Sebastian Vettel speaks with ABMS about the football World Cup and the national team. The German draws a comparison to Formula 1.
Mr. Vettel сould you tell as an expert: What do you expect from the German team at the World Cup?
Vettel: Stop. I'm not an expert. Just a big fan.
Ok, Germany seems to have 40 million “national coaches”. So, what's your forecast being one of them?
Basically, I expect a lot. I'm just wondering who is going to score goals. Neither Götze is there, nor Sane. But the coach of the national team definitely knows why.
What do you mean by that?
Looking at our guys I got an impression that they are able to possess the ball a lot indeed and that they dominate their opponents because they are so skillful technically. And then they just fail to score a goal. Sometimes this reminds me of indoor handball. As they constantly play around the gate and forget to score a goal. But I trust our guys. They are known as a tournament team. They explode at the right time. Thomas Müller is perhaps the best example. Therefore, I don’t rate the defeat in the friendly match against Austria too high. That is the point. But there are also Spain and Brazil which are getting ahead. And I also take into consideration the French. The picture of the day and nerve tension are likely to be defined in the crucial game.
Would you like Götze to play?
Maybe, but I don’t know Jogi Löw’s plans at all. Nevertheless, Götze as well as ter Stegen demonstrates how brutal sport can be when you observe what is happening in matches from the outside as a fan.
Explain that!
Götze scored the decisive goal in the final match of the last World Cup. That seems to be forgotten. Ter Stegen played an excellent season in Barcelona, trained extremely hard and now has to fall into the shade because Manuel Neuer is fit again. That's brutal. What should he feel?
Maybe some kind of compliment to you: A driver who wants to change to Ferrari also knows that he can play only a small part by you ...
Vettel grins and keeps silent...
As an inveterate fan of Eintracht Frankfurt, how happy were you about winning the Cup?
That was sensational. And for me also deserved. Because after 1:1 I thought it would be difficult to win. But the guys resisted, fought until they flaked out and showed what an exceptional desire to win can do. I was especially happy when I saw the photos the next day in Frankfurt. Half the city was excited and showed what enthusiasm people’s solidarity can spark.
And as a fan of the national team?
I'm extremely emotional. I can still remember the match against Italy in the last European Championship. Since we were all at GP in Austria and I watched the game with some people from my team. I screamed and truly rooted for the team. Especially during the penalties. Sure, the next day I came with a broader chest to the motorhome. But the guys have congratulated me.
How do you follow the matches of the national team and Eintracht?
If I have an opportunity, I will watch everything. I take into account everything. I'm really passionate for the World Cup and football. The same with Union in the Bundesliga. If necessary, I watch recorded matches.
And what about watching matches at the stadium?
Now rarely. But if I go, I take seats only in the stands among fans. If children want to get an autograph from me, that's completely ok. I'll give it then.
What's different in watching a match live at the stadium?
In front of the TV, people are more relaxed and have to rely on the image and trust the analysis of the commentator. But I prefer watching matches at the stadium. The atmosphere with cheers is just different, you can see the whole development of the match, you are much more engaged in this case. 60,000 cry out the names of the players, that's breathtaking. I also like eating sausages at halftime – of course ones in Frankfurt.
Have you ever thought of becoming a professional football player?
Football is number 1 in Germany, the national kind of sport, because every boy tries to kick. I was about six when I first joined the club. I was a registered player, but somehow I didn’t achieve desirable results. Apparently, I wasn’t in good shape, because quickly I lost the pleasure. Somehow I always had to put the ball aside, because I probably did have a single-child syndrome. At that time, I didn’t like giving and sharing. Besides, that was the time when I took up karting more intensively. Later, I believe in young men, once again I got a player’s pass, it’s worth having it today. By TSV Hambach. Hambach is a suburb of Heppenheim. But again there was no use playing there. Today I play in my spare time but as often as I have it. However frankly speaking, I lost the talent.
"Even football games are sometimes boring": Vettel disagrees with the race critics
What is your favorite position?
Right midfielder.
Can you compare football and Formula 1 in relation to team sports?
It's similar. A good driver in a bad car can win neither a race, nor a championship. Like in football, a driver is to be supported by the whole team to win the cup or the bowl in the end. You must have individual classes to become a pilot, you must have an engineering team by you which will construct you a good car and which will be improving the car together with you during the season and will be developing the right racing strategies with you. In this sense, Formula 1 is a team sport. Only when you are on the track as a driver, you compete alone. You must lead what has been worked out together to success by yourself and on your own responsibility. I see me on the track as a penalty taker – the team has earned the penalty by training and effective playing together, but then I'm the one who has to convert it.
Which position in football could you compare to your role as a pilot?
It's a little bit of everything. There are moments where you must force almost arrogantly, because you have a clear vision of the situation: It works just that way and not otherwise. Then there are moments where you are a kind of captain, who is also authoritative. For example, when things aren’t going so well. Then you have to hit the table and say: "It doesn’t work like that." And sometimes you're the goalkeeper who tries to lead the game from the rear.
Which kind of goalkeeper are you? Rather a quiet one or explosive like a bomb?
Our advantage is that much happens behind closed doors in our team. But I can also be punchy.
Would you like to be also a football player sometimes? If a team loses, a player can hide behind the team. This is impossible with you...
No. But that doesn’t matter. You should be always responsible for your actions, whether as a football player or Formula 1 driver. If you make a mistake, you are to take responsibility for it.
Source: Autobild
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