Behind these red supporter scarfs is a strong story of faith.
Liverpool-fans will turn the National Sports Complex in Kiev red when they get ready for the Champions League soccer final later on this month. Their German manager, Jürgen Klopp, has brought the pride back to what was one of Europe´s major soccer clubs 30 years ago. His Christian faith is one of his driving forces, and a solid foundation also in times when the results are not as good as expected.
Faith and soccer
Klopp sees no need to hide that he is a Christian, and he openly shares about his faith in public interviews. It even forms the backbone of his soccer philosophy.
The main thing in the game is to make each other stronger. That is how I understand life but in a football team it is especially like that. Help your mate to be the best he can be and he will help you to be the best, he says to the Telegraph.
His religious faith is part of his belief in the strength in the collective, concludes the newspaper.
It is not about me
Jürgen Klopp is used to speaking about faith in public. He even shares that his faith from time to time may cause problems for him as a manager. When he took over the leading role in Liverpool in 2015 he was asked what he wanted to achieve before the end of his contract. His answer came as a surprise to many:
The problem is I’m a Christian. That in itself is not a problem, but the problem is I think other people can have success too – it’s not about me, he said according to Premier.
In an interview with fr-online.de some years ago, he underlined that it is important for him to speak about his faith.
In good hands
To be a believer, but not to want to talk about it – I do not know how it would work! If anyone asks me about my faith, I give information. Not because I claim to be any sort of missionary. But when I look at me and my life – and I take time for that every day – then I feel I am in sensationally good hands, he said.
In his earlier career his German team, Mainz, struggled a lot. One reporter asked Klopp if the “football-god” was against Mainz.
In order to answer this question once and for all: although there is no football God, I believe that there is a God who loves us humans, just as we are, with all our quirks, and that’s why I think he also loves football! But we have to score our own goals, Klopp said.
By Steinar Opheim