No Alpe d‘Huez, no prologue, no individual time trial or green jersey. But yet, a Tour de France, or more accurately: Tour de Français. "La Mannschaft" are talking French aujourd'hui, kind of. Today, in episode eight of our French course, Julian Draxler sits his DFB.de style vocab test.
DÉJÀ-VU Do you still remember your first visit to France?
That was in Paris for an international game. 2013 it must have been, and we won 2-1. I’ve never been on holiday to France or anything.
RIEN NE VA PLUS What’s your routine in the minutes and seconds before a game begins?
I go through one final check over all my gear. Check the shin pads fit, my boots are on properly. Aside from that I just try to concentrate. I don’t have a big ritual like having to step onto the pitch with my right foot first or anything like that.
AU REVOIR How difficult is it for you to say goodbye at home ahead of tournaments?
You get used to it. For us it’s not so difficult because we do it all the time and are practically always on our travels. Besides, we had a huge challenge lying ahead with the EUROS, so there was no place for heavy hearts over goodbyes. It’s more difficult on the other end, so for my girlfriend and my family.
CHAPEAU Which of your teammates has particularly impressed you so far?
I’m always impressed by Thomas Müller, time and again. Especially by his desire.
HOMMAGE Which French player have you always admired?
Zizou, definitely. Zinedine Zidane. The way he played - he made everything look so easy; technically he was almost perfect. He won big games, decided big games almost single-handedly. He’s up there with the best of all time.
[mmc/dw]
No Alpe d‘Huez, no prologue, no individual time trial or green jersey. But yet, a Tour de France, or more accurately: Tour de Français. "La Mannschaft" are talking French aujourd'hui, kind of. Today, in episode eight of our French course, Julian Draxler sits his DFB.de style vocab test.
DÉJÀ-VU Do you still remember your first visit to France?
That was in Paris for an international game. 2013 it must have been, and we won 2-1. I’ve never been on holiday to France or anything.
RIEN NE VA PLUS What’s your routine in the minutes and seconds before a game begins?
I go through one final check over all my gear. Check the shin pads fit, my boots are on properly. Aside from that I just try to concentrate. I don’t have a big ritual like having to step onto the pitch with my right foot first or anything like that.
AU REVOIR How difficult is it for you to say goodbye at home ahead of tournaments?
You get used to it. For us it’s not so difficult because we do it all the time and are practically always on our travels. Besides, we had a huge challenge lying ahead with the EUROS, so there was no place for heavy hearts over goodbyes. It’s more difficult on the other end, so for my girlfriend and my family.
CHAPEAU Which of your teammates has particularly impressed you so far?
I’m always impressed by Thomas Müller, time and again. Especially by his desire.
HOMMAGE Which French player have you always admired?
Zizou, definitely. Zinedine Zidane. The way he played - he made everything look so easy; technically he was almost perfect. He won big games, decided big games almost single-handedly. He’s up there with the best of all time.
