“Very exciting player”
ZDF expert enthusiastic about German debutant
Updated 11/18/2025 – 1:29 amReading time: 2 minutes
Due to a failure, Julian Nagelsmann relied on a talent. Assan Oúedraogo took his chance – and celebrated a dream debut.
ZDF expert Christoph Kramer couldn’t stop raving: “He knows when and where the ball has to go. He has an incredibly good instinct.” Who did the 2014 world champion mean? Assan Ouedraogo. The 19-year-old offensive player from RB Leipzig crowned his first call-up for the German national team with the goal in a 6-0 win against Slovakia – and was also able to celebrate qualification for next year’s World Cup.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann brought on Oúedraogo for Florian Wirtz in the 77th minute. Two minutes later he placed the ball in the left corner. “He is a very, very good player who is versatile, who has dynamism, who has technique, but above all who understands the game,” said Kramer about Oúedraogo, the son of former second division professional Alassane Ouédraogo.
A lot came together for the DFB newcomer: Oúedraogo was called up due to Nadiem Amiri’s injury-related absence and was promptly able to get a taste of the DFB uniform for the first time. He scored in front of a home crowd at “his” club’s stadium and, according to sports analytics company Opta, is the youngest debut goalscorer in over 71 years at 19 years and 192 days.
Christoph Kramer recalled his long period of suffering on ZDF: “He was slowed down a bit in his first steps by an injury. This season he is playing really well at Leipzig.” Oúedraogo left Schalke 04 last year and moved to Leipzig.
So far in the current season he has scored two goals and prepared three more in ten Bundesliga games. Kramer’s conclusion: “A very, very exciting player that we can look forward to for a long time.”