"I want to lead from the front!"
Willi Orban is back from his Euro 2020 holiday and is already participating in the Rote Bullen team training sessions | The 28 year old talks about his goals, Euro 2020 and his role in the team
Willi Orban is back!
The Hungary international player stayed on his well-deserved summer holiday for a little longer than his teammates after taking part in Euro 2020. The experienced defender returned training with the rest of head coach Jesse Marsch’s team on Tuesday and has already completed the morning training session – under the eyes of the fans, who couldn’t miss the open training session.
“It feels great to be back with the team. We have a lot of work to do because there’s not much time left until the season begins. I’ve known Jesse Marsch for a while. He’s a good communicator, on the touchline too – it was a lot of fun today. I’ve been at the club for a long time, I know what the coach wants and with that being the case, I want to lead from the front, put in good performances and guide the young centre-backs as well. I want to make lots of appearances and stay fit, because it’s going to be a long season.”
We always aim high! We want to win a lot of matches!
"Within the team we have to all get to know each other first. We’ll see what goals we can come up with, but we always aim high. We want to win a lot of matches – we hate losing. First we have to see if we can have a good start after the little reshuffle of the coaching staff and also start well within the team and work out our bearings again. Of course we want to be mixing it at the top, that’s obvious, but we’ll see in the end how far we can get."
Orban, who recently extended his contract with RB Leipzig until 2025, put in strong performances for his national team at the European Championship and almost made a surprising qualification for the knock-out rounds from a group with France, Portugal and Germany. In the end though, it wasn’t to be. The 28 year old brings the experience and the feeling of playing in front of sold-out crowds with him into the new season.
“The European Championship was an unforgettable experience. It was extraordinary – from the training to the sold-out matches at home in Budapest. We were very close to progressing into the knock-out stages and we are very proud of that.
I would be delighted if fans are allowed back into the stadium and at the moment everything is looking really positive. Hopefully lots of fans can come to the first match of the season.”
I worked on my strength in the off-season like always!
The tackle master and defence specialist has already taken to the pitch 196 times for Die Rote Bullen. Preparing in the right way plays a decisive role for Orban, in order to be able to consistently deliver performances at the top level.
“You don’t lose too much strength or endurance over a three-week period. I worked on my strength in the off-season like always, but I also got my runs in and worked with the ball a bit too in order to stay fit.”