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Love for Özil and Los Blancos: Mesut Özil interview for Marca today 15.10. PART 2

okay-sank-you-bye:

Mesut Özil greets the reporter of Marca in more than perfect Spanish. Özil seems less shy than they say. He seems to be always wearing a smile from ear to ear and joke all the time. “I’m very funny” he says when the reporter asks whether his first impression is right.

Mesut explains why he asked that the interview would be done in German. “Yes I already can speak Spanish” he laughs, but clarifies: “My problem is that you Spanish people speak very quickly. When I go to a restaurant and don’t know what to do. I tell the waiter: ‘Slow down, please.’ But they usually repeat everything at the same speed, so it stays the same… and I say “okay” “I’m still learning, but my problem is that when I go to vacation or I go to the NT, I forget a lot. I forget lot when I’m not with my teammates in Madrid, but I am already much better. I understand already most I hear and I can speak quite well, but at times like this interview, I feel more comfortable in German. “

Talking about his life “I’m not bad at cooking, I cook mostly Turkish food. I can get into the kitchen and make a good meal”.  He has not forgotten his roots in Turkey ” I was born in Germany and so I decided to play with this team, but I don’t forget where are my ancestors. I think I’ve taken the best from Germany, discipline, and creativity of my ancestors Turks “. His musical tastes, in fact, go through Istanbul. “I like Tarkan, a Turkish musical singer, I listen him a lot.”

“I love basketball and I’m not bad at playing it! I like Lebron James, he is a phenomenon.”

At the end of the interview MARCA surprises Mesut with a cake for his 24th birthday. Today, October 15, Mesut is celebrating and we asked him to make a wish: “Health for my family and friends and many celebrations with my teammates. Many titles we shall win.” Mesut says he’s satisfied with little gifts: “I’m the happiest to get a SMS. When the people who love me send me a message, that is what I like.”

Love for Özil and Los Blancos: Mesut Özil interview for Marca today 15.10.

okay-sank-you-bye:

Q: Congratulations for the win and your goal against Ireland.

M: Thank you very much, it was a great game.

Q: Does this break in the league do good for you so you will do better for Real Madrid and take some pressure away?

M: Remove? The pressure? There is always pressure in football. No matter where you play, the pressure is always the same. I’m glad to be in the national team because I have great friends here and I always look forward to seeing them, but as always I have a great responsibility too. I’m in Germany and Real Madrid, two great teams. I have to live with this pressure always, but I carry it well.

Q: Does it differ much how you play for Madrid and Germany?

M: My goal is to give my best in every game, for both Real Madrid and in the national team. My play maker position gives me freedom to attack like in another position I couldn’t, in that sense the game makes me feel very happy. Both in Madrid and in Germany, when I attack, I’m free. I can go right, left, middle … I have the ability to surprise and I try to take this advantage of this ability in both Madrid and the NT. I really don’t think there’s change in the way of my playing when I switch from team to another.

Q: What Löw wants and what Mourinho wants?

M: They both want to play the best way possible in everything on the pitch. Each one tries to exploit me the most, that’s all. Each in his own way, but basically everything pretty much goes with the same idea to play. I insist that I do not think I change my behavior on the pitch for Real Madrid or NT. I’m happy because I’m only 24 years old and I think I’m in a good progression.

Q: Özil plays as if there were zero beats … How do you do that?

M: I think I have had this virtue since I was a child. As a child I played football with my brother and his friends. He was six years older than me and if I wanted to match me they had to mark my territory. I played like I did not care about the age difference, appearing to be as strong as them. 

In Madrid I have matured a lot. One of my goals was to play for Mourinho and I’m doing it currently and now my goal is to evolve and grow as a player. In Madrid Mou gives me confidence, like my teammates, so I have no reason to get nervous. I have responsibility, but nothing more. I feel very good at Real Madrid.

Q: Doesn’t stadium like Camp Nou make your legs shake a little?

M: Me? No … In a game like that I’m very focused and warm, because it is a very big match. I have the desire to go to the pitch and play as soon as possible, because you know it is a game that everyone looks forward. But certainly not nervous. Calm game.

Q: Doesn’t the Bernabéu impress you? Not even at the first time?

M: The Bernabéu gives me goosebumps because all the love of the people, but I don’t get nervous.

Q: Do you like being watched?

M: In the pitch I forget this. Games aren’t for me to prove anything, I play for fun. In the field my only aim is to give my everything and help the team. In the end, the triumph of the team is what matters. I don’t go to the pitch to show off, but to help the team and have fun.

Q: Do you think that football is a business more than a game?

M: I know what football is today… But not for me. For me, football is a game for fun more than a business. When I jump into the grass and kick the ball I’m the happiest. I’m happy to train, go to work and home. There I expect my family, my friends, that are most important to me. They help me play down a bit this. In Madrid I’m never alone and that helps me get my success, because when you’re in a big club like Real Madrid you really need a balance.

Q: Do you review your games on TV?

M: Unfortunately or fortunately, no, I have no time. When I’m home I spend as much time with my family as I can. At home I give my time to them. Sometimes I see some short clips, but only because my friends show them to me “Look what you did!”. I normally don’t watch really, I know how to play and what I can do.

Q: Do the things you do on the pitch seem easy or complicated?

M: It depends on what you mean [laughs]. It really does not seem so hard what I do on the pitch. I love my profession. I’ve played football since I was six and I do what I love, so I can only be happy. I managed to turn my hobby into my profession and that’s a luxury.

Q: Does Mou demand more now than in previous years?

M: Not just the coach, everyone. But I am not demanded more than others. Mourinho wants all of us to the top level and that is normal. I want to be on the top forever. I want to improve my performance this year to play and help the team.

Q: But do you feel that this year is worse?

M: I’m just a person and sometimes I have better days and periods. I’m playing in the biggest club of the world so I have to demand the maximum from myself. I feel normal and I’m very quiet in this regard. I couldn’t be happier than I am now in Madrid. The fans are great, the coach gives me confidence and the team is the best. What more could I want?

Q: Who in your family is the most critical for you?

M: When I don’t play well I know it. If I have not played well I’m going home very angry, I realize in the pitch whether I’m doing well or not. At home are my brother and my father talking with me, telling me if I played well. But they don’t criticize, but they are quite critical in the Spanish press.

Q: Is it unfair the how the Spanish press treats you?

M: It is what it is. But I don’t think it is just me, but for the entire team. I’m used to other kind of press, because the press in Germany does not do personal attacks. In Spain it does sometimes somehow insult you. And I don’t like that. They don’t say all, but you have to step into the shoes of the people. Luckily I don’t let myself be affected by what is said. I love what I do and always look forward. I go to my roll. And I have no problem with journalists, eh? Here I sit with you with no problem.

Q: Mourinho said after the game against Barcelona that you don’t do well in every game. Do you agree? Do you have to run anymore?

M: (Smiles). Today you have to run a lot. The eleven players have to run a lot. My goal is to perform at my best. I know what I can do, where I have to improve and I’ll do it.

Q: Ramos case … What was that episode with the shirt?

M: (Özil laughs and jokes). I think he looks better in 4 than in 10. We are superfriends, there is a story behind. We had talked before and he promised he would dedicate a goal for me and so he did. We are very good friends.

Q: You have said that Mou is like a father to you … Is Ramos like your older brother in the team then?

M: We are all like a little family. Of course, there are times when I understand Ramos better than others. It is normal. There are some groups. But the good thing about Madrid is that generally we are all a piña. No envy and we all know the merit of recognizing our fellows. And for me, despite all that is said about the locker room of Madrid, this is what is special about the team. We are a wonderful group.

Q: The Bernabéu compares you to Zidane. Do you have a challenge of being his successor?

M: Zidane has been my idol since I started playing football. I have seen many matches of his, all I have been able and for me he’s the perfect player. People compare me with Zidane, but unfortunately I’m not him. Zidane was on top most of his career and was champion of everything. I have a different style and I’m evolving. I take much to be like him.

Q: What do you lack to be the perfect player?

M: You have to be at the highest level for many years. To be a regularly on the top. I’m on the right track. I’m 24 years now and feel like I’m taking the right steps. I am very ambitious and want to get very high, but to get high the team also needs to win titles. One player is just not going anywhere by himself, this is a team sport.

Q: Do you feel the love of Bernabeu?

M: What matters is not to be the favorite of the fans, the fans want the team. But I can’t say bad word about the treatment of the fans. It’s great with me, I have only gotten words of thanks. When I go out to eat, people always want autographs, photos, ask me things… The fans of Real Madrid are special and I when I go to the Bernabeu turf I feel what I want. I’m glad that the fans support me, because without people football is nothing. And without the players either.

Q: Is the life difficult for a player of Real Madrid?

M: Not complicated. You are at the center of attention, but nothing more. We are nothing. True is that they know you everywhere. You’re going to America and they know you there. It’s amazing, the support of the people. Wherever you go in the world, people love you. That’s how I realize how big Real Madrid really is, the team I’m playing for.

Q: Do you dream of winning the Golden Ball?

M: Every player wants to be the best ever. If you work hard, why not aiming to be the best in the world someday?

Q: Madrid is eight points behind Barca. Is the league still possible?

M: In football everything is possible. There’s a lot of games to come and Barcelona has to play in our home turf. Anything can happen and we will fight until the end of the League. We have to go game by game and try to cut the lead. Barca is ahead of us, but we still have lots of time.

Q: Is the Champions League the main objective of Real Madrid this season?

M: When you play in Real Madrid the goal is to win all the titles, not just the Champions. We have the potential and I am optimistic that we can get it. La Decima is still far away, but we will do our best.

lumipallo88:

Mou ♥



“It would be a crime if Ronaldo did not win the Ballon d’Or.”

“I do not contradict myself when I say that Cristiano and Messi are from another planet. I reaffirm that. After a game like the one in Barcelona, one of the most mediatic in the last years, where both come out, play like they did and are decisive for their respective teams, I tried to find a respectful answer, not only for my player but for the other one as well.”

“When someone with the same responsibility as me comes out and says ‘Mine is the best on the planet’ then I have to say ‘Mine is the best in the universe. Mine was not born in Madeira, he was born on Mars. He is not from planet Earth, he is the best in the universe’.

The game was the best propaganda for football in the last years and was  just a fantastic game. That’s why I thought it required a certain type of respect and consideration.

In fact, I think it must be hard for Cristiano to hear ‘Messi is the best in the world’. But at the same time I think it must also be hard for Messi, even though he is not the best, to hear ‘Cristiano is the best in the world’. Those are two players from another planet.

Now, if someone with the same responsibilities as mine comes and says ‘Mine is the best on the planet’, then mine wasn’t born in Funchal, he was born on Mars and is the best of the universe.

“And I repeat, it is harder to be Cristiano than Messi. Messi grew up in the team where he plays, with the players with whom he plays.

“Not Cristiano. He was in England, then they put him here in a losing team. He had to grow over the last two years with this team which has been forming.

“One (Messi) plays as a 9, or 9.5, and roams around in those 50 square metres where the distance to goal is smaller and defence less intense.

“The other (Ronaldo) plays as a winger. How does a winger score as many goals as a number 9? He is a winger who defends, who in the 94th minute is capable of making a defensive sprint after Pedro, who was free. 

“He is a player who at dead-balls must come back 20 times because he is a fundamental player in the defensive strategy. 

“Ronaldo is not protected by anybody or because of anybody. Rivals see the body of an animal and they kick him. Bang! Bang! To get a yellow card they need to do that a lot. Bang! Another, no [yellow card]. A foul and then the first yellow, but they can’t touch him after that because it would be a red.”

“It was such a fantastic game (in Barcelona) that I wanted to be respectful. 10 minutes pass and the other one (Vilanova) says ‘Mine is the best on the planet’. ‘Ah, yours is the best on the planet? Then mine is the best in the universe’.

[…] “If you are going to give out the Ballon d’Or because a player is the best, give it to Cristiano or Messi. But I ask — if the two are on the same level, is it normal that one wins four and the other one? It is not.

“How can you win the Ballon d’Or without collecting titles, without winning anything important?

“Don’t come to me telling me about the Intercontinental Cup or the Supercup, this is small stuff. Tell me about fat titles.”

“Fat titles? Chelsea won one of them, and Real Madrid the other one. One was European Champion, and we won the most important league in the world. 

“If Cristiano does not win the Ballon D’Or this year, it will be because he is not as sympathetic; he does not sell his image as well and does not do interviews to apologise for having argued with a team-mate on the field.”

“Now, Golden Balls are for the best, for those that deserve them most. With the combination of the Golden Ball, the Fifa Player, France Football etc., I unfortunately cannot vote, but if I had the right to vote, I wouldnt think twice. 

(Source: lumipallo-cr7)

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