Nils Petersen: Pressure even after the end of his career in the national league

Former international footballer Nils Petersen still feels pressure after retiring from his career and moving to the national league. "I said I wanted to play without pressure. But that's not possible. I always put pressure on myself," said the 35-year-old footballer at the Leipzig Book Fair on Friday.

He officially ended his professional career a few months ago. Since then, Petersen has been playing for Blankenburger FV in Saxony-Anhalt. To train, but also because his best friend plays there.

As a regional league player, he is now always on the pitch from the start, said the most successful substitute in Bundesliga history and laughed. However, his own performance is not necessarily the main focus for him. In his book "Bank-Geheimnis", Petersen looks back on his career, but also talks about the psychological pressure as a competitive athlete.

"I don't think it's so much about individual performance, but about the atmosphere in the dressing room," said the footballer. He wants to show young players that soccer is no longer about two or three players - it's much more about the whole team. When asked about the quality of Blankenburger FV, Peters also replied with a grin: "Stay at home, you don't need to see that."

Petersen comes from Saxony-Anhalt and was born in Wernigerode (Harz). What does he think of his hometown? "I love it," replied Petersen, who now works as a television pundit, among other things.

In 2015, he was initially loaned to Sport-Club by Werder Bremen. He then moved to Freiburg permanently and remained there until the end of his career. He has found a new home in the Baden-Württemberg city. He could therefore well imagine working in the management of SC Freiburg in the future. "I'm going on vacation where I grew up."