Ready to conquer Europe again:

Ghanaian international Sami Kuffour is Bayern Munich?s longest serving player, having arrived at the Olympic Stadium eleven years ago. With over sixty-five caps for his country, and countless honours at Bayern, including the 2001 Champions League, Kuffour is arguably the foremost African player of his generation.

You arrived at Bayern in ?93; how long was it before you broke into the first team?
Early on I played with the youth team, and then the amateurs (who play in the Regional Liga Sud) where my coaches were Hermann Gerland, who originally spotted me and recommended me to Bayern, and Gerd Muller. It was several seasons before I managed to become a regular first team player.

Were you homesick at first?
No, because I had been in Italy before that for two years with Torino. Though I didn?t play any first team games for them, I learnt a lot there watching great players such as Enzo Scifo (Belgium) and Martin Vasquez (Spain). Scifo in particular was a great, great player but never got the acclaim he deserved. Had he played for Italy rather than Belgium (Scifo was eligible for Belgium through his father) Scifo would have been regarded as one of the greats. He was sensational in the ?86 and ?90 World Cups.

At Bayern, you broke into the first team under Trapattoni, the most successful Italian coach ever; what was it like to play for him?
He was like a father to me. He had a lot of time for his players. After training, he would always stay behind with those players who wanted extra training. Trapattoni, along with Gerland was the biggest influence on my career.

Trapattoni?s assistant Klaus Augenthaler (former Bayern skipper and now coach at Leverkeusen) also helped me a lot.

Hitzfeld came after Trapattoni. The two seem complete opposites as characters. What?s it like to play for Otmar Hitzfeld?
He?s very quiet. Very studious. With him I?ve won everything as a player. He has been good for my career.

Beckenbauer famously said that in you, Bayern had at long last found his successor. Did that put any pressure on you?
No. I had a lot of good players around me who helped me very much. People like Lothar Matthaus, Jurgen Klinsmann, and Jorghino. To play with such players was a great motivation for me. When I was young, I had always seen these players on television so I made up my mind to be like them.

But as a seventeen-year old newly arrived at Bayern, weren?t you intimated to be around these people?
No. It was a dream for me to be among such players. My dream was coming true. I was fortunate enough to come in to the team when Lothar Matthaus was still playing. By then, he had moved back to sweeper, but despite his age, he was the best defensive partner I?ve had at Bayern.

What is your relationship with Beckenbauer like?
He?s a very nice person to talk to. If you have any problems you can just go to him and share them.

Did you ever doubt you would make it in football, or were you always confident in your own ability?
I was always confident in my own ability. I was determined to become somebody in future.

How do you compare German football to the other major European leagues?
The Italian league is more tactical. In England, like Germany, they play with more power, whilst La Liga in Spain is more open.

You and Oliver Khan have played together a long time now and seem to have a very good understanding. What?s it like having someone like that behind you?
Oliver is incredible. Sometimes he makes a save and you just can?t believe he got to the ball. During our Champions League winning season he was sensational. Even we, his colleagues who know how good he is, could not believe what we were seeing. And he carried that form into the World Cup. I think rarely has a goalkeeper been as responsible for taking a team into the World Cup Final as Khan was last year.

We?ve been together so long, like you say, and we understand each other?s game very well. We talk about the game, and situations that arise, during and after the match.

On the continent, your fame was sealed after the Champions League final against Manchester United, your emotional reaction at the end moving a lot of people. Did that game change you as a professional?
It was a game we lost in the 93rd minute. To this day it?s incredible. Nobody believed we lost. If you?d have asked Alex Ferguson during the game if Manchester United were going to win, even he?d have said ?no?. It was a very sad moment for the players, technical staff and fans. Something that will always be hard to forget.

Did winning the trophy two years later against Valencia make up for that?
It was a different game. A player?s career is full of highs and lows. The Valencia game was a high, the Manchester United game an obvious low. We deserved to win both games. We dominated every part of them. But the difference was God was on our side against Valencia.

They say you?re more German than the Germans now; what do you think they mean by that?
I think it is a reference to having a winning mentality. When you are a player, no matter what the situation is, you have to put on a good performance and win the game.

Why did Bayern under perform in the Champions League this year?
Every team has its own time, and this year wasn?t our year for the Champions League. But at home we won the double for the second time in four seasons. We dominated our own league and regained the title (finishing 16 points clear of reigning champions Dortmund), and beat Kaiserslautern 3-1 in the DFB-Pokal Final.

What do Bayern need to do to challenge for the Champions League again?
This year, we will know each other better, so we will have a good chance of challenging Milan & Juventus in the Champions League.

What does the Champions League mean to you?
Well, it?s one of the greatest competitions in the whole world. As a player, every one wants to come to Europe and play, and for me to be an African, holding the record number of appearances in the competition (85 games), is a great opportunity for me. No other African player has even made 50 appearances. I am aiming to make 100 Champions League appearances.

Has Stefan Effenberg been replaced?
Yes. Michael Ballack has come in and done a very good job. Effenberg was a great leader, and he had a great personality. He had the quality to deliver great balls and was very tough mentally. But I think in time Ballack can be his equal.

Do you think the German national team would have achieved more with Effenberg?
Well I can?t say much about that. Stefan played more than thirty games for the national team and made his mark on the international scene. But it?s all ifs and buts. We can?t say whether he would have made any difference. There have been other good German midfielders in the last ten years but the side overall was in decline, so it was difficult for anyone to improve their fortunes.

Will you be staying at Bayern?
My wife would like to live in England. She has family there. If I was to go there I would like to play for Arsenal.

What is it about Arsenal that attracts you?
I like the way they play. They play as a team and all fight for each other. We played there at Highbury and the fans were incredible. They really got behind their team.

Let?s go back to the summer of ?91 when you first burst on the scene with the Ghana at FIFA?s U-17 World Championships in Italy; what are your memories of that time?
It was a great feeling. In my country, no team had gone as far as that in a tournament. We had great players such as Nii Lamptey, Gago, Duah, Sebastian Barnes, so many good players.

The tournament itself gave birth to future greats such as Veron of Argentina, and Del Piero, two players who need no introduction.

Twelve years on though, you?re the Ghanaian to have made it to the top and stayed there. Why were you the only one to emerge?
Every one has his own destiny. God has something for every body and this is what has been chosen for me. It is for God to know why the others are not here. If opportunity comes, you have to take it.

Why do African countries perform so well at the youth level and then fail to make the step up?
That is a very good question. We perform well at the youth level, and then when it comes to the senior side, we are always changing things, sacking coaches, and that makes it difficult for African teams. Nigeria and Ghana at youth level have performed extraordinarily well, whilst ten years ago, at the senior level, Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria and Cameroon were part of a very exciting time for African football. But thirteen years on we are still living on the back of Cameroon?s adventure in Italia ?90.

Is it down to the coaching or a lack of desire?
Neither. The problem is with the administrators. Coaches are not given the time and support required to make an impact at the top level. The desire is there but there is no stability.

Has African football been overtaken now by South East Asia after the performances of the co-hosts, Japan and Korea at the 2002 World Cup?
No. We shouldn?t forget what Africa achieved. Senegal reached the quarter-finals. In my opinion, Senegal did not deserve to lose to Turkey at the last eight stage.

You stood up for your team mates in Mali 2002, but you paid the price. How do you feel about that?
I don?t want to talk about this Mali thing again because it?s the past, and the past has to be gone.

But it?s as much a part of your career as your great triumphs, isn?t it?
You just have to think about what is coming in the future. Most people know how we as Africans organise ourselves. It is in complete contrast to the way European teams are organised. And we in Europe know the difference between what is right and what is wrong, and it is very difficult to compromise with the people who are back home.

Why does the youth side get so much attention from the FA yet the senior side seem to be neglected?
I think the FA have a problem dealing with the European-based players. At youth level, the player?s are inexperienced and will do as they are told, even if it is wrong. But once you move to Europe, and see the way things are done, and should be done, what you may encounter at senior level is not acceptable. The FA are reluctant to deal with strong minded players, and remain determined to run the senior side as they see fit.

There?s the famous prediction by Pele, that an African team will win the World Cup by the end of the century; has that been a burden on Africa?
One day people will be shocked that the world cup will go to Africa. Maybe that could be as early as 2006. As I said earlier, with a little more discipline, and a little bit of luck, Senegal could have gone further last year.

If you were a fan, which footballers/teams would you pay to see? Or teams?
Madrid.

Bayern have met Real many times in the Champions League, one of the many new inter-European rivalries the tournament has thrown up ? Describe what it?s like to play in the Bernabeu?
When you play against the likes of Figo, Raul, Zidane, Carlos and Ronaldo, you concentrate maybe 200% because they are fantastic players. You saw that when they played against Manchester United. These players are exceptional and you have to concentrate a lot.

Who were your favourite players growing up?
Julio Cesar (Brazil), and Basile Boli (France). I am happy to have emulated them as a Champions League Winner. (Boli with Marseille ?93, and Cesar with Dortmund in ?97.)

Which current defenders do you admire?
Maldini. He has been at the top for so long. He has a stature that those around him respond to. I also like Nesta very much, also at Milan. He is so comfortable on the ball. And Sol Campbell at Arsenal is a formidable defender. Of the English centre halves, I prefer him to Rio Ferdinand at Manchester United. I think the English media have built Ferdinand up too much.

Who are the best strikers around?
Van Nistlerooy and Henry. Henry has the edge. He is relentless. He just comes at you again and again. Van Nistlerooy used to have that quality, but since his cruciate injury at Eindhoven, he has altered his game. I?m not saying he?s not as good as before his injury, just that he is a different player to the one before.

Will you ever be going back to Ghana as a player before retiring?
There?s one team in Africa I would like to play for, Kotoko. I have never played for them before. My dream is to one day wear their jersey and play for them before I retire, even if it?s just fifteen minutes.