At the top of his game, the Real Madrid and Germany back work with Under Armour, but he will never forget how he got here.

Antonio Rüdiger recently told his Instagram followers that he was joining the Under Armour team. He made this choice because he shares the same values and views as Under Armour.

Wertes are the most important thing to me. Because Under Armour knows not only what players go through during games but also how competitors are born and raised behind the scenes, it was very easy for me to choose them.

Theodore Rüdiger

The brand that made Rüdiger’s new shoes, the Under Armour Clone Magnetico Pro 2, wants to help him be the best football player he can be every week.

We want to work with athletes who show toughness, determination, and sacrifice to get to the top of their sports. Tony epitomizes our values, and we’re thrilled to have him on our team as we look to work with young football team athletes. He has a great story, and his experiences explain why he is so determined every time he steps up to the plate and gives everything he has to help his team win.

Kara Trent is SVP and Managing Director of EMEA for Under Armour.

Before playing for Real Madrid, Rüdiger played on concrete fields in Neukolln, Berlin, where the ground was so hard that he wore holes in the bottoms of his shoes. Now, he plays for Real Madrid, the most successful club team in European history, on a perfectly smooth surface at the Santiago Bernabéu.

His mother fled the civil war in Sierra Leone with him, and he grew up in a neighborhood in the German capital that was mostly made up of immigrants. He himself said that his football dream wasn’t to have fancy cars, big houses, and play in the UEFA Champions League. Instead, it was to move his family out of Neukolln.

Rüdiger recently spent time with Under Armour in Madrid, where they talked in depth about the events that shaped his life and made him a tough athlete and wise leader. Because of this, Rüdiger ‘Unboxed’ was made, which talks in depth about a number of pictures and items that show the people, places, and things that helped him become the player and person he is now. 

 

Rüdiger shows old family photos, talks about his hard childhood in Neukolln, and talks about the face mask he has become known for wearing these days. He goes into great detail about the things that made him play every game like it’s his last, with the same aggression that made kids call him “Rambo.”

Rüdiger can also be seen reacting to his UEFA Champions League Medal, which is the most prestigious award in European club football, and his Under Armour Clone Magnetico Pro 2 boots, which have the flags of both Sierra Leone and Germany on them because they are his home countries. 

This season, Rüdiger will be trying to add more awards to his collection, but you can be sure that he will never forget how he got to where he is now. With Under Armour by his side, he keeps up the hard work and hustle.