​FILE PHOTO – Hamburg’s Mario Vušković (L) takes part in the team’s training session. (is associated with: «’Dark, not so nice phases’ – Four-year ban ends for Hamburg’s Vušković») Gregor Fischer/dpaHamburg defender Mario Vušković says he never considered quitting despite some difficult times during his four-year doping ban.The Croatian is set to make his comeback later on Sunday in a friendly against home-town club Hadjuk Split in front of around 50,000 fans at the Volksparkstadion. His Bundesliga debut could come in the Northern derby at Werder Bremen next Sunday.”For me, giving up is not an option. No matter what. We always said that we would fight until the end. We have done that,” he told the Hamburg club website.”Of course there were also dark, not so nice phases. But with an environment of good people like family and a circle of friends, everything is much easier.”His last game for Hamburg was on November 9, 2022, when the club were in the German second tier. After a positive test for the substance erythropoietin (EPO), he was banned for two years by the German Football Federation in 2023.More than a year later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) increased the sanction to four years. Vušković, who turns 25 on Monday, has vehemently denied doping and Hamburg have always backed him. He has been out for 1,467 days.”Four years is a long time, so I have thought about it countless times. It is a big moment for me, my family, the fans and the club,” he said.”I actually don’t want to be in the spotlight so much. There has been a lot going on in recent days, perhaps a little too much. There is simply so much fuss about me.”Vušković, whose brother Luka was at Hamburg last season before joining Brighton, has kept fit over the years thanks to a personal trainer.He said that “the feeling for the pitch and space had not come easily to him” once he was allowed to resume training with the team in September.”When we played 11-on-11 or eight-on-eight and I had to ask myself how I should behave. When could I go forward with the ball? When can I defend aggressively? When should I rather stay in the back line?” he added.