David Raum: "It feels like a dream"

David Raum is experiencing a year as a professional footballer that would not be out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster. After promotion to the Bundesliga with SpVgg Greuther Fürth, TSG Hoffenheim's left-back won the European Under-21 Championship in the summer, played in the Olympics and even made his debut for the senior German national team on Sunday after just three Bundesliga appearances. "Of course, it is every player's dream to be called up to the national team. It's an amazing feeling. I didn't expect the call to come, especially so soon. The fact that it has come, of course, makes me incredibly happy. I still can't really believe it," said the 23-year-old in a big interview with SPIELFELD, the club magazine of Bundesliga football player TSG Hoffenheim, which comes out this Friday. The Nuremberg native talks not only about the past, very eventful months, but also about his position change from striker to left-back, which was only a year and a half ago.

Raum had this to say about his rapid rise from a second division player in Fürth to the TSG Hoffenheim's tenth German international: "The transfer to TSG gave me a huge boost and was a highlight." The signing of the contract at TSG in winter had greatly strengthened his self-confidence for the second half of the season with Fürth, explains Raum. "The fact that we got promoted was, of course, crazy. I was already happy to be at the U21 Euros, but that we actually won the title and I was a regular player – I wouldn't have believed that six months before. I really enjoyed it. And then there were the Olympics, which, despite our early exit, were also a great experience."

Before these highlights, however, the defender had to go through difficult times. "Two and a half years ago, I was about to go on loan to the third division because I had barely played at Fürth. That was the personal low point of my career," says Raum. His Bundesliga debut in Hoffenheim's 4-0 victory in Augsburg "was of course a dream start. It was also something special for me that fans were there. Before that, I had played in professional football almost exclusively in empty stadiums, because I only became a regular player in Fürth last year. When spectators were still allowed in, I was mainly on the bench," said TSG's new signing about his first days at TSG. It was just as emotional for him when he won his first cap for the senior Germany side in the World Cup qualifier against Armenia, as his Germany side won 6-0 in Stuttgart last Sunday.

TSG is to become a springboard for him to perhaps play at the World Cup in Qatar with the German team at the end of next year. However, he also owes much to the SpVgg Fürth, where he played for 15 years, explains Raum: "But for me, TSG Hoffenheim was simply the logical next step. Here there are better conditions, better players, a higher level, better training facilities. That will all help me to improve."