Maybe Bastian Schweinsteiger will lead the Chicago Fire to the next World Cup triumph after all. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, if you’ve heard what Chicago Fire Coach Veljko Paunovic has been saying about the German legend lately.
We’re joking of course about the World Cup, and yes we do feel the need to tell the readers that, just in case we have some here who are unfamiliar with that comedic incident from Schweinsteiger’s introductory Chicago Fire press conference. Paunovic is also joking (we think, certainly to some extent) when he says that Schweinsteiger deserves a statue outside Toyota Park like the Chicago Bulls have of Michael Jordan at the United Center.
We’re pretty sure Pauno is joking about playing Schweinsteiger as a goalkeeper too. Lately Paunovic has been speaking about Schweinsteiger in the manner that Zlatan Ibrahimovic speaks about Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Here’s what the Fire coach had to say yesterday, after the Fire’s 1-0 home loss to the L.A. Galaxy, about keeping Bastian Schweinsteiger in the backline for the time being:
“It depends on the game. Second half, as you could see, in one moment we moved Bastian to midfield and he brought a different dimension to the game with his capacity, understanding of the game, execution, everything.”
“The talent that Bastian has is amazing. One day we should build a statue here in front of Bridgeview just like Michael Jordan has. So definitely he is, as I said in the past, very important for us and we appreciate a lot how much talent he has and can apply to different roles in our team.”
Here’s what Paunovic said the previous week in regards to his having to use the captain of the 2014 World Cup winning side in central defense.
“He can play in any position and always impacts the game in a positive way.”
“If you think Bastian can play as a 10, he can play as a 10, he can play as a 9, and he can even play as a goalkeeper,” he continued.
“Bastian is exceptional and I am very thankful to our owner and general manager for doing everything in their power to bring him here last season because this way we can get the best results from our team, but I think last season, and he showed it in this game, that Bastian also enters into distinct roles throughout the game and he has no problem doing so.”
Paunovic has really stepped up his press conference game this season, and it is greatly appreciated by all who attend his media opportunities.
As for Schweinsteiger, he didn’t do any interviews in English yesterday, but he did speak in his native tongue to German publication Bild. Schweinsteiger was asked about having to play away from his position, midfielder, and instead playing in Franz “Der Kaiser” Beckenbauer style behind the defense:
“I played the position a few times last year. From there more often push forward. We always choose our system, which fits best at the moment.”
“The coach decides and I then try to play the position from there and make it as the coach would like.”
On this day, Schweinsteiger faced off against his old Manchester United teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who owned the day. Ibrahimovic was such a huge draw that the match broke Toyota Park attendance records. The Swedish striker provided the only goal in the match, and in postgame, Basti was asked if he made a mistake on the Zlatan score.
Schweini laughed as he responded:
“Good. If you think so, it will be like that … I think the situation was a bit different. But we would not have had to lose the game. We had a lot in our own hands in the second half and could have scored one goal or another. ”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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