Edmond Tapsoba: ‘Looking into the faces of our fans gives me the biggest push’

Edmond Tapsoba has spoken ahead of the game about why he’s always relaxed, what attitude helps him and who or what drives on the 27-year-old from thousands of kilometres away.

04 questions to Edmond Tapsoba

Eddy, how do you go into such an important game?

Tapsoba: “Compared to last year [2-1 loss away at Arminia Bielefeld], we’ve got a home game this time. We can definitely use that as an advantage. It was the same in the season where we won the cup [4-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf]. We’re playing in our stadium, which we know inside and out, in front of our families and fans. They give us energy and always stand behind us. When we come together in our huddle just before kick-off, we sometimes can’t hear ourselves think. When we then run over to them and look into their faces, it gives me the biggest push. That’ll be the same on Wednesday. And it’s exactly that atmosphere from our fans and in our stadium that we need to make Bayern feel. In a sporting sense they also have more to lose than us. The pressure’s on them.”

What mindset helps you in games like this? And what do you tell the younger players?

Tapsoba: “When I came here, I always prepared as best I could for every opponent. Now I try not to think too much about it all. We analyse everything, but at the end of the day you need to do what you do and what the team does. I tell that to the younger players. The hardest thing is even being on the pitch in games like these. If you’ve done that, you just need to play your game and do what you do well.”

You have a very close connection with one of Bayern’s players, Jonathan Tah. Are you still in touch?

Tapsoba: “To be honest, Jona and I speak almost every day. We talk about everything but not about matches. During the match we often try to put the other off their game [laughs]. He’s like a big brother to me, someone who showed me how to approach things in life. We’ve still got that connection, which is amazing.”

How will people back in your homeland of Burkina Faso follow this big game?

Tapsoba: “I think they’ll put up another big screen in the city and show the game there. Everyone goes to watch it because they all just love football. It’s one of the things that makes people happy, even if just for a short time. For example, when one of our players from the national team comes on and plays, they send me videos from there. That gives me a lot of strength and the motivation to give my all and always achieve more.”

An exclusive documentary following Tapsoba will be released on the Werkself’s channels at the end of April. A team from the club went to visit Tapsoba in Burkina Faso at the end of March where the 27-year-old give us special insight into his footballing roots, the country’s culture and the inspiring work done by his Fondation Edmond Tapsoba.