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August 02 Bring on BayernDear friends,
The clock’s ticking, with only 12 days left until the new season kicks off, but the ‘curtain-raiser’ has already given us a taste of what’s to come – the pre-season German ‘league cup’ has already started here, and it hasn’t been for the faint hearted…
Our qualifying round match against Leverkusen, which finished 1:1 after 90 minutes, was decided on penalties. An unbelievable 22 penalty kicks followed before we finally emerged triumphant from the battle of nerves.
Unfortunately, along with my team mate Lincoln, I wasn’t able to play, having been suspended from the first match of the competition because of a red card that I picked up last season. Having to sit in the stands in the new Düsseldorf stadium was a double penalty. It sure wasn’t just because of the summer heat that we were both sitting there sweating!
But that’s behind us now and we’re looking forward. We’re in the semi finals of the league cup, and Wednesday we’re facing last season’s winners of the league double here in Germany, FC Bayern Munich. It’s going to be a great evening of football. We want to make the first pre-season headlines in the Allianz arena (home of FC Bayern Munich) and get into Saturday’s final which is being played in Leipzig. We want to defend our title.
Sitting in the stands and being sentenced to the status of a spectator made me think quite a bit about the footballer, Kevin Kuranyi. And right now, I’ve really decided that my fans are going to see a different Kevin to the one they saw last season: even more motivated, even hungrier for goals and even more eager.
All the best,
Kevin Kuranyi July 18 We want to be a dream duoDear friends,
The World Cup only finished a week ago, but it already seems like much longer. My daily football schedule has long caught up with me, with pre-season training for Schalke 04 at the Bad Radkersburg training camp in Austria.
But the World Cup isn’t all together over. We’re still down two World Cup players, Gerald Asamoah and Mladen Kristajic. Mladen dropped by at training, and we wound him up a bit about Serbia and Montenegro’s pitiful World Cup performance. Even if I’ve long come to terms with the disappointment of not having been a part of the national German squad, I’d still like to share a small story with you that really cheered me up. Mike Hanke, the former Schalke centre forward who now plays at Wolfsburg, rang me up and apologised for the fact that he had been selected for the national squad and I hadn’t. I just told him that he couldn’t do anything about it and not to worry about it. On a human level though, I thought it was a really great gesture that someone who’s having such a good run can still take the time to spare a thought for those who aren’t in such a good situation at the moment. It’s always important to keep your feet on the ground. It’s the way I’m handling things as well.
But back to the training camp: after two victories against Lippstadt and Karlsruhe, we went down to our first defeat against Sigma Olmütz. In the context of the focus of our current training, we didn’t view going down 1:0 to be so bad though. So that our game is faster, our coach, Mirko Slomka, is making us learn a free running style and play with two touch football. So we were preoccupied with concentrating on our new approach, quite apart from the fact that we’re still missing a few of our regular players. Frank Rost was just one of our line up who did not play.
Another thing I’ve got to do is to get used to playing alongside a new striking partner, Halil Altintop. It goes without saying that given time we’re going to team up amazingly. Despite their relegation, Halil played a brilliant season at Kaiserslautern last year and has already integrated himself into the squad really well. Of course, not everything is running as smoothly as it might, but we’ve got time to get things sorted before the season kicks off. But there’s one thing I’m sure of, and that’s that we’re going to get better with every game so we can become a new dream duo.
All the best,
Kevin Kuranyi July 11 I hope that the party is continuingDear friends,
An amazing World Cup has come to an end. Italy took the title in a dramatic final after a thrilling penalty shoot-out. In 1990, we won the World Cup in Italy. In 2006, the Italians have done the same to us. The tifosi have been waiting for this day since 1982. In my opinion, they deserved the title, even if the final certainly wasn’t their best match.
What a final. Two goals straight away at the start, extra time, the unsporting headbutt and departure of Zinedine Zidane, the penalty shoot-out. What tension. This final was the climax of a tremendous World Cup.
FIFA president Josef S. Blatter paid us a huge compliment. He spoke of this being the best World Cup of all time. I think that the president is right. Germany presented itself uniquely over four weeks. The party miles, the public viewings, the celebrations inside and outside of the stadia – there has never been anything like it before. 500, 000 fans alone celebrated the achievement of the German team in Berlin, when Klinsman’s men greeted the fans once more after winning third place. That once again created more sympathy; the whole of Germany celebrated for four weeks, experiencing a unique party.
What will be left from this World Cup? I hope that the enjoyment of football will continue to define our country. In mid August the new Bundesliga season will be starting already. At Schalke 04 we have started back in training again, as other teams in the league have also done.
I wish you, dear friends, continue to celebrate the World Cup a little, keep your positive mood and also take this certain relaxed attitude with you into everyday life. That way, we will continue to have great fun together, in football and in life.
Best wishes, your Kevin Kuranyi July 07 My favourites are ItalyDear friends,
Training at Schalke has already started – we’re preparing for the new season, which will be upon us as soon as the 11th August. But for the time being, it goes without saying that our thoughts are dominated by one thing: the world cup, with on-fire Germany taking on Italy and the victory of the French over Portugal, which to me came as no surprise.
The match in Dortmund between Germany and Italy, that I saw live in the stadium, was one of the best football matches of the whole tournament. Both teams wanted to win. Both teams played attacking football. Both sides boasted compact defences that gave away nothing until the 118th minute. A truly outstanding match.
Sure, the Italians were afraid of a penalty shootout. They’re still yet to win a match on penalties. That’s why Lippi, their coach, risked everything by doing a complete forward for forward substitution, culminating with the substitution of del Piero. He gradually substituted all of his attacking forwards and his whole attacking force: slow but sure wins the race. But in the end, it was just a single mistake that decided things. The German defenders failed to respond quickly enough to either Pirlo or goal-scorer Grosso decisively enough.
But if anyone thinks I was sitting in the stadium feeling disheartened, jealous or angry, they’re completely wrong. I was enthralled, and enjoyed every feverous moment like I was out there with the lads, right to the end. Our lads put up one great fight. They gave their all and played brilliantly. And these were still my feelings even after the ref had blown the final whistle and I took the opportunity to mingle with our fans. Sure, they were sad and disappointed, but they weren’t angry. They knew that Italy played brilliantly and in the end it was only a bit of missing good fortune that meant the dream of playing in the final wasn’t to be.
I’m counting on our national party to continue – and for our lads to put in another great performance on Saturday and pull out all of the stops again to win third place and bid a fine farewell to our superb fans throughout Germany. And as far as Sunday goes, my money is on Italy. Although France have raised their level of play throughout the tournament amazingly well, Italy are may favourites. And that isn’t only because they beat Germany. It’s also because in their match against our national team, they played perfect football. July 04 I’m joining in the fever pitch in the Germany jerseyDear friends,
Even though I didn’t get the chance to be an active participant of the Football World Cup in my own country, I have been just as infected by the World Cup virus as everyone else. I followed the match against Poland in a German restaurant in Panama City. My friend Arranja Vazquez, a former flyweight-boxing world champion, invited me along. I sat in the Germany strip and cheered along with everyone else.
Back in Germany, the unbelievable enthusiasm, this never before seen euphoria, fascinates me even more. I never expected it in my wildest dreams. It isn’t just the fantastic atmosphere in the stadiums. Far more than just the public viewings demolishes all boundaries. To date, about 13 (!) million people have flooded to the 15 official fan parties in our twelve World Cup cities. The semi-finals, the big final and the third place match still await us. A gigantic number. Up to now, 2.5 (!) million litres of beer and 1.73 (!) million Bratwursts have been sold. Dear friends, what astronomical figures. Simply inconceivable.
What is also important is that, with just a few exceptions, everything has run smoothly and peacefully during these parties and during all the matches in the stadiums. All my friends are out and about, celebrating together. Of course, we celebrate German victories more than the others: I’m happy to admit that.
The viewing figures for German television are enormous. By the end of the World Cup, so in just a few more days, more than 30 (!) billion people will have followed the matches in Germany across the entire world. What is even more enormous is the growth. In comparison to the World Cup 2002 in Japan and South Korea, TV stations are reporting an increase of 50 to 70 percent. And the women of the world are becoming more and more interested in football. About 40 percent of all spectators are female!
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