The exit is dark to the light of the Atlanta Shield

The city of Bergamo did not experience many happy moments in the Corona era. In the heart of the province of Lombardy, it became one of the symbols of the outbreak in the boot country, a reminder of the Champions League match against Valencia last year which is still considered one of the catalysts for the spread of the virus. The picturesque city experienced bereavement and pain day after day.

But amidst all the chaos and horrible reality, Atlanta fans have won Bergamska Calcio (or Atlanta for short) a few moments of relief thanks to their offensive and exciting team. One of the main factors in the offensive style, comes from the left side of the defense, where Robin Gossens (26), the defender of La Dea (the goddess) stands in blue-black. This is the story of the anonymous defender from the German-Dutch border who turned in hard work and a lot of faith to intimidate the opponent’s defenses.

Gusens was born on July 5, 1994 in Emrich am Rhein in the northwestern part of Germany. He has a Dutch and German passport, as he was born in Germany to a German mother and a Dutch father. He has a sister named Chantal, who is two years younger than him and very close to his heart (so much so that they have common and compatible tattoos). Until the age of 18, he grew up only with his German passport and then applied for a Dutch passport, which gave him the right to choose between the national teams of the two countries.

Gossens’ connection to sports in his youth was not particularly surprising, since his family members are sports fans. His father, Holger, played for Fortuna Altan, which was the first stop where Robin began his professional career between 2000 and 2007, while his mother Martina was a good athlete. “I had a relatively late rash. Until the age of six I had nothing to do with football,” the defender said of the start. “As a kid I was always out a lot, but at first I didn’t want to do anything with the ball. My father was a football coach and he wanted me to start playing. As I got older, my love for football grew. When my dad brought me to training for the first time at Fortuna Altan, it connected right away. The love for football that has never waned, “Gossens explains, but adds an interesting detail about what was at stake in his career as a footballer:” I wanted to go my grandfather’s path and be a cop. When my grandfather put me in his police car when I was seven, I thought I would follow him. “He was not successful with football, I would probably go that route as a replacement. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t have to be a cop because I don’t think the job would have made me happy in the long run.”

At the same time as his career, Gossens enrolled in psychology, which is not a gimmick: he takes his studies very seriously and sometimes settles down to prepare for homework immediately after graduating, aiming to complete a master’s degree in sports psychology. On the field he rarely receives yellow cards and has never been sent off, and even outside he is considered a “good boy” and makes sure to maintain a healthy lifestyle – alcohol-free and almost no junk food. “Alcohol and fast food are a taboo for me, maybe I will start studying and specializing professionally in this subject as well,” the talented footballer laughed and added jokingly, “When it comes to parties, I can be the driver on duty.” On the marital side, Gossens shares his life with Rabi, who fits him like a glove next to someone who doesn’t often share her lifestyle on social media.

At the beginning of the journey, Gossens remained in Fortuna Altan until the age of 13, from where he moved to two years in F.C. Buchholt and three others in the VfL Rahda group. At that time, he finally reached the leap he had hoped for, when he was 18. The attacking left-back joined the youth department of the Dutch Vitesse Arnhem on July 4, 2012 and after a little over a year signed his first professional contract at the club on August 13, 2013. At that time the young defender He continued to stay at his parents’ house in Alten and drive 25 minutes to Arnheim.

The signing at the club was considered a bold move on his part, in exchange for a transfer fee of 900,000 euros, although there were a number of offers from well-known German clubs, including Borussia Dortmund (which in the media even trained but defined this period as a failure) and Bochum. “It is true that I had offers from these German clubs, but I made a conscious decision in preference to Vitsa, because the Netherlands put much more emphasis on the young and it was for me an ideal springboard for a better future. The most important thing for me at the time was discipline and a right mentality. I am not blessed with unique talent. “But in character, discipline and mentality, and that’s what set me apart at the time. The fact that I was invited to training in Dortmund showed that I must have had something,” recalled Gusens, who did not drop out of school, continued to live at his parents’ house and drove half an hour to Arnheim.

By the way, ex-Maccabi Tel Aviv Peter Boss was the one who recognized Gossens’ skills and promoted him to the Vitsa senior team. Although the future looked promising, Gossens failed to fit into Boss’s team and he was soon loaned to F.C. Dordrecht in the January 2014 transfer window, where he made his debut in a game that ended in a 1-1 draw against Excelsior in the Dutch sub-league. By the end of that season, Gossens had 16 appearances, in which he scored one goal and helped his team qualify for the Dutch Premier League. This success, caused him to stay on the team and become a regular car player the following year, but was relegated with it back to the sub-league at the end of that season, where he made 31 appearances and scored two goals.

Vitesse chose not to extend the contract with him and so Gossens found himself at the next stop in his career, moving on a free transfer to Hercules, where he signed a three-year contract. In his debut season, Gossens made 32 appearances and scored two goals, helping the team finish in sixth place in the Netherlands, which earned it a place in the Europa League qualifiers. In the local arena, Gossens added another 28 league appearances and two more goals, but this time his team finished only in tenth place. Nico-Jan Hogma, the Hercules manager who was a former defender, said of his professional impression of Gossens: “Robin can serve both as a left-back but also as a left-back. He is a talented player.” In fact, when it comes to his versatility, Gossens himself has repeatedly said that his role model is Bayern Munich’s David Alaba, who also plays a number in defensive positions and linking and is known for his attacking abilities.

In the summer of 2017, just before the age of 23, Gossens joined Atlanta. Since then, he has been getting better with each passing season with the black-and-blue shirt he has been getting better. If in his first two years he settled for a relatively low number of goals, then last season he was listed for no less than 9 goals and 8 assists, as part of the lethal attack of the team that scored 98 league goals and finished third, just five points from Juventus who were crowned champions. This season he has already scored nine goals and netted five.

Gossens has a significant part in the offensive arsenal that includes players like Duban Zapata, Luis Muriel, Josip Ilicic and others. His speed and control of the ball blend great with the spectacular style of coach Jan Piero Gasparini, and the defender provides a perfect combination for modern football between attack and defense. The fact that he prefers to play on short dedications also plays in his favor. To all this he adds an advantage over his opponents in air battles and he and quality key dedication. No wonder then that the move to Italy brought with it not only a professional but also an economic upgrade: the market value of Gossens at the time of the move was around one million euros and within three years exceeded the threshold of 30 million euros.

The deliberation on the selection of the national team he represented was not easy. He finally chose Germany (in the media he made his debut on August 25, 2020 against the Spanish team in the League of Nations) and it could be that this choice is related to the closer connection he felt to football in the country from childhood. Gossens himself did not hide his ambitions to play in the Bundesliga in the future in previous interviews, and even revealed the surprising goal – but not realistic at the moment: “My big dream will be to move to the Bundesliga. I want to fulfill that dream in my career. It’s definitely on my list of goals in the near term. Schalke 04 is a club that is close to my heart and it could have been fantastic to wear his uniform, but given the current events, it does not have much chance unfortunately because I am looking for a place where I can progress and develop. I hope the fans of the team will forgive me for that. ”

Elite clubs such as Inter, Juventus and Chelsea have already shown interest. Joachim Lev described Gossens as “a versatile player whose dynamism, enthusiasm and determination are impressive.” Gossens, for his part, was surprised by the respect and professional appreciation of the German coach towards him and said: “This is wonderful news for me. Until a few years ago I played in small and unfamiliar clubs and today I fulfill my dreams in the international arena. I am very proud of it. Go a long way – even if you are not discovered early. ” The Dutch national team will surely be sorry for the defender’s choice, as they see his great progress.