‘I was a striker for a long time’: Kids’ press conference with Blaswich and Rapsch

At the last kids’ press conference during the Easter holidays, Montrell Culbreath and Jonas Omlin made the children’s eyes light up. Instead of just one, this time there were two goalkeepers sitting in front of the microphones, facing a barrage of questions from the young Bayer 04 supporters. Following a rousing welcome, the first questions naturally focused on the goalkeeping experiences of the pair. Janis Blaswich got the first big laugh in the room when he asked team-mate Simeon Rapsch if his height of 1.90 metres was measured with or without his hair.

"the most important thing is i enjoy myself"

Instead of the classic ‘Messi or Ronaldo’ question, the pair were then asked to name what they considered to be the five best players of all time – and for both goalkeepers, Marc-André Ter Stegen made it into their illustrious selection. When asked about the best young players at the moment, however, the goalkeeping duo turned their attention to the Werkself first-team players: “Ibrahim Maza has played very well; I hope he carries on like that – then he’ll really be a great help to us,” said Blaswich, and Rapsch named his team-mate and friend Culbreath.

A surprised murmur rippled through the crowd when 18-year-old Rapsch revealed that, before his career as a goalkeeper, he’d “been a striker for a long time. That was up until the U14s. Then, after a few detours, I ended up in goal and I’ve been playing there ever since.” Much to the delight of Blaswich, who said of their relationship: “I really like Simi, and of course he’s a top-class goalkeeper too.” (laughs)

The experienced goalkeeper was also full of praise for the new head coach, Carles Martínez, saying he brings “lots of energy and passion to the team”. It’s fun working with him – “Having fun on the pitch is the most important thing in football,” the 35-year-old also explained to the young audience: “I’m a professional because, of course, I’ve trained hard and always believed it could work out. But the most important thing is I have a great time every time I’m out on the pitch.”

great day out

Once the kids had quenched their thirst for knowledge, they were, of course, allowed to get even closer to their idols for a group photo. Finally, Blaswich and Rapsch signed shirts, football boots, shin pads and water bottles before being given an enthusiastic send-off by the young fans. The youngsters then returned to the pitch with their coaches for another training session – no doubt keeping Blaswich’s advice in mind from now on...