So far this season, Zdravko Kuzmanovic has been on target nine times, making him joint top scorer at VfB Stuttgart along with Martin Harnik – and that as a defensive midfielder! In the first half of the season, Kuzmanovic notched up three goals but the Serbian has now doubled that tally since the re-start: "We all agreed during the winter break that we were going to drag ourselves out of the doldrums together as a team, after all we did land ourselves in this position. I’m really happy to be able to help the teams with my goals and performances," said Kuzmanovic on the day after the 2-1 win away to local rivals TSG Hoffenheim.
The right footer, who was born in Thun, Switzerland, showed his leadership qualities again on Saturday in Sinsheim as, with the score at 1-1, he snatched the ball and hammered home the spot-kick following Isaac Vorsah’s foul on Martin Harnik. The midfielder has scored four of his six goals since the winter break from the penalty spot. On Saturday, Kuzmanovic & Co. took a major step towards top flight survival.
Kuzmanovic has made 30 Bundesliga appearances so far this season. Having made a promising start, the man signed from AC Florence in summer 2009, then hit a dry patch – not managing a goal between the ninth and twenty-second match day. Against Leverkusen, the midfielder was on target as VfB twice came back from behind, but in the end lost 2-4. "We have always believed in ourselves and didn’t allow the setbacks we had to knock us off course. We now want to seal the s´deal against Hannover and secure our place in the top flight. We also want to give something back to our fans, who gave us tremendous support again yesterday. We owe them that," declared 'Kuz', as his team mates fondly refer to him.