He arrived in Lisbon on Tuesday, signed a two-season deal with Benfica and was introduced to corner houses. After that, Roger Schmidt told the German newspaper Westfalen-Blatt about the reasons that prompted him to accept the Clube da Luz invitation.
Benfica is the biggest club in Portugal. They are used to winning titles, but they haven’t won anything in the last three years. Now they are ready to try something new with a foreign coach. I will try to give back to Benfica the success of the past in my own way,” said the 55-year-old German coach.
Assuring that he could not wait to get to work, Schmidt admitted that he was surprised by the invitation of Rui Costa, so he emphasized: “When Benfica contacted me a few weeks ago, everything was very clear:“ I want to do this. »
Roger Schmidt started his coaching career in 2004 in Delbrücker, Germany. 10 years ago he was in Paderborn, in the 2nd Bundesliga. He then moved to Salzburg (Austria), returned to his country to manage Bayer Leverkusen, also visited China (Beijing Guoan) and, in the last two years, the Netherlands, where PSV was sent.
“In recent years, there has always been an opportunity to return to the Bundesliga,” he admitted, however, admitting that he really enjoys working abroad. “It’s very interesting to get to know countries, leagues and football culture. And if you then have an offer to coach a club like Benfica… For me, this is a bigger adventure than the Bundesliga.”
At PSV, Roger Schmidt was accompanied by his compatriot Mario Gotze, the 29-year-old attacking midfielder currently targeted by Benfica. “We’ll see,” the coach fired, praising the qualities of the former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern player.
