Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NFL kicker, actor and talk-show host across the Pond ... welcome to the wacky world of CHRISTIAN FUCHS
IT IS difficult to know where to start with Christian Fuchs.
He is a Premier League footballer, a title-winner with Leicester City.
This Wednesday, he will play against Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
But that is just surface material.
Scratch that away and there are layers underneath that need to be explored.
For instance, did you know that he wants to reinvent himself as a kicker in the NFL when his football career is over?
Or that he writes his own comedy sketches?
Or that he is aiming to follow Eric Cantona on to the cinema screen in films?
And, if that fails, he is going to try his hand as a talk-show host across the Pond? Or that he somehow maintains a trans-Atlantic relationship with his wife and children?
Fuchs is out there, all right. And he even calls his own clothing line #NoFuchsGiven.
Let us begin with the transformation of codes – from football to gridiron.
“I have ambitions to do that,” he admitted, when asked about the change of codes.
“It’s definitely a goal for after my football career, which, I hope, will last a couple more years.
“The oldest kicker in the NFL retired at the age of
49. I have definite ambitions to do that and I feel good.
“I’ve already done some kicking and it worked out pretty well. There is not too much difference in the techniques.
“If you want to get a ball up high and far in football, you lean back. But because of the shape of the ball in American football – and it is placed on a tee – you have to position yourself over it.
“And I’m in touch with people, but it doesn’t mean anything precise is going on. “I’m not forcing it at the moment. Am I making a transfer this year to the NFL? No, I think there will be another story to write. I’m enjoying my football here.” Ah, the football. Leicester City. Austrian Fuchs, 31, was not part of the Great Escape of two seasons ago.
But he joined ahead of the season that upset the form book and every punter who did not have a couple of quid on the 5,000-1 shots.
“That was the plan when I signed,” he said. “Leicester told me they wanted to win the Premier League title.”
Having taken his tongue out of his cheek, he attempted to put into words the topsy-turvy nature of the Foxes’ season.
The players have turned stories about their unhappiness with Claudio Ranieri’s regime into a force for good.
He said: “The set-up hasn’t changed too much as Craig Shakespeare was here already.
“I simply think what was discussed in the media, the accusations made, it just fired us up. The critics made the turnaround possible.
“Personally, I didn’t see too much. But I heard it. We used it ourselves. You could see straightaway in the match against Liverpool.
“Everyone felt it was a different team and we did, too. From our toes to the tips of our hair and it worked for us.
“We’ve had six wins in a row. It’s been a turning point. Was the criticism fair or unfair? I don’t know. In football, there’s no fair or unfair. It’s just what is happening right now.
“Now everyone will say it wasn’t right before and we are back to the real Leicester way.
“Since I joined the club, what has happened has felt like that dream sequence in a film.
“So what is happening here again? That is Leicester, we are always surprising everyone and ourselves.
“And playing in the Champions League is very special for us. A treat for what we did last year.
“Who knows when it will come back? Maybe it never will.
That’s why we are trying to enjoy it as much as possible.
“It’s very special hearing the Champions League anthem in Leicester’s colours.”
Fuchs is so far off the scale, it is scarcely believable.
He somehow maintains a relationship with his wife, son and stepson, who live in New York, because he does not want to drag his kids out of their school.
The Austrian sees his family about once every three weeks during the season, although they are travelling to the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday.
The reason they remain in America is because that is where he eventually sees himself settling.
But whether he does fulfil his hopes of being a professional kicker is anyone’s guess.
He added: “I’ve been asked to act. Maybe I’ll try that. Or become a film director.
“One of my biggest inspirations is chat show host Jimmy Fallon. I saw one of his shows during an international break.
“That’s maybe more what I want to do. More of the comedy side. I’m writing my own material all the time.
“I like to entertain people, honestly. Football is part of the entertainment industry.
“When I’m in schools, like today with the PlayStation Schools’ Cup, or other reasons, I have an audience of 250 kids.
“I’ll be there for half an hour and I’ll make them smile.
“But the sky’s the limit. We’ll see.”