Leroy Sané has never been able to show his enormous potential, especially when it comes to the German national football team. His DFB record is bitter, but on Friday he could get the chance to improve that: in the European Championship quarter-final against Spain.
The dark clouds are almost threateningly looming over the DFB headquarters in Herzogenaurach. It is not raining, the weather app is only predicting rain for the evening. A thunderstorm is still in the air. But that does not deter the older man in front of the barriers at the media center. He is wearing a 2014 Germany jersey and is on the hunt for autographs – even though there is no chance of it here. It is actually supposed to be Thomas Müller, but Leroy Sané is coming to the press conference. He would take that too, he says.
Inside, Sané is available to the journalists. And it starts straight away. Yesterday, the full-backs Joshua Kimmich and David Raum were there. The latter in particular had his special move, the cross to Niclas Füllkrug for the very late 1:1 equalizer against Switzerland. Sané also hopes that he will soon get his tournament moment. “That is my task and one that I want to fulfill,” says the 28-year-old Bayern star. Ideally on Friday against Spain (6 p.m./ARD, MagentaTV and in the ntv.de live ticker), in the quarter-finals of the home European Championship.
Because that would be a special moment in more ways than one. Back when people still used it, you could say “It’s complicated” on Facebook when you were in a relationship. That actually describes the combination of Leroy Sané and major tournaments with the German national football team quite well. It’s almost unbelievable: such a talented offensive player, who has generated a total of 101 million euros in transfer revenue, has only managed to provide one assist at a major tournament.
Löw ignored and despaired
At the 2016 European Championships, the then 20-year-old Sané only made a brief appearance in the 1-0 semi-final defeat against France. The game had already been decided and his influence was limited. It was similar with the Confederations Cup triumph a year later. When the DFB team won its last title (until July 14?), Sané was conspicuous by his absence. He had to cancel at short notice due to a nose operation.
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, he did not even travel to the quarters in Watutinki with the DFB team, but stayed in Germany. National coach Löw surprisingly left the promising winger at home, instead taking Julian Brandt, who was still playing for Leverkusen at the time, with him. Sané had won the championship with Manchester City as a regular in the season and had taken the next step under coaching guru Pep Guardiola, becoming more consistent.
Why Löw left him at home was never really explained. Sané would have filled a gap in the squad that Löw had complained about two years earlier: a speed dribbler who was quick and assertive in looking for one-on-ones on the wings. Some people speculated at the time that it was due to internal politics – Löw took Brandt instead, whom he had left at home two years earlier. But there were also doubts about Sané’s allegedly poor attitude and body language.
Sané was finally back in the European Championships in 2021. A year earlier, in the first summer of the coronavirus pandemic, he had moved from England to Bayern Munich, recovering from the aftermath of his cruciate ligament tear. He made his first appearance in the starting eleven at the European Championships in the third group match against Hungary, replacing the injured Thomas Müller. And he was disappointing, and in the end he even made national coach Joachim Löw curse loudly. The DFB team still managed a 2-2 draw and reached the round of 16. There they lost 1-0 to England.
And Sané’s story at the 2022 Desert World Cup in Qatar is also quickly told. He missed the 1:2 opening defeat against Japan due to knee problems. In the second game against Spain, the attacker was substituted at the same time as super-sub Niclas Füllkrug, but the Bremen player promptly scored, Sané did not. In return, he was given a 90-minute appearance in the last group game in the 4:2 win over Costa Rica. As is well known, the DFB Grey Geese flew home again afterwards despite the victory.
Starting eleven could reveal the plan
And this time? Will the 2024 European Championship be his tournament? Along with Manuel Neuer, Sané was the only player to whom the national coach gave a special role during the March international matches. Julian Nagelsmann said three months ago that he would not do without Sané. He repeatedly stressed the special bond between the two. They both know each other from their club days. Nagelsmann also knows that it is not really clear which Sané he will get this time: the strong one from the first half of the season, who can be a difference maker, from FC Bayern, or the fickle one from the second half of the season.
Because it’s true: The winger has been suffering from a pubic bone injury for the past few weeks and months. A nasty problem, as Sané explained at the press conference, because you can’t really rest the area and even less assess it. Time and again he felt good before games, but afterwards it started to hurt again. Sometimes it took “five or six days” before it was back to normal, says Sané. But he has largely recovered. It’s not completely gone yet, he explains, but he no longer has any pain. “That’s the positive thing.”
So far, it hasn’t been Leroy Sané’s tournament, and no one is going out on a limb. The Bayern star got playing time in the three group matches, but was unable to make a lasting impression. In the round of 16 against Denmark, he surprisingly started for Florian Wirtz. Nagelsmann was hoping for something that the DFB team’s game had been lacking recently: more depth, more speed, more runs behind the opposing defense line. That actually worked out OK. Sané showed commitment, wasn’t afraid of any sprint. Whether offensive or defensive. But you could see his lack of match practice, especially in the first half: sometimes he started too early, sometimes too late.
Will he be in the starting eleven against Spain? He doesn’t know yet, says Sané. He only found out on the day of the match against Denmark. “It was really good for me to have a longer playing time again. It’s been a while.” In Nagelsmann’s role system, he is the fourth force for the three places in the attacking midfield, alongside the improver captain İlkay Gündoğan and the magicians Jamal Musiala and Wirtz. A Sané in the starting eleven could also be an indication of what the national coach is planning against the Spaniards: fast and direct (Sané) or a lot of possession (Wirtz)?
For Sané, however, a decisive goal, a brilliant assist against a big opponent, against whom the DFB team last beat in a competitive match in 1988, would be a good opportunity to finally have a tournament moment. Then there would certainly be more autograph hunters outside the DFB headquarters.
2024-07-02 17:37:24
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