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Kevin Volland arrives in the Bundesliga
But he doesn't like to put it down to his background. The 20 year old attacker was brought up in the beautiful Allgäu, where international striker Karl-Heinz Riedle was born. While the World Cup winner of 1990 said his homeland was responsible for his incredible jumping power, the new Hoffenheim player rarely took on the mountains. Nevertheless, sport was still a focal point in his family. His father was an ice hockey player with Mannheim side Adlem as well as others, and according to Volland, his brother is also a very talented footballer, though he has less ambition. His sister is a handball player in a district league and his step brother plays ice hockey for Oberliga side EV Füssen. Kevin himself focussed more on a puck than a ball until he was ten. “It was great fun and I think I had the quality to play ice hockey too, but the long trips to EV Füssen took a lot of effort”, explained the Marktoberdorf-born footballer. His parent's didn't mind too much, “the main thing was that I played sport.”
Best preparation at 1860
Last season, Volland signed a contract at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim but stayed at 1860 München on loan. In that time he was involved in 14 of their goals, racking up 11 assists. The Bavarian spoke of the talent pool that he came from, one that included the Bender twins, Moritz Leitner, Peniel Mlapa, Tobias Strobl and Fabian Johnson. “The youth set up at 1860 is outstanding and has a real family feel to it. Everyone is interested in the young players and through meetings, the professionals were also involved. At 1860 you can really see the value of hard work and how quickly things can progress, because the club puts its focus on young talent.”
After assisting four goals this season, the almost 5'11'' striker scored his first goal in the Bundesliga. Despite this, Volland still sees room for improvement. The attacker, who prefers to play as an attacking midfielder, address his strengths and weaknesses: “I know I can give it everything for the full 90 minutes. I've got good vision and a decent shot on me but there's no doubt I have weaknesses too. I want to improve every aspect of my game.”
