Leroy Sané Booed: Deniz Undav Makes Emotional Plea to Fans – Nagelsmann Dashes VfB Star’s Hopes Instantly

IMAGO / Sven Simon Jonas Rütten Mar 31, 2026 04:14+06:00

Translated by Leroy Sané booed: Deniz Undav makes an emotional appeal to fans – Nagelsmann immediately dashes the VfB star’s high hopes

World Cup Germany vs Ghana Germany Ghana Friendlies D. Undav J. Nagelsmann L. Sane

First on the bench, then the match-winner, and finally an emotional leader too: Deniz Undav has made the most of his role as a substitute. Still, he shouldn’t get his hopes up too much.

When Deniz Undav found himself on the bench once again – and in his own home ground at the Stuttgart stadium, no less – at the start of a Germany international, there wasn’t much to suggest that the 29-year-old would be talking about a “perfect evening” for him on ARD’s Sportschau less than two hours later. Yet that is exactly what happened.

Undav, by far the best German attacking player this season with 23 goals and 13 assists, finally got his chance to prove himself after the break. The spectators in Stuttgart had been calling for this throughout the entire first half with chants of “Deniz Undav”. It was “amazing” to “hear how the fans were behind me”, he said.

Click here for the ratings and individual reviews of the national team players against Ghana

He then went on to carry out national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s instructions to perfection. As Nagelsmann reiterated before the match, Undav is “more of a finisher”: “Deniz has plenty of good moments, especially when the opposition is already tired. His qualities tend to fade a bit when he has to work hard during the game.” A super-sub, then, who isn’t necessarily an asset to the DFB team’s intense and physically demanding pressing game, but who can deliver the knockout blow to a tired opponent.

And that is exactly what Undav did that evening. In the 88th minute, he converted a headed cross from Leroy Sané – who had also come on as a substitute – with a long-range strike to secure a 2-1 victory. It was his fourth goal in his seventh international appearance. An impressive record. So when Undav plays, he usually scores for the national team too.

And yet, despite the winning goal and his incredible scoring rate at VfB, his role is unlikely to grow any further, even at the World Cup. Undav made it quite clear after his performance against Ghana that he is certainly hoping for that. “I’ve had a chat with the national team manager. I know my role, but goals like that might just change it,” said Undav, adding: “But I accept it.”

And that’s probably for the best, as Nagelsmann made it quite clear afterwards that Undav’s role as a substitute is “unlikely” to change ahead of the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. "We’ll see," said Nagelsmann, somewhat grudgingly, when asked about Undav’s role: "It’s rather unlikely; after all, I’m not discussing roles for March, but for the World Cup."

IMAGO / Sportfoto Rudel

Nagelsmann cites his "credibility" in the Undav debate

This also has something to do with credibility. Nagelsmann had already mentioned this before the match. He said he had “defined roles, and I must stick to them in the next two games, otherwise I can forget about my credibility. If I then do everything differently, there’s no point in having this discussion about roles in the first place”.

This should finally put an end to the Undav controversy. The VfB striker will have to accept his role as a super-sub; Nagelsmann certainly gathered plenty of evidence for this during the match against Ghana. On the one hand, Undav was rather lacklustre after coming on as a substitute, but on the other hand, he still went on to score the winning goal.

Incidentally, it was another substitute who set up that goal. After a rather lacklustre start against Switzerland, Leroy Sané was initially left on the bench, only to make a decisive impact later on. When he came on in the 78th minute for Nick Woltemade, the controversial Galatasaray Istanbul forward was even booed by the crowd.

Getty Images

Leroy Sané booed: Nagelsmann and Undav show their support

A definite no-go, as Undav made clear without being asked. The match-winner had asked reporter Alex Schlüter if he could say a few more words and addressed the German fans directly with an emotional appeal.

“I really appreciated how the fans cheered me on. Thanks again for that! But I’d ask every fan, when Leroy or any other player comes on, not to boo – no matter what a player does or what sort of player he is. We should stand behind the team. It’s important that we, as a team, become one with the fans, and I hope things will be different during the tournament. I thought that was a real shame, because we are a team. Leroy is one of us, just like everyone else. And I hope he’ll be supported next time too.”

At least on this point, Undav and Nagelsmann were, for once, in agreement that evening. The national team coach also had strong words to say about the boos directed at the 30-year-old. "I once said something to our fans and got a massive backlash. I generally don’t think it’s nice when our players are booed. As long as players wear the eagle on their chest," Nagelsmann explained, they should also be supported by German fans. At club level, he said he could understand certain boos, but: "Booing him before he’d even had his first touch, I don’t think that’s particularly fair. Leroy played much better today than against Switzerland and set up the goal with a great run."

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