Sami, how important is your position as a Brand Ambassador for Porsche and the “Turbo for Talents” Youth Development Programme for you?
Sami Khedira: “I really enjoy everything and feel honoured at being able to work with the Porsche brand and young people. Developing youngsters has been something dear to my heart for a long time. From my time as a junior footballer, I know how important it is to have support. It’s why I’m glad and grateful for the many exciting years in which I and the wonderful people around me have already had accompanying the Porsche ‘Turbo for Talents’ Youth Development Programme.”
What particularly fascinates you about working with young athletes?
Khedira: “The dedication to sport, the passion and the fascination. For young athletes either in the changing room or on the pitch, it doesn’t matter where they come from, which language they speak and who they are. They just want to play their sport and win. It all results in a good community and team spirit.”
To what extent is Porsche important for you when it comes developing youngsters?
Khedira: “It’s very important. The Porsche brand with its famous sports cars and motorsport activities has a huge appeal – not only in Germany but all over the world. Companies like Porsche have an influence on societal development. Porsche has recognised the important role. “Turbo for Talents” fosters in this respect young people in the sports sphere but it also imparts important social and personal values.”
In your time as a competitive footballer, was there already such a youth development set-up?
Khedira: “At the age of eight, I myself benefited from the excellent coaching system in place at VfB Stuttgart for juniors and talented youngsters. VfB was and is a renowned club within youth football. However junior coaching back then obviously didn’t have the dimensions it has now. These days, the awareness is different, it is managed even more professionally and with a large degree of external support. Alongside the sporting aspects, the development as human beings is becoming increasingly important. Young athletes are becoming better prepared should they fail to become a professional footballer. The support of companies like Porsche is therefore highly important.”
What are you particularly looking forward to at the Porsche Football Cup?
Khedira: “What pleases me most of all is that the Porsche Football Cup is entering its fifth year. It’s fantastic. Additionally it’s great that we will be welcoming once more eight high-class international teams to Stuttgart this year, and that we’ll be able to watch some brilliant football.”
What’s special about the tournament?
Khedira: “What’s special? Basically the whole tournament. At the venue, it’s not simply about playing football, there’s also a lot additionally on offer for the teams. On the one hand, it’s a top-class event over three days with an official opening evening and the draw in the Porsche Museum. The tournament days at VfB are organised superbly. There are lots of matches, a full range of support services for the teams, the tournament will be televised, CSR plays a role. On the other, there’s also the exciting and diverse participating teams displaying outstanding football. We’ve also got two local clubs – VfB Stuttgart and Stuttgarter Kickers – in the line-up. There are also successful and famous international and German teams like FC Barcelona or Bayern Munich. They will be joined by long-established domestic clubs like FC Erzgebirge Aue which catches the eye year in, year out with its excellent football that also features tenacity, passion and team spirit. These are the things that make the Porsche Football Cup what it is. It’s also nice to see parents, siblings and other relatives coming here to support the kids. The tournament thrills all age groups.“
How important are such tournaments for the development of young footballers?
Khedira: “Incredibly important. I’m a big friend of getting out of one’s comfort zone. Competitive junior sport means not only playing against the same teams over and over again and playing against the same style of football but taking on other clubs playing a different game. It’s not only about pitch time but far, far more, it is about having a sporting education, being able to experience other environments and internationality. Language barriers have to be overcome. And the tournament gives the boys the chance to network with each other and form friendships in doing so.”
How does Porsche influence a tournament like this one?
Khedira: “The special thing about the tournament is that Porsche not only lends its name to it but is also the organiser. For everybody involved, the Porsche Football Cup is a project close to our hearts, and it should advance the ideas involved in coaching youngsters. It makes it special and makes it stand out above other fantastic tournaments. It’s why the event is not only attractive for the clubs and young footballers but also for spectators due to the various off-pitch activities – and all with free admission.”
You’ve already said that it will be the fifth edition and that you were a part of everything right from the start. What are your personal highlights?
Khedira: “That’s not easy as there have been so many alongside the footballing side of things. As I already mentioned, I find it remarkable just how many fans of the teams and families of the players come along to the Porsche Football Cups. A lot in particular come from Aue, and they generate a great atmosphere.”
Would you like to give the teams competing at the Porsche Football Cup some advice?
Khedira: “Enjoy the days of the tournament 100 per cent! They are three special days. Great footballers and personalities can evolve out of it. Embrace the diversity of the various clubs. Be prepared, be ambitiousness in a good way but also have fun at the tournament. And obviously score lots of goals, especially as each one of them goes to supporting the “Goals for Charity” fundraiser. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Porsche Football Cup
The Porsche Football Cup is one of the core activities of Porsche’s Youth Development Program “Turbo for Talents.” The fifth edition of the youth tournament will take place on September 6 and 7, 2025, at the VfB Stuttgart club grounds. As one of the most prestigious and high-quality U-15 tournaments in Europe, an international lineup of eight teams will compete for the title. In addition to the host VfB Stuttgart, football fans can look forward to seeing defending champions FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, VfL Wolfsburg, RB Football Academy Salzburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Erzgebirge Aue, and SV Stuttgarter Kickers. The social aspect of Porsche’s youth development is also in focus: through the “Goals for Charity” initiative, Porsche will donate 400 euro for every goal scored to the “Stiftung OlympiaNachwuchs Baden-Württemberg”. Visitors can enjoy exciting sports and various interactive activities – all with free admission.
“Turbo for Talents” – the Porsche Youth Development Programme
Porsche takes its societal responsibility seriously and invests specifically in the future of young people via the Porsche Youth Development Programme. Under the motto “Turbo for Talents”, Porsche commits itself to helping youngsters in a variety of sports in several clubs. In football, there are partnerships with Stuttgarter Kickers, the Red Bull Football Academy, Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfB Stuttgart and Erzgebirge Aue. In the sport of ice-hockey, Porsche helps foster juniors at the Bietigheim Steelers club. In basketball, Porsche lends its name to the Ludwigsburg Porsche Basketball Academy (BBA) – the elite training centre for the MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg club. The commitment is not just about supporting high-quality sports coaching but also about the social and personal development of young people. Through its “Talents Hand in Hand” initiative, Porsche, together with its partner clubs and social institutions, also conveys values like tolerance, passion and respect to young people. It also promotes the embracing of topics like inclusion, environmental awareness and health. The famous patron of the Development Programme is the football World Cup winner Sami Khedira. Information about the highly diverse Youth Development Programme can be found at www.turbofürtalente.de.