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One of the most popular songs in the stadium of 1. FC Köln is "Ujah is a Kölsche Jong". It is dedicated to Anthony Ujah who has won the Cologne fans' hearts and minds since joining the club two years ago.
When the Nigerian striker begins to talk about his club and the city of Cologne, his enthusiasm becomes almost contagious. It seems like club and player have searched and found each other. In his interview with DFB.de the goal-getter talks about his relationship to Cologne, his chances to play the World Cup in Brazil, as well as about his activities off the pitch.
DFB.de: You’ve just celebrated your second carnival in cologne. How did you feel?
Anthony Ujah: It always feels great, because Cologne without carnival, it’s like a one-month-old child without a mother. Carnival is very big here in Cologne and it’s one of the most exciting things that I have experienced, so I came here and I looked forward to it every year. So this was my second carnival and it was a little better than the first one, because I was on "the Zug" 'cause the last time I was on the ground. Now I could see the whole thing, how it is for everyone and I could see how many people came out. This is amazing and for me it’s a very good experience and I’m really looking forward to the next one!
DFB.de: It was also better because you’re now on top of the league table, right?
Ujah: Exactly! Last year it was very difficult because of our position, but now it’s much better. It’s special, because being on the first position makes everything easier and more fun with the fans.
DFB.de: More emotional too?!
Ujah: Yeah exactly! The cologne fans are very emotional and crazy about their club.
DFB.de: It seems that you’re very closely connected to the lifestyle of Cologne…
Ujah: Yes! I don’t think I would need a navigation system to get to any place in Cologne, I know my way around now. I can have a friend over, and then I have many choices where we could go, places to show them in the city. I’m more familiar with the city now. I enjoy every moment and I couldn’t ask for more.
DFB.de: Does the Cologne lifestyle remind you of the lifestyle in Nigeria?
Ujah: Yeah, first of all, the places I’ve been before in Norway or in Mainz I kind of missed home a lot. But since I’m in Cologne I’m feeling really well, I'm making plans for the future and inviting my family, everything makes me feel good. I never was able to invite any of my family in all the places I’ve been before because after six month my future was unsure. It took a long time to get my family here due to the visa procedures and I don’t want them to come when I’m not really settled or something could happen, or I would have to move anytime. Coming here to Cologne changed everything, and I don’t miss a thing anymore.
DFB.de: The fans appreciate this. They even sing "Ujah is a Kölsche Jong", about you. How does this make you feel?
Ujah: It’s a little surprising for me because sometimes you have to do things to make them like you. But I’ve been myself and they like who I am and sometimes I ask: "What makes me different from all the other players?" and I’ve come to the point where I say to myself: "Yeah, this is something you cannot change; it's nothing you can make happen deliberately", and then I just accept it and enjoy every moment I have with them. The fans have been amazing to me since I came here and when I look forward into the future I just hope I can continue to make them happy on the pitch and continue to give my best for the club because for me it’s more than just playing for a club. It’s like a home and everything for me. I feel really well here and I want it to continue like this.
DFB.de: Maybe it's the way you play, which is very physical that the fans appreciate. You don’t avoid any tackles or battles and it seems like you never give up. Is this the reason for your popularity with the fans?
Ujah: I really don’t know, maybe. I always try to give everything, sometimes we have bad games but I never go on the pitch telling myself "this game I will not do something good". I always have this positive thinking because when you see how much the fans are giving you, you automatically also want to give 100 percent. Everywhere we go they follow the team and even if we’re having bad results they still cheer for us. They are never negative towards us and this is one of the reasons I feel like I have to give something back to them by giving 100%. So even if we’re losing they can be proud of us for giving everything. I think this philosophy is in the whole team, as you can see in our last results where we came back from losing to winning. This attitude is something that we give back to the fans. Of course we don’t always want to go down first, we want to score first, but when something goes wrong we have this mentality to come back and this is something your fans want to see from you. For me as a player it's something that I've always had since coming here and the support is like an extra energy for me and the team.
DFB.de: Just like in the game against Cottbus, where you beat them in the last 10 minutes.
Ujah: This was amazing. Sometimes it’s kind of interesting to win a game in moments like that. I think that’s what makes football special and that’s the reason why everyone loves it. But we don’t want to go down and come back late like this in every game. We want to score first, to kill the game before the last ten minutes. But this is football and when something goes wrong and it doesn’t go well then we have the ability to change it and we do it.
DFB.de: There have been a few Nigerian players in the Bundesliga that have also been very famous, like Jay-Jay Okocha or Jonathan Akpoborie. Can you remember them?
Ujah: Yes! Jay Jay Okocha is one of the greatest players Nigeria ever had and Sunday Oliseh, who also played for FC Köln, was one of the greatest Captains. I read a lot about these players. They were in the newspapers a lot. When I became professional I heard a lot of stories about them. I heard about Akpoborie as well but Okocha and Oliseh are the two names that will always be in Nigerian football history forever.
DFB.de: Were these players a reason for you to go to the Bundesliga, too?
Ujah: Yes. People also talk about many Nigerians not having success in the Bundesliga. They have this mentality that it’s a very difficult league and that it doesn’t suit every player. For example Obafemi Martins: he came to Wolfsburg and left very quick and a couple of other players. But these negative comments are like a motivation to me and also a challenge. I don’t want to have a life that is easy from the beginning, I had no fear. All I did was to accept the challenge. My first year wasn’t that easy in Mainz, but I never gave up. When I had the opportunity I took it, but I didn’t have the opportunity again but I showed when I have it I could use it. And that’s the reason why I left Mainz. I wanted to show why I came to Germany and that’s why I left to Cologne. They gave me the chance to play. I know, I still have to develop to become a better player, but I think this is the right place to do it.
DFB.de: Is German football or the Bundesliga very famous in Nigeria?
Ujah: Yes it is! There are only four leagues that are shown in pay-TV in Nigeria: Premier League, Seria A, Primera Division and the Bundesliga. But the focus has come on the Bundesliga due to the Champions League final between Dortmund and Bayern last year. In my city especially it is very famous because we have a lot of Cologne jerseys over there and I think we have now more Cologne fans there (laughs).
DFB.de: 1. FC Köln played a great season until the winter break. Now it seems like your lightness has gone. How do you think about it?
Ujah: The first five games we got our rhythm and we kept it going, killing games earlier. We wish to get this rhythm back. We hope we can get back this feeling from the beginning of the season. We knew it would become very difficult; we raised the bar very high. Many teams want to get promoted to the Bundesliga and the battle between the teams is getting stronger now. We just have to be calm and find our way back to the way we were.
DFB.de: There has also been some criticism of your partnership with Patrick Helmes. Is it a topic between the both of you?
Ujah: Not really! The last games we didn’t start together, that showed us that we can't start every game together. It depends on the game, it’s the coach's choice whether we start with one or two strikers. He played in Aue, I played in Cottbus and that’s okay for us. We just want to help the team. Patrick is a very experienced player who has scored many goals during his career and all I can do is to learn from him, so I have to listen to him a lot. That’s my position for this year.
DFB.de: When you play with Cologne in the Bundesliga, you could be a permanent part of the starting-eleven, which was not possible in Mainz. Why couldn’t you succeed over there?
Ujah: It’s easier for me here at Cologne, because I spent more time in this team and I know the environment and the mentality which also helps me because coming to a new place and starting a new life and breaking into a team that has already been existing is something difficult. In Cologne I had more time to get to know the team and the system. This is my second year and when we finally do go up to the Bundesliga it would be the perfect scenario for me because I already know many teams here. I know I would have to fight even stronger for my place in the team, because there would be more high-quality players, but I think it’s easier for me to rise with Cologne than to come into a new team where you have to start from the very beginning.
DFB.de: So it’s a question of experience?
Ujah: Exactly.
DFB.de: How are your chances to get invited to the national team and to play the World-Cup with Nigeria?
Ujah: At the moment it’s difficult, because the team that won the African Cup is the most preferred team. I’m not saying it’s impossible to break in, but it’s difficult. I’ve had some conversations with the coach and he told me that I was still young and I had time. They are looking for a team that can develop in the next years which makes me think positively. I’ve played four times now for my country which is a big honour. It’s a very big nation with over 160 million people and playing for them is something that you will cherish for the rest of your life. I will have to continue working hard, and the success with Cologne will raise my chances to get nominated. I’ve got to stay positive and hopefully I will get nominated.
DFB.de: But the dream to play the World-Cup still exists?
Ujah: Exactly! Every player dreams about playing tournaments like this. For me personally it would be one of the greatest achievements in my career and I would cherish it forever. As a Nigerian I now support the guys who are there right now, but individually I would like to play the World Cup.
DFB.de: How does it feel to play for the "Super Eagles"? What is different about the atmosphere in the national team and a European team, for example Cologne?
Ujah: The feeling and the atmosphere is very different. The guys are speaking so loud, we’re all from the same country. We have our own style of the English language, not like the official English and it’s a lot more fun because everyone understands everything. In Cologne I have some German players, some Polish players, some Norwegian. So in the national team, speaking to them in the same language makes everything more familiar.
DFB.de: In your group you play against Argentina, which is the big favourite, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran. What is the aim in this group for Nigeria?
Ujah: It will be very difficult against Argentina, because they have been playing very well the last couple of years and we don’t know why we always get drawn into their group at the World-Cup. Everyone in Nigeria was like: "not again, not again". I think our chances against the other teams are better than against Argentina, not because we’re underrating them, but because we should think positive. I'm not saying we're giving up on our match against Argentina, because everything is possible in football and we hope we'll survive the group stage.
DFB.de: What is the strength of your team? Is it the defence or the offence?
Ujah: It’s the defence, because we had the defensive line that played the whole African Cup together. They had a really good understanding together and also to the midfielders, especially with John Obi Mikel. I think when we stay organised and play a good defence then we have better chances to play a good offence, too. We have some high quality players in the offence as well, but for us it’s more important to be organised as a team. I’ve been there and I know how the coach wants it to be organised and with him we’ve had some good results in the past years.
DFB.de: Who is your favourite to win the World-Cup in Brazil?
Ujah: Brazil! I would like to say Germany but I think Brazil is the favourite. I’ve been impressed by their performance at the Confederations Cup where I was. It’s not just because they are playing at home, but I think they have something new in their team which reminds the people of former Brazilian national teams. And of course the fans as well, it’s always great for the home team to know that the main part of fans in the stadium is cheering for you. Besides Brazil I think there are Argentina and Germany and some other strong nations.
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DFB.de: What do you think about the German team?
Ujah: Like I said, they’re one of the favourites. They have showed their class in every tournament. But they need players like Gomez and Klose to be fully fit, because those guys will guarantee you goals at any time. I hope they will be fully fit because I will also support Germany, except when they play Nigeria. So it will be important to get both, Gomez and especially Klose, who is old but still a very good striker. I know Germany has a strong team and the fans expect a lot from them.
DFB.de: So you've had a close look at our strikers! You have a lot of German players at your own team at Cologne. Who of them could make the German national team a little better right now?
Ujah: I think Yannick Gerhardt. He is very young, but I think in one or two years he could help them. Since I came to Germany, I’ve seen a lot of young players develop very quickly, for example Julian Draxler. Yannick has a strong heart and no fear. When I came here, he was playing for the youth team and suddenly he came to the first team not wasting any time. You can see something special in him, for his position, having the heart and keeping the ball like he is an old player which is something unusual for someone his age. I think these are the reasons why he could add something to the team, because age doesn’t matter, just the way you approach football.
DFB.de: You are very active in using twitter, the most active player in Cologne, aren’t you?
Ujah: Yes. It’s something I get much fun from, but I try not to get too addicted to it, because tweeting everything gets you in trouble very quick. So I just try to have fun and it is also the fastest way to get in closer contact to your fans. I know sometimes fans can get angry when you don’t play well. They would post things like: "stop tweeting, go and score some goals". So you have to find a good balance. I hope I won’t get so frustrated that I will have to deactivate the account.
DFB.de: You are also active against racism. What exactly do you do? And what does it mean to you?
Ujah: Yes it’s the "kick it out"-program in Germany. Whenever they have to make videos or they come to Cologne I try to help them because this is something very important in football right now. I personally have never been a victim before but I can imagine what the guys who have experienced something like this have to go through. For me I just can give a lot of support to the youth that they get well educated and I like the way it has been going in Germany. And for the future I hope I can always give my support whenever it is needed.
