fc schalke 04's joel matip is excelling at centre-back under ralf rangnick and, ahead of the second leg against fc internazionale milano, says he is enjoying life in his new position.
joel matip may be just 19 but the towering fc schalke 04 man is gaining experience to belie his years.
having made his bundesliga debut in november 2009, he won his first cameroon cap in march 2010 and appeared once at the fifa world cup in south africa. then, after featuring mainly as a substitute in defensive midfield under ex-schalke coach felix magath, matip shone when used at centre-back by ralf rangnick in last week's 5-2 defeat of uefa champions league titleholders fc internazionale milano, which sets the german club up comfortably for wednesday's home leg.
"i have played again from the start under the new coach and of course i am enjoying it, but i also have a lot to thank felix magath for," said schalke youth product matip, who also excelled in saturday's 1-0 home win against magath's latest club vfl wolfsburg. "ralf rangnick lets me play, he talks to me and of course this help. but both are great coaches."
on his change of position, the bochum-born player, who has made 43 top-flight outings in total, added: "recent matches have gone very well, we have worked well as a team, and that makes it easier. i like playing as a central defender, but i also feel good as a holding midfielder."
rangnick, appointed on 17 march, is certainly delighted with matip. "in my three games he has done very well, he is very focused," the coach said. "of course, he is not free from mistakes, but that is normal for a young player. he has the necessary patience and knows how to handle the ball. by employing him and [benedikt] höwedes together with kyriakos papadopoulos [just in front] we were in total command in the air against wolfsburg."
if schalke's victory at inter was quite an upset, matip does not believe a semi-final against manchester united fc or chelsea fc is a done deal. "we have a nice advantage, but given the quality of the opposition we have to be prepared for everything," he said. "we do not want to hide. the starting position is different than before the first match, but we want to treat this one with the same determination and desire as we did in milan, and with everyone helping their team-mates."
it will be a particularly special game for matip given he is likely to be pitched directly against cameroonian hero samuel eto'o. the teenager, capped seven times, explained: "eto'o has helped me a lot in the national team, we have a special relationship, he is a great guy as well. i have to thank him for a lot. but if i start tomorrow, he will be just another opponent. i would fight him the same as i would every other inter player."
raúl gonzález scored one and set up a delightful second as the bundesliga outfit completed a resounding aggregate win to advance to the semi-finals.
fc schalke 04 are through to the uefa champions league semi-finals for the first time after rounding off a 7-3 aggregate victory over holders fc internazionale milano in gelsenkirchen.
raúl gonzález's 71st uefa champions league goal further dented any faint hopes the nerazzurri had of mounting an unlikely comeback from their 5-2 first-leg reverse on the stroke of half-time. thiago motta equalised early in the second period, but benedikt höwedes fired in a superb winner with nine minutes remaining to leave ralf rangnick's side looking forward to a last-four encounter with manchester united fc.
sir alex ferguson observed proceedings from the stands as, like in the first leg, leonardo's side made the early running. wesley sneijder fired the first of two early attempts on goal straight at manuel neuer and the message was clear: the visitors were not giving up their title without a fight.
the best football came from the hosts, though. alexander baumjohann was a constant threat with his thrusting runs down the right and josé manuel jurado's trickery and vision caused problems on the opposite flank. the evergreen raúl was dropping deep to link midfield and attack before haring forward to get on the end of things. on 16 minutes júlio césar had to be on his guard when one move found the 33-year-old popping up unmarked to head jurado's left-wing cross goalwards.
inter threatened intermittently, finding space particularly down the left, but höwedes twice made crucial blocks on samuel eto'o. dejan stanković, scorer from 53 metres in the first leg, went close for the nerazzurri but on this occasion, from half that range, neuer was his equal. inter's frustration was compounded when they fell behind and it was no surprise that the approach work involved baumjohann and jurado, the latter feeding raúl, who rounded júlio césar with ease to score.
the visitors' reply was swift, though, and the 2,500 travelling supporters were given something to cheer when thiago motta bundled in from close range after lúcio's header, following a sneijder corner, was deflected. with four more goals required, inter threw more men forward, eto'o clearing the bar with a header and curling narrowly wide of the top corner.
such adventure left the outgoing european club champions exposed at the back, where kyriakos papadopoulos twice headed over from set pieces. leonardo had insisted on the eve of this match that this was not mission impossible for inter, but they simply had too much to do: they needed every shot on goal, such as sneijder's 75th-minute free-kick, to go in rather than fizz wide.
instead it was their opponents who put the seal on the tie with a winning goal on the night, carved out by a wonderful piece of skill from raúl. the former spain striker flicked a clever through ball into the path of the onrushing höwedes, who had already had a goal disallowed for offside, and the schalke centre-half lashed in his shot to complete another memorable evening for the knappen.
yardımcı hakemler: primož arhar (svn), marko stancin (svn)
4. hakem: slavko vinčić (svn)
çizgi hakemleri: matej jug (svn), roberto ponis (svn)
schalke: manuel neuer (gk) (c), hans sarpei, benedikt höwedes, raúl gonzález, edu (dk. 77 angelos charisteas), alexander baumjohann (dk. 73 julian draxler), kyriakos papadopoulos, josé manuel jurado (dk. 87 lukas schmitz), christoph metzelder, atsuto uchida, joel matip
yedekler: mathias schober (gk), nicolas plestan, junmin hao, ali karimi
teknik direktör: ralf rangnick (ger)
internazionale: júlio césar (gk), javier zanetti (c), dejan stanković (dk. 46 goran pandev), lúcio, thiago motta, samuel eto'o, wesley sneijder (dk. 80 coutinho), maicon, andrea ranocchia, diego milito, yuto nagatomo
maçtan sonra raul schalke tribünlerine çıkıp orada taraftarlarla muhabbet etmiş. ardından da tezahüratlara katılmış. bu arada diğer takım arkadaşları sahada dizleri üzerine çöküp olan bitenleri izliyorlar...
