take a spot on a parkbank directly across from his favourite salon “Trento” in the heart of Kaisermühlen after five intense hours with us in the Schlepptau. „Ej, kannst du mich abholen, bin fertig mit dem Termin,” he says as he reaches for his phone. A brief pause. „Was? You’re on your own, which is fine.” Kalajdi Mama and Papa are summoned after the small brother is not in demand as a chauffeur. With success: “Sein Vater will get him right away,” he assures us. Despite the fact that he is aware of the day’s events, he remains kind and helpful. It’s no surprise that the 22-year-old received a Kreuzbandriss six weeks prior, which will keep him out of trouble for the next eight months. The termination occurred at an inexplicably inconvenient time.
Kalajdi wowed at the U-21 European Championship in June, putting his rare combination of filigraner technique and physical toughness in the record books of the big clubs. Das Rennen was organised by the VFB-Stuttgart Traditionsverein. During his first training game for the new club, He had to get out of there as soon as possible.
Back to Vienna, at his Grätzl Kaisermühlen. He spends the summer in the Kraftkammer, where he works on his comeback with his physiotherapists. Kalajdi is happy that the VFB Stuttgart has provided him with the opportunity to regenerate just ten minutes away from his parents’ home: „Mein Physiotherapeut is in contact with the Verein and keeps them up to date on my gene therapy progress.”
FIRST AND FOREMOST, THE FAMILY
We run across the injured Kicker on the police-sports complex in the Old Donau in the middle of the day: “Jetzt muss ich first eat, ich hoffe, that’s all right?” he asks politely. The Energytanks must be refilled following the kräftezehrenden Reha. As a result, 10 minutes later, Fisch mit Erdäpfeln und Salat land in Saas Magen. It’s impossible to compare Mama’s cooking to hers, because it would be too demanding. „Burek, Sarma, Grah (Bohneneintopf) are my mother’s classics,” says the fish aficionado, who is particularly proud of the Lachsfilet with homegrown vegetables.
Saa Kalajdi is a family man, like he is in the book, and he emphasises the importance of his loved ones repeatedly. As a result, he frequently joins them on the balcony after the Reha for a cup of coffee. „I can’t say how it will be without my family because I was injured right after arriving in Stuttgart. “It’s the first time I’ve had to rely solely on myself, and as a result, I value my time in Vienna with my loved ones even more,” Kalajdi expresses his gratitude. There is no trace of excessive haltung or staralluren.
KAISERMÜHLEN, KRSTAJI, KRIEG
Kaisermühlener was born in the 22nd Bezirk in 1997 as the son of a bosnischserbischer Einwanderer. The mother is from a village near Banja Luka, and the father is from Zenica, around 120 kilometres away, where he spent his youth training with ex-Serbian team coach Mladen Krstaji. Saa, as it is correctly written, grows where many Wieners seek relief from the heat throughout the summer. In Kaisermühlen, he meets football for the first time at the “SR Donaufeld” when he is eight years old.
He makes his debut in the Regionalliga Ost (3. Liga) at the age of 17, and three years later he can be seen in the FC Admira Wacker Mödling trikot on the highest level of Austrian football. In the meantime, Saa listens to his parents and tries to come up with a Plan B, such as education. „I completed my machine-building training at TGM in the 20th Bezirk. For me, the HTL is a form of insurance. Regardless, I’m not thinking about it right now, and I love football far too much to do anything else,“ says the 22-year-old.
In these days of Instastories and astronomical ablösesummen, another puzzle piece appears, which is unusual for a Kicker. While footballers are becoming more famous for their lavish outfits and well-rehearsed Six-Pack-Gepose on flashy yachts, Kalajdi remains unremarkable. He enjoys what he does, and as a result, he does not believe in driving luxury automobiles. On the football field, directly across from the Räumlichkeiten where he is working on his comeback, he is approached by an older acquaintance who invites him to participate in a short question and answer session with the young Knirps of a football camp.
Vinzenz Jager, who used to work for Rapid as a trainee, praises the old acquaintance for his patience: “Sasa takes time for each individual and demonstrates what can be accomplished in football,” says Jager. He recognises him from the Austrian Bundesliga and is disappointed that Kalajdi is now with the VFB rather than his hometown club Dynamo Dresden, as the gebürtige Ostdeutsche flaunts.