Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi says his religious beliefs have helped his career and reckons if he plays badly “it’s not the end of the world.”
Mustafi moved to the Emirates Stadium during the summer in a deal worth £35million from Spanish side Valencia and has been an able replacement for injured captain Per Mertesacker.
The 24-year-old, who is a devout Muslim, is forming a strong partnership __with Laurent Koscielny in the middle of the Arsenal defence and has credited his religion for helping him achieve on the pitch.
“Being a Muslim is very important to me, more important than anything, although sometimes travel makes it difficult for me to always pray when I want to,” Mustafi told Sport Bild .
“The Euros was a problem for me too, because it came in the middle of Ramadan and it would not have been possible to limit my food and fluid intake.
“But as an athlete I knew that I did not have to comply on that occasion.
“I study the Koran intensively but I also study other religions, too. But it is in the Koran that the prophets are closest to me — there and in the mosque when I go to pray.
“My religion means so much to me and to my career. It helps me so much.
“At the end of it all, I’m a person like any other who is on the Earth to strive for paradise.
“That is my main task. And if I play a c**p game it’s not the end of the world.”