As promised, here is a rough translation of an interview Clint Mathis gave to German sports page Sport1.de. Please don't expect total accuracy, I only had 20 minutes to do it
:
Sport1: Mr. Mathis, what do you know about Jan Simak?
Clint Mathis: Nothing, just his name. I have never seen him play, but I heard he is a great player.
Sport1: Your coach said, you had the potential to fill the void left by him.
Mathis: That is a great compliment, to be compared toi such a player. I want to help this team as much as I can to win matches and avoid relegation. Maybe one day we can make it into the UEFA-Cup or the Champion League.
Sport1: You have played a strong tournament in the World Championships 2002. After that, even Bayern Munich wanted to sign you. Now you play for Hannover and fight relegation. Isn't that a bit disappointing?
Mathis: Not at all. Their interest in me simply came at the wrong time. Bayern was in need of a striker but unfortunately I was not for sale. I had to fulfill my contract. Then Hannover needed a replacement for Simak and things fell into place. But I was not disappointed. The most important thing for me is to play in the Bundesliga. After all, just look at the strikers Bayern Munich has on their team: Pizarro, Makaay, Santa Cruz.
Sport1: Would it still be your dream to play there?
Mathis: It would be great to play for Bayern Munich one day. No player could deny wanting to play for one of the best teams in the world. But I am very happy with my team mates and the goals we want to achieve.
Sport1: During the winter break, Hannover has signed 5 new players. Except for you, all of the others are being criticized to some extent. Why is that?
Mathis: It has not necessarily to do with the players themselves. It's a question of how well players fit together. Every player is different and does different things. It will simply take a little more time for everything to click. I think the team has gained strong players and it is just a matter of knowing each other until everything falls into place.
Sport1: In your opinion, what is the principal problem right now in Hannover?
Mathis: Everybody expected us to lose the first 3 matches. But we won the first one, lost in Munich and should have won against Leverkusen. But we only achived a draw in this one and then lost in Rostock. So now everybody believes, there is a problem. All we need to do is fight back and hopefully win three points at home against Berlin.
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