Christian Günter is considered the epitome of the down-to-earth and club-loyal Bundesliga player. Is he the antithesis of the prevailing image of the professional footballer? In the current episode, the national player explains his view of things.
Germany had just experienced its summer fairytale with Jürgen Klinsmann or David Odonkor, and Angela Merkel had not yet been Chancellor a year when Christian Günter joined SC Freiburg. Now, more than 15 years later, the left-back is an international – and SC is still his club. The captain of the team from Freiburg is not only considered loyal to the club, but also down-to-earth, close to his homeland, without airs and graces – and thus the antithesis of the image many people have of today’s professional footballers.
His place of longing, Günter says in the current issue of the magazine, is not a Caribbean island, but his home village of Tennenbronn in the Black Forest. He is also a stranger to expensive watches. “They keep coming up to me and saying, ‘Why don’t you buy yourself one’,” Günter tells presenters Valeska Homburg and Anna-Sara Lange. “But so far I haven’t treated myself to a Rolex because I’m not much of a watch wearer. “
“Difficult when footballers are reduced to that “
And what about the second big status symbol? “I like driving nice cars,” says Günter, “but it doesn’t have to be a Ferrari.” Instead, as a young father, he uses “a family car” as a means of transport.
However, Günter also makes it clear that he finds it “difficult when footballers are reduced to that”. There are indeed “some in professional football who can afford it, but you can’t pigeonhole them and say they’re arrogant. There are also guys who allow themselves such things and are still down-to-earth in the way they present themselves – and that is the most important thing. It’s how you treat other people that matters, not what you wear. “
Günter cites his teammate Ermedin Demirovic as an example of this. “He is someone who embodies exactly that,” Günter says in the podcast. “But off the pitch he’s such a super guy who gets on well with everyone, even though he drives a flashy Mercedes. That’s the crucial thing. “
