Would you want to fight this man in a duel? © Ruben Albarran/Shutterstock/imago images
Sometimes even his teammates don’t know what he’s actually doing. For example, when Antonio Rüdiger runs off an opponent and pulls his legs up like a running stork. Or when he crawls from behind with his head under Erling Haaland’s armpit. Or pinching an opponent’s nipples. “Rüdiger, don’t take us to the grave!” is why he says He can kick-Host and Didi Hallervorden connoisseur Oliver Fritsch in the new episode of the football podcast.
Antonio Rüdiger is on the topic He can kick. The man from Berlin-Neukölln, who became a fixture at Real Madrid, will face FC Bayern in the Champions League semi-finals and will form part of the German central defense at the European Championships in the summer. “He is currently one of the most extroverted and crazy – and that makes him one of the most exciting players of the moment. With all the risk you get in return,” says host Fabian Scheler.
“He has something that we can’t do much about: physicality,” says Fritsch. And that’s why he can get into the ring with Erling Haaland – and hold his own. He has close combat skills, he is strong in the air, has no fear or fear, is painless and plays with enormous intensity: “He is the Haaland from behind,” says Fritsch. Scheler adds the football fighting vocabulary of the so-called German virtues.
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Together, the hosts explain Rüdiger’s journey from Neukölln via Dortmund and Stuttgart to the European metropolises of Rome, London and Madrid and analyze how he needed the help of his (mainly Italian) coaches everywhere in order to mature into a world class player. “The fact that he had to leave Germany to learn how to defend, as he says, raises questions,” says Fritsch. He still sometimes has to correct his own positional mistakes and perhaps his antics also cost energy. But in Madrid he calmed down. Scheler thinks it’s “just cool that someone from Neukölln hasn’t forgotten where he comes from and has made it to the top.”
The hosts also talk about the controversy surrounding the Tawheed gesture: “The issue could still be smoldering in the catacombs of our society,” says Fritsch. The Top Five is dedicated to the most valuable football brands in the world, and Mister X discusses a player who also has a career as a coach and about the good soul and captain of Real Madrid. And as always, the power card closes the show.
“He can kick” is the football podcast from ZEIT ONLINE. It appears every two weeks and is dedicated to the best footballers of our time. We talk less about tactics and more about what really matters in football: the individuality of the players. You can find all episodes of the podcast here, all Powercard ratings here. Write us! We accept criticism of the show and suggestions for Mister X at [email protected].
Scenes and articles we talked about
Sometimes even his teammates don’t know what he’s actually doing. For example, when Antonio Rüdiger runs off an opponent and pulls his legs up like a running stork. Or when he crawls from behind with his head under Erling Haaland’s armpit. Or pinching an opponent’s nipples. “Rüdiger, don’t take us to the grave!” is why he says He can kick-Host and Didi Hallervorden connoisseur Oliver Fritsch in the new episode of the football podcast.
Antonio Rüdiger is on the topic He can kick. The man from Berlin-Neukölln, who became a fixture at Real Madrid, will face FC Bayern in the Champions League semi-finals and will form part of the German central defense at the European Championships in the summer. “He is currently one of the most extroverted and crazy – and that makes him one of the most exciting players of the moment. With all the risk you get in return,” says host Fabian Scheler.
