Shkodran Mustafi first joined the Germany national team in March 2014 for the friendly match against Chile. Upon his arrival and first encounter with teammates, coaches and caretakers, he revealed an important characteristic: Mustafi is quite a laid-back guy, who spared his new colleagues the pressure of pronouncing his first name correctly. “Hi, I’m Musti,” he announced. Ten months and a major international competition later, there is a new way of addressing Shkodran Mustafi: In an interview with Die Welt, the World Cup winner admitted being called “Mr. World Champion” by some.
The triumph in Brazil has turned the life of the 22-year-old completely on its head. But this isn’t a new experience for Mustafi, as change in his life has occurred rather consistently over the years. Mustafi, born to Albanian parents, has already played professional football in Germany, England, Italy and Spain. That’s a lot of new experiences and new influences in such a short timeframe and at such a young age – it’s rather unusual, but is it also unreasonable? “Sometimes you do ask yourself if everything you’ve done really was such a good idea,” admits Mustafi.
Learning from relatives in Albania
The question is answered easily with a yes once Mustafi begins to speak. He reflects back to past events, approaches life in a relaxed way, but at the same time keeps his focus. There is nothing superficial about the defensive all-rounder. Many of his family members still live in Albania and “Mr. World Champion” still learns from them today. “When I speak with them I realise what great worries some people have in this world. It makes me feel stupid to think that we football players are exposed to a lot of stress, because there are far greater problems out there. I regard myself very fortunate to be able to live the lifestyle that I do and that I get paid to play football.”
Mustafi is an intelligent and highly capable football player, but still went under the radar for quite a long time. His name was only known by true experts before the summer. “Barely anyone knew my name in Germany before the World Cup. But I frequently get recognised now after winning the title,” explained the Valencia CF defender. That’s the story of how “Musti” became “Mr. World Champion”.
The new way of addressing him is factually correct, but Mustafi is well aware of a different side of things alongside all the sparkle and praise. Obviously he enjoys being reminded of Brazil and he is immensely proud of the title, of course. But Mustafi sees a danger in constantly being reminded of the old glory days, as it could result in the future being neglected and that’s something he wants to avoid. “I also have to blank out the success at times,” he says. “There are new goals to achieve. We play a game every weekend and I can’t constantly remind myself that I’m a World Cup winner.”
Prior to his move to Valencia, Mustafi made sure that he wasn’t going to be a type of trophy. He didn’t want to join a new team just to stand out from the crowd; he wants to help his side with solid performances. “I wanted to join a team where I can make a name for myself. Not Mustafi the World Champion, but Mustafi the footballer – reliable and desirable.”
“I feel great”
It’s a feat that Mustafi appears to have accomplished easily, going by his first six months in Spain. The Germany international feels at home; his integration on the pitch and at a personal level has been a complete success. “I feel great here,” he said. “We have a great team and the environment is superb as well. Playing on a regular basis is very important to me.” And he does make regular appearances in Valencia’s starting XI since returning from a muscle injury which he sustained in Germany’s last 16 victory against Algeria in Brazil. Mustafi has played every game over the full distance since matchday 5, scoring three goals in the process. Valencia are currently fourth, just five points behind table-toppers Real Madrid.
Things are working out well for Valencia and Mustafi and the new year started with a great triumph. Valencia hosted Real Madrid and “Mr. World Champion” was able to celebrate a 2-1 victory against his DFB-Team colleagues Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira.
