There is rarely time for joint sports: Anna and André Schürrle were photographed for a Montblanc campaign in the gym
Source: Montblanc
He became a football legend when he provided the template for the decisive goal in the World Cup final in 2014.
As a lifestyle and food blogger, she has her very own fan base.
André and Anna Schürrle have been married since 2019, have a young daughter - and are currently repositioning themselves as a friendly power couple on the German sports scene.
They have just shot their first joint advertising campaign for the new Smartwatch Summit Lite from Montblanc, in the gym, of course.
For the interview, they call a little earlier than agreed: Daughter Kaia, almost two years old, is asleep, it's time to talk - about André's end of career, Anna's future plans, low motivation and family life in a footballer's household.
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ICONIST:
You are working together for a unisex sports watch.
Hand on heart: what do you think of couple workouts?
André Schürrle:
(laughs)
We're already trying to do sports together, but that's often a little difficult with our little daughter - whenever we want to get started, of course she wants to join in!
That's why everyone has their own training times.
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Anna Schürrle:
The quarter or half hour a day for my yoga exercises is only mine.
In everyday life with a child you are sometimes very emotional, then I deliberately take myself out of it, concentrate on my breathing and my yoga exercises.
I usually get this aha moment: Anna, take it easy, everything will be fine!
ICONIST:
André, you ended your career as a
professional
footballer last summer.
Anna, you are just getting started with your Health Bar nutrition app.
How has this change in dynamic changed your life?
Anna Schürrle: Definitely
for the better because we can now live together as a family in Berlin and I have a lot more support in everyday life.
When our daughter Kaia was born, we lived in London, then we moved to Moscow, which was sometimes very lonely for me because I hardly had any environment in these cities.
We then agreed on a long-distance relationship so that I could be close to my family, and André commuted between Berlin and Moscow as often as possible.
The pandemic and the end of his career ensured that we finally had him at home full-time, which, admittedly, was a little challenging at first
(laughs)
- but it's nice to see that André now has the opportunity to join our daughter to build a really intense connection.
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André Schürrle:
It is so important for a relationship that both are internally satisfied.
So, really 100 percent satisfied, I don't just mean this superficial feeling of: Yeah, everything is fine in itself.
For me, a relationship can only work and be happy if both can pursue their passions.
And it is simply important for Anna to have her own career in addition to being a mother.
We are now organizing our lives so that she can do her own thing too.
ICONIST:
That is the big question for many couples and young families - how do you get this satisfaction out in everyday life?
Anna Schürrle:
When we became parents, we thought: Come on, let's just dive into this parenting role, it'll be kind of like, we'll do it all spontaneously.
Of course, it wasn't that easy (laughs).
We realized that we need a structure for ourselves as a couple and as a family.
That we have to divide up the time so that we can take time for the things that are important to us.
That's why we have a huge plan on our fridge in which we really enter everything: our appointments, who goes shopping when, when Kaia is with her grandma - and when we have planned a date night just for both of us.
Anna Schürrle wants to promote her online business Health Bar
Source: Montblanc
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ICONIST:
Why do so many professional athletes start families comparatively early?
André Schürrle:
I think that's because professional sport can lead to a very lonely life.
As a footballer, you are on your own very early on, far away from your family, and you have to grow up quickly.
Having to cope with loneliness and the pressure on your own in the long run is very difficult.
When you come home from a trip and nobody is there, that's tough.
ICONIST:
What did you underestimate about being a parent?
Anna Schürrle:
What everyone underestimates: How challenging it is to be responsible for a different life.
Becoming a parent is a drastic change in life.
First we had to learn to relax, not to think every time Kaia picks: What about her!
But others have already done it, and we can do it too.
ICONIST: In the
past, the “player's
wife
” was cliché as a pretty appendage of the soccer star, today couples from the sport always appear in public as an equal team.
I am thinking, for example, of Ana Ivanovic and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Robert and Anna Lewandowski, you both too.
Where does this development come from?
Anna Schürrle:
I think that this has less to do with individual personalities than with a generally increased awareness of the things that are happening in this world.
In any case, I observe that more and more people who are in public use their reach for topics that make sense.
In any case, I think it's really nice when there are two people who say: We have a good life, but we also want to give something good back to society, and that's what we stand for together.
ICONIST:
Both of you are committed to healthy living;
Anna, where does your passion for nutrition and good food come from?
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Anna Schürrle:
I was born in a very small village in Kazakhstan.
There I got to know the cycle of life from an early age.
We had our own self-sufficient garden, I knew where the food was coming from.
Then we moved to Germany, and the difference was extreme: suddenly we could go to the supermarket and no longer had to grow or plant everything ourselves.
In my teenage years I got a little out of balance as a result, my health was never really good.
When I was in my early twenties, I said to myself: I have to take care of my health.
Then, through umpteen diets, I came to the vegan diet, which personally suits me best.
You just have to listen to your body, find out what is best for you.
ICONIST:
Sometimes it's not that easy in the
hectic
of everyday life.
How can this be done?
Anna Schürrle:
It's not easy at all.
Especially in our modern world.
There is always something to do, at work, in the family, you have the feeling that you simply have to function in everyday life.
But I think that you always have to see yourself as a priority.
That sounds selfish, but it's not.
If you don't take care of yourself, you can't pass on anything, then your loved ones have nothing from you.
That's why I advise you to take enough time for yourself.
ICONIST:
But to be specific: How do you motivate yourself to eat healthily and to exercise regularly?
Especially in the lockdown months it is sometimes all too tempting to sink into series with a bag of chips on the sofa, you don't indulge in anything else ...
Anna Schürrle:
Always feel your way slowly.
This is my tip.
It just demotivates you to do everything at once and then do nothing.
Maybe sticking to a vegan diet for a day or two a week, that's a start.
André Schürrle:
Since I no longer have to train every day, I actually sometimes have these motivation holes and know that it can be difficult to get up from the couch.
Or getting up early when you can lie down, that's hard!
But I've never been a fan of excuses, not even in my active time as a footballer, I never liked this: It hurts me here, that's stupid, that's why nothing works.
No: Anyone who has ever done sport actually knows that you always feel better afterwards than before.
That should actually be motivation enough to get started.
In 2014 André Schürrle provided the template for the decisive goal in the World Cup final
Source: Montblanc
ICONIST:
André, you trained at the highest level for many years.
How do you find your way to everyday sportiness?
André Schürrle:
I rediscovered the fun of sport.
I used to have to go jogging, now I'm really looking forward to just being able to train for myself.
Or just go to play tennis if I feel like it!
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ICONIST:
You have been a “football pensioner” for a few months now.
How did you make the transition from professional athlete to "normal life"?
André Schürrle:
First of all, I was pretty happy that the pressure was gone, that I didn't have to do anything anymore and that I suddenly had so much time.
I had a lot of conversations with Anna about how things should go on now, a lot has yet to be found.
On the whole, the transition was really easy for me.
ICONIST:
In the interviews that you gave immediately after you
retired
in July 2020, you mentioned that there was no room for honesty in football.
Why is that?
André Schürrle: It is telling
that I only touched on this topic after my active career.
I didn't have the courage to do so beforehand.
In football you have to think carefully about every public sentence.
In the public image, it helps to play a role in which you always see everything as positive: Everything is great, you only pursue the greatest goals, everyone is good to you, the trainers and those responsible are all good.
This is the easy way because you avoid stress.
Anyone who, as an active athlete, criticizes things or even expresses what he really feels, risks that no club will want him on the team anymore.
That's why everyone always talks the same thing in interviews: to avoid problems.
ICONIST:
What feeling did you have to suppress that you can only talk about now?
André Schürrle:
I just knew for a long time that the footballing life was no longer 100 percent right for me.
So the end of my career was a relief for me.
I have the feeling that I can finally find myself as a person.
I want to find out what I really want to do with my life.
It will take time, and I want to give myself that time too.
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ICONIST:
What do you miss
about
football?
André Schürrle:
I really don't miss anything.
If I had any doubts about my decision, I wouldn't have made it.
For many years, football was far too important to me for that.
I just knew the time was right to stop.
ICONIST:
How often do you talk about the 2014 World Cup
each
year?
André Schürrle:
Very, very rarely with Anna, she is not a huge soccer fan
(laughs)
.
When I talk about it, it's mostly with my mother, who was at the stadium in Rio back then.
ICONIST:
You both talk a lot about the fact that you only want to do what you really want, to pursue your passions.
What are your future plans?
André Schürrle:
I don't really know that yet.
Of course, I know my way around fitness, which is why I invested in a fitness and health start-up, for example
(editor's note: it's the “FitterYou” app and the CBD company SanityGroup
).
Then I know that I not only give money, but that I can also contribute to the success of the content.
But I'm interested in many things and now just want to try myself out.
Anna Schürrle:
Professionally, I will continue to expand my own business health bar with my app and the online magazine and also launch my own product line.
When I speak for both of us privately: We just want to carry on as before and be consistently happy.
That is our goal.
ICONIST:
Speaking of happiness: In a YouTube video on Anna's channel, you tell us that you both read a lot to develop personally.
What was the last book that moved you?
André Schürrle:
“The Café on the Edge of the World” by John Strelecky.
The book was really a door opener for me, it showed me that I want more from life.
Anna Schürrle: The
last time I read a book by Oprah Winfrey.
She is an exciting, inspiring personality.
In the book she talks about life, what it taught her and what life is really about: inner satisfaction and self-love.
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