Freiburg (dpa) – Striker veteran Nils Petersen from Bundesliga soccer club SC Freiburg attributes his performance improvement in the second half of last season to a conversation with coach Steffen Baumgart from 1. FC Köln. Petersen had talked to Baumgart in February, but rejected concrete intentions to change at the time.
In an interview with “Kicker” (Thursday edition), Petersen said: “To be honest, I enjoyed feeling that I was still worth something on the market. Such a form of external appreciation is good for everyone.” If an employee is asked about his qualities by another company, that’s nice.
After that he realized what role the head plays. “I just appeared with a different feeling because you realize: You are someone, you can still do it. I was given self-confidence, I couldn’t do it myself,” said Petersen. He is very grateful to Baumgart for this push.
After even considering retiring, the 33-year-old extended his contract, which would have expired in the summer. “I’m incredibly happy in Freiburg and in the fall of my career I realized how much you can get out of the mental area,” he told the “Kicker” now.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220714-99-15415/2
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