Defender Jerome Boateng still has a contract in Lyon until June 30, 2023. (Image: dpa)
(Foto: picture alliance / dpa)
Berlin – For Jérôme Boateng, the national team chapter is not yet completely closed.
“I didn’t tick off the national team. I still have good contact with Hansi, we are in contact. Anything is possible in our sport. Hansi knows my qualities,” said the 2014 soccer world champion in an interview with “Welt am Sonntag”. But a lot has to fit for an invitation. “We have a lot of good defenders in the national team who play in the Champions League with their clubs,” said Boateng, who wants to get well after his pubic bone problems and consistently show good performances at his club Olympique Lyon.
Since this year in Ligue 1
Boateng’s contract with FC Bayern Munich, with which he won more than 20 titles in his ten years, was not renewed. He has been playing in the French Ligue 1 since this season. Boateng, who absolutely wants to play in the Champions League again, still has a contract in Lyon until June 30, 2023. A return to the Bundesliga is currently not a concrete wish. “My dream is to win more titles. In which country is not important for me. Winning titles abroad is something very special,” said Boateng. He believes: “I still have a few years at the top level ahead of me.”
Defender with “Winning Attitude”
A few weeks ago there were rumors that the defender had become violent in training. That’s not true, rather there was a discussion between him and a teammate “about football and discipline”: “If I feel and see that the level in training is not right, then I speak up clearly.”
Because from FC Bayern he is used to the fact that “you win every game and have to show a winning attitude and discipline even in training.” After him, national player Niklas Süle will leave Bayern (to Borussia Dortmund) was “definitely a loss. You’re not used to a German international leaving FC Bayern.”
The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine leaves the family man “stunned. The fact that children and families will die in war in 2022 makes me very sad. The war is very close. I have friends who are from Ukraine and whose relatives live there. Something has to happen, the war has to stop. Everyone should try to help, and so do I.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220312-99-489189/2
