Körbel record could be shaky
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Oliver Baumann has reached a milestone. With his appearance for TSG Hoffenheim against FSV Mainz 05, the 35-year-old became only the fifth goalkeeper in the history of the Bundesliga to break the 500-game mark. Overall, he is the 14th player since 1963. Being Germany’s current number one means “a lot,” as he emphasized in the “Kicker” interview. “I’m slowly starting to believe it myself, but it feels strange that it’s already this far.”
At 35 years and a good five months, Baumann is the fourth youngest player to have played 500 Bundesliga games. The record player is Karl-Heinz Körbel, who made 602 appearances. Baumann would therefore have to complete three full seasons to catch up with the former Frankfurt player. But this record is “still too far away,” said the keeper.
“But to get into such a sphere with 500 games is cool, it means a lot to me. Unfortunately, I haven’t won a title yet, which is why individual awards are all the more important. Every sound barrier is like a trophy for me. Also because it is an award that confirms everyday life, because you are fully in the grind and focused on the here and now. (…) It’s nice to see that you can achieve something like that, even if you’re a little older, although I don’t feel like that,” said Baumann, who would physically estimate himself to be around 28 or 29.
After over 15 years of experience in the Bundesliga – he made his debut for SC Freiburg under Robin Dutt on May 8, 2010 at the age of 19 years, eleven months and six days – Baumann feels better than ever. “Of course, experience plays a big role, especially for a goalkeeper. (…) The art is to always find the right solutions. That’s the difficult thing,” said the veteran, for whom football was “always the highest priority”. “I subordinated everything to that, even when I was young.”
Baumann wants to play up to a maximum of 40 – no challenge to ter Stegen
Baumann, who cited Oliver Kahn as role models in mentality and René Adler and Timo Hildebrand in technique, currently has a contract with TSG until 2028. He could imagine being between the posts up to a maximum of 40. “Maybe I’ll sit on the bench again somewhere when I’m 39, if that’s something that appeals to me.” The ideal idea would obviously be to stay in Sinsheim until the end of your career and, ideally, win another trophy, for example the DFB Cup. It would be the first on Profilever in his career and the club’s 1899 history.
However, winning a title as number two somewhere doesn’t appeal to him. “There have already been requests from big clubs for this role, but I want to play,” revealed Baumann, who has been guarding goal for TSG since 2014. In 415 games so far, he has had to defend himself 668 times and has only failed to concede a goal 84 times. Because of these statistics, he couldn’t resist saying: “Yes, exactly, many thanks to my teammates too… they also had fun, Hoffenheim’s defensive weaknesses made me the national goalkeeper in the first place… (laughs).”
He had to wait a long time for his first appearance for the DFB. He was nominated for the first time in 2020, but he didn’t make his debut until 2024 – with a classic. “For example, my first international match, the 1-0 win against the Netherlands, was really cool. Especially because I had been working towards it for 13 or 14 years.” This game means “so much to him that there is a picture of it hanging on the wall at home, the only football picture in our house. Framed with a background image and with my gloves – the ultimate, so to speak,” said Baumann proudly. It was only then that he felt like a national player, but not before without playing. “It annoyed me that sometimes outfield players who had only been noticed in the league for a few weeks got it (a medal, editor’s note). And I, who had already had over ten years under my belt, didn’t.”
However, he never ticked off the DFB team. “But at some point it stopped driving me so crazy. (…) Maybe it took exactly this long journey, because now it’s a good thing.” National coach Julian Nagelsmann, who knew Baumann from his Hoffenheim days, “didn’t make it any easier for him. I had to work for it all.”
Baumann currently has ten international matches to his name. After successfully qualifying, he will be able to take part in a world championship for the first time. Possibly even number one. But that also depends on the actual regular goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and his recovery, including the question of whether he will get regular playing time at FC Barcelona or elsewhere. “I always want to play for my perfectionism and for myself as an athlete. I also want to play in the World Cup, but there is a hierarchy of Julian, and then there is the team. Both come before that. If I were to declare war now, it would only cause unrest. I think that would be completely wrong, because then you are putting your ego above the team,” emphasized Baumann.