Record player in Leverkusen
“I endured the pain”: Bayer star struggled after change
26.02.2025 – 11:13 a.m.Reading time: 1 min.
Piero Hincapié left Argentina four years ago. Once in Germany, he faced some challenges – including a massage.
When Piero Hincapié came to Germany, he lacked any knowledge of German and English. The defender of Bayer Leverkusen was only 19 years old and even had to take detours for a simple massage. “I remember that after my arrival I got a blow and wanted to go to the physiotherapist, but I didn’t work,” Hincapié now confessed to “Expreso”.
The reason: “Because I thought we wouldn’t understand each other,” he continued and: “I endured the pain and covered myself with ice at home because I didn’t understand the language.” Arrived in Leverkusen, Hincapié not only had to adjust to a new game system, but also fight with the language barrier: “I was very shy because I couldn’t German and no English,” recalls the Ecuadorian.
It was only with the help of his Spanish -speaking teammates, including Exequiel Palacios and Charles Aránguiz (now at Porto Alegre), that he was gradually getting used to it and overcome the language barrier. In the meantime, Hincapié has not only established itself in terms of sport, but also found his place in the team. He already played 152 games for Bayer and made a decisive contribution to the Double Success of the Werkelf in the past season.