Ex-Aston Villa star Thomas Hitzlsperger takes pride in first win over Birmingham City

Jul 23 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

HE MAY be back on home soil, but there’s still a part of Thomas Hitzlsperger that will remain forever Birmingham.

The former Villa favourite now captains VfB Stuttgart, who are emerging to recover former glories.

The midfielder, who was plucked from German youth football and spent five years at Villa Park, is the Bundesliga side’s figurehead and underpinning their drive for the Champions League group stages.

At the training camp here, Hitzlsperger crossed swords with the old enemy, Blues, again on Tuesday in a pre-season friendly at the Zell am See stadium.

And the man who used to be nicknamed ‘Der Hammer’ for his ferocious left-foot shot was delighted that he was able to register a victory over Alex McLeish’s side.

“It was great because it was the first time I’ve beaten them,” he smiled. “I tried on a few occasions but never managed it at Villa.”

Hitzlsperger left just before Villa ended their Blues derby hoodoo.

He played in two matches and was an unused substitute in another.

Most notably, in February 2004, he cracked a piledriver past Maik Taylor to put Villa 2-0 up in the 47th minute.

That was the afternoon of Blues’ remarkable comeback, when Mikael Forssell scored and then Stern John, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, equalised.

“Yes, I missed him in our game,” grinned Hitzlsperger wryly, “but even if he was still with Birmingham, we would have beaten them in the friendly.”

Hitzlsperger was predictably booed when his name was read out by the Blues fans who had made the journey to Austria.

And he seemed to relish his midfield scrap, especially in the first half against Blues’ central trio of Lee Carsley, Lee Bowyer and Damien Johnson. Just like old times.