Soccer Extreme : Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has revealed that he had once begged the club's former midfielder Owen Hargreaves for his boots.Reflecting on his development and growth at the Bundesliga outfit, the Germany international looked back at the years he had as a child and also revealed a few old memories.
"I was a ball-boy at the stadium, it was always fantastic being up close to the pitch, watching the stars," said the 26-year-old to Bayern's official website.
"Elber, [Oliver] Kahn, [Jens] Jeremies, [Thomas] Linke, [Mehmet] Scholl – and a couple of years later, I was playing alongside them. I also watched them train as often as I could, after I’d cycled back from school to the club’s youth hostel.
"I recall once being the only person at the training ground, and I spent ages watching Owen Hargreaves all on his own, playing a ball against a wooden bench and trapping the rebound. He’d already signed pro forms back then.
"And I was desperate to get hold of a pair of boots like the pros wore, and I basically begged him to give me his!"
When asked whether Hargreaves gave him what he wanted, Schweinsteiger replied, "Yes, he gave in at some point. We’d known each other for a long time, we’d both lodged in the club hostel."
The 26-year-old continued, "Generally, I had some fantastic years there. Obviously, I had to sacrifice a few of the activities lads of that age normally enjoy, but it was enormously important for my development.
"You’re independent for the first time, you have to do your own shopping and cook your own food. I almost burned the place to the ground once, ‘cos I’d bought frozen dumplings and fried them. They were black on the outside and frozen on the inside.
"But I learned from the experience – I don’t cook dumplings myself any more..."
Looking ahead to their weekend clash with FC Koeln in the German Bundesliga where he will come up against his former Bayern team-mate Lukas Podolski, Schweinsteiger said, "Lukas arrived in 2006 with all eyes on him after the World Cup. It didn’t go well for him at the start and he was singled out for a lot of criticism, although I remain convinced he had the potential.
"Some people said it was all because he chose to live outside the city, but I never understood that – in Koeln, he doesn’t exactly live in the shadow of the cathedral." (goal)