National soccer team: “In the end it’s up to him”: Sané gets a new chance

With a black cap and long-sleeved shirt, Leroy Sané was back in the middle of the German national football team. The 28-year-old trained with the DFB team on Monday afternoon for the first time since the European Championships and was able to prove himself somewhat unexpectedly – once again. At least at FC Bayern this has been successful again recently, which is why national coach Julian Nagelsmann decided to call up the fast winger after Deniz Undav was out.

“Everyone knows what he can do. There is no question that he is one of the best players we have in Germany if he brings the potential to the pitch,” said Nagelsmann before the Nations League games next Saturday (20.45). p.m./RTL) in Freiburg against Bosnia-Herzegovina and three days later in Budapest against Hungary (8.45 p.m./ZDF). But he immediately added: “In the end, it’s up to him to show that. Unfortunately, no one else can do that for him. But I’m confident that he will do it too.”

The Bayern professional with his undisputed great skills has had the chance to do this on a number of occasions. Sané now has 65 international matches. But he is far from being a defining player of recent years. A year ago he was remembered for the unnecessary frustration red card in the test in Austria (0:2). Weakened for a long time due to pubic inflammation, Sané has never really gotten going this year.

“It wasn’t actually planned for him to be there, but rather for him to gain more rhythm,” said Nagelsmann, but he referred to Sané’s strong performance after coming on as a substitute in Bayern’s Champions League game against Benfica last week Lisbon (1-0). The 28-year-old was in the starting line-up for the first time this season in the Bundesliga at the weekend.

Last use so far at the EM-Aus

“In the end it is clear to him as it is to everyone else: he has a certain role to fulfill,” said Nagelsmann. “There are expectations that I discuss with him in private and not in public. He knows that too.”

Sané’s last appearance in a DFB jersey so far was in the 1:2 after extra time in the European Championship quarter-finals against Spain. He then underwent groin surgery. “He also knows that everything didn’t go perfectly around the European Championship game against Spain, and that I wasn’t completely satisfied with one or two situations, we also discussed that,” said Nagelsmann.