ter Stegen: During the course of the season, you’re so focussed on club football that you don’t spend ages thinking about international call-ups. Barca had some really important games at the end of the season. I was of course delighted when Andreas Köpke revealed the news.
DFB.de: You’ve joined up with the national team off the back of winning the double in Spain. How much adrenaline is still rushing through your veins?
ter Stegen: I’ll absolutely carry the success over into the tournament. I am very proud that in addition to the league title we were able to defend the cup – that’s a special achievement. I played in some important games.
DFB.de: The newspapers in Spain were full of praise for you after the cup final: "Messi and ter Stegen win the cup". How does this make you feel?
ter Stegen: I’m obviously delighted with the compliments. I played my part but a game is never won by just two players. The team performed brilliantly together. We played for 50 minutes with just 10 men and this increases the tension, especially in a cup final. It was all or nothing. We defended well and were rewarded.
DFB.de: There has been a lot written about your relationship with Bernd Leno and you’ve also previously said a lot.
ter Stegen: I don’t understand why this keeps coming up again and again. We understand each other, we have respect for each other, we train well, we laugh together. There simply isn’t an issue between us. We have a good, a very professional relationship. Everyone obviously wants to play as much as possible but that doesn’t mean that I would want anything bad to happen to the other players. At the end of the day, it’s all about the team’s success.
Marc-André ter Stegen has already won the league and cup double with Barcelona this season and is now on the verge of taking part in his first European Championship (10th June – 10th July). DFB.de caught up with the 24-year-old as he talked to Steffen Lüdeke about his season with Barca and his expectations for the upcoming weeks with Germany.
DFB.de: Mr ter Stegen, we actually wanted to talk to you yesterday but you weren’t keen to take part in the interview before the game against the U20s.
Marc-André ter Stegen: We’re fully focussed on the European Championship in France. That’s the reason why we’re here training, working and playing every day. The match against the U20s was a test. It was a big deal for them to play against us and the players were accordingly motivated. For me, it was clear that I can’t be distracted before the game. I’m always fully focussed before games and that’s the case with all friendlies too.
DFB.de: You won 7-0 and kept a clean sheet which must have been pleasing. You didn’t really have a great deal to do though.
ter Stegen: That’s true. I played 40 out of a possible 80 minutes. The U20s had their instructions and it was interesting to see how we reacted. They pressed quite high at occasions and then dropped deep. We kept changing players. The game was definitely good for us and I think that we performed relatively well.
DFB.de: The team have been preparing for EURO 2016 for three days now. What are your impressions so far?
ter Stegen: The DFB has once again worked flat out. The conditions are really fantastic. We greatly appreciate the effort that the DFB has put in to arranging everything. We can concentrate on the essentials and prepare to the best of our ability for EURO 2016.
DFB.de: How certain were you that Andreas Köpke would get in touch and say you were nominated for the preliminary squad?
ter Stegen: During the course of the season, you’re so focussed on club football that you don’t spend ages thinking about international call-ups. Barca had some really important games at the end of the season. I was of course delighted when Andreas Köpke revealed the news.
DFB.de: You’ve joined up with the national team off the back of winning the double in Spain. How much adrenaline is still rushing through your veins?
ter Stegen: I’ll absolutely carry the success over into the tournament. I am very proud that in addition to the league title we were able to defend the cup – that’s a special achievement. I played in some important games.
DFB.de: The newspapers in Spain were full of praise for you after the cup final: "Messi and ter Stegen win the cup". How does this make you feel?
ter Stegen: I’m obviously delighted with the compliments. I played my part but a game is never won by just two players. The team performed brilliantly together. We played for 50 minutes with just 10 men and this increases the tension, especially in a cup final. It was all or nothing. We defended well and were rewarded.
DFB.de: There has been a lot written about your relationship with Bernd Leno and you’ve also previously said a lot.
ter Stegen: I don’t understand why this keeps coming up again and again. We understand each other, we have respect for each other, we train well, we laugh together. There simply isn’t an issue between us. We have a good, a very professional relationship. Everyone obviously wants to play as much as possible but that doesn’t mean that I would want anything bad to happen to the other players. At the end of the day, it’s all about the team’s success.
