First Team

“The spark that ignited my career”

Former Wolf Cedric Makiadi on his very first professional goal, which remains unforgettable in Wolfsburg.

Under different circumstances, it might have been an occasion for a fond look back. Instead, there is something rather bittersweet about VfL Wolfsburg’s meeting with 1. FC Kaiserlautern. Almost exactly 20 years ago, when the two teams also faced each other at the Volkswagen Arena, everything was at stake for both the Wolves and the Red Devils on the final day of the Bundesliga season. Anyone who supported the Green-and-Whites back then will associate this fixture with Cedric Makiadi, who almost single-handedly kept VfL in the division with a goal and an assist in a dramatic 2-2 draw. Shortly before the two sides meet again, the 42-year-old – who made 153 competitive appearances for various VfL teams between 2002 and 2008 and now coaches Werder Bremen’s U23s – looks back on the relegation thriller in May 2006 in which he made his breakthrough.

Cedric Makiadi, this is a nice interview for us to do. Your name is still very fondly remembered in Wolfsburg.

Cedric Makiadi: Oh, really? After all this time? To be honest, that surprises me a little. But it’s obviously lovely to hear!

That’s primarily down to your performance in the 2006 relegation showdown against Kaiserslautern. How do you remember it unfolding?

Cedric: Of course, I still remember it clearly. We’d felt a certain tension throughout the week. Not just within the team, but away from football too. And then when the game came around, everything happened very quickly for me. We were 1-0 down. I came on at half-time and, as a young player, I didn’t really think about anything. Even though I was obviously fully aware of how important the game was, I hadn’t dwelled on what relegation would mean. Maybe that was an advantage: I just tried to play football, perform to the best of my ability and help us turn things around. It worked pretty well.

VfL-Wolfsburg-Spieler Cedric Makiadi im Zweikampf mit einem Spieler des 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

You could also say that your equaliser and assist for the 2-1 goal kept VfL in the Bundesliga. You were 22 at the time and had already been at the club for several years, but had barely featured for the first team. Not a bad time to score your first Bundesliga goal.

Cedric: Absolutely (smiles). To score my first professional goal on the final day of the season in circumstances like that – it doesn’t really get any better. It made me incredibly proud to be able to play such a pivotal role. It still does today. Although it was only in the days afterwards that I really became aware of the significance of it all.

Is it true that you had to hurry back from the toilet before coming on?

Cedric: Yes, that really did happen. When we went into the dressing room at half-time, there had been no indication that I was going to come on. Normally, you’d get a signal from the fitness coach or the assistant. Maybe they hadn’t seen me either because I’d gone straight inside. But when I came out of the toilet, Klaus Augenthaler was already there waiting to catch me.

If you’d been somewhat under the radar beforehand and then experienced a football fairytale like that, your confidence must have gone through the roof. How did you deal with it?

Cedric: There’s definitely some truth in that. Until then, I’d been seen as a promising young player. I’d already got some minutes under Eric Gerets, but the big breakthrough was still to come. That game showed me: I can make it here. It was like the spark that ignited the rest of my career. And in the following season, at least, I became a regular starter.

Overall, your relationship with VfL must be a strange one. You’re officially a club hero, but ultimately you never really established yourself permanently in Wolfsburg. After Klaus Augenthaler left, you barely featured.

Cedric: Under Felix Magath, my playing time did indeed drop to zero. But overall, I spent six years in Wolfsburg, which is quite a long time. We won our division with the U19s back then, and I won promotion to the Regionalliga with the U23s. And I think I developed well at first-team level too. Then Magath arrived with new ideas and brought in players who were a better fit for his plans. Of course, I was sad that things ended that way for me. But all in all, I had a successful time at VfL. And fortunately, my career continued to go well elsewhere too.

In the summer of 2008, you went on loan to Duisburg, where you were actually very successful and even finished as the second division’s top scorer. However, you also had to watch from afar as your parent club became German champions. What was that like for you?

Cedric: I was very clear about my decision at the time because it was about my career and I needed to move forward. Duisburg was a great move for me because it gave me the chance to put myself back in the spotlight. I was genuinely delighted that VfL took off in exactly that period, particularly for some of my former team-mates. I didn’t feel any resentment whatsoever, especially as my own move had still proved absolutely the right decision.
 

VfL-Wolfsburg-Leihspieler Cedric Makiadi jubelt im Trikot des MSV Duisburg mit ausgebreiteten Armen.

After the loan ended, you returned with a year still left on your contract. It’s said that Armin Veh actually wanted to keep you.

Cedric: That’s right. We had a good conversation at the time in which he indicated that to me. I’m sure I would have got more playing time again too. But at that point, it felt right to do something completely new. That’s why I joined SC Freiburg.

Did you have any contact with VfL Wolfsburg after that?

Cedric: There was always some contact. In the early days, for example, with Pablo Thiam, who stayed in Wolfsburg for quite a bit longer. I also kept in touch with some of my other team-mates from back then for a while. In football, your paths always cross in one way or another. For example, I recently met Christian Gentner on a coaching course; we’d played together at VfL back then. But over the years, my contacts in Wolfsburg have certainly become fewer.

Did it still affect you when VfL ended up being relegated a few weeks ago?

Cedric: When you have a shared history with a club and you know what it has given you, you inevitably retain an affinity for it. So of course I followed the relegation battle and was hoping they would manage to stay up. It affected me when things went the other way.

So on Saturday, after quite some time, it’s VfL Wolfsburg against Kaiserslautern once again. Even without our call, would this fixture have made you think back to your goal all those years ago?

Cedric: When I heard that VfL were starting against Lautern, the memories did indeed come flooding back. Above all, I thought: ‘Wow, that game was 20 years ago already.’ I’m definitely looking forward to the opener taking place on Saturday evening. As Werder’s U23s aren’t in action until Sunday, I’ll be at home and fortunately I’ll be able to watch the match live.