Captain reports to WhatsApp
Association woos DFB star “elegantly and politely”
May 29, 2026 – 7:39 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Malick Thiaw is being courted by Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and the association. The defense classifies the attempt – in Finnish.
According to Malick Thiaw, Finland’s national goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky tried to win him over to the Finnish team. The 24-year-old told Finnish radio station Yle that Hradecky had contacted him with WhatsApp messages. Thiaw responded politely, but declined: “I responded to every single one with a thank you.” He gave the interview in fluent Finnish.
Thiaw also expressed his appreciation for the contact attempts to the Finnish association. The requests were always “elegant and polite”. He “always said that I love Finland and that I’m Finnish, but that I would like to try out for the German national team first.” Playing for the DFB team has “always been a big dream” for him.
Thiaw has “tears in his eyes” after Nagelsmann’s call
Thiaw is in the German national team’s World Cup squad and will face Finland in a friendly against Finland in Mainz on Sunday (from 8:45 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). The father of two described the game as an “interesting but also difficult game”.
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The Düsseldorf-born son of a Finnish athlete and a soccer goalkeeper from Senegal made his debut in the DFB team in June 2023 under national coach Hansi Flick against Poland (0-1). He has played five international matches since then, three of them under Flick’s successor Julian Nagelsmann. When he received the call about the World Cup nomination, he had “tears in his eyes,” said Thiaw.
As a child, Thiaw visited Finland up to three times a year. Today he still often calls his grandmother in Oulu, whom he described as an “absolute football fan.” He used to “play a lot of ice hockey” with her in the winter.
Thiaw became a professional via Schalke 04. He is currently under contract with the English club Newcastle – together with national striker Nick Woltemade.
