Robert Bauer’s parents came to Germany from Kazakhstan in 1994. One year later, the Werder professional was brought into the world. "My parents had pretty much nothing and we knew no-one. They devoted their lives to us children and I’m proud of what my parents built," said Bauer looking back. His childhood in Pforzheim shaped the 22-year-old. He still returns to his home town now to visit his family and enjoy some Russian and Kazak delicacies.
We caught up with him in a "Four-Four-Two" interview to discuss four sporting, four personal and two unusual questions. Among other things, Bauer explains what his father made out of old clothes and sand in his basement, his pre-match ritual and his tattoo plans for the future.
# When I look back on my time playing football as a kid, the first thing that comes to mind is…
… the artificial grass pitch of my club FSV Buckenberg (laughs). It was filled with sand but it was more like concrete. I scraped my knee there a few times.
# The most gifted player that I’ve played with…
I knew this question was coming and I had to think about it. It’s a very difficult question. When you look at the record and success then it has to be Claudio Pizarro, but in terms of talent it would be Max Kruse or Serge Gnabry. Both have an incredible amount of talent. With the national team it would be Max Meyer or Leon Goretzka as they are both equally as highly talented.
# My pre-game ritual…
I don’t have a particular ritual. Like many others, I like to listen to pre-game music and before we come together as a team I say a little prayer. It’s always the same one.
# From now until the Ingolstadt game…
I’m fit again (laughs). I’ve been doing stabilisation exercises and on Tuesday I was able to get back out onto the pitch. So I’m on my way back. We’ll have to wait and see when I can make a full return.
# The most painful thing I’ve experienced…
Emotionally or physically? Emotionally it would definitely be the death of my Grandma, but that was a few years ago now. Physically it would be after I came off the other week against Freiburg and the doctor pressed down on my ankle in the dressing room. I nearly died. Luckily, I’ve not really had any other injuries Bandage injuries aren’t so bad and when I got my tattoos it also didn’t hurt that much because it was out of choice and you know what it’s for.
# On my other arm I’ll get … tattoos
A tattoo that my friend and I have already found. There are still plans to be made, however, as I don’t yet know whether I’m going to get the full arm tattooed. It’s quite a search because you see so many inspiring tattoos. You accept the pain because you’re addicted to the outcome. I also don’t understand the argument which I often hear about what happens when I grow old. In my opinion, skin doesn’t look nice when you’re old anyway because of all the folds and also, so many people have tattoos now that it’ll look normal when I’m old.
# Something that’s typically Kazak about me is…
The love that I have for the food. I grew up eating a lot of Russian or Kazak cuisine and I’m always happy when I go home and my family cooks something traditional for me. Most people are familiar with Pelmeni, but I also love Piroschki, Krepli, Warenki and Borschtsch. My mother is a really good cook.
# If I could do something new in life it would be…
I’ll have to think about that. Up to now everything has gone well. I passed my A-Levels and passed my driving test first time. I did well at school and sporting wise it’s all been good. I don’t regret turning down Leipzig, even when Lukas Klostermann got injured and my chances of starting would probably have increased. I’m playing here at Werder, I’ve developed well and I get on really well with my teammates. I can see the potential in the team. I like the tradition of the club, the fans and the stadium. I wouldn’t want to swap it for Leipzig under any circumstance.
