Wagner: I still would say “established” means something a little more than that.
Question: Would you say you’re on the way to having such a role?
Wagner: I don’t know, I mean I’m almost 30 so we’ll have to see.
Question: Back to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, how difficult was it to prepare for the clash in Cologne?
Wagner: It wasn’t hard as such. We’re TSG Hoffenheim and our club is full of intelligent people who we all treasure. We need to make sure we don’t demand too much of ourselves as I said before the season started. We lost very important players and, in the past few weeks, Benjamin Hübner, Ermin Bicakic and others have been out injured who are crucial for us at the back. You can’t expect us to have such a good season as last year. For me, anywhere between fifth and tenth would be a solid finish. The Hoffenheim way is to integrate young players but that means you have occasional setbacks which you have to take on the chin. However, I think many teams in the Bundesliga would swap positions with us right now.
Question: You scored a penalty to make it 2-0. Were you always going to take the penalty after Andrej Kramaric missed one recently?
Wagner: He only missed one penalty. I agreed with Kerem Demirbay during the Wolfsburg game that we would share penalties. In the past, I’ve always taken penalties. My fellow strikers ain the Bundesliga also step up so I spoke to Kerem and told him that I should take some too. It’s easy scoring goals and, as journalists always focus on goalscoring records, I thought “Well, in that case, I’d like an easy goal too”.
Question: Did you intend to strike the ball for your second goal like that?
With five goals in five international appearances for the Germany national team, Sandro Wagner has an impressive record thus far in a Germany shirt. In the Bundesliga, Sandro Wagner scored a brace for 1899 Hoffenheim this weekend in a 3-0 win against 1. FC Köln. Those two goals doubled his tally for the season to four. The 29-year-old Confed-Cup winner spoke about his excitement ahead of Germany’s clashes with England at Wembley and against France in Cologne.
Question: Sandro Wagner, how did you take conceding a last minute equaliser on Thursday in the Europa League?
Sandro Wagner: Straight after the game in Istanbul, I said there’s no shame in getting a draw. Some of the players on the pitch had never played in Europe before. You can’t expect too much of us right now. We’ve got players in the squad who are only just playing their first minutes of Bundesliga football too such as Dennis Geiger, Stefan Posch and Kevin Akpoguma. You have to give them the opportunity to develop as players. We’re heading into the international break in fifth place which is completely respectable and we’ll see how we fare from now until Christmas.
Question: Now there are two international friendlies to come against England and France. What do you expect to come of these fixtures from a personal perspective?
Wagner: I don’t expect anything as such. I’m simply glad to be here with the squad. I’m excited for the games regardless of how many minutes I play. If I do play though, I will give my all and put in the best performance I can.
Question: Do you see yourself as an established part of the Germany squad now?
Wagner: I think that you can’t view yourself as an established part of the squad after having only played five times.
Question: But you did play in all of the most recent matches…
Wagner: I still would say “established” means something a little more than that.
Question: Would you say you’re on the way to having such a role?
Wagner: I don’t know, I mean I’m almost 30 so we’ll have to see.
Question: Back to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, how difficult was it to prepare for the clash in Cologne?
Wagner: It wasn’t hard as such. We’re TSG Hoffenheim and our club is full of intelligent people who we all treasure. We need to make sure we don’t demand too much of ourselves as I said before the season started. We lost very important players and, in the past few weeks, Benjamin Hübner, Ermin Bicakic and others have been out injured who are crucial for us at the back. You can’t expect us to have such a good season as last year. For me, anywhere between fifth and tenth would be a solid finish. The Hoffenheim way is to integrate young players but that means you have occasional setbacks which you have to take on the chin. However, I think many teams in the Bundesliga would swap positions with us right now.
Question: You scored a penalty to make it 2-0. Were you always going to take the penalty after Andrej Kramaric missed one recently?
Wagner: He only missed one penalty. I agreed with Kerem Demirbay during the Wolfsburg game that we would share penalties. In the past, I’ve always taken penalties. My fellow strikers ain the Bundesliga also step up so I spoke to Kerem and told him that I should take some too. It’s easy scoring goals and, as journalists always focus on goalscoring records, I thought “Well, in that case, I’d like an easy goal too”.
Question: Did you intend to strike the ball for your second goal like that?
Wagner: Do you not think I’m capable of finishing that chance like that intentionally?
