By: CHRISTIAN FALK, TOBIAS ALTSCHÄFFL, HEIKO NIEDDERER, YANNICK HÜBER, YVONNE GABRIEL AND DENNIS BROSDA (PHOTOS)
These statements come as a surprise!
This evening’s international match (8:45 p.m.) against Turkey once again raises a hot topic for German youth: To what extent should the DFB fight for kickers who are eligible to play for two nations? National coach Julian Nagelsmann (36) has a clear opinion on this…
“Could have more influence” Nagelsmann’s clear demand from the DFB star
Source: BILD / SID November 18, 2023
The currently most prominent example: Kenan Yildiz (18) from Juventus Turin. The offensive talent from Regensburg came through the Bayern youth system and has a Turkish father and a German mother. But he never played for a DFB team. “Germany never approached me, never contacted me. So there was no choice, the question did not arise. I am very happy to play for Turkey,” Yildiz recently explained in SPORT BILD. In October he even made his debut for the Turkish senior national team under Vincenzo Montella (49). Did the DFB miss the talent?
also read
Nagelsmann sees it completely differently. The national coach doesn’t want to fight for the German-Turks!
His surprising but very clear stance: “This is a topic that I view very critically and on which one should not talk the players into it, but rather it is a very personal decision, the motives of which one cannot evaluate at all as an outsider. The beautiful thing about our world is that you can have roots somewhere else, but still feel at home where you live.” Then the trainer emphasizes again clearly: “I don’t see it as my job. If someone wants advice from me, they’ll get it, but I don’t proactively recruit anyone.”
This fits with the fact that Nagelsmann made it clear to the DFB when he took office in October that he expects a high level of identification from every national player and that everyone should consider it an honor to play for their country. This is also why he refrains from external influence.
Photo:
Another example: Long before Nagelsmann became national coach, Nuremberg’s Can Uzun (18) chose Turkey and therefore against the German U21 last March. Coach Antonio di Salvo (44) had commented on the discussion at the time in a similar way to Nagelsmann: “If someone says so clearly that they feel like a Turk, then we don’t need to talk about the fact that we may have missed a player or not. “
Also interesting
Advertisement
Also interesting
Advertisement
But the DFB’s past also shows that efforts to find stars with dual citizenship can be worthwhile. The DFB and the Turkish association once fought for the then U21 national player Mesut Özil (35). A conversation with the then DFB director Matthias Sammer also confirmed the future world champion’s decision to choose Germany.
At the beginning of 2021, ex-national coach Joachim Löw (63) fought intensively for Bayern’s super star Jamal Musiala (20), who had previously gone through all of England’s youth selections. In several personal meetings, he convinced the dribbler of his future in the DFB team. Now Musiala is the most valuable Nagelsmann star.
2023-11-18 15:50:55
#DFB #team #Nagelsmann #doesnt #fight #GermanTurks #Sports
