#so there will be some mistakes

[jbaeteng]

David in BOA #2 Mar 2019

What do you lose if you win everything? David Alaba and Jérôme talk about victories and defeats - on and off the pitch

The Munich Glockenbachviertel on a mild February afternoon. David Alaba appears with mirrored sunglasses in the photo studio, where the shoot for this issue is to take place. Jérôme is already there, receiving his teammate in the dressing room. A handshake, a smile, then the funk starts. Jérôme says to the make-up artist: "Please put a lot of make-up on David's skin." David soon gets his revenge in the photo studio as he grunts at Boateng with a grin. The native Viennese and the native Berliner do not need a long warm-up to get in the mood. It's Travis Scott. Between the recordings David Alaba dances in the studio, Jérôme raps.

Both of them actually came here to talk to us about a big topic of life: about victories and defeats, sporty and personal. As defenders, they are at least sporty, so our guess. On the plus side: Both won together with the team of FC Bayern six German championships, three DFB Cups and a Champions League trophy. But they also know what it means to lose. The tragic »Finale dahoam« 2012. The repeated defeats in the European Champions League against Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. And if the individual form did not fit, the critics did not deal with the two tenderly. As a professional footballer they learned early that even fame and recognition can be lost quickly. As people, they learned how difficult it is to make friends and meet women when you can not even walk on a street unrecognized. So what do you lose when you have won almost everything? We have a few questions. Here we go.

David and Jérôme, is winning an addiction?

D Maybe already, but a positive addiction. J To win a big title in a big stadium is like a rush, an absolute feeling of happiness. And if I'm not allowed to play, for example because I'm hurt, I can not wait to get back on the pitch. It tingles in me. I do not know many addictions, but maybe the term is actually quite good. You give your all to get back in the field as fast as possible, to play, and yes, to win. It was a dream as a child.

What's better: playing in front of 70 000 spectators in the stadium or sex?

J Depends on how sex is. But if you ask me for the best feeling I can remember, the answer is not difficult. That was the moment when we became world champions in Rio de Janeiro. Even in Brazil, where football is almost a religion. I still can not believe it.

David, was triple-year 2013 the biggest in your career for you? D Yes, clearly, that was enormous. When I think about how much power that cost back then, how many victims we had to bring, physically and mentally, to collect the harvest in the end, to become German Champion, Champions League winner and cup winner. But equally emotionally were my two debuts at Bayern and in the Austrian national team. These were events that I did not dare to  even dream about as a little boy in Vienna. I also think there are many different highlights in a career, sometimes they can be very small, but they are meaningful to you personally. J That's right. For example, if you can save the ball on the goal line in a game and know that this really helps the team in the situation, because this again forces are released. As at the EM 2016.

Is a big stadium necessary for great feelings of victory, or is this also possible on a football pitch? D victories in front of great audience, of course in the home stadium in particular, but also in the legendary arenas such as Madrid, London or Dortmund are always something incredible that I can hardly get used to. The feeling of victory on the football field can also be moving. I still remember how I kicked in the small squares of Vienna as a teenager. Since I never thought that it is about nothing. On the contrary, buffets are about something that most even consider most sacred - honor. J I can only confirm that. Emotions take place in the huge stadium as well as on a small playing field. If I bet with my friends on the pitch, who wins, it can get down to business.

When were you last on a football field?

J I gambled with mates in my garden in Munich in September. We played three against three. Although I watch a bit in a duel, you do not want to hurt yourself - but I have to win already! D He then chooses the teams so that he does not have to do much, but still wins.

How long does the feeling of happiness last after winning a trophy? D Our profession is fast-paced. When the new season comes, the last title is immediately forgotten. In addition, you should not lose as a Bayern player actually. Otherwise, the pressure will quickly increase and everything in the media will be called into question. This has been seen again in the first round. J One must also remember that one was hardly used to defeats at Bayern. This is not supposed to sound overbearing, but controlling the League as much as our team for several seasons changes the mindset of all players and maybe even the people around it. Victories are the norm. If, as in this first round, we suddenly do not win in almost every Bundesliga game but lose ourselves at home, it is suddenly a new feeling that we all have to deal with. That also unsettled us as a team. It is all the better if you can fight back, as at the beginning of the second half, when we approached Dortmund. That gave a boost.

Do defeats have a longer after-effect than victories? J In any case. I can not lose, I've never been able to, not even in my youth. If I lose, my mood is often legendary lousy for days. It can happen that I can not speak for anyone, listen to music, nothing else. Only my two daughters can get me out of this condition, for example if they want to get on my arm. Then I feel better.

Do not you also console all the titles you already have? D Unfortunately not. What lies behind us does not matter anymore. If Jérôme and I slip through in the defense, it does not help much that we both won the triple years ago. But that's also the cool thing about sports. With every kick-off, it starts again.

David, how do you deal with setbacks? D defeats affect me very differently, depending on how the game was. If you lose in the first round against Borussia Mönchengladbach, that's not nice. Worse, the defeat last season felt in the semifinals in the Champions League. That's where we went against Real Madrid, even though we were the better team. This is especially bitter. You work towards the goal of winning the Champions League for so long - and suddenly it's all over, even though you were better.

These weeks will decide if you will end this season as a felt winner or loser. Does it also depend on you feeling like a winner or loser for one summer? D At least I can say that if you win the Champions League then you're in a different mood for a summer. In the summer of 2013, I definitely shot down a few rockets! J Yes, but if I fly out of such an important competition unhappily, I need my peace first. Then I can not go on holiday with friends and celebrate parties, but stay with the family, which brings me to other thoughts. Everyone has their own methods to deal with disappointments. I am a believer, draw my strength from it. I pray and read in the Bible. I do that in front of almost every game in the hotel room and afterwards when I get home.

Do you always want to win when playing Monopoly, Cards or PlayStation? J As I said: I can not lose, no matter where. I get extremely angry then. Especially if I feel that I have been treated unfairly. D I'm fine too. If I lose, everything is unfair. But you have to explain that we both play rather little. In the team, others are the gamer.

Do you have the feeling that you are winning or losing on important match days in the morning?

J Yes, I have. And mostly the feeling comes true.

D I have it too, but if I have a bad feeling in the morning, I try to deal with it, leave the negative thoughts aside, and concentrate on more positive things. This sometimes works.

Is it true that the coaching in the half-time break can decide on victory or defeat? J The speeches are very important. The team listens closely to how the coach talks about individual players. That makes a huge difference. When the coach proves to be sensitive and sets the right tone, we attack players in a different way.

Which coaches have reached you the best? D Hard to say, everyone has their own style.

J For me, Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola were the best coaches. Tactically, Pep was the best I met. He just saw almost everything in the square. Jupp and Pep have personally motivated me most in the cabin.

Who did not do that well? D I want to clean up with a common misconception. If it does not work, it is often said that the coach does not reach the team anymore. That's true in the rarest cases. Most of the time it's up to something else. J I have seldom experienced that. If anything, there was a language barrier. That was the case with Carlo Ancelotti, who spoke a lot of Italian. Since we could not communicate so well. In addition came the getting used of Peps football to Carlos football. These were two different ways of looking at the way you play football. The transition was very complex.

When do you get more WhatsApp messages from friends and acquaintances: when you won or when you lost? D I get more news on wins. J In my case, that keeps the balance. More importantly, the bigger the game, the more messages I have on my phone. If we've lost, there are actually only two varieties: either "head up, well played" or "Can I be in the next game?"

Many well-known people report that success and fame also lead to a very different profit, namely to a significant increase in new friends, acquaintances and those who would like it. Can you confirm that? D Yes, there is something in it. There are so-called friends who are only there for you if you give them the crème de la crème of one. And there are the real friends who always there for you. So I had to learn to deal with it. I had to build up human knowledge. And I also had to part with one or the other. J I imagine that I am careful enough and only slowly open myself to new people. That's my protection.

Do you sometimes notice how other professionals are flocking gold diggers, ie people who only or mainly want to gain the assets of the players? J I can see that already. At Bayern or at the national team I know no player who surrounds himself with these gold diggers. But abroad I see in some restaurants, colleagues, where I creeps this dull feeling that it is not everyone honestly means. What sometimes sit there for funny people at the tables!

David, how do you protect yourself from false friends? D I'm always traveling with the same people With the Kobli (Philipp Koblischek, editor's note) I played together in Austria at Austria Wien. We have known each other since we were ten. Two or three years ago he moved from Vienna to Munich. That makes me very happy.

How many best friends do you have? D For me it's the Kobli! J I have only one best friend, Alex. I've known him since I was six. Our friendship deepened over the years. Alex lives in Berlin. He also has a family, two children, a job. We call every day. We exchange ideas, we really talk about each other. He knows me inside out. He just remembers me writing him on Whatsapp, whether I'm good or bad. With the latter, he also knows that he should rather not call now.

Back to our magazine motto "Win & Lose": Which sacrifice you had to make for your professional career was the hardest for you? J First, there were the typical victims as a teenager. When my friends went to the disco, I usually went to bed early. As a professional footballer we have to give up a part of our private life. I can not go to the swimming pool or the cinema with my children without being disturbed or without my children noticing that they are being watched. D That's why I've got more mixed feelings of fame now than I used to, when I was happy to see myself in the paper. I remember how much I, as a child, dreamed of having my own poster in Bravo Sport. That has completely settled.

You can also win and lose in love. Do you have any tips on how to conquer the hearts of women? J I can not say I have a specific method that always works. Women have different tastes. Some like a cool look, others humor or clever, profound conversations. I always try to show good manners, to behave like a gentleman, to hold the door. D I also do not know if it's just about impressing someone. It is more important to me to find a woman who does not want to get to know the professional footballer David Alaba, but the person David. I still remember my first relationship, my childhood sweetheart. Since I had no problem at all to build trust. I did not have a known name back then. In my second relationship, I needed much longer for that. And today it takes even longer before I can totally open myself.

J I'm fine too. In the meantime, I prefer it best if the woman does not understand football at all, does not even know who I am. But that is mostly the case abroad and not everywhere anymore.

Is that why you travel to the US so often because footballers are more likely to be left alone? J Both of us are mainly going to America because of the lifestyle: we like the people, the sports, the fashion and the music. And I personally like that so many nationalities come together in cities like New York and Los Angeles. D We do not go to America to meet ladies! (:D)

One day, the question will ask you how you want to end your careers. And with it, how you will cope with the loss of your favorite occupation. Some ex-professionals have lost their sense of life in these turmoil, others lost their wealth. How do you deal with it? D Sorry, but I do not think about such things. Even though I've heard that one should plan the life after the football out and provide accordingly, I must say: I think only from week to week. J Maybe you notice the four-year age difference that separates David and me. Because I have to say that I know only one fear: the end of my career. I am seriously concerned with the question of what will happen if one day I can no longer play football. Football is my life. I can not imagine this feeling that I will have after my retirement. I'm afraid of that. I know that one day I will have to retire. But on the other hand, it does not want to go right into my head.

People who had to rebuild their lives, it should have helped to look forward to something that they had to give up a long time. What would you think? J I would take a long trip around the world after the end of my career, look at everything, start in Australia, I always wanted to go there. That would be the first. You can still do a coaching certificate later. D Maybe you can train me then yes. Because then I will definitely still play. But seriously: I do not look that far ahead. I hope that I can live my dream for a few more years.