Fábio Silva discusses his experiences in Germany and his time at Borussia Dortmund. He reflects on cultural differences and the potential opportunity to lead the team in an upcoming match.
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Fábio Silva on life in Germany, his Dortmund career to date and claiming silverware
With Serhou Guirassy currently a doubt to feature for Borussia Dortmund today against TSG Hoffenheim, the opportunity to lead the line could fall into Fábio Silva's favour. However, life at the Westphalian giants took a little getting used to for the Portuguese star.
"Of course, it's different because I'm from Portugal. I've been in Spain already, so I love Spain. I'm a person who likes contact, I like to feel a little bit of that connection," Silva said, in an interview with the Bundesliga's official website.
"German people are a little bit different at that point, so I have to learn on that point too. I think I don't need too much adaptation wherever I go because I've been in a lot of countries throughout my career.
"It's easy here because since I arrived, all the people in the club, the fans, the people around the city give me a lot of love, a lot of support, and these things are the most important," he added.
With only a fraction over 700 minutes of Bundesliga football under his belt, it's safe to say the 23-year-old's Dortmund career hasn't taken flight just yet. Regardless, Silva is confident in his abilities and displays so far.
"I think my journey so far has been really good. I think I arrived, of course, not in the best shape. Everyone knows I had some injury last season. I came from an operation, so I was taking my time to try to find my 100% physicality again.
"Now I think I'm at that point. I think with all the work I do with the guys in the gym, with the staff members, and what I am giving out to the team in the games, I think I'm really improving this season, and yes, I'm really happy.
Fábio Silva noted cultural differences that required some adaptation, particularly in social interactions.
Silva has been adjusting to life at Dortmund and is looking forward to contributing more, especially with potential opportunities arising from teammate injuries.
Silva mentioned that German people are different in terms of social connections, which he is learning to navigate.
With Serhou Guirassy doubtful for the match, there is a possibility that Silva could lead the line for Dortmund.
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"Of course, when you come to a club like Dortmund, your standard has to be higher, you have to be 100% every single time because you compete with the best players in the world," the Portuguese striker said.
After describing the Signal Iduna Park atmosphere as "something special" to be a part of, Silva underlines his desire to bring silverware back to the BVB fans -- something he regrets not achieving this campaign.
"No, of course, in a general way, it is not what we want [missing out on trophies], because with a club like Dortmund, as I say, your standards have to be always high, and you try to play every single game to win and to win titles.
"We know we have that pressure to give that to the fans, and when we play with this shirt on, we have that pressure to win every single game. We know our capacities, our qualities, the players we have in the squad.
"Every player can do different roles on the team. I think we have a big team, big quality in our squad. Of course, we are not fully happy because we cannot realistically fight for a title for now.
"But of course we can improve a lot of things, and we can win a lot more titles to keep building this team and this club," Silva explained, already highlighting his lofty ambitions for competing on all fronts next season.