Leroy Sané, who has been in outstanding form at FC Bayern for weeks, did the German national team a disservice with his violence in the 2-0 defeat in Austria. The red sinner also knew this and apologized afterwards. He now faces a longer ban.
National player Leroy Sané appeared meek after his red card in the friendly against Austria. “I apologized to my teammates in the dressing room for the action,” the 27-year-old wrote on Tuesday evening on the short message service X, formerly Twitter.
Sané explained: “Despite all my ambition, this shouldn’t happen to me, especially in our current situation. A big sorry also to our fans.”
Shortly after the break (49′), FC Bayern’s star player beat his opponent Phillipp Mwene after a duel.
The DFB selection, which had previously been completely overwhelmed and had deservedly gone into the dressing room with a deficit due to BVB professional Marcel Sabitzer’s goal (29th), now faced an even greater task. Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner (73′) ultimately scored the home team’s second goal. “An evening to forget,” summarized Sané.
National team: This is what Julian Nagelsmann says about Leroy Sané’s red card
National coach Julian Nagelsmann accepted the winger’s apology, as he emphasized after the game: “Leroy apologized to the team, that was absolutely the right step. I think that’s good. When you see the red card – that’s a maturing process, a dirtbag mentality. The opponent tries to kick Leroy, but doesn’t hit him – and Leroy reacts, we get red. You can also provoke the opponent to red.”
After his assault, Sané faces a ban of at least three games, which means he will miss large parts of the further preparations for the European Championship. The next international matches will take place next March.
The regulations of the world association FIFA stipulate a minimum ban of three games or for “an appropriate period of time” for “assault, including elbowing, punching, kicking, biting, spitting or hitting” against anyone involved except the referees. Depending on the disciplinary committee’s assessment, the 27-year-old could be absent for longer.