Kenan Yildiz stole the spotlight in Turkey’s win against Germany. His dream goal hits the national team particularly hard, and not just because the Regensburg native was trained at FC Bayern. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf feels compelled to support the national coach for the first time and surprises with an announcement for the European Championship final.
In the biggest moment of his young football career so far, Kenan Yildiz apparently remembered his idol Alessandro Del Piero. After his dream goal in Turkey’s 3-2 win against the DFB team, the Turkish teenager showed his tongue and spread his arms in celebration – just like the great Italian always did.
Like Del Piero once, Yildiz hit the hearts of the German national team during the surprising home defeat in Berlin. His wonderful shot from the five-point corner into the corner reminded some observers of Del Piero’s goal to make it 2-0 for Italy in the 2006 World Cup semi-final, which pulled the plug on the German World Cup party. With his class goal, Turkey’s youngster Yildiz played a significant role in the fact that the spirit of optimism under the new national coach Julian Nagelsmann received an initial, serious setback.
Born in Regensburg, better prospects in Turkey
“I’m very happy,” said Yildiz, proudly sharing the video of his “nice” goal on Instagram with three raised index finger emojis. “I would like to thank everyone in the association for their trust,” added the 18-year-old Yildiz. Yildiz was born in Regensburg and has a German mother and a Turkish father. Former Turkish national coach Stefan Kuntz said his loyalty was to his father’s country early on. Especially since Turkey used to be able to attract the A-Team with the prospect. “That’s hard to beat,” said Kuntz and also rejected speculation that the German youth teams had not made enough effort to recruit the two-footed offensive talent: “I would be careful to say: ‘The DFB is sleeping here.'”
Yildiz trained at FC Bayern for ten years
Yildiz was trained in the FC Bayern youth team for ten years. The question of why the record champions let an exceptional talent like Yildiz off the hook seems all the more justified. RTL expert Lothar Matthäus then used this template for one of his attacks on the Munich club management: “Hasan Salihamidzic may not have done the job that one or the other would have done.”
The then sports director Salihamidzic explained Yildiz’s move to Juventus last year with its “financial demands” that the Munich team did not want to “meet”. Juventus, explained Turkey’s former coach Kuntz, had presented Yildiz with “the perfect career plan”. He has now joined the professionals via the U19s and the second team, but he has only made five short appearances for them this season. “I am sure,” said coach Massimiliano Allegri, “that he will be a wonderful, top player.
For the German national team, Yildiz’s goal, after a quick switch and a determined attack, revealed the continued lack of basic defensive stability. Julian Nagelsmann then had to explain some unexpected defensive changes – and went on the counterattack. “We can now start again to paint everything black and see everything badly. We can do that, but we won’t get any further as a football nation.“
Neuendorf announces the European Championship final: “Full trust” in Nagelsmann
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf felt compelled to support the national coach for the first time after three games. “We often get into a toxic situation and talk things down, and that wasn’t it,” the DFB President defended Nagelsmann’s course on “Bild TV”. Neuendorf made it clear that he had full confidence in the national coach.
Neuendorf avoided further sporting assessments, but instead surprised with a clear announcement of the final as a goal for the European Championships. A diversionary tactic as an escape forward? In any case, the DFB team could also have to deal with the strong Turks and Kenan Yilmaz at the European Championships.