5 years after a photograph with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sparked questions over his loyalty to Germany, Ilkay Gundogan will captain the nationwide facet throughout Saturday’s worldwide pleasant in opposition to Turkey in Berlin. Gundogan, who has by no means confronted Turkey regardless of making his Germany debut greater than a decade in the past, instructed AFP subsidiary SID ”it is going to be a really particular sport for me — no query about it”. Named by former Germany coach Hansi Flick in September, Gundogan, 33, is the primary footballer of Turkish descent to captain the four-time world champions.
The Barcelona midfielder’s rise by means of the ranks of the German nationwide staff is all of the extra outstanding given the 2018 photograph with Erdogan who Gundogan additionally handed a shirt written ”with respect to my president”.
Together with then star midfielder Mesut Ozil, Gundogan had discovered himself in the midst of a political storm.
However whereas Ozil dramatically give up the staff, Gundogan has quietly endured whistles and insults from the stands and has needed to work his approach again into favour.
The Barcelona midfielder was picked to switch injured goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as skipper however new coach Julian Nagelsmann has mentioned Gundogan will stay captain for Euro 2024 on German soil, even when the 2014 World Cup winner returns.
Erdogan shall be in Germany later Friday for talks with German leaders, however he’s not anticipated to attend the pleasant or meet the gamers.
’Deep blow’
Born within the industrial German metropolis of Gelsenkirchen, residence to fallen soccer big Schalke, Gundogan’s grandfather was one among hundreds of Turkish ’visitor employees’, having moved to Germany to work within the mines.
Rising up, Gundogan helped his father ship beer crates all through the football-mad Ruhr area, till his expertise for the sport turned apparent.
Gundogan moved to FC Nuremberg and later Borussia Dortmund, the place he scored a penalty within the 2013 Champions League remaining loss to Bayern Munich.
At worldwide stage Gundogan made his debut for Germany in 2011 however missed their 2014 World Cup triumph with a again damage.
The midfielder moved to Manchester Metropolis in 2016 and gained quite a few honours, captaining the Premier League facet to a outstanding treble in 2022-23.
Gundogan moved to Barcelona in the summertime of 2023, simply after he was named German Footballer of the Yr for the primary time.
Regardless of his undoubted high quality on the pitch, Gundogan’s time in a Germany shirt has not all the time been easy crusing.
Following the controversial photograph with Erdogan, Gundogan and Ozil got here beneath heavy hearth in Germany.
The row was all of the extra delicate as Germany, significantly the capital Berlin, is residence to the most important Turkish neighborhood overseas.
German FA (DFB) chief Reinhard Grindel issued a press release saying the image was ”not a great factor”, saying ”soccer and the DFB stands for values that Mr Erdogan doesn’t respect sufficiently”.
Gundogan mentioned on the time ”to now be portrayed as if we weren’t built-in or didn’t reside in accordance with German values was a deep blow for me”.
’Nice competition’
Whereas Ozil completed his profession in Turkey and requested Erdogan to be his greatest man at his 2019 Istanbul marriage ceremony, Gundogan established himself as one among Germany’s greatest gamers.
His ties to Turkey stay agency.
”My grandparents, dad and mom and different kin nonetheless reside in Turkey, in Izmir, and naturally I even have many pals there,” he mentioned.
Gundogan mentioned he ”travels to Turkey at the very least yearly” and despatched vans stuffed with reduction provides to the south of the nation after the 2022 earthquake.
Gundogan congratulated Turkey for qualifying for Euro 2024, saying he ”at the very least watches the highlights” of their video games.
On assembly them on the sphere, Gundogan mentioned he was ”actually trying ahead to a fantastic competition of soccer” on Saturday.
Whereas each nations have certified for Euro 2024 already, the fixture stays vital for a Germany facet reeling after two World Cup group stage exits in a row.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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