BILD interview with Franck
BILD: Monsieur Ribéry, the fans are dying to know: when will you extend your contract (still 2 years left on the current one) with Bayern until 2017?
FR: We talked it all through. And a yes from me is a yes! We don’t actually need it on paper. But of course it has to be signed and that’s happening at the next opportunity. There’s isn’t much of a rush.
BILD: Does the new contract make the treble season perfect for you personally?
FR: Yes, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. In my private life as well. Why should I go anywhere else where I might be unhappy? When I finish my career here some day, then I want to do it like a Grand Seigneur. With a farewell match like Mehmet Scholl had.
BILD: Like him, you are championship winner, cup winner and CL winner. With the difference that you achieved all this in one season.
FR: Championship and cup winner I’ve been twice already but to win the Champions League on top of that - that’s the biggest of all.
BILD: Describe it for us…
FR: My compatriot Zinedine Zidane congratulated me. Before the final, I talked to Eric Abidal on the phone. He said: “That’s your trophy, go and get it! It’s an incomparable feeling.”
BILD: And was it?
FR: I wanted to laugh, wanted to cry. Everything at the same time, it was a jumble of emotions. My life, my career passed me like a movie. I saw myself play in France’s 3rd league, saw me work with my father in road construction. Our family never had much money, we lived in a small apartment. Two, three people in one room. My father, amateur footballer, worked his ass off for us. When I handed him the CL trophy in London, we both cried.
BILD: You took the trophy to bed with you. Did your wife Wahiba like that?
FR: She said: “You’re crazy!” We made funny pictures via selftimer: my wife, the trophy and I in bed. Those pictures better stay private though (laughs). Afterwards, we put the trophy in front of the bed. It’s unbelievable to finally have won it. The CL trophy is the proof that I’m a big player. And I play for a big team that wrote history. You know what makes me proud?
BILD: Tell us.
FR: I was captain three times, that motivated me even more. And when Jupp Heynckes subbed off Schweinsteiger and Lahm in Barcelona, Lahm came to me right away and gave me the badge. A small gesture that had the biggest meaning to me. I told Lahm so.
BILD: 2012 during the halftime break in the semi final against Madrid, you slapped Robben in the heat of the moment. Now you played two deciding passes to him in the Wembley final. If you two hadn’t made up, Bayern might not have won the CL. How is your relationship these days?
FR: We talked a lot. I said: “It doesn’t matter who scores the goal”. This isn’t the FC Ribéry nor is it the FC Robben. It’s about FC Bayern, only together we can be successful. That was our big strength this season: the cohesion as a team. Robben changed his way of playing, he works a lot for the team now.
BILD: You too helped a lot defensively. And yet you were still strong offensively. Do you have a secret?
FR: Everyone of us put in more work after last year’s shock. I myself feel like this was the best season of my career. I’m fitter than ever before. That’s Jupp Heynckes’ training. But I also trained on my free days, I ran on my own on the trainings ground and went to the sauna afterwards. And I often slept in the afternoon.
BILD: When will your push-up duel with Matthias Sammer take place that you planned in case of a CL win?
FR: He just has to say when. I’m ready at all times - and here for many more years (laughs).
