“Wasn’t me at the moment”

Before the 2018 World Cup, national coach Joachim Löw removed Sandro Wagner from the squad. A reason for the then Bayern striker to resign. And a decision that he probably wouldn’t have made today.

Photo series with 18 pictures

Ex-national striker Sandro Wagner regretted his decision to resign from the DFB team before the 2018 World Cup. The 34-year-old said that in the podcast by the brothers Toni and Felix Kroos, “Simply Luppen”.

“I should have kept my feet still and waited for the tournament, but I’m not, I wasn’t at the moment,” said today’s DAZN expert. Wagner still remembers the moment when Joachim Löw informed him that he was being expelled.

“It was a situation in which I didn’t feel valued at all. Then I thought: I can’t look in the mirror anymore if I stick with it. But I could have solved the way in a cooler way,” he summed up.

Wagner as an expert to Qatar?

The former international also said in the podcast that he was flirting with another assignment as a TV expert at the World Cup in Qatar. “I still have to clarify with the boss at home whether I can escape to Qatar.” He was “not 100 percent sure yet, but the offer would be there”.

The former centre-forward, who scored the double with FC Bayern in 2019 and scored five goals for Germany in eight international matches, was in front of the camera for ZDF at the last European Championship. Wagner also works as an expert for the sports streaming service DAZN.

“I have a brutal passion for this game. It’s a hobby for me,” Wagner said of his expert role, which he enjoys a lot. “I can escape my everyday life as a coach and family man a bit by going to a stadium every few weeks,” he said, and spoke of “huge added value” for his job as a coach. Wagner has been in charge of the regional league club SpVgg Unterhaching as head coach since the start of the season.

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