His boss believes! Can this Bundesliga player become a wonder striker?

His boss believes! Can this Bundesliga player become a wonder striker?

"One miracle isn’t enough to stay up, it would take two," said Heidenheim’s Frank Schmidt at the start of March, when his team had just lost to Werder and were now eight points behind the relegation playoff spot. In recent weeks, however, one striker has kept hope of that double miracle alive.

For a long time this season, Budu Zivzivadze barely hit anything at all, and he also had to deal with a suspension after a red card and knee problems that kept him out for several months. But in what Sir Alex Ferguson once called "squeaky bum time" (roughly translated: the time when your nerves are shot; editor’s note), he has been fully there for Heidenheim, scoring three goals in FCH’s last three matches of the season run-in.

He was there, among other times, in the "all or nothing" game against St. Pauli, putting his side 1:0 up after just three minutes when he forced the ball over the line following a corner. In the end, Heidenheim won the match 2:0, a game in which defeat would already have meant certain relegation. Thanks to that win, not only has the inevitable been postponed, but the team at the bottom of the table has even crept to within four points of St. Pauli, who now occupy the relegation playoff spot, and can dare to hope again.

That means at least the first of the two miracles Frank Schmidt said would be necessary has probably already happened. The fact that his team can still believe in survival with three matchdays left is down to an incredible effort and Zivzivadze.

Between December 13, 2025 and April 11, 2026, they had failed to win a single Bundesliga match. They often came up short by the finest of margins, and even turned in good performances against some top teams. Really completely demoralizing, because it was never enough for three points. Until, yes, until Zivzivadze started scoring.

In the 3:1 win over Union Berlin three weeks ago,  had first scored twice, but then pulled one back in the 75th minute, which for a team that had gone so long without winning could very well have caused panic. But Zivzivadze, who had only been brought on minutes earlier, restored the two-goal cushion almost immediately, and Heidenheim celebrated their first win in what felt like an eternity.