Occasionally, DFB.de highlights a first team player, who is set for a special weekend. This time: World Champion Sami Khedira, who is looking to win the Italian championship on Sunday with Juventus.
Sami Khedira is aiming to secure his seventh national title in his career on Sunday, when table toppers Juventus are travel to Fiorentina. Depending on the result of Monday night’s game between AS Roma and Juve’s closest pursuers SSC Napoli, “The Old Lady” could clinch the Scudetto with three games left to play.
Khedira has already won the Italian SuperCup at Juventus, while with Real he won the Spanish league title, two Spanish Cups and one SuperCup. In 2003 he claimed the Bundesliga title with VfB Stuttgart, giving Khedira six national titles in three different countries. Khedira has won much more than that though.
23 wins in 24 league games - Khedira and Juve on course for the title
In 2014 Khedira lifted the World Cup into the night sky in Rio de Janeiro. In the same year, he was crowned a Champions League winner with Real Madrid, who also went on to win the Club World Cup and the UEFA SuperCup. Furthermore, Khedira received a lot of honours during his youth career. In 2009 he won the European Championships with Germany’s U21 side, prior to that he won the German U19 and U17 championships with Stuttgart. This makes him a highly decorated player and now the Scudetto is firmly in his sights. After the season is finished, he will direct his attention on the European Championships in France.
Should Juve win their match on Sunday against Fiorentina and if Napoli can’t muster more than a draw in their game on Monday, the Italian record champions would have clinched their fifth straight league title. With four games left to play, Juve currently have a nine-point advantage over second-placed Napoli. On Wednesday evening, Juventus recorded a 3-0 victory over Miroslav Klose’s Lazio, extending their unbeaten run in the league to 24 games with 23 of those ending in victory. Khedira has scored five goals in 19 appearances this campaign - an impressive tally. Italy’s media can be harsh at times, but at the moment they have nothing but positives to report on the German World Champion.
“Khedira is a true pearl”
“Khedira is a true pearl, as he scores a goal worthy of being framed,” wrote daily newspaper La Repubblica on Khedira’s goal against Palermo last weekend. Corriero dello Sport wrote: “Khedira scores early and decides the game. Afterwards he gave the team stability, structure and experience.” After his goal in the local derby against FC Turin following an impressive solo-run the Gazzetta dello Sport praised Khedira on the highest level: “Khedira has a university degree in tactical intelligence, profiting from Turin’s mistakes and scoring a fantastic goal. He is there when the ball comes and it’s not by accident.” At the start of the year Tuttosport had already printed the following: “He is a type of Jedi without a lightsaber. The force is strong in him.”
Khedira is glad for the recognition in his new home: “In Italy, football - and particularly my type of play - is perceived and recognised differently. I’m accepted within the team and the club sees me the way I see myself.” Khedira isn’t just needed, he is