From the archive
©TM/IMAGO
At the end of the year, we’re bringing some of our interview highlights from 2024 back from the archive. We published the article about our conversation with Fernando Meira in February of this year.
During his active career, Fernando Meira received many nicknames such as tackle monster and tough defender, which impressively show the status he earned in the Bundesliga. But it wasn’t just because of his achievements and the 2007 championship with VfB Stuttgart that the Portuguese left his mark on the German football upper house.
Walking through public places unmolested and not being recognized is a big challenge for active professionals. One might think that things are different when players have hung up their football boots. This does not apply to Fernando Meira, because when the ex-defender is a guest in Germany, he is often spoken to on the street. But he never finds it annoying or at least stressful; after all, it is a form of appreciation. And 173 Bundesliga games are a presentable quota.
“When I think back to my time in the Bundesliga, I feel absolute joy. We have achieved something historic with VfB Stuttgart. I know that many people see me as a Bundesliga legend, but I don’t feel that way. I never liked being in the public spotlight. The only thing I wanted was to play football, make the fans happy and be a role model for young players,” says Meira.
In the past you had to earn a name and a status, today young players change clubs for 20 or 30 million euros.
The defensive man moved from Benfica Lisbon to VfB Stuttgart at the beginning of 2002 for 7.5 million euros. What sounds like a normal transfer fee today was a club record back then. “In fact, I wasn’t really interested in my transfer fee, but I wanted to prove it to myself and, above all, to the club. I wanted to leave my mark in the Bundesliga. The money that was paid back then was quite a bit, and I was aware that VfB was taking a risk. When I see today’s replacements, I have to say: it’s like Monopoly for me. In the past you had to earn a name and a status, today young players change clubs for 20 or 30 million euros. I actually can’t understand it anymore. Although football has changed and it is no longer just about sport, but the marketing and marketing factors are becoming more of a focus,” says the Portuguese.
“We were incredibly well received in Stuttgart back then. All the employees tried to look after my family and me. That’s why I wanted to learn German as quickly as possible in order to arrive. A lot of new things hit me back then. Training under Felix Magath in snow, rain and ice is fun,” laughs Meira. But the now 70-year-old rarely laughed. “Magath is not a coach who stands for fun. All Magath wanted was success. There were many players who couldn’t cope with his style. But I tried to adopt his winning mentality,” reveals Meira, who remembers special moments with the former Stuttgart grinder with a smile.
VfB Stuttgart: Fernando Meira’s special experiences with coach Felix Magath
“There were some anecdotes with Felix Magath. For example, Alex Hleb bought a sports car and was proud of it. Felix didn’t like that so much and told him clearly: ‘You’ll be sitting on the bench in the next game, you’ll have to earn the car in training first.’ After I arrived late for training from the national team due to a canceled flight, he simply let me run around the pitch without the ball for an hour. 15 minutes fast, 15 minutes slow. He watched me the whole time.”
From the start, Meira developed into one of the most important leadership players at VfB. Even in the early phase of his career, he impressed with his strong positional play and his physical style and developed into one of the best central defenders in the Bundesliga, driving some attackers to despair. But there were also opponents who made life difficult for Meira. “For me, Kevin Kuranyi, Jan Koller and Roy Makaay were the best strikers I was allowed to play against. I always tried to play fair but very physical. So I didn’t have to use trash talk. What I still regret to this day is my foul against Marek Mintál in the 2007 DFB Cup final. I really wanted this title and was motivated accordingly – unfortunately I got it badly,” admits the 45-year-old. Nuremberg’s Knipser Mintal had to be stretchered off the pitch and the game that was supposed to end in FCN’s favor was over for him.
The fact that Meira was able to develop such a sport was partly due to the man next to him in the defensive center: Marcelo Bordon. The two played together a total of 77 times and were German runners-up in the 2002/03 season. “Off the pitch there was no player as nice and welcoming as Marcelo. On the pitch he was a monster, a hammer. For me he was a brutally strong central defender and I wondered why he never played for a top European club.”
The defender’s memories of his participation in the Champions League in 2003/04 are particularly vivid. Starting as outsiders, VfB confidently survived their group as second in the table behind Manchester United. The 2-1 win against the Red Devils in particular was a historic night. “Our mentality paid off that night. We really wanted this win. Considering that Man United competed with absolute world stars like Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Ferdinand and Cristiano Ronaldo, this victory cannot be valued highly enough. It was a fantastic evening,” said Meira.
Unlike Bordon: Meira remained loyal to VfB and became German champion
While Bordon left Stuttgart in 2004, Meira remained loyal to the Swabians, even though there were repeated requests. “Bayern actually wanted to sign me, but I didn’t want to leave Stuttgart. I felt like I wasn’t done here yet. My family also felt extremely comfortable in Stuttgart. After winning the championship there were inquiries from Juventus Turin and Real Madrid, unfortunately the changes didn’t work out for various reasons,” reveals the Portuguese.
Hildebrand in first place
Fernando Meira’s most frequent teammates
To overview
The importance that Meira undoubtedly had for his club was also due to the fact that he always put himself at the service of the team and was promoted to team captain in the 2006/07 season. A season that should be historic. But nobody at VfB had any idea of this at first, as the Swabians ended the previous season in ninth place in the table. Head coach Armin Veh’s focus was increasingly on young talent. One talent in particular caught Captain Meira’s eye after the first training sessions.
“With Mario Gómez you could immediately see what potential he has. He was the classic striker who only needed one chance to score. His initial problem was that he was too nice on the pitch. I told him several times: ‘Mario, you have everything you need to become a great player. You need to start being more aggressive now.’ He then implemented it and you can see what career he has pursued.”
With the many youngsters in the squad, no VfB fan expected any big miracles, because after the first three match days, VfB were in no man’s land in the table. But over time, individualists became a true team. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Roberto Hilbert became the focus, Gómez and Sami Khedira developed into top performers, goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand became an insurmountable hurdle and Meira acted as a leader in the middle. The Stuttgart team finished the first half of the season in 4th place in the table. In the second half of the season, the Stuttgart team really got off to a good start and improved little by little – a heart-stopping finale was on the horizon. While VfB Stuttgart went into the last game with 67 points, their pursuer Schalke 04 had 65 points. After the 2-1 win against Energie Cottbus, the joy knew no bounds and the fifth championship was official.
“Cottbus was extremely aggressive, they wanted to see us fall. What set us apart back then was the large number of mentality players. On the outside we played the role of the underdog, but internally and in the dressing room we knew what quality we had. And that’s how we performed in the final against Cottbus: we really wanted this championship title,” remembers Meira.
Meira remembers the 2006 World Cup in Germany and table tennis duels against Cristiano Ronaldo
When he thinks back to his time in Germany, thoughts of the 2006 World Cup automatically come to mind. Meira experienced the euphoria surrounding the German “summer fairy tale” first hand. The central defender qualified for the finals with his Portuguese team. His team started their successful run there: After getting through the group phase (with Mexico, Angola and Iran) without any problems, the real problems awaited from the round of 16 onwards, which were gradually cleared out of the way. First, the Portuguese won against the Netherlands 1-0, then England were defeated 3-1 on penalties. The anticipation and hopes of being able to move into the World Cup final with another victory were correspondingly high. But it was one of the greatest footballers in history who destroyed the Portuguese dream. Zinédine Zidane put the French national team ahead in the semi-finals with a converted penalty – and it was to stay that way.
Cristiano Ronaldo was so angry that he didn’t play with me for two months
“On the one hand, I only have fond memories of the World Cup. The images of the atmosphere and the sold-out stadiums always come back to me. You could tell that the whole country was on its feet. Of course, as a professional footballer you want nothing more than to get to a World Cup final. But when playing at the highest level, small details and nuances matter. And in this case, France was a bit better than us,” says Meira.
He appeared a total of 54 times for the Seleção and played with stars such as Pauleta, Luís Figo, Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo. In the end, which of these idols is the greatest legend for him? “Obviously Cristiano. He is an icon. His attitude to football was characterized by absolute professionalism. From a young age, he set his entire life on success. He was absolutely ambitious,” says Meira, who laughs and refers to an anecdote. “I always dueled with Cristiano in table tennis. I beat him hands down once. He was so angry that he didn’t play with me for two months afterwards. At some point he challenged me to a new duel and won. What I didn’t know: He had been practicing secretly and really wanted to win this revenge.” A defeat that Meira could easily get over.
By Henrik Stadnischenko