Jorg Heinrich

Jörg Heinrich: Win against Wolfsburg would put BVB in a fantastic position before Klassiker

Borussia Dortmund are on a scintillating run in the Bundesliga as they have won four of their last five matches. With 27 points from 12 matches, they sit in the second position in the league table, just one point adrift of leaders Bayern Munich.

Jörg Heinrich who was part of BVB's Champions League winning squad in 1997 feels that the pragmatic approach adopted by Marco Rose is best suited for the team.

"This season we probably don't play as spectacular as last year and focus more on the results. With this strategy, we managed to position ourselves right behind Bayern Munich. Ideally, we get a good result against Wolfsburg and have an even better positioning for the Klassiker match against Bayern. Internationally i hope we collect the points we need in order to reach the next round and to remain in Champion League over the winter break," he stated to Goal.

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Marco Rose Borussia Dortmund 2021Getty

Heinrich is currently working as a youth development coach with Dortmund and is looking for talented youngsters in South Korea. He shared some nuggets of wisdom for the young aspirants while having a chat with them.

"In general, the most important thing is to play football because YOU love it and not because someone tells you to do it. Self-motivation and passion for the game is absolutely key. All young players should enjoy the game and look forward to every training session and every playing opportunity. Don't put too much pressure on yourself and only think about becoming a pro-player, just enjoy yourself first, be open and creative, develop your own personality and see what happens from there," he opined.

Dortmund are expanding its youth programmes in South Korea and have launched a new project called Shoot for Love which aims to instill the BVB philosophy amongst the youth.

"We are currently conducting a youth development project with Shoot for Love in South Korea and it has been very successful so far! The project includes the selection and training of 16 talented U12 players from the region. With the help of two licensed BVB youth coaches from Dortmund, including Jörg Heinrich - BVB Legend and Champions League winner in 1997 - the U12 team trains and plays against other top youth teams in Korea for 6 weeks and they are learning the BVB philosophy. This project really shows what kind of talent and potential is out here in Korea!

"In the future, we want to give more Korean youth players a pathway and the opportunity to come to Dortmund and experience the BVB development system first hand. This will help to gain further experiences on their way to eventually become a pro-football player in the future and will give the players a chance to showcase their talent and skills in one of the best youth academies in the world. Furthermore, we want to find and work on sustainable and long-term youth development projects in Korea," stated Julia Farr, Senior Manager International & New Business of BVB.

Farr revealed that given the history the German club shares with South Korea there are more projects in the pipeline that will fruition in the coming years.

"Our main objective is to give as many people as possible direct access to our club. We want to be closer to our fans and partners in Korea and the region. Borussia Dortmund and Bundesliga share a great history with Korean players. The likes of Young-Pyo Lee, Joo-Ho Park, and Dong-won Ji, who played for BVB, show the strong connection we have with Korea. After first very successful events in the recent years with the German Fest at Lotte World Tower in 2019 and a current project with Shoot for Love, we are certainly open and willing to do more in South Korea," she stated.

Meanwhile, Heinrich is enjoying his time in the Asian country and is in love with Korean cuisine apart from the training sessions with the U12s.

"We had a lot of fantastic moments and memories, but as a footballer, the best moment was, when we met our U12 team during the first training session. Just to see how enthusiastic all of them are and with what great positive energy and passion they play football, that was unforgettable.

"Culturally – I'm absolutely amazed about the food. You can get and eat almost everything in South Korea and everything tastes so good. Besides that, I loved the ocean in Busan and the king's palace in Seoul," he mentioned.

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