Marcel Schmelzer (left), with national coach Joachim Löw (2012)
Photo:
Andreas Gebert / dpa
In a PR interview, Marcel Schmelzer criticized the atmosphere in the national soccer team and spoke of a lack of appreciation from national coach Joachim Löw.
When asked on the club's own BVB website whether he thought back to his time in the national team with a stomach ache, the 34-year-old Schmelzer said: "Yes, absolutely.
I never had any joy there.«
At first it was probably due to the rivalry.
“There was tension there.
In addition, Löw said twice publicly that he was forced to work with me," said Schmelzer.
In 2012, the national coach said: "He didn't play well against Austria.
But there aren’t many alternatives right now, so we have to continue working with Marcel Schmelzer for the next two, three, four, five months.«
National player from 2010 to 2014 – but no world champion
In the U21 selection, with which the Magdeburg-born Schmelzer became European champion in 2009, the mood was better.
"Before in the U21s - that was a great year under Horst Hrubesch, winning the European Championship, that was mega, that was fun," Schmelzer told bvb.de.
At Borussia Dortmund he always got on well with his competitors.
“In the national team, you get 'hello' in a different way from your competitors than from the rest of the players;
the training is also different.
I had a hard time with that at first.
I felt uncomfortable,' he said.
Schmelzer was a national player from 2010 to 2014, but was not considered for the World Cup in Brazil and thus missed out on winning the title.
Because of a protracted knee injury, he announced the end of his career in May.
bka/dpa