Out of the shadows

The 26-year-old was signed from Bundeslige club Hamburg for $15 million after a summer in which he wore the day-glo orange of his adopted home country in the World Cup, although his participation ended somewhat abruptly when he was sent off in the first knock-out stage for elbowing Portugal’s Luis Figo as Holland crashed out 1-0. His first game for Chelsea came against Blackburn Rovers in August, just as Chelsea were beginning the defence of a second successive Championship – the club’s third, and confirmation that Portuguese genius and Russian finance were reaping long-term dividends for the West London club. Boulahrouz is, if nothing else, a one-man example of the global nature of the modern game. “Just by being in the dressing room at Chelsea you actually get to see a little bit of the world and learn about different people and places.” 

 

Khalid Boulahrouz: It’s actually been quite tough in some ways. I came here just after the season had started so I didn’t get to go through pre-season with the team. I’d done pre-season in Germany but it’s always better to do it with the team you’re going to be playing with, for obvious reasons. That’s the way things can sometimes be in football and I’m not complaining. But it meant that from the very start I was straight in, and it was a case of play, play, play – I was involved a lot in the beginning, right up until I got injured in fact. 

 

KB: I’ve had to work hard to come back twice now. First came my knee injury at the very start of January – that kept me out for almost two months. And then in my first game back I dislocated my shoulder which kept me out for another three weeks. I’d worked so hard to come back from my knee injury and was feeling very strong. I had no doubts at all about the knee, which was great. And then two minutes before the end of the first half I dislocated my shoulder.

 

KB: It was just very bad luck, but there is nothing you can do about it when these things happen. You can get mad, you can get sad. But I just tried to stay as relaxed as possible and focus on my recovery. Now I’m over the shoulder problem, but the team is doing well, winning games, not conceding many goals, and we’re still in the race for titles, so I will have to fight for my place.

 

KB: It’s absolutely amazing. It’s a dream for the players to be in the race for four titles. I’ve never been in a situation like this before. It’s unbelievable really – quite unique. It’s hard to explain what it’s like to be in this team and maybe people will only really understand it when they look back in a couple of years. We’re so together, no matter what the situation is, and we all understand the importance of that. Everybody is incredibly motivated and the spirit and atmosphere between everyone is fantastic. 

 

KB: The city is nice and I enjoy it. But at the moment I live right in the centre, and it is too busy for me, too big. I like to rest and to have some quiet so it’s a bit too much. So soon I will move out of the city and closer to our training ground which is just outside London. 

 

KB: Yeah, but it’s just my name, nothing more! I speak Arabic, as well as Dutch, German and now a little bit of English, too – although I have a lot more work to do on my English so I’m trying to take some lessons now. 

 

KB: No, it’s not difficult at all. It’s about mental strength. You train in the morning, rest in the afternoon and it’s no problem. Maybe in the first couple of days you have to allow your body time to adapt to a different system, but after that it’s fine. I’m used to it now. 

 

For the full version of this article, see NOX10