Natural centre-back Hafellner set to bring talent, maturity and perspective from Austria to MacEwan
Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – All it took was one meeting.
Austrian Andreas Hafellner and MacEwan Griffins men's soccer head coach Adam Loga met on a virtual call, and it was quickly apparent the centre-back and the program were a perfect match.
"We were blessed to really connect," said Loga, who introduced the newest addition to his 2021-22 Canada West recruiting class on Friday. "Some recruit calls don't last too long, but ours ended up lasting close to an hour and a half, just chatting about life and everything.
"We just hit it off. It just took one call. We clicked."
The 6-foot-2½ native of Proleb, Austria will join a Griffins team that has been trying to convert wing-backs into centre-backs in recent seasons.
Loga said it was a must to get a natural centre-back for the position, which is so key to a team's success at the U Sports level.
"Just being a natural centre-back is going to help us tremendously," said Loga. "And for our current centre-backs, as they were converted, it will help them learn the position a little bit more.
"As a team, it will give us a lot more options in terms of different looks, our team shape in all phases of the game. We could go to a back line of three or four. We just can be really creative with how we want to do things knowing we have a true centre-back."
The third European in Loga's 2021-22 recruiting class – following the additions of Germany's Jakob Sievert and Denmark's Alvin Mazaheri – Hafellner brings maturity and high-level experience to the Griffins.
In 2017, as captain of Kapfenberger SV in Austrian province Styria's highest youth league, he attracted second division pro interest, but his dream was sidelined before it began when he tore his ACL in 2018.
"Going through that kind of a setback and having the perseverance and will to come back is huge," said Loga of the knee injury, which sidelined Hafellner for eight months. "He's from a small town in Austria – in a family of farmers – and we all know farmers usually have a high work rate and they're givers, doing a selfless job providing food for their community."
Once he recovered and made an impact with his hometown team FC Proleb, Hafellner needed to satisfy Austria's mandatory six-month military commitment, putting third division pro interest on hold.
"When he rehabbed and went back to the farm, he was close to getting another pro deal in the third division, but he had to serve six months in the military," said Loga. "So, just the perspective he brings to the locker-room and the team will be such an asset. Having all that experience at 20, going on 21, stood out to us."
On the pitch, Hafellner has all the skills needed to propel the opposition's attack. He can also produce offence, as evidenced by recording four goals and six assists in his last 10 games with FC Proleb.
"In terms of individual play, his game is very simple; he doesn't overcomplicate things," said Loga. "He has a presence, big size and he's tidy out the back, which is nice. He can skip lines into the strikers' feet, etc., so all the things that we've been looking for.
"We have a lot of talent in front of him, so he doesn't have to overcomplicate anything, and just having that person who knows the position and can delegate from the back is important."
