“I should have returned to the national team and I played two World Cup finals with my friend Diego”

Bernd Schuster he is a crack of the hour and would have been more if he had not given up playing for the German national team after being the emerging figure for the European Championship champion in 1980. Currently a coach ready to take the reins of a project that convinced him, he reviewed MD his time as a player, indelible for all connoisseurs of great football.

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He left the German team soon after because of differences with the coach, Jupp Derwall. Shortly before the ’82 World Cup, he suffered a serious knee injury due to Goikoetxea’s entry in Bilbao. Would you reconsider your resignation if you were called and if the injury did not exist?

I would definitely consider playing the World Cup in Spain again if I wasn’t injured. I had a particular problem with the coach, but nothing serious enough to change my life. And more knowing that we played in Spain. Together with Stielike, who played in the League, we will have the support of the public. I will definitely reconsider it.

Do you feel bad that you left the national team so early?

Yes, a bit… but I realized eventually, not at that time. I’m still young and I can be stubborn. I didn’t think so. You think you can handle everything, but leave the World Cup behind! Exactly, my generation in Germany, in 1959-60, played in two finals and won one, in 1990, against Maradona’s Argentina. I was at home and said: “what I would give now to face my friend Diego twice in a row, in 1986 and 1990”. It would be a dream. But I didn’t react in time.

Germany may have won the 1982 World Cup, but it fell in the final…

The semi-final against France did us a lot of damage: extra time, penalties. I saw Italy as superior mentally, very fresh. There was a great breakdown in Germany with France, always behind, coming back. The novelty was noticed.

A current case is Kroos, who left the national team. Would you advise him to reconsider his decision if he is called up for the World Cup?

I do not know. He has become a world champion, in Brazil. This is different from what happened to me. I don’t know him enough to know if a call will react, I’m not sure.

You left Barcelona to go to Madrid and lived through another dark night, 5-0 on the soil of Milan. Have you spoken to Ancelotti, scorer of the first goal, in that game?

No, I don’t have that much time yet. The truth is that it was undoubtedly one of the few black nights of my career. Very difficult, because it was 5-0 in the semi-final of the Champions League, with 1-1 in the first leg which was not optimal but also not certain. They surpassed us in everything, from the beginning to the end.

Is Milan the best team you’ve ever played against?

Yes, one of the best, no doubt. I dealt with them for two years and the first one was the worst. In the second we were closer, but it was a complete team. There are already three foreigners and Arrigo Sacchi has made a great team. Not only because Van Basten, Gullit, Ancelotti, Baresi, Maldini played… It was an incredible team, amazing mentally and with automatisms that I rarely saw at that time.

And of the teams you played with, which one was the best?

The Quinta del Buitre team is a great team, with Hugo Sánchez, Gordillo, Sanchís, Fernando Hierro, Michel, Martín Vázquez, Butragueño… It’s probably the most complete team I’ve played with. Then, in the best conditions, the Barça team with Diego fought for other things.

Without the Goikoetxea factor?

Exactly, if there were no injuries, the team would win more.

His mythical phrase: “Going to San Mamés is like going to the Korean War”

It was a very complicated place. I said that because of how I felt the first time I stepped on the field and faced them. I always felt that if we didn’t get our act together and face them with similar intensity, we couldn’t do anything. I told my teammates that if we just want to play, we will be run over’. That’s their style, and that’s why I got that phrase, that it’s like a war against them: if you don’t put in a lot, you can’t do anything.

That also says a lot about Athletic, doesn’t it?

Of course. And then he beat us in the final at the Bernabéu. It’s for one thing. It was another time, they played differently, there was special marking for some players, much more harshness was allowed… today it would be unthinkable. During the prison I saw many of my matches replayed on Barça TV and I watched them with my son. I’ve never liked watching my games, but since they were broadcast, I took the opportunity to review them.

Why doesn’t he want to see them?

Because I am too demanding of myself.

Even after many years?

Yes Yes. Terrible. I find it difficult to see myself, I often criticize myself, I say to myself, ‘what are you doing?’, ‘where are you going?’… But since we were at home doing nothing, I saw them. That final (the one in 1984 against Athletic), I even found myself taking one at Athletic and saying: ‘What are you doing?’ I didn’t recognize myself.

Were there two Schusters, one before the injury and one after?

Yes, because the mobility of the knee is no longer the same. I had a leg flexion deficit and I lost a little bit, not completely, of the stride I had. I have the ball and nobody can stop me. After that it was more difficult. Although the hitting was the same and I generally recovered well, I needed to catch up on my game, because I wasn’t going as far with the same speed and I’m a more positional player.

Do you see yourself in Barcelona now?

Yes, perfect, because from the time of Cruyff began a game of position that would help me. The runs are not that long and I am a good passer which will suit Barça football.

Should Barça change its style? Sometimes it seems like Madrid are more attuned to their players and instead Barcelona can only play one way, don’t they?

When you set a philosophy, like Barça from Johan Cruyff, for more than thirty years now, it happens that not everyone can train Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ It makes everything more difficult for you… Maybe there are very important players in Europe but they don’t fit your vision of the game. That is why I say about Busquets, it will be difficult to replace him, because a Camavinga or a Tchouaméni might not be worth it, not because they are not good but because that is not the philosophy. But ultimately you have to find the players.

What is your forecast for the World Cup?

In the European Championship, I saw the French, the Germans struggling… The Italians were not here, England did not advance, they remained stuck there… Germany was in formation, Spain a point which is higher, as a group. France can hardly be surprised, although as a squad they are probably the best team. Then there is Brazil and we will see if Argentina, with Messi, can do something, I hope. It’s hard to predict two or three obvious choices.

And in the Champions League, where the same man always wins?

The other day I heard Pep say that if the Champions League is so difficult it’s because Madrid is here. It’s true, it is. PSG is there, Bayern are missing Lewandowski, don’t know how far this will go…

Options for Barcelona to rotate?

Very difficult, very difficult. It does not depend on oneself.

What do Barça lack to threaten WEuropa?

Right now, he has to find the perfect defense, find the perfect starting back four. Araujo is injured, Christensen is injured, Koundé is injured… it’s a shame. With those top players, it would have been different. Because Barça have a goal at any time, including Lewandowski.

In what situation do you rank Lewandowski?

He was there with Benzema, without any problems. They are the same. He is a scoring machine, ever since he was at Borussia Dortmund. The doubt I see in Barça is in defense, we have to find the starting defense.

And how do you see midfielders?

Pedri has suffered too much over the years in too many games. Gavi was even more surprised, I didn’t see much of it at first. I thought I was going to play in the Clásico and it was a shame. When they came on, with Ansu Fati, who was gradually returning to his form, the team had new life and they were close to drawing, for a moment it looked like they were going to do it.

To Jong?

I’m glad he stayed. For me this is key. He is very honorable at work, very important to the team and he has adapted quite well. He dribbles less and lets the ball run more. And he has a good arrival, he has scored goals from the second line and has already captured the movements of Barça in the midfield.

And how do you see Xavi?

It’s on the way. When you get to big teams early, you have to learn a lot of things. There are errors that in other teams are not so visible that here they show it to you right away. He also came at a difficult time, it was not easy to enter last year.