“It’s better to keep your mouth shut”
Frustration with Jogi Löw: Ex-DFB star unpacks
Updated 12/14/2024 – 8:54 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
He was nominated for the German national team seven times. Too little in the eyes of Kerem Demirbay.
Former German national player Kerem Demirbay has clearly criticized former national coach Joachim Löw and the DFB. The 31-year-old, who currently plays for Galatasaray Istanbul, was particularly disappointed by his lack of consideration in the Sky program “My Story” in later years of his career.
Demirbay, who was called up to the national team in 2017 during his first year at TSG Hoffenheim, described this as “surprising”. He explained that although he played better in the following “two or three years”, he still received no further nominations.
He couldn’t understand why he didn’t get another chance. “Sometimes things happen in football that you don’t understand. There are probably reasons for it that I don’t understand,” said Demirbay, who also played for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. “And sometimes quality isn’t a question in football. Simply explained.”
Demirbay also emphasized that Löw’s decisions affected him personally. “I’m honest. If someone had called me about the European Championships and said we want you to come, I would have answered clearly with ‘No’. The holiday with my family is far too important to me for that,” he explained – and means This probably means the 2021 European Championship, when Löw was still the national coach. “Someone who doesn’t value me from day one. And appreciates me when he needs it is not important enough for me,” he clarified.
Nevertheless, he decided to keep his opinion largely to himself: “Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut than to get emotional. I don’t think it was about quality, but about a lot of other things.” Would he have had contact with Löw again afterwards? “No, that doesn’t bother me anymore,” said Demirbay.
Kerem Demirbay was nominated for the DFB team seven times, but was only used twice. He managed to score a goal. After all, he won the Confed Cup with the national team in 2017.