Bora Karadag is a very fine footballer who is said to have immense quality on the ball. He has now answered our forecasting questionnaire.

The 33-year-old attacking strategist Bora Karadag is currently whirling around the Bezirksliga. He has scored ten goals for Duisburger FV 08 this season and is a major factor in the club’s almost certain survival in the league. He is also aware that the Mülheim-born Turk could have gone higher.

Karadag came through all the youth ranks at Rot-Weiss Oberhausen and Rot-Weiss Essen. He made 19 appearances for RWE in the Regionalliga West (no scorers) and showed his skills above all in the Essen U19 and U17 teams. The attacking midfielder also played several times in Turkey – including in the third division. The 33-year-old made six appearances for Altay SK and Baskent Safak Spor FK.

Via FSV Duisburg and SV Scherpenberg, Karadag’s footballing journey ended at Duisburger Fußballverein 08, which he will leave in the summer for Rheinland Hamborn after four and a half years.

Now Karadag, who has an international cap for Turkey’s U19s to his name among other things, took part in the forecasting questionnaire.

My greatest strength is… scoring free kicks. I don’t need to think about it for long. I’ve already scored seven this season – I can just do it.

My biggest weakness is… is my heading game. I’m just small, what can I say (laughs). It’s not my thing at all.

In our dressing room… there’s a relaxed atmosphere. It’s no longer about anything. We chat a lot and are just happy to see everyone all the time.

The best moment of my soccer career was… the DFB Cup match against BVB in a sold-out stadium on Hafenstraße. That was so amazing and you rarely find an atmosphere like that. But in general, the Friday night floodlit games with the first team at RWE were always a highlight for me.

The best goal of my career was… the winning goal at FSV Duisburg against Schönebeck – back in the Landesliga days. I scored from the halfway line and outplayed the goalkeeper. Whenever someone asks me about it, that goal is the first thing that comes to mind.

My best teammate was… poah, that’s difficult. Whereby: Mike Wunderlich in the Essen era. That was a great player. Sure, Sascha Mölders, who was a really good shot-stopper, and İlkay Gündoğan were strong – I also have to mention Mehmet Ekici. But Mike Wunderlich really impressed me.

My best coach was… I have to split the answer in two. In my youth, it was my sponsor Udo Platzer, who guided me to Essen, among other things. He really was an outstanding mentor. In my senior years, however, it was Ernst Middendorp. He was only my coach for two months, but he was from another planet. His training, his announcements and his interviews – it was all amazing.

My worst coach was… I wasn’t really happy with anyone during my time in Turkey. But maybe that’s just because I didn’t play much. Otherwise there were one or two at amateur level – but that’s not worth mentioning.

When I was a little boy, my role model was… R9, the Brazilian Ronaldo. El Fenomeno… I was crazy about him, I even dreamt about him. I remember at school, I used to write his name all over my exercise books. He was always written off after his injuries and showed everyone that he was still the best. For me, he was even the best of all time.

I didn’t become a professional footballer because… I was too impatient and made the wrong decisions at the wrong time. When I was young, I was in great demand all over Germany. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but that’s how it was. My quick decisions were my undoing.

The best thing about the Ruhr region is… the togetherness. I love the soccer craziness here, the amount of cultures and, above all, the hours of chatting about the soccer day at work. The Ruhr area is home for me and the atmosphere feels familiar. I simply can’t imagine living anywhere else. I remember: during my time abroad, I missed eating a kebab here so much that I flew back just for that (laughs).

Either, right?

Dortmund or Schalke? RWE!

Beer or water? Definitely water. I don’t drink alcohol.

Club or pub? I prefer the couch.

Natural or artificial turf? Natural turf in the past, artificial turf today.

Fighter or artist? Artist.

Cinema or Netflix? Netflix.

Soccer on TV or in the stadium? Not both. If in the stadium, but then I prefer to play myself.

Finally, a few more questions:

Who would you like to go for a Coke with? Definitely R9! I would probably just look at him and admire him. Back then I had a gap in my teeth, just like him, and I deliberately didn’t go to the dentist just to look more like him.

At which club did you experience the most extreme team trip – and why? To be honest, it was with 08. We flew to Alanya with 15 men and enjoyed nine days together. It was just really nice that so many people went with us and that we were there as such a family.

What can you laugh about? Actually, about everything. I’m a chilled guy and I love to laugh. Being in a good mood is very important to me because it’s not worth being in a bad mood.

My best vacation was? When I was a child with my family. We flew home to Trabzon every summer vacation for the whole six weeks. That may not sound incredibly exciting, but in retrospect you realize how many wonderful memories you have from there. Especially now that my father has passed away, you realize how beautiful it all was.

What is indispensable for you? My family, of course, but unfortunately now also my cell phone. I’m a real RS freak and I have to read Forecasting online (laughs).

What music do you like to listen to and what is playing in the dressing room? I mainly listen to Turkish music in the dressing room. I also like it very much. I also like listening to German rap in my private life – I listen to everything that’s current there.

If you could start again, what would you do differently in your life? I would do everything differently when it comes to soccer. I should have made the switch earlier in my youth and taken the opportunity to go to the top, for example to Schalke, Leverkusen or whoever. In my senior years, I should have stayed in Essen – basically, I would have led my career the other way around. Privately, I can’t think of anything. I would probably make exactly the same decisions again there. But: if I had made different decisions in soccer, I might not have a lot of things in my private life the way they are today.