Documentary “Our Team – The Home European Championship 2024”
He cooks for the DFB team – and gave the most important locker room speech
Anton Schmaus cooks for the national soccer players. The RTL documentary “Our Team – The Home European Championship 2024” shows how important he is for the team – even outside the kitchen.
The moments before a football team leaves the locker room are special. You can decide how the players feel when they enter the pitch. Sometimes the only difference between uncertainty and conviction is a speech. Often these last words belong to the coach. When the German national soccer team geared up for their quarter-final against Spain at the home European Championship in the summer, things were different. Shortly before the game, the players form a circle and listen to their cook in the dressing room.
Anton Schmaus, 43, son of a Bavarian family of restaurateurs, runs several restaurants in Regensburg, two of which have a Michelin star. The menu includes langoustine tartare with passion fruit, parsley root and caviar. The DFB team has been cooking for Schmaus since 2017. There is pasta and rice four hours before the game, and broccoli and beetroot two hours before kick-off.
“Many people can cook better than me”
The players call him “Schmausi”. The team doctor says about him: “The best man, extremely important for the atmosphere here.” The star chef himself says: “Many, many people can cook better than me.” But a team chef must above all fit in with the team he is cooking for. And he is committed to this task. “I want to support us so that we win. That’s what I’m working for.”
Schmaus says he is above all a fan of the national team. Before the quarter-finals he was asked if he wanted to give the speech. He hesitates, calls his wife, then says yes.
“Schmausi is not there to tell us how to stand or press, but he can speak in front of people, he has to manage his own cooking team every day,” says national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who has since resigned. “He can give us energy by saying the last words to us.”
“What came out was freestyle,” says Schmaus. In the TV documentary “Our Team – The Home European Championship 2024” you can see how the cook stands in front of the footballers and how Neuer puts his arm around him. And then how Schmaus gets started, with rough language that works in kitchens like cubicles. Schmaus remembers past defeats, now it is “time for payback”. Then he calls out: “Today we’re shaving the Spaniards, dry shaving.” The players first smile, then roar and clap while Schmaus drums on a box of drinks.
“He made the players emotional”
“If you, as a coach, say the last words every time, it can be blunting. And we just wanted to take everyone with us and also signal to the staff: you are important,” says national coach Julian Nagelsmann. “It was a great moment for him, and for us it was very funny and emotional. He made the players emotional because he did it very well. That was valuable.”
The documentary also shows Schmaus watching the game on his cell phone in the belly of the stadium. He kicks boxes and hits walls. He rubs his face and runs up and down the hallway. He suffers with the team, they are eliminated. Despite his speech.
The documentary “Our Team – The Home European Championship 2024” will be shown on Saturday, January 11th at 8:15 p.m. on RTL.
Transparency note: The star belongs to RTL Germany.
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Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
