"I won't make it to the very top of world football. My ceiling was lower—but that ceiling was still the Bundesliga," Felix Kroos wrote about the endless comparisons with his brother Toni. Your own achievements do not become any less significant just because someone else reaches even greater heights. Malek El Mala would do well to remember those words as he potentially makes his Bundesliga debut for Köln today.
The 21-year-old is also living in someone else's shadow. Dismissed as the brother you simply have to sign for the youth team if you want to get your hands on Saïd. That was the story circulating in the summer, when talk turned to the astronomical fee last Bundesliga season's breakout star might be sold for.
Malek El Mala, the add-on. That was how he was seen for a long time, but now he is on the verge of stepping onto football's biggest stage himself. He has earned it in his own right. Given the constant pressure to deliver results, no professional coach can be accused of handing out squad places lightly.
El Mala has already been named in the squad for two first-team matches, but has yet to come off the bench. That could change today against Union Berlin, his coach René Wagner hinted at the press conference: "In Malek, we have an out-and-out number nine in the squad who will have a role to play in games where we need that specific position."
He is benefiting from Köln's injury situation. Ragnar Ache, Thijs Dallinga and Imad Rondic are all out, opening the door to the first team. But that is nothing unusual for young players: most benefit at some point from established options being unavailable through injury or a dip in form.
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Even so, you have to put yourself forward at the right moment to get your chance. El Mala has scored five goals in eleven Regionalliga appearances. Most recently, he netted three times in two matches. In other words, he has put himself in a position to become an option for Wagner.
He is still very young. Twenty-one. A good age to develop and take your first steps in professional football. For Wagner, the reason it has not happened sooner is obvious: "We all know Malek's story. He's had a few injury problems along the way."
But now the breakthrough is supposed to come: "Malek is knocking ever louder on the door," Wagner said, according to 'Express', after last Tuesday's cup victory, which also came against Union Berlin. The coach also believes in a successful future for him: "We mustn't forget that Malek is still at the beginning of his career. If he keeps this up, his time will definitely come. Perhaps very soon."
Not everyone can take off the way Saïd El Mala did last season. Many young players need more patience and have to work hard for their playing time. Breaking free of comparisons with his hugely successful brother and appreciating his own career will be key for Malek.
He can learn from Felix Kroos here: "Something else was harder for me: at times, I started to belittle my own career and achievements," he wrote in a piece for 'Sports Illustrated'. "Even within my family, I sometimes felt that my success wasn't appreciated as much as it might have been without Toni's extraordinary career. That made me sad."
He said he had needed to remind himself that he had played 250 professional matches, and what an extraordinary achievement that was. A milestone that will forever remain a dream for many. "In the end, though, I had to look in the mirror and find my own yardstick. If someone had outlined the course of my career to me when I was 16, I would have signed up for it straight away," Kroos said.
That is what it is about for Malek El Mala, too: focusing on himself, following his own path and appreciating how hard it is simply to earn a place in a Bundesliga squad and be able to dream of making your debut. It is about fighting for every appearance so that, when he finally hangs up his boots, he has made the most of his abilities.
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Because while it may be difficult to face constant comparisons with your own brother, it is much harder to look in the mirror after your career and measure yourself against your own potential. To ask yourself whether you made the most of it all. At least if you have to admit that you did not get everything out of yourself.
That is the yardstick El Mala will also have to establish for himself. It is still far too early to say how high he can go. Will he make his Bundesliga debut? Achieve more? Or fall short of that? Where is his own ceiling, and has he reached it? In the end, those will be far more interesting questions than how his career compares with his brother's.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
