If Jonathan Tah suddenly decided to retire, he could already look back on an accomplished career. Seen as one of the best defenders in Europe, Tah played a key role in Bayer Leverkusen's unprecedented double of winning the Bundesliga and the German Cup unbeaten in 2024.

"As of now, I've done everything I can to be the best version of myself," Jonathan Tah told DW at the German national team's training camp in Herzogenaurach. "But of course, I can and want to always get more out of myself."

Tah again performed at his consistently high level this past season, winning 65% of his tackles and completing nearly 94% of his passes. Such stats weren't lost on Bayern Munich, who swept in to sign the defender for the coming season.

Hard work pays off

Becoming a regular on the national team didn't come easy for the Hamburg native, who made his debut in early 2016 under then-national team coach Joachim Löw. However, he wasn't called up for any major tournaments after that.

It's only since Julian Nagelsmann took over as Germany coach that Tah has become a fixture in the central defense, alongside Antonio Rüdiger.

"It's like life," there are always a few ups and downs," said Tah, who always believed in the value of hard work.

"I don't mean to sound arrogant, but it was logical that at some point it would pay off."

Credit to Alonso 

He credits Xabi Alonso, his coach at Leverkusen, with helping him get to where he is now.

"He said I needed to maintain that focus and concentration in every game to be able to consistently deliver that level of performance at that high level."

Tah signed his first professional contract with Hamburg at the age of 17, but they gave up on him, selling him to Leverkusen in 2015.

"I think talent probably brought me to Leverkusen. But everything that came after that was hard work," Tah said. "In the end, you can only reach your full potential if you work hard, not if you rely solely on your talent."

Off the pitch, Tah likes to spend time with his wife, his friends and his dog,

"It's good for me to step out of the role of 'Jonathan Tah, the professional footballer,' and into the role of husband and friend, not even talk about football at all."

'I felt a lot of love'

One of his other passions is travel. Last month, he made a trip to a place that is particularly close to his heart as his father was born there, Ivory Coast.

"The last time I was there, I was 14 years old. I wanted to visit my grandmother again and see what had changed in the country," he said.

"Many said they were proud of me and of what I had achieved with Leverkusen. I simply felt a lot of love from the people. It was a very nice experience."

Filled with pride

Tah was impressed by how "football-mad" African fans really are.

"They simply love this sport, and you can feel this passion," he said.

"It's a different country, a different culture, and yet people still support you. That fills you with pride. I believe I can inspire and motivate people."

Even though it was only a short trip, meeting with ordinary people in the West African country made an impression on Tah.

"It was extremely grounding for me and my wife," he said.

"It makes me think: 'What kind of problems do I actually have here? Are these really problems, are these legitimate complaints? Or is it actually nonsense to worry about little things?'"

Tah plans to visit his father's homeland more often in the future, but now his focus is back on football and Germany as they look to a third place Nations League playoff on Sunday after losing to Portugal in Munich in the semifinals on Tuesday. 

This article was originally published in German.