DFB.de regularly takes a look at a member of the Germany team, who has a particularly special weekend coming up. Today: Shkodran Mustafi, who will have to deal with Lionel Messi on Sunday when FC Valencia take on FC Barcelona (21:00 CET).
FC Valencia are in some animal trouble. Firstly, with Batman. The most famous bat in the world, or rather the rights holder DC Comics, wants to take action on the badge of the Spanish club. After a redesign, the bat now looks too much like the American comic figure and the publisher is now preparing to take the club to court in New York. The other problem is the fact that Valencia will come up against a “flea” on Sunday, in the form of goal scoring maestro Lionel Messi.
The Argentina international has just set a new goal scoring record in the Champions League after he scored goal number 74. He also set a new record in the Spanish league after his hat trick for FC Barcelona against FC Sevilla saw him reach 253 goals in the Primera Division. 27-year-old Messi is now the top goal scorer in Spanish league history after overtaking legend Telmo Zarra, who had previously held the record for a number of years.
Three goals already for centre-back Mustafi
The task of Shkodran Mustafi won’t be to score more goals on Sunday. Even though the World Champion lost the aerial battle with Victor Casadesus that led to the goal to make it 1-0 in last Sunday’s derby against Levante, Mustafi, who moved to Spain from Genoa before the season, is a permanent fixture in Valencia’s back line. He has played all 90 minutes of the first eight games and the centre-back has already scored three goals.
He had to adapt from the tactical football played in Italy to the high tempo games in Spain. “The pace is so quick in Spain that you have to sometimes think three passes ahead: If you don’t think where there ball will go next then it’s too late,” said Mustafi, who made his presence felt against both Gibraltar, in the EURO 2016 qualifier, and the friendly against Spain, most recently in an interview with 11Freunde. “The experience continues to help me to develop further because I wasn’t used to this tempo from my time in Italy. Because Italian football is so tactical, the games lack pace.”
Things moved quickly to become a World Champion
It’s not only Spanish football that Mustafi will have to get used to, but also his new status. Things have moved quickly for the son of an Albanian immigrant from a small town in North Hessen to a world famous football star. “Everyone knows you,” explained Mustafi in the magazine. “And it’s not just in my home town of Bebra- it’s everywhere. In Frankfurt airport, in Düsseldorf airport- that wasn’t the case previously. Even your teammates look at you differently. You run with a slightly wider chest at your opponents. I’ve achieved something that very few people achieve and I’m proud of that. Yes, I’m a World Champion and I’ll try to remain cool.”
Mustafi was called up for the World Cup at the last minute after Marco Reus got injured in the final friendly before flying to Brazil. “Everything went so quickly that I had no chance to realise what was actually happening. I was suddenly on a plane to Brazil and on the way back we had the gold trophy on board. I believe that it’ll take some time for me to come to terms with what I have actually achieved.”
Breakthrough in Genoa
Although Mustafi became a World Champion so quickly, success hasn’t always been easy. He worked for many years to try and achieve his dream of becoming a professional footballer- and from a young age. At the age of 14, he moved from Hessen to far up in the north. He moved from SV Rotenburg to the youth academy at Hamburger SV. Three years later, he moved even further away- to England and FC Everton, which is where he became a professional and made his debut in the Europa League.
But it wasn’t until he got to Genoa that Mustafi, who played in all the DFB youth teams from Under-16s upwards, first caught the eye of the Germany coaches. He made his first team debut in May against Poland in Hamburg and went on to play in the World Cup opener against Portugal. Mustafi got injured in the last 16 game against Algeria, but nevertheless, it ended in a historic triumph and a new life.
“You struggle with things in your daily life”
“Suddenly it seemed normal to buy a 200,000 Euro car and normal to spend 400 Euros on food during an evening with family or friends,” explained Mustafi to 11Freunde. “You quickly forget that you only had 400 Euros a month when you are in the academy. To win such a title as a young player and to celebrate with everyone and to still keep your feet on the ground- that’s not very easy. You struggle with things in your daily life.”
The recipe for success for the World Champions: to keep in contact with old friends and especially family. “It’s normal for me to see them at six o’clock in the morning as they go to work. I see that they work hard and earn maybe 1800 to 2000 Euros a month and at the end of that they don’t have any left. That’s the right way to live. And not the life that I lead. What I am living is a dream that many people dream about but very few achieve. I don’t have to have the most expensive things. I don’t have to have the most expensive car. I don’t need taps made of gold.”
[mmc/fs]
DFB.de regularly takes a look at a member of the Germany team, who has a particularly special weekend coming up. Today: Shkodran Mustafi, who will have to deal with Lionel Messi on Sunday when FC Valencia take on FC Barcelona (21:00 CET).
FC Valencia are in some animal trouble. Firstly, with Batman. The most famous bat in the world, or rather the rights holder DC Comics, wants to take action on the badge of the Spanish club. After a redesign, the bat now looks too much like the American comic figure and the publisher is now preparing to take the club to court in New York. The other problem is the fact that Valencia will come up against a “flea” on Sunday, in the form of goal scoring maestro Lionel Messi.
The Argentina international has just set a new goal scoring record in the Champions League after he scored goal number 74. He also set a new record in the Spanish league after his hat trick for FC Barcelona against FC Sevilla saw him reach 253 goals in the Primera Division. 27-year-old Messi is now the top goal scorer in Spanish league history after overtaking legend Telmo Zarra, who had previously held the record for a number of years.
Three goals already for centre-back Mustafi
The task of Shkodran Mustafi won’t be to score more goals on Sunday. Even though the World Champion lost the aerial battle with Victor Casadesus that led to the goal to make it 1-0 in last Sunday’s derby against Levante, Mustafi, who moved to Spain from Genoa before the season, is a permanent fixture in Valencia’s back line. He has played all 90 minutes of the first eight games and the centre-back has already scored three goals.
He had to adapt from the tactical football played in Italy to the high tempo games in Spain. “The pace is so quick in Spain that you have to sometimes think three passes ahead: If you don’t think where there ball will go next then it’s too late,” said Mustafi, who made his presence felt against both Gibraltar, in the EURO 2016 qualifier, and the friendly against Spain, most recently in an interview with 11Freunde. “The experience continues to help me to develop further because I wasn’t used to this tempo from my time in Italy. Because Italian football is so tactical, the games lack pace.”
Things moved quickly to become a World Champion
It’s not only Spanish football that Mustafi will have to get used to, but also his new status. Things have moved quickly for the son of an Albanian immigrant from a small town in North Hessen to a world famous football star. “Everyone knows you,” explained Mustafi in the magazine. “And it’s not just in my home town of Bebra- it’s everywhere. In Frankfurt airport, in Düsseldorf airport- that wasn’t the case previously. Even your teammates look at you differently. You run with a slightly wider chest at your opponents. I’ve achieved something that very few people achieve and I’m proud of that. Yes, I’m a World Champion and I’ll try to remain cool.”
Mustafi was called up for the World Cup at the last minute after Marco Reus got injured in the final friendly before flying to Brazil. “Everything went so quickly that I had no chance to realise what was actually happening. I was suddenly on a plane to Brazil and on the way back we had the gold trophy on board. I believe that it’ll take some time for me to come to terms with what I have actually achieved.”
Breakthrough in Genoa
Although Mustafi became a World Champion so quickly, success hasn’t always been easy. He worked for many years to try and achieve his dream of becoming a professional footballer- and from a young age. At the age of 14, he moved from Hessen to far up in the north. He moved from SV Rotenburg to the youth academy at Hamburger SV. Three years later, he moved even further away- to England and FC Everton, which is where he became a professional and made his debut in the Europa League.
But it wasn’t until he got to Genoa that Mustafi, who played in all the DFB youth teams from Under-16s upwards, first caught the eye of the Germany coaches. He made his first team debut in May against Poland in Hamburg and went on to play in the World Cup opener against Portugal. Mustafi got injured in the last 16 game against Algeria, but nevertheless, it ended in a historic triumph and a new life.
“You struggle with things in your daily life”
“Suddenly it seemed normal to buy a 200,000 Euro car and normal to spend 400 Euros on food during an evening with family or friends,” explained Mustafi to 11Freunde. “You quickly forget that you only had 400 Euros a month when you are in the academy. To win such a title as a young player and to celebrate with everyone and to still keep your feet on the ground- that’s not very easy. You struggle with things in your daily life.”
The recipe for success for the World Champions: to keep in contact with old friends and especially family. “It’s normal for me to see them at six o’clock in the morning as they go to work. I see that they work hard and earn maybe 1800 to 2000 Euros a month and at the end of that they don’t have any left. That’s the right way to live. And not the life that I lead. What I am living is a dream that many people dream about but very few achieve. I don’t have to have the most expensive things. I don’t have to have the most expensive car. I don’t need taps made of gold.”
