Since Tuesday, Karim Bellarabi has been getting to know the world of the World Champions. After making appearances for the under-20s and the under-21s, Bellarabi has been called up to the senior squad for the first time for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Poland on Saturday (kick-off 20:45 CEST), which will be played in Warsaw, and Ireland on Tuesday (kick-off 20:45 CEST) in Gelsenkirchen. The 24 year old Bayer Leverkusen player spoke about his first few hours with the DFB Team, his first impressions, his first conversations, the first training sessions in an exclusive interview with Steffen Lüdeke.
DFB.de: Mr. Bellarabi, you’ve been with the senior squad for a day now. How was your arrival into the first team?
Karim Bellarabi: I had a great welcome from everyone, the whole team, the sporting management and the support staff were very welcoming and kind. We’ve trained twice so far, I feel that I’m getting better and better and feel I am becoming more and more part of the squad.
DFB.de: You don’t know many of the players here on a personal level. Did that make it hard for you to become part of the team?
Bellarabi: That’s right, I only know André Schürrle from his time at Bayer Leverkusen. I stayed with him and he told me that I can always go to him about anything. But it was very easy with the others as well. Footballers always understand each other and you can see that quite a lot in this team. Up until now, it’s been enjoyable and I’m excited to get to know all the players a bit better over the coming week.
DFB.de: You’ve already had your first two training sessions with the DFB Team. Were you surprised by anything?
Bellarabi: No, not really. The quality is incredibly high but that’s what I expected. A lot of the best players in the world play for the World Champions. It’s a great experience for me to be able to play on the same pitch as them.
DFB.de: Over the summer, you trained to get fit on your own before the first training session with Bayer Leverkusen. It’s worked pretty well- you’ve hardly invested any more and you’ve already broken into the DFB Team. Is it really that easy?
Since Tuesday, Karim Bellarabi has been getting to know the world of the World Champions. After making appearances for the under-20s and the under-21s, Bellarabi has been called up to the senior squad for the first time for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Poland on Saturday (kick-off 20:45 CEST), which will be played in Warsaw, and Ireland on Tuesday (kick-off 20:45 CEST) in Gelsenkirchen. The 24 year old Bayer Leverkusen player spoke about his first few hours with the DFB Team, his first impressions, his first conversations, the first training sessions in an exclusive interview with Steffen Lüdeke.
DFB.de: Mr. Bellarabi, you’ve been with the senior squad for a day now. How was your arrival into the first team?
Karim Bellarabi: I had a great welcome from everyone, the whole team, the sporting management and the support staff were very welcoming and kind. We’ve trained twice so far, I feel that I’m getting better and better and feel I am becoming more and more part of the squad.
DFB.de: You don’t know many of the players here on a personal level. Did that make it hard for you to become part of the team?
Bellarabi: That’s right, I only know André Schürrle from his time at Bayer Leverkusen. I stayed with him and he told me that I can always go to him about anything. But it was very easy with the others as well. Footballers always understand each other and you can see that quite a lot in this team. Up until now, it’s been enjoyable and I’m excited to get to know all the players a bit better over the coming week.
DFB.de: You’ve already had your first two training sessions with the DFB Team. Were you surprised by anything?
Bellarabi: No, not really. The quality is incredibly high but that’s what I expected. A lot of the best players in the world play for the World Champions. It’s a great experience for me to be able to play on the same pitch as them.
DFB.de: Over the summer, you trained to get fit on your own before the first training session with Bayer Leverkusen. It’s worked pretty well- you’ve hardly invested any more and you’ve already broken into the DFB Team. Is it really that easy?
Bellarabi: No, there’s a lot more to it than that. I’ve reached that point in my career where I know exactly what I want and what I have to do to achieve it. Most of it is decided in your head- a lot is a question of motivation and mindset. I keep in mind that your behavior off the pitch is part of that too.
DFB.de: It sounds like this wasn’t always the case.
Bellarabi: Every player is young at some point, every player makes mistakes. I did too. But I learnt from them and at 24 I’m at the point where I know what does and doesn’t help me.
DFB.de: You followed the World Cup final at the training camp with Bayer Leverkusen. How far were you away from the senior national team on the 13th July?
Bellarabi: If I’m being honest, quite far away. Germany showed throughout the whole tournament that they were the best team in the world, the best team in the tournament and therefore, they deserved to win. That makes it even better that I know have the honour and pleasure of being able to be part of that team of players. I wouldn’t have believed that two or three months ago.
DFB.de: You’ve always said that it’s your dream to play for Germany. You decided not to play for Morocco, even though you are eligible to play for them because your father is Moroccan. How big is your connection to Morocco? Are there any parts of you that are Moroccan?
Bellarabi: The country is as much in my heart as Germany. My father comes from Morocco and a lot of my family are still in Morocco. I love the country, Morocco is my second home. It’s hard to say whether any of me is Moroccan. Possibly the way I look and my name.
DFB.de: Bellarabi means “the lovely Arab” and Karim something like “the giver, the generous.”
Bellarabi: Yes they’re both correct.
DFB.de: In which situations are you generous?
Bellarabi: In football I have learned that it is hugely important to work as a team. You can only have success when everyone works together and gives their all for the team. I’ll let us others decide how generous I am. What I can say is that I’m not egotistical. My family are always close to my heart, I have great affection for them.
DFB.de: In regards to generosity, you’ve also helped people outside of your family. You spent a lot of time in Braunschweig helping disabled people. How did you get involved with that and what experiences did you gain from it?
Bellarabi: Torsten Lieberknecht, my former coach in Braunschweig, suggested it to me. He wanted me to go there and pick up some experience. I was there for six months. Overall, it was an exciting and valuable time for me. It wasn’t always easy but it was definitely worth it. I learned a lot in my time there, including about myself.
DFB.de: Your career hasn’t always been easy. You missed most of the 2012/13 season with injury. How difficult was it for you to go so long without playing?
Bellarabi: Patience isn’t one of my strengths, but in hindsight I feel that the time was useful as it taught me a lot. In particular I learned to be grateful for the times I am fully fit. I also learned that you need to look after your body, your health and your fitness. I may have lost playing time due to my injury, but I gained a lot of knowledge.
DFB.de: Have you ever thought that you could be a World Champion if you didn’t pick up the injury? You have been selected a few months too late.
Bellarabi: No, I haven’t thought about that. As I said, I’m just grateful to be in the team. I want to learn and improve whilst I’m here. I’ll do my best and I hope that I’ll be selected again in the future.
DFB.de: How do you think you can improve as a player?
Bellarabi: I see potential for improvement in every element of my game. Under Roger Schmidt I have learned that I can’t neglect my defensive duties. Everything I have done with Bayer has been very important; I think that I continue improving all of the time.
DFB.de: How much do you hope that you can make your debut against Poland or Ireland this week?
Bellarabi: It would be a dream come true for me. I’ve worked hard to get here and I will continue to do so. It was an honour to receive a call-up – to get capped would be the icing on the cake.
