Leroy Sané has made self-critical comments about his outburst against Austria. The expulsion has serious consequences for the German national football team’s preparations for the European Championship.
Leroy Sané obviously knew exactly what he had to do. After this stupidity, a mea culpa was due in the neon lights of the basement corridor in the Ernst Happel Stadium.
With his admission of guilt after his red card in the final and completely unsuccessful European Championship test match of the year against Austria (0:2), the 27-year-old was unable to dispel the general German football frustration. However, his description of himself as a scapegoat, delivered in a gentle voice, was a verbal escape.
“The game is on me today, it’s on me. I have to control myself, that can’t happen, I let the team down,” said Sane. An employee of the DFB media department had previously placed it centrally in front of the cameras that had been set up. The action seemed a little orchestrated.
First dismissal for Sané
Nevertheless, the statement was enough to save his honor. At other times, football professional Sané might have marched wordlessly through the so-called mixed zone with large headphones over his ears after such an action. There are no comparison options. After the push attack against Austria’s Mainz player Philipp Mwene, Sané received the first dismissal of his by no means always straightforward career. It was the 27th expulsion in DFB international match history.
The list includes prominent names from Günter Netzer to Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger. More robust characters like Carsten Ramelow or Jérôme Boateng even got hit twice. But that’s of no use to Sané at the moment.
The minimum is a three-game suspension
He hasn’t talked about the impending ban yet, but the media’s confession of remorse may have another meaning when the responsible world association FIFA decides on the sanction. The statutes provide for three games as the minimum punishment for an assault of this type. There could also be more.
It is already certain that Sané will only be able to take part again in the last of four planned European Championship test games until the opening game on June 14th in the Munich Arena. The Munich player was recently placed because of his noticeably good form. Now national coach Julian Nagelsmann hardly has any opportunities to introduce an offensive formation with Sané.
Tournament ban unlikely
At least as things stand, Sané is not threatened with a tournament ban. Otherwise it would be a dramatic continuation of his previously frustrating goalless European Championship and World Cup history with the last-minute ejection in 2018 by Joachim Löw and the injury shortly before the opening game in Qatar exactly a year ago as negative highlights.
“It wasn’t anything personal against Philipp, it was my own achievement, as I said, it shouldn’t happen to me,” Sané explained the inglorious red incident. “I’m motivated, I want us to go in the right direction,” he said.
Nagelsmann speaks of a lack of cleverness
National coach Julian Nagelsmann and teammates publicly jumped to Sané’s side. “It’s normal emotions that happen. Of course it wasn’t beneficial for the team. It’s somehow also football. It’s also part of being emotional,” said center forward Niclas Füllkrug.
Nagelsmann complained about a lack of cleverness. In this situation, Sané could have provoked a red card for his opponent instead of being thrown off the pitch himself. “It’s also a maturing process, a bit like the dirtbag mentality,” said the national coach.
Rudi Völler was not so lenient. “You can make mistakes, Leroy also apologized to the team in the dressing room. That’s all well and good, but, of course, you have to show passion at the right time,” complained the DFB sports director, who was thrown off the pitch at the 1990 World Cup after the spitting attack by Holland’s Frank Rijkaard – completely unjustified.