enthralledWell-spoken, too.
He needs more love. He needs more fic. His Özil bromance is legendary. So instead of wearing down my thumbs refreshing the kink meme, I am pimping him to you with background info. As a recent fan, it also gives me the opportunity to put my research to good use. Let's start with this interview, in which you will learn a bit about his past. (Thanks to
skippytoad for English help, and to e_vision for the pic of Sami's family.)Translator's note: All pictures added by me. This interview was made in 2008, a good year before Sami was to captain the U-21 team to winning the European Championship. At the time, Sami was still playing for VfB Stuttgart. And no, the ones with short hair are NOT from his time at U-21 ;-P.
Source in German: Stuttgarter Zeitung 20.08.2008
cross-posted to
loewsmiserablesThere was a point I almost lost hope
Much more than just football on his mind: a talk with Sami Khedira
At only 21 years old, he is already considered a possible candidate for leading the VfB Stuttgart team, and Sami Khedira’s qualities aren’t limited to the football field. In our summer interview, he talks about his childhood memories of Tunisia, problems with integration and with a serious injury.
How strong of a connection do you have to your father’s Tunisian roots?
My memories of Hammamet are mostly holiday memories – not unlike most German tourists’. We used to spend five weeks in Tunisia every summer when I was little, and my bond with the country has grown quite strong – if only because it’s home to my father’s family, that is to say, my grandparents, six aunts and about 40 cousins.
How do you communicate with them – do you speak any Arabic?
Only a few words, I’m afraid. I started out learning the language as a kid and spoke it with my father. But at some point I just refused to continue learning, maybe because I felt more at home in Germany. Today, I regret that. Whenever I am in Tunisia now, my only means of communication with the older generation are my hands and feet. Most of the youngsters speak English or French.
Your mother’s from the [Stuttgart] area, your father from a different cultural background – how did the two of them find each other?
It started as a holiday love, back when my mother vacationed in Hammamet, when my father was in his early twenties. They kept on visiting each other, but eventually my dad’s visa expired. They had to make a decision and their love for each other turned out to be stronger, so they got married.
Was life easy for your father’s family?
Not by a long shot – Tunisia was a poor country. My dad had eight siblings and the whole family lived in a tiny apartment. There was no school system even remotely close to the German one. My dad had to leave school at the age of ten and immediately began earning money.
You still travel there regularly – how has the North-African country changed since?
It can hardly be compared to the country I knew from my childhood days. Hammamet in particular has received an enormous boost through tourism – brand new hotel complexes have sprung up everywhere and the increasing prosperity is apparent from the expensive cars that fill the streets. I almost get a little nostalgic when I think about the romantic bazaars from old times, my grandparents’ couscous... but the people are undeniably better off than before.
If you’re sloppy, you’ll never make it to the top
What’s your view on the difference in mentality between the Tunisian and German cultures?
Tunisians are so much more casual among each other. You can see it in the way they deal with their kids. They’re just brought up differently, grow up in a very free environment, are more bold and cheeky. There are parts to that whole mentality that are strange to me.
You, on the other hand, are often described as hardworking, driven and disciplined.
And it’s true, I am. My parents, for one thing, have strongly shaped my values. How to respect my elders, for instance. VfB Stuttgart’s youth leader, Frieder Schrof, was also a strong influence. He was always very clear on what the rules were. If the bus left for the game at three o`clock, you’d better be there on time. I quickly realized that if you’re sloppy, you’re never going to make it past a certain level as a top athlete.
So you’ve never been a revolutionary – more like a model student?
I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve pulled my share of pranks on the teachers, just like everyone else at school. But I never let things slide.
When people talk about the school careers of immigrant children, it’s often about the problems – especially language problems. What were your experiences during your school days?
I was lucky enough to be spared those. But during my time at vocational school I witnessed the exact same thing: many foreign kids had huge problems, especially in German class. I’m of the mindset that it’s cool for a Turkish family to speak Turkish among each other at home - but not exclusively. German should have its part in the lives of all families who live here.
Did you ever get teased or bullied because of your foreign origin – in school or otherwise?
I can’t remember any particular instance, but some teachers at school had a pretty hard time dealing with their pupils’ diverse cultural backgrounds, and conflicts arose from mutual lack of understanding. I believe that the same thing goes for football: A trainer has to reconcile lots of different mentalities. A Brazilian footballer, for instance, just needs to be given more freedom than a German player.
At Stuttgart, you and Serdar Tasci, among others, have roots in other cultures, as do a growing number of national players. Do you think you are somewhat of a role model for immigrant children?
I do think so, yes. If you look at how many immigrants live here, [you will see that] we are a part of the German future. It’s up to players like me and Serdar to serve as examples that we can live and be successful together
Never give up despite the pain
Back in the day many football legionnaires never learned to speak German properly, even after several years. What’s the current situation at VfB?
It works because the team is very inclusive. Our two Mexicans are prime examples. In the beginning, they couldn’t understand a word of German, but after half a year, both Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio were able to speak German very well. It’s the same with Khalid Boularouz – he learned German in Hamburg and Spanish in Seville.
There's also heavy competition among the players in a top team like yours. There was a point in your early professional career when you weren’t able to keep up anymore...
My career was already teetering on the edge when I was 17. I had serious knee problems, and just when I was about to make the leap to pro league football, of all times. The problems returned even after an operation on my outer meniscus and a long rehab period. When I first started training as a pro league player under Trapattoni, I was in excruciating pain. The doctors told me it wasn’t looking good.
How has that time of uncertainty shaped you?
In retrospect, I can see now that this was my first big step to becoming an adult. After a second operation, I was sent to Donaustauf for a three-month rehab. It was my first time away from home, I got to know new people and form new friendships. I had to organize many things by myself.
Were there ever moments when you thought of giving up?
One day I almost lost hope when I started deteriorating again after a long phase of improvement. Still, I wanted to prove to myself that somehow, this wasn’t the end of it all, especially after I heard some of the comments coming from the general direction of my club, things like, “He’s not going to make it anyway.“ I did not want to show any weakness and end up the loser.
Who supported you during those times?
My parents, above all others. I also learned who my real friends were during that long period of uncertainty. I quickly stopped hearing from those people who’d just been patting me on the back. With some hindsight, I can say that even those times turned out to be a good learning experience.
How do you separate the wheat from the chaff?
It isn’t always easy. When I was playing for the DFB youth teams around the age of 15 or 16, I was literally surrounded with potential advisors. I can tell you, it’s pure madness, the things that go on on those training pitches. There are a bunch of people running about whose only goal is to squeeze some money out of you. I was lucky that my father kept me safe from all of that.
Your head shot against Cottbus got your team into the Championships – how do you manage to keep your feet on the ground?
By always reminding myself that everything can go downhill in the blink of an eye in this kind of business. My sense of self-worth does not hinge on whether I just drove the ball five times across the stadium, or whether I scored three goals.
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