“I broke out in tears”
DFB professional gives an insight into the emotional world after EM cancellation
Updated on April 26th, 2025 – 10:34 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Robin Gosens missed the last two tournaments with the national team. This shouldn’t happen again. But the DFB professional is worried.
Robin Gosens basically looks calmly towards the end of the career-but one thing makes him “scared”: The World Cup 2026. In conversation with the “Spiegel”, the 30-year-old expressed his concern to miss a big tournament again: The upcoming World Championship is “the last realistic chance” to fulfill the big lifelong from a World Cup, he said. “That concerns me.”
Already at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the home European Championships 2024, Gosens was missing in the German contingent. Most recently, the defender was not taken into account for the Nation’s League quarter-finals against Italy. The professional of AC Florence completed his last international match so far on November 19, 2024 at 1-1 in Hungary.
At the European Championship 2021, Gosens was still part of the German national team. The subsequent non -nomination for the 2022 World Cup made him “harder” than the cancellation for the EM 2024. “It is still really difficult for me to admit to me to have missed this lifelong dream so briefly,” said Gosens.
But the cancellation for the European Championship was also a painful experience for him. National coach Julian Nagelsmann informed him of the decision by phone. “I broke out into tears, called my wife. It was a horror.” In retrospect, however, he was able to understand Nagelsmann’s decision.
Gosens also spoke about mental health in professional football. His psychology studies opened up new perspectives. Gosens emphasized: “Many think: ‘I’m physically fit, so I’m healthy.’ Or: ‘I can only have mental problems if I diagnosed a mental illness’. ” And further: “There is no or nothing, but different gradations.” The mental constitution is a balancing act that can change from hour to hour.