Ansgar Knauff from Borussia Dortmund in an interview: “I thought I could do it all”

Knauff: Yes, I’ve known that for a long time. It was a long way to get this picture. We qualified for the final tournament in Dortmund over four rounds played across Germany. That was a huge success for our troop. The trips there or the overnight stays in the hotels were great experiences. We were then at a BVB game in the stadium.

Did Klopp only show up to hand over the trophy back then?

Knauff: No, he was there most of the time and also something like the face of the tournament. In any case, when he handed me the trophy, he told me that I played well and congratulated me.

It is said that Klopp then invited you to the U13 trial training at BVB. Is that correct?

Knauff: Not like that, but it was part of my award that I got a pair of soccer shoes and my mother and I were invited to Dortmund for two days. Then I trained with the U13 and we went to a game in the stadium again. At that time, however, there was no prospect of moving to BVB one day. That was still far too far away.

When you finally went to Dortmund for the U15 at the age of 14, you had only accepted 96 a year earlier. How long did you have to think about it back then to accept BVB’s offer?

Knauff: Before that, I went to Dortmund with my advisor and my mother to see everything on site. The coaches, the youth center, the entire sporting and individual concept – I liked everything very much straight away. Therefore, despite my young age, it was easy to make the decision to go to boarding school there.

You live there to this day. How big was the homesickness?

Knauff: At first it was difficult because I was completely unfamiliar with being away from home for so long and permanently. On the other hand, there was always something to be done. At the boarding school I met players of the same age who were in the same situation. That made it just as easy as the guys who had lived there for two or three years and knew how it felt for the newcomers at the beginning. In the first few days, we went straight to the field with the older guys, bolted a bit on goal and got to know each other.

Who became your closest friend back then?

Knauff: Lloyd-Addo Kuffour. He was my age, came to Dortmund at the same time and had previously played with me in Hanover. We were teammates in the U15 and he became my roommate. When we played FIFA together for the first time, I basically felt at home. (laughs)

In July you will move into your first apartment of your own. It should be bigger than the room you are currently living in. How great is the respect for this step?

Knauff: The move is already underway, I’m right in the middle of it. I’m looking forward to it, it will be an important step in my private life. I think I’m pretty well prepared for it. Anyway, I know how to do laundry and empty the dishwasher, we were taught that sort of thing at boarding school. We also had to keep our rooms clean, so I am also familiar with dust saws.

After you had already trained up a few times, you were able to take part in the preparation with the professionals last summer. Do you remember how you found out about it?

Knauff: Otto Addo called me one day. In the summer he was still the coach of the top talents and the connection between youth and professionals. When he said that I will now take part in the corona tests and also travel to the training camp, I was pretty excited. I really enjoyed working so intensively at this level. I also got better and better, in the last test matches before the start of the league game I even managed my first goal and first assist.

BVB – Ansgar Knauff and his performance data at Borussia Dortmund

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