The Next Chapter of a Football Fairytale

Even the day after his Champions League debut – which also marked a historic milestone for Austrian double winners LASK, as their first home appearance in Europe’s premier club competition – Daniel Elfadli is still full of emotion and gratitude.

“I haven’t slept much, but that’s because of the joy, the excitement and all the moments I was fortunate enough to experience. It’s an absolute gift. I’m very proud and grateful,” says the 29-year-old inside the now-empty stadium, where 18,910 spectators had gathered the previous evening, including his mother, his aunt and several friends.

He has received an incredible number of messages, but one in particular touched him deeply: a message from his brother Dominic, who unfortunately could not be there in person the night before.

“He expressed how proud he is of me and the journey I’ve taken. Reading a message like that from someone so close to me really moved me.”

Elfadli then heads off for a training session with his new teammates, including former Bundesliga professionals and Austrian internationals Saša Kalajdžić and Alessandro Schöpf.

“I’ve been made to feel very welcome and I feel comfortable here. Of course, it takes time, and it’s an adjustment. It’s a new city and the culture is different. At least we speak the same language, even if I don’t understand everything when it comes to the regional dialects,” says “Fadli” with a grin on his face.

“In football, it’s easy to get to comfortable with the lads. It happens naturally on the pitch or in the dressing room because you spend so much time together. Football is a language of its own, and it’s the best way to get to know one another.”

Under head coach Dietmar Kühbauer, Elfadli is earmarked for a role as a versatile defensive player, covering both centre-back and defensive midfield, just as he did at HSV. However, he had to be patient during the early stages of his loan spell. Before his Champions League debut, he had made just one other appearance, playing 45 minutes in the Austrian Cup.

“The start was very difficult. I came here after a tough spell towards the end of my time in Hamburg, and first I had to find my form again. Nevertheless, I didn’t let my head drop. I kept putting myself forward in training, and in that respect, I earned yesterday’s appearance to some extent. It’s a reward for sticking at it and for the resilience I’ve shown over the past few weeks.”

Although he has settled in successfully after six weeks, the loan move to LASK – and the temporary departure from Hamburg and HSV that came with it – remains a challenge for the 29-year-old.

During an afternoon stroll through the attractive historic centre of Linz, a city of 210,000 inhabitants, “Fadli” offers his usual thoughtful insight into his feelings. The walk takes him past the Mariendom, Austria’s largest church, through picturesque alleyways and across the Hauptplatz, framed by Baroque buildings, before reaching the Danube.

“The thought that I might have to look at other options came fairly early on. The final decision always depends on what other opportunities are available, though. In the end, it was made quite late. I didn’t have much time to think things over. Everything happened very quickly, and it was a stressful period,” explains the right-footed player, recalling the days around the transfer deadline.

“Leaving Hamburg was very difficult for me. It was an emotional experience. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to say goodbye in person, so I sent a longer message to the team’s WhatsApp group and tried to put my feelings into words as best I could. It was the best time of my life. I achieved the greatest possible success on the pitch. You couldn’t have written the story any better than the way it actually happened.”

Just as he had the previous evening, his blue eyes light up with a childlike sparkle as he reminisces about his two years at HSV. Above all, he recalls promotion and its unforgettable moments: his goal to make it 6–1, the pitch invasion and the celebrations on the balcony of Hamburg’s City Hall in front of 100,000 people in the city centre.

“Those are moments you probably only experience once in your career, and they are etched into your memory.”

It was not just promotion itself that left such a lasting impression, but also the hard work and time invested collectively as a group.

“It probably took much more than people could see out on the pitch in the end. All those special characters made it possible. So many things came together perfectly,” Elfadli reflects.

As it turned out, his HSV story was far from over at that point. Instead, it reached another level with the Bundesliga. Just a few years earlier, in his mid-twenties, Elfadli had signed his first professional contract with 1. FC Magdeburg. Suddenly, he found himself playing in the top tier of German football.

“Bundesliga football was very demanding for me at first,” he admits honestly. “It’s a different level, with individually better players who make sure you feel that difference. Everything happens incredibly quickly, and you have to take a moment to gather yourself and adjust.” He laughs. “But I settled in relatively quickly, even though I was unlucky with injuries. All in all, it was an amazing experience and the fulfilment of a dream.”

He naturally brought his shirt from his first Bundesliga appearance, a 0–0 draw away to Borussia Mönchengladbach, to Linz with him. It had already held a special place in his home in Hamburg.

The 29-year-old therefore remains closely connected to both the Bundesliga, in which he made 21 appearances, and HSV, for whom he played 55 competitive matches. Two former team-mates, Miro Muheim and Nicolas Capaldo, are still part of the Rothosen squad and have become friends beyond their shared time at the club.

“I still follow HSV very closely and feel fully involved. I try to watch every match, and so far, I’ve managed it. That includes the game against Hoffenheim, when my friend Miro scored a brilliant goal. I went absolutely mad. I was unbelievably happy for him.”

When a video message from Miro and “Capi”, along with team manager Mats Wesling, is played on his phone, he bursts out laughing as soon as the preview appears on screen.

“Just look at those two clowns…” he jokes.

While Daniel Elfadli still keeps one eye on HSV, the club’s wider community is keeping an eye on him, too. The story of the Leonberg-born defender is simply too much like a fairytale to ignore, especially now that he has also made his first Champions League appearance for LASK.

Incidentally, after the match, he managed to get hold of the shirt of Alexis Mac Allister, Liverpool’s number 10 and a 2022 World Cup winner, with a little help from his Argentine friend “Capi”.

“I went up to him after the game and reminded him, in my best Spanish, that I’m Nico’s mate. He knew exactly what I meant and gave me his shirt,” laughs “Fadli”.

He is fully aware of just how surreal these moments and encounters are for him.

“It’s difficult to describe how I’ve developed as a player. It feels like a film. I’m the lead actor, but somehow it doesn’t feel real. It’s hard to get your head around. It always takes time for things to sink in. But in football, everything happens so quickly that, as a person, you don’t really have time to process it all. I take in every moment, the good and the bad, and I’ll probably only fully realise what it all means when I look back in a few years’ time.”

His latest career highlight has given him a particular boost.

“I chose this move above all because it offered me the chance to play in European competition. I could never have dreamed of having that opportunity. It’s the biggest stage you can play on. The ultimate benchmark.”

Back in the day, he and his brother used to recreate Champions League matches out on the street. European football nights in the Elfadli household were shaped by Barcelona’s glorious tiki-taka era and the exploits of world footballer of the year Lionel Messi. Now he is playing on that very same grandest stage of club football, facing opponents such as Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola and Virgil van Dijk.

Looking out towards the Danube in Upper Austria, one question remains: what drives an athlete who has already pushed so many boundaries?

“I love football, and I simply enjoy a challenge. When things aren’t going well, finding a way out of that situation – those are the best moments for me. The one thing I’d tell everyone is to keep going and never give up.”

Words that perfectly encapsulate his life.

The next challenges are already waiting. Life on the pitch has changed for Daniel Elfadli at LASK, too. Until the next international break, he and the Black and Whites face nothing but midweek-and-weekend fixtures: seven matches in 21 days.

He has already played the first of them, featuring in LASK’s 4–0 win away to Austria Lustenau last weekend, when he completed his first full 90 minutes for the club. And tonight, in Portugal, it will be time once again, at 9 pm against Sporting Lisbon, to hear those familiar words:

“Die Meister, Die Besten, Les grandes équipes, The Champions.”

The lad from Leonberg who never stopped chasing his dream will be right in the thick of the action once again.

Who would ever have imagined it?