Kompany jokes about Austria

Club football returns this week after the international break. Competitive matches for FC Bayern Munich will also be back on the schedule.

In a press conference, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany has now spoken about his international experiences.

"Of course, I didn't always have success with the Belgian national team. And I remember very well, I was at HSV. Back then, I think we were 70th or 80th in the world," he recounted, then taking a swipe at sporting director Christoph Freund, who was sitting next to him: "Almost like Austria... for a few years."

Freund with Clarification

The sporting director then defended his country: "We are twentieth..." Kompany added: "Now Austria is top. But we can share that feeling. Germany was always in the top 10. For us in the smaller countries, there were always ups and downs. And Belgium has a similar history there."

"And then you always have such a negative feeling..."

Players often return to their clubs with different feelings, Kompany said. "I was one of the top players on my team, and when I went to the national team, we lost away 2-0 or 3-0 in Kazakhstan, Armenia, or Azerbaijan. And then you come back with such a bad feeling, and then you have the Dutch guys there, van der Vaart, de Jong, and they were sitting in the jacuzzi, and the Germans of course. And then you always have such a negative feeling, even though there's actually no difference," Kompany reported about his time at HSV.

Kompany said he learned over time to always return from the national team with a positive feeling. In the meantime, the Belgians even reached first place in the world rankings during his active career.