In the knockout phase, the mood in the team changes. Not for the worse, but it gets more serious. In the first few days, there is more joking around, but from now on there is a lot to talk about: potential opponents and how they played, your own weaknesses and problems, injuries, yellow card suspensions and possible substitutions. After everything that happened in the preliminary round, the tournament is now a constant topic of conversation.
These conversations are not officially scheduled, they take place over coffee or by the pool. Everyone wants to talk about the tournament all the time anyway, so you have to be careful that it doesn’t become too much.
The silly moments are therefore all the more important: they provide emotional balance. That’s why I’m happy when I see Joshua Kimmich jumping into the pool fully clothed at night and Robert Andrich amusing himself about it. Also because they’re not necessarily the two I would have seen together. But that’s how it is at tournaments like this: you make friends with people you didn’t know well before. For example, Jule Brand and I have had a very special friendship since we were a little tipsy on the way home from a party after a tournament.
Team spirit is important, but you also have to recharge your batteries on your own. Some of our players disappear to their rooms between training sessions and sleep, but I distract myself in other ways. I often do homework for university, which helps shift focus and stop my thoughts from spiraling. I even do that on match days.
Another strategy I use is to take time before the game to write down everything that’s on my mind. That way I’ve sorted out my thoughts beforehand. In a knockout game, emotions can otherwise overwhelm you. Especially if you don’t have much experience with these all-or-nothing games. Then you’re thinking the whole time that this one game is particularly important, and if the backdrop is impressive, it can be intimidating.
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For example, when I played at Camp Nou for the first time. It wasn’t a knockout game, but the group stage of the Champions League. But it felt like one. I was so impressed by playing against FC Barcelona in this legendary place that I couldn’t show what I’m actually capable of on the pitch. We lost 3-0. That still annoys me today.
I now know that it is important to be at peace with yourself and your own feelings when you go out on the pitch, because it counts from minute one. In knockout games, the first minute is often what counts: whoever gets into the game quicker and brings a lot of energy onto the pitch dominates. And whoever dominates wins. Most of the time anyway.
Many players therefore have routines and rituals that they use to sharpen their senses just before the game so that they are immediately present. Some meditate, I do neuroathletic exercises that strengthen the connection between my brain and my body. For example, I focus my eyes on one point and then rotate my head, which improves balance and concentration. It also requires my full attention and I can’t think about how crucial the game is today.
A certain nervousness remains, however. And at certain moments of the game you feel it more strongly. When the crowd roars, when you step up to a corner or when you have survived a tricky situation. I have learned to let this excitement inspire me. After all, the knockout games are exactly the games that you want to reach and experience as a player. But I only manage that because I have survived a few in the meantime and know that even if there is a lot more at stake, in the end a knockout game is still just a game.
“Bühl on the ball”
Bühl on the ball is a ZEIT ONLINE column by Klara Bühl. In it, the German national player of the year 2023 accompanies the European Championship in her own country and everything that goes with it. She gives insights into the everyday life and madness of the tournament, shares her game observations and analyzes the teams’ chances. The column is created in exchange with Laura Sophia Jung, editor at ZEIT ONLINE.
In the knockout phase, the mood in the team changes. Not for the worse, but it gets more serious. In the first few days, there is more joking around, but from now on there is a lot to talk about: potential opponents and how they played, your own weaknesses and problems, injuries, yellow card suspensions and possible substitutions. After everything that happened in the preliminary round, the tournament is now a constant topic of conversation.
These conversations are not officially scheduled, they take place over coffee or by the pool. Everyone wants to talk about the tournament all the time anyway, so you have to be careful that it doesn’t become too much.
