Gonzalo Castro had problems getting into the team after his transfer from Leverkusen to Dortmund, but has now begun to show how useful he can be to the team from Westfalen. His strongest performance to date in the yellow and black of Dortmund came in their DFB Cup game against Paderborn. In the second round, he scored twice and assisted twice in a 7-1 win. In this interview on DFB.de, the five-time international spoke about his recent rise in form, the Dortmund squad and Paderborn under their new manager, Stefan Effenberg.
Question: You scored two goals and got two assists in the 7-1 victory. How does it feel?
Gonzalo Castro: Wonderful. But in the cup, the only thing that counts is progressing to the next round, and we did that.
Question: Have you now arrived, as it were, at Dortmund?
Castro: I have been here a while. The games before today have been good, but I have only managed a goal or an assist. Today I got two of each, which is great.
Question: Dortmund went 1-0 down. Was that a moment of shock?
Castro: No, we know how good we are, especially at home. But mistakes can always happen, we are only human. But we then equalised and took the lead, and after that it was no problem.
Question: You were playing a second division team. Was it a special game, seeing as Stefan Effenberg was standing on the touchline?
Gonzalo Castro had problems getting into the team after his transfer from Leverkusen to Dortmund, but has now begun to show how useful he can be to the team from Westfalen. His strongest performance to date in the yellow and black of Dortmund came in their DFB Cup game against Paderborn. In the second round, he scored twice and assisted twice in a 7-1 win. In this interview on DFB.de, the five-time international spoke about his recent rise in form, the Dortmund squad and Paderborn under their new manager, Stefan Effenberg.
Question: You scored two goals and got two assists in the 7-1 victory. How does it feel?
Gonzalo Castro: Wonderful. But in the cup, the only thing that counts is progressing to the next round, and we did that.
Question: Have you now arrived, as it were, at Dortmund?
Castro: I have been here a while. The games before today have been good, but I have only managed a goal or an assist. Today I got two of each, which is great.
Question: Dortmund went 1-0 down. Was that a moment of shock?
Castro: No, we know how good we are, especially at home. But mistakes can always happen, we are only human. But we then equalised and took the lead, and after that it was no problem.
Question: You were playing a second division team. Was it a special game, seeing as Stefan Effenberg was standing on the touchline?
Castro: We were too much for Paderborn, but in the last two games they have showed stability under their new manager. The goal was a good moment for them, but when we started playing the scoreline soon changed.
Question: How important is it for the team that you won by such a big scoreline, rather than just 2-1?
Castro: On Sunday we lead Augsburg 3-0 and then wobbled, conceding a goal. We wanted to avoid that, so we pressed for more goals in the second half. We succeeded in that respect.
Question: Despite rotating the squad, Dortmund seem to be ever stronger as a team. Today you went without Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. How important is it to know that the team can function in different formations?
Castro: The whole team is strong and we need every player. We have a small squad, so when a couple are missing it’s important that others are there.
Question: How fun was the game today on a scale of one to ten?
Castro: Ten out of ten (laughs). But the important thing is that we have progressed to the next round.
