National soccer team
Kuntz mentions the problems of retaining talent with foreign roots
Status: 21.03.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
“Very annoying” – Manuel Neuer is out for international football matches
Manuel Neuer is out of the two upcoming international matches against France and the Netherlands after a training injury. Marc-André ter Stegen will now be in goal in the European Championship test matches, national coach Nagelsmann announced. WELT reporter Christian Beilfuss reports.
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Talents with foreign roots repeatedly decide against the German national team. Like the Nuremberg Can Uzun recently. Ex-U21 coach Stefan Kuntz sees the DFB at a disadvantage in this competition – for quality reasons.
Can Uzun is causing a stir in the second division. With 13 goals scored, the striker is 1. FC Nürnberg’s life insurance. Eintracht Frankfurt have just secured the services of the 18-year-old and have signed him until 2029. In addition to his move to the Bundesliga, Uzun made another important decision.
The German-Turk has decided for the Turkish national team and against a possible future with the German Football Association (DFB). The native of Regensburg is part of the Turkish national team for the two test matches against Hungary on March 22nd and four days later against Austria.
Can Uzun will storm for Eintracht Frankfurt and the Turkish national team in the future
Source: dpa/Daniel Karmann
A nomination for the German national team would have been unthinkable at this point. Although Uzun is a great talent, he is far from being ready for the DFB team. This is exactly what former U21 national coach Stefan Kuntz sees as a big problem.
“Talents often take the easier route”
“The prospect of playing for the senior national team in a European Championship qualification or at a European Championship is something that you, as a German national coach or as the person in charge of the DFB, cannot offer to many young players at the moment,” said Kuntz. But that is often the decisive factor. Compared to supposedly smaller associations, the DFB is at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting talent with foreign roots.
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“Once they reach a certain age, young players from other nations often have the prospect of playing for the senior national team much earlier,” said Kuntz. They then “often took the easier route: where things are quicker, where the fame is almost as great.” Germany is also no longer far ahead in terms of sport.
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National coach Julian Nagelsmann recently nominated Aleksandar Pavlovic for the first time for the two test games against France (Saturday, 9 p.m., ZDF and in the WELT live ticker) and three days later against the Netherlands. The 19-year-old, who could also play for Serbia, has impressed FC Bayern this season with strong performances in defensive midfield. However, Pavlovic had to cancel both games due to an infection and did not even travel to the national team.
If a trainer is currently being sought, it doesn’t take long before the name Stefan Kuntz comes up
Source: dpa/Hendrik Schmidt
Compared to Uzun or Hakan Calhanoglu, Ömer Toprak and Nuri Sahin, who all chose Turkey over the DFB, Pavlovic is already convincing at the highest level at his young age. “We have a different quality standard in Germany before someone plays in the senior national team,” said Kuntz.
According to Kuntz, they often only realize later that the young players are often not doing themselves any sporting favors with their decision. The big danger in Turkey, for example, which he looked after as national coach from 2021 to 2023, is that the development of many talents who were used early on at the top level is not sustainable: “There is a sporting reason that you only then play for the national team “You should play when you have consistently shown your performance at a certain level.”
