Baumann: "You have to give something back"

''I've noticed how quickly and relatively easily I can reach people and make them happy from this position I'm in. Sometimes all you have to do is give a kid a high five and they're absolutely over the moon. Then you think to yourself: that was so easy,'' says Baumann. ''The only reason we have this status is because people love football so much. At the end of the day, it's only because of the fans and the public attention that we earn our money. Without the spectators, without the fans, there wouldn't be all this attention, and we wouldn't be getting these salaries. This means that it's your responsibility to give something back,'' says the TSG Hoffenheim goalkeeper.

Baumann is happy to shoulder this responsibility. Along with his wife Charlotte, he is active in supporting children's cancer aid in Heidelberg: ''For me, it's all about raising awareness for something. If I'm able to do my part by drawing attention towards a cause like this and in the process also make people happy, then naturally it's something I'm more than glad to do. Doing good for other people is something I find really rewarding. There is so much value in a simple thank you, much more than in a lot of other things. We didn't just want to donate money and then feel like our job was done. We wanted to have a more personal involvement, be closer to everything,'' says Baumann. His sense of engagement is also motivated by his own personal story: ''In 2012, I lost my father to cancer. He was only 62 years old. It was a really hard time.''

TSG's record-breaking keeper then moves on to talk about the sporting side of things at the club. The 28-year-old was extremely disappointed with the 1-1 draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf: ''We just didn't play well at all. Nothing really came together. We shouldn't be talking about big goals like the Champions League just now. We really need to get ourselves back on track, otherwise we're looking at a season in no man's land. That would be a real shame, and needless too.''