Two years ago he played in the Champions League final, and today he is in the ninth division in Germany

Niklas Süle was once considered one of the greatest prospects in German football and someone marked as a solid rock in the back line. He was destined to inherit the places of Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng in the center of the Mannschaft's defense, and at his peak, he won the biggest titles with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. But since then, the German defender's career has taken a sharp and particularly surprising turn, which led him from the Champions League straight to the amateur pitches.

After deciding to retire from professional football, the former defender found a particularly original way to return to the pitches and reconnect with the game. Süle signed with SV Tiefenbach from the ninth division in Germany, partly to play under his close friend who manages the team alongside his friends off the pitch. But instead of returning to his natural place in the center of the defense, the German decided to try his luck in the front line and take on a completely new role.

Today came the highlight of the new and amusing chapter in his career, when Süle recorded his debut goal for the amateur team. The defender who previously stabilized the strongest defenses in Europe functioned this time as a full-fledged center forward, and found the net for the first time in his new career up front. Süle's story proves that sometimes, even for the biggest superstars, the true love for football is found in the purity of the game, in the simple enjoyment and fun on the pitch.