Kagawa about Reus and his BVB experience; Weidenfeller about his chances in the national squad
Dortmunds midfielder Shinji Kagawa about Marco Reus, his two most favored clubs and the Japanese fan-culture.
The transfer fee sounds ridiculous by now; Borussia Dortmund paid a Japanese second division club 350.000 Euros for Shinji Kagawa in summer 2010. One championship, a cured foot fracture and a whole lot of good performances later, the value of the small midfielder raised to even more than the fortyfold: 13 million Euros. Nearly as much as Borussia spent for the midfielder Marco Reus, who will join the squad in next summer.
Shinji Kagawa
about the Marco Reus transfer
I thought: Oh, we will get another super recruitment for the squad. Marco Reus is a young player on which the whole country is looking at. Based upon his style of play and adolescence, he will be a good match for us. I am only one and a half year in Dortmund but I saw that the club continually developed further. We became national champion and played in the Champions League. We compete at the top of the league and want to remain there in the future. Therefore, we need good recruitments in order to make progress. In this respect I can totally understand the signing of Marco Reus.
about the BVB as a championship contender
If you have a look at the standings you can see that there is definitely a chance to become champion, at last we are still on the second place. But we do not look this far ahead. The second half of the season just started. That is why we handle things like in the last season: We consider things from game to game. First, we have to deliver good performances in the first few games, that is the requirement. If Bayern Munich falters like in the last game versus Gladbach, we are of course happy.
about the physical constitution of the squad:
We had some difficult phases in the first half of the season, especially in the beginning. But we recovered as a team and henceforth played very well. Facing the end of 2011 there were several signs of fatigue in the squad, that?s true, but even then we did our job pretty well. But I feel that we still have a lot more potential as a team. That counts also personally for me. I think we can show a better performance in the second half of the season than in the first and therefore I am really looking forward to it.
about his impressions of Germany
I have really experienced a lot. I found my place in the squad right away and was successful. That really exceeded my expectations. Not that I could not imagine this, I am self confident, but of course I was a little bit unconfident in the beginning if everything will be working that good in my first year in Europe. The championship at the end of the season was of course great. I have to admit that the win of this title extended my imagination a little bit. And I will never forget how the fans lifted me up on their shoulders after the Derbysieg. It also showed me how important this victory was. First I was surprised of what the fans were doing with me, I have never experienced such a thing in Japan.
about his appreciation in Japan
The overall interest in European football heavily increased in the last years. There are also some Japanese players who play in Germany meanwhile. I personally also feel that when I am at home. Especially in Dortmund the people are very straightforward and open-minded. They step up to me without awe and talk to me. In Japan people are a bit more reserved. Sometimes they are just curious if someone appears who is prominent. They rarely step up to a well-known footballer directly; they prefer to watch him secretly. The fan culture in Japan is totally different.
about the Champions League elimination
I would have loved to play a little bit longer in the Champions League. But we developed ourselves through those games. They taught us that Champions League is no bed of roses and that you have to work hard to be successful in this competition. I have experienced it firsthand. But at the same time it was motivation for me to become better in order to compete in this top league.
about the interest of Manchester United and Milan FC
Rumors are always there. But they are still only rumors. I personally have no information about other clubs? interests. Therefore I do not really care. If it really will become relevant in the future, then I would be honored. Those are really well known clubs. But at the moment I am only interested in being successful here in Dortmund.
about his most favored clubs
Dortmund and Barcelona. But to play for Barcelona, a day would need to have more than 24 hours to enable me to train that much to reach the level of Barcelona. But for me as a player I am really happy about the fact that Borussia Dortmund is looking forward to extend my contract.
about the potential of competing with Bayern Munich
I think we will not be able fit in this role so quickly. In the Champions League we have unfortunately shown that we are not thus far at the moment. Otherwise we have a lot of players with really good perspectives. We still need a little bit of time, but things are looking good.
Interview by Oliver Müller
Source: http://www.welt.de/sport/fussball/bundesliga/borussia-dortmund/article13826934/Den-Derbysieg-gegen-Schalke-werd-ich-nie-vergessen.html
Weidenfeller: I never had a chance to become goalkeeper of the national squad.
Roman Weidenfeller from the current German champion Borussia Dortmund counts among the best German goalkeepers for years now but remains without one single international game.
You can just wonder yourself if you are playing for years for such a big club as Borussia Dortmund and without being appointed for the national squad. I never got a sportive chance from the DFB (German football association), but I have to accept it. I am just 31 years old, a balanced person and can totally commit myself to my club. I am satisfied with this situation. There are a lot of good German goalkeepers in our league, we do not have to worry about this position.
Source: http://www.reviersport.de/181107---roman-weidenfeller-hatte-beim-dfb-nie-chance.html
Humpi, 24.01.2012
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