EPenalty shooters are usually nervous. There is also an unforgettable TV commercial: The shooter puts the ball down, sees Olli Kahn in front of him, turns around in the middle of the run and escapes.
This fear can be paralyzing. Ask the Swiss. They were eliminated at the 2006 World Cup because they didn’t score a single time on penalties, whereupon their writer Max Dohner groaned: “This country doesn’t have the nerve in crucial minutes. No killer instinct like the Germans, true bear killer in the wild as on the lawn. “
Another Swiss man said in the summer that a bear killer is needed. Urs Fischer, the Union Berlin coach, no longer wanted to shiver with sweat every time he took a penalty, so he brought Max Kruse in. He’s now the poacher in the stadium at the Alte Försterei in Berlin. He scored the sixteenth penalty of his career on Saturday, all in. Only Jochen Abel, who once ran for Bochum Schalke and Düsseldorf, has achieved this fabulous feat before him, well into the last century.
Max Kruse executes so coldly that you understand now why Peter Handke wrote “The fear of the goalie at the penalty kick”. Kruse is the biggest gamer in football. He’s a light footed left and a fake nine, you never tell him what he’s up to. They call him a poker face, he looks to the left, plays the ball to the right, and the next moment the loudspeaker announces the new score. He does it similarly with the penalty kick: a short intermediate step and a wrong look until the goalkeeper is on the wrong foot – and then pushing in easily. The gambler from Köpenick.
Kruse is the best assists in the league
Many people even think of Zuckmayer’s play “Der Hauptmann von Köpenick” in view of this rascal: In 1906 the shoemaker Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, disguised as a captain, stormed the Köpenick town hall with a troop of gullible soldiers and his cheeky Berlin snout, arrested the mayor and stole the city treasury out. Will the Kruse von Köpenick storm the Bundesliga with his loyal unionists? “Oh, what”, the coach Fischer smiles, “we are clear in our heads.”
Union Berlin hugs Max Kruse, here teammate Florian Huebner takes care of it
Source: dpa / Uwe Anspach
Any imposture would be justified. 5-0 against Bielefeld. Fourth place. “That was almost perfect,” says Captain Christopher Trimmel. In any case, Kruse was perfect, as Kapo of the attack department he pulls all the strings and the opponents the tooth. Kruse is the best template provider in the league, with passes like from the surprise bag, also with the outside instep, like before the 1-0. And not only that. “Max is also a huge reinforcement in the dressing room,” reports Grischa Prömel, “he is a great guy, we have taken him to our hearts.” At this point, teammate Robert Andrich winks, who made Kruse 2-0 Has slipped his eyes: “Max is always the last to come.”
Kruse is 32. He is no longer a tight Max, every unnecessary step can be one too many. He leads a life that occasionally costs strength and divides the football world. He is Mad Max for some, magician Max for others, but Kruse is definitely the sloppiest genius in the league. Lightning can strike out of the blue, not just in the opposing goal.
Last week, for example, it came out that Kruse had been flashed in a 30 km / h zone, whereupon he rated the actions of the inspectors as “strongly anti-social” on Instagram, flanked by an angry emoji and the fierce expression “pigs”. The risks and side effects of the ball artist Kruse also came to light when he recently played cards with fans in a shisha bar without a face mask.
Maserati Gran Turismo in Tarnfarben
Since the football star Kruse has existed, he’s been good for a hip blow on the social network. As “MC Max”, he rapped early on about the sex practices of affordable women, and had his white Maserati Gran Turismo (450 hp) repainted in camouflage colors. On the occasion of an international match in London, a DFB morale guard is said to have been forced to shoo a well-built visitor from Kruse’s hotel room, at least the one from Joachim Löw’s squad flew to Rio and not to the World Cup.
If everything you hear is correct, Kruse won the equivalent of 36,000 euros at a poker tournament in Las Vegas and another 50,000 on “TV total”. He then suffered a setback when he accidentally left 75,000 euros in a taxi in Berlin around six in the morning. Rumor has it that it came from the World Series of Poker tournament.
Kruse live. Even his best piece is said to have become a hit as a video clip on social media. Recently, a YouTube entertainer named Aaron Troschke reminded him of this on the occasion of an exchange of ideas on the subject of “dirty pictures” and asked: “Would you describe sending nude pictures as a good idea?” Kruse smirked briefly and then advised: “Without a face it would definitely be more advantageous. “
Either way, Löw completely sorted out the free spirit at the time, for fear that he was not up to his role model function as a national player. To make matters worse, during the celebrations for his 28th birthday in a Berlin disco, Kruse snatched the cell phone of a “Bild” reporter who photographed him. But “Bild” is not resentful and has now honored the gala against Bielefeld online and publicly with the pun: “Kruse extremely strong after pork mail.”
Kruse is cut from the same cloth as Giuseppe Meazza
Kruse has his loyal fans. Some envy him for his individualism in action with his thirst for freedom, and for others, especially his trainers, he was occasionally uncontrollable, but also priceless. Especially with the penalty.
Penalty converted, of course – Max Kruse celebrates his goal against Bielefeld
Source: dpa / Maja Hitij
This is the moment that separates the cold from the freezing cold. Kruse is cut from the same cloth as Giuseppe Meazza, who as the Italian captain in the 1938 World Cup semi-finals caused the greatest callousness in the history of football. There were penalties against Brazil and Meazza stepped up when his pants slipped down. The elastic on the waistband was torn, the audience smirked. But with his left hand Meazza quickly pulled up his trousers and held it tight, and with his right he put the ball on the spot and calmly shot Italy into the final. If someone manages that, either the stadium in Milan will be named after him – or he will be hailed as the gambler of Köpenick.
For many, Max Kruse is the ultimate proof: The free-roaming chickens lay the most beautiful eggs. In any case, Urs Fischer would have the most boring coaching life if his craziest chicken didn’t scream kikeriki as a rooster.
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