Per Mertesacker was Germany’s leading player at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil – until he found himself on the substitutes’ bench and no longer understood the world. Today, the 39-year-old from Hanover helps young talents deal with difficult situations.
By Martin Roschitz and Anne Armbrecht
Per Mertesacker’s “Ice Barrel Interview” is probably one of the legends of the 2014 World Cup that people will still talk about in a nonchalant manner for decades to come. The German team had just made it through in the round of 16 against Algeria with a bang. ZDF reporter Boris Büchler questioned the defender critically. And Mertesacker complained: “What do you want? Play nice and get kicked out? Always this questioning,” he snapped. “I’m going to lie down in the ice bin for three days. Then we’ll analyze the game and then we’ll see.”
The ice cream bin became a social media hit. Some later said that it was precisely this outburst of anger from the otherwise calm defensive giant that gave the DFB team the decisive boost on the way to winning the World Cup. But Mertesacker, of all people, found himself on the substitutes’ bench in the next game – and no longer understood the football world.
Even ten years later, the 39-year-old still remembers it painfully. It’s a cold day in January. Mertesacker has chosen a pub in his adopted home of Hampstead in London: golden taps at the bar in dim light, a fire roaring. Very cozy here. The opposite of back then.
Löw’s “most difficult decision”
Mertesacker and the then national coach Joachim Löw both still have it in mind. The dark surroundings, the extremely short conversation. Mertesacker will later describe it as a “very big test”. Löw spoke of his “most difficult decision of all”. The conversation leaves both of them with a bad feeling. Also because the player finishes it. He just gets up and leaves.
“Per said to me: ‘Coach, you don’t have to look for things now. I got it. It’s an unbelievable low blow for me.'”
– Joachim Löw
Mertesacker is the leading player in the tournament up to this point. He is on the field in all group games and the round of 16. Does his job well and inspires the team. On and off the pitch – one example is the ice barrel interview. Nevertheless, the national coach decided against him before the quarter-finals against France.
When it comes to “why,” Mertesacker no longer listens: “If you hear that you’re not playing tomorrow, you don’t care. You’re not even listening. That’s not important.” Löw himself still squirms about the question today.
“I have to swallow this and be role model number one now”
Mertesacker lies awake that night and ponders. About the trust of the coach. His doubts. Always the question: “Why me?” He doesn’t sleep for a second. The sun is already rising outside. Then he gets up, goes to have breakfast – and makes a decision: he accepts his new role. “I have to swallow this and be role model number one now.”
“World class!” Schweinsteiger takes off his hat
Against France, Mertesacker was the first to jump off the bench and celebrate when he scored. He also cheers on his teammates from outside and hands water bottles to colleagues exhausted by the heat. The team’s respect for him continues to grow. Bastian Schweinsteiger can “only take off his hat. World class! The way he was, you would like all players today to accept their role like that.”
Lying awake from tension, becoming sick from exhaustion
Mertesacker gives everything for the team, even on the bench. Afterwards, however, he is sick for two days. Lying awake from tension, becoming sick from exhaustion: these are probably stress reactions. Similar ones accompany Mertesacker throughout his entire career. Having to go to the toilet more often before kick-off, nausea. Stomach problems in particular are a part of it for him. Because Mertesacker always “gives everything” and gets everything out of himself. For the team, as he says. This was also the case in Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.
Mertesacker’s magical moments in the final
Löw rewards Mertesacker’s efforts. After his substitute role against France, he was back on the pitch at least in the second half of the semi-final against Brazil. In the final against Argentina he comes into play for the very last moments. His moments for eternity: “There was a long ball that I headed out and I had the feeling that the Germans were celebrating as if a goal had been scored,” remembers Mertesacker. “To soak it up again and be on the court when the whistle sounds for the last time in this tournament was magical.”
World champion Mertesacker ends his DFB career while still in the dressing room. “104 international matches, one more than Franz Beckenbauer, now the World Cup title, and that at the age of 29,” he says. “That’s where you peak and where you finish.”
World champion Per Mertesacker.
Mertesacker was still playing in the Premiere League until his damaged knee increasingly took him out of the game. Only later did he report in detail about the other complaints that accompanied him throughout his career. His stress symptoms were an open secret in the locker room. But he didn’t talk openly about it.
Today he looks back on his career with sadness. “There were happy moments in my footballing days. But they go by so quickly.” That’s the only thing he regrets, he says. Now he has more time to talk about things and “let them sink in.”
Four years after retiring from the national team, Mertesacker ended his playing career at Arsenal. He still lives in London with his family. He now heads Arsenal’s youth academy there and sometimes works as a TV expert.
From TSV Pattensen to Arsenal FC
Mertesacker himself never went through a performance center. He made it to the top from TSV Pattensen, his home in the Hanover region. Hannover 96, Werder Bremen, Arsenal FC – national titles in Germany and England, plus the DFB coronation. He later called his own biography “world champion without talent.”
Mertesacker knows better than anyone the pressure the young players are under. In the Arsenal FC youth academy, he tries to support them as best he can with his experience. Also so that they can learn to deal with the bad ones better than he was able to do himself during his career.
“We World Champions” – sports show documentary and podcast
What did the title do to the 2014 World Cup heroes?
Ten years later, NDR reporters went on a search for clues: to the places where the events took place, to the actors from back then.
The sports show documentary “We World Champions” and the podcast of the same name are the result of this journey.
All episodes of the podcast “We World Champions: Looking for 2014” are now available in the ARD audio library.
The four-part documentary series “We World Champions: Adventures of the 2014 World Cup” will be released on May 22nd in the ARD media library.
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Sports show | May 7, 2024 | 05:00 am
