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National player Gosens: He was the winner of the European Championship, but felt like a loser

2021-09-01T06:55:09.919Z


Robin Gosens rose to become the new German favorite at the European Championships. But the knockout round and the unfamiliar celebrities weighed heavily on him. Under national coach Flick, he wants to write a new success story.


Enlarge image

Robin Gosens at the European Championship game against Portugal, which brought his breakthrough in the national team

Photo:

ULMER / imago images / ULMER press picture agency

And Stuttgart again.

A year ago, when the national team was preparing for their Nations League game against Spain in the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Robin Gosens traveled to the DFB for the first time.

"I was the big stranger to most of them," says the full-back today.

How much has happened since then, until he has now rejoined the national team in Stuttgart, where the team is preparing for the start under the new national coach Hansi Flick against Liechtenstein on Thursday, you can also tell from the fact that time seems to pass faster for Gosens . For him it all seems to have happened a lot longer ago, in his own memory it was "a year and a half ago" and not just 12 months.

Since then, Robin Gosens, the Italy professional from Bergamo, has ridden the roller coaster with the national team.

First he was the crowd's favorite at the European Championships after his impressive game against Portugal, then came the sudden elimination against England in the round of 16.

For many, Gosens was one of the winners of the European Championship despite the early failure, but he himself felt very differently.

For Gosens the tournament was a big defeat at first.

"It was an incredibly difficult summer for me," he said in a small group of journalists on Tuesday.

"I had so much beating down on me that I had to deal with it all first." After the defeat at Wembley by England, "I stood there and asked myself: What now?" He was "in a state of shock" for days, " it was the complete inner emptiness «.

Suddenly recognized by many on the street

Then he and his wife first drove to Scheveningen on the Dutch North Sea coast and let the wind blow around their ears.

"I really had to nibble on all of this," he says.

About all of this: That also means that he first had to get used to the fact that he is no longer the big stranger in Germany from twelve months ago in Stuttgart.

"Whenever I am out and about in Düsseldorf, I am constantly recognized" that "it used to be completely different".

Gosens is now 27 years old, he has gained his experience as a professional in the honor division and in Serie A, which all helps to cope with the sudden fame in Germany.

His way of talking about himself relatively unprotected, which is very unique in the national team, does the rest.

Gosens calls himself "an open guy," and that can be accepted as a realistic self-description.

"That makes a lot of things a lot easier when you approach people."

He stays in Bergamo despite a change request

Gosens has made no secret of the fact that he is looking for another football challenge beyond Bergamo.

He has been playing for the Italian club for four years, which has been promoted to a Champions League club during this time.

And he will initially also compete there for a fifth year.

"I'm not at all dissatisfied with continuing to play for Bergamo, that would also be presumptuous," says Gosens.

"I play at the top level, I'm in the Champions League, there are probably worse things for a footballer." The fact that he has not pushed his change ambitions is also due to another reason: his wife is expecting a child in six weeks, "and need it we also have a family atmosphere in which my wife can feel comfortable, and that is a given in Bergamo, «says Gosens.

Gosens has only had eleven internationals on his account, but you still have the feeling that the outside player is already one of them. "My impression is: I totally arrived," he says. And yet he will probably have to adapt with the new national coach Hansi Flick. In contrast to Joachim Löw, he prefers the chain of four instead of the chain of three, in which Gosens was saved at the European Championships. Flick played for Bayern, and it is generally expected that he will tactically align the national team in a similar way to the record champions.

Gosens says he is “interested” in seeing it first.

Ultimately, it is "very cool when you can play several systems".

In the Netherlands at Herakles Almelo, Gosens already played in the back four, but that was a few years ago.

The chain of five is practiced in Bergamo.

But Gosens would probably not be himself if he didn't reinterpret it in a positive way: "As a player, you can only grow with new tasks."

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-09-01

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