The national team had to win back popularity and that's why Rudi was exactly the right person as a positive role model. He enjoyed incredible popularity. We Leverkusen players, who formed the backbone of the Germany team back then, experienced an intensive time with him. I had a very deep relationship of trust with him and we often talked. Rudi knew exactly what made players tick. When I came to training sessions and said, 'There's nothing doing today,' he didn't ask lots of questions about what was wrong but instead would say: 'You'll be back tomorrow.' He had a gut feeling of when he should ease off and when he had to work very professionally. He knew exactly that top players were burdened with great expectations and he was able to deal well with stress. The pressure was really extreme with the play-off matches against Ukraine for the 2002 World Cup as Germany could have missed out on a World Cup finals for the first time.
Rudi set up his teams well both at Leverkusen and with Germany. He just knew how football worked. We weren't the best Germany team but we unexpectedly finished as World Cup runners-up. With us, he found the right balance of relaxation and training. In the last World Cup group match against Cameroon, which we couldn't afford to lose, Calle Ramelow was shown a red card. The speech in the dressing room at half-time was a key moment and it was emotionally similar to his legendary TV appearance after the Iceland game. Rudi is basically a nice bloke but he could also get annoyed, loud and angry. And he also gained the respect that a coach definitely needs. He gave us a real earful and got everything out of us. We won the game and went through to the final."
#DankeRudi – Part II: Calmund: "Where would Bayer 04 be without Rudi Völler?”
#DankeRudi – Part I: Hermann: "A slick operator full of ambition"
