The Premier League-winning centre-back remembers Magath madness and the gut-wrenching defeat to Germany in Brazil
Interview Dani Gil
MARTIN DEMICHELIS
You began your career with boyhood club River Plate – how good was that?
It was such a privilege to start out at the club I love. I trained from a young age as a player and person until I made my debut for River. The passion in the stands is part of Argentine culture. We have big problems in the country, including economic ones, but the stadiums are full because enthusiasm is not negotiable. It’s part of our DNA.
Describe a Superclasico with Boca Juniors?
The game isn’t played… it’s lived. It may not be easy on the eye, but every ball is a fight to the death. Aggression is never lacking, nor is bravery. Argentine football has its drawbacks, but give me players like that every single day.
Bayern Munich brought you to Europe in 2003. What were your first impressions?
The cultural change was big. I didn’t speak German and didn’t know much about life there. Speaking to local people was hard for my family, too. I went from living with my friends to being at this giant club where I’d train and then go home like everybody else. On a football level I felt a huge difference. At Bayern everyone was an international, which made the competitiveness massive. Training sessions were like games. I wasn’t a starter at first and played in every other match, until the second year when I established myself. The game was faster, more direct. Everyone played with only one or two touches and the transitions were quicker than in Argentina.
Felix Magath was your manager back then. Was he as tough as people said he was?
No doubt – the toughest coach in my career. His physical trainer was in the military for years and Magath was an amateur marathon runner. If you couldn’t cope with his training sessions, which were very tough, you had no chance of playing. I became a regular in his team because I was a good age – early-20s – and was naturally in decent shape, but not everyone was that lucky.
Magath’s well-known for his strict training and punishments. Can you remember any?
Loads! In pre-season training camp hotels, he’d make us go up and down the stairs from the first floor to, say, the 50th floor for two hours – with one foot, both feet, jumping from two to three steps. That was before a day of training. Then he’d make us run for miles with medicine balls until we were exhausted. His punishments for when we p
