U21 European Championship
U21 want to draw strength from “cowardly” agitation: “Let’s not split”
The German team is concerned with the racist insults against Jessic Ngankam (r) and other U21 players. photo
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
The racist agitation against two U21 national players is having an impact on the European Championship. The DFB announces legal action, the team sends a clear message. And swears in on a big goal.
After a turbulent and short night, Youssoufa Moukoko and Jessic Ngankam slowly got back to normal while training with their teammates.
The day after the massive racist slurs against the two U21 internationals, Ngankam smiled again to applause from spectators at public training in Batumi. During training with the other starting players in the team hotel, Moukoko already focused on the next sporting tasks.
The young footballers wanted to quickly put an end to the rush in the social networks after the 1-1 draw against Israel at the start of the European Championship – and even draw strength from it. “You can’t do anything to me. On the contrary. We as a team are even closer together,” wrote Hertha professional Ngankam to the originators of the insults. Moukoko wrote on Instagram next to a Germany flag and three heart emojis: “Let’s go”.
Faeser also speaks out
There was a lot of encouragement from the team and also from home. Addressing the originators of the news, the DFB wrote: “You disgust us. You are not fans, we don’t need you, we don’t want you.” The team is “open, diverse, colorful and damn proud of it.” Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said: “Our national players show the best side of our modern and diverse Germany, these racist comments show the ugliest side”.
Joti Chatzialexiou, sporting director for national teams, said it was “disturbing when you hear that boys have been confronted with it all their lives.” The tense coach Antonio Di Salvo, who had to spend a lot of time away from sporting tasks during the difficult start of the European Championship, promised: “The resistance that comes from outside only brings us closer together.”
In many conversations, the coach and his team work through the racist insults and their consequences. “It shocked and affected me, and I still am,” said Di Salvo. “Discrimination, hate speech and racism online are cowardly and disgusting, bottom drawer.” Moukoko and Ngankam had previously received massive hostility after they each missed a penalty at the start of the European Championship and thus had the best chance of winning the opening game. “If we win we are German and if we lose we are black,” said Moukoko. “It hurt a lot this time.”
The German Football Association does not want to accept the insults on the Internet and announced criminal proceedings. They will try to “do everything possible to hold these perpetrators and people accountable,” said Chatzialexiou. You have to stand up to these people.
Di Salvo: “The players caught it”
The team is now concentrating on the second European Championship game against the Czech Republic on Sunday (6:00 p.m. CEST/Sat.1). The defending champion then urgently needs a win. Otherwise the team threatens to lose sight of its goals early on, such as reaching the knockout stage and qualifying for the 2024 Olympics. “We caught the players,” reported Di Salvo, who said a few words to his team on the way back to the team hotel. “The team made a statement by saying we only focus on the sporting side, we don’t let ourselves be divided, we are one.”
There was a lot of encouragement from the team and also from home. Addressing the originators of the news, the DFB wrote: “You disgust us, you are not fans, we don’t need you, we don’t want you.” The team is “open, diverse, colorful and damn proud of it.” Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said: “Our national players show the best side of our modern and diverse Germany, these racist comments show the ugliest side”.
Moukoko had openly reported recurring massive insults on social networks. “If we win, we’re all Germans. If we lose, these monkey comments come,” he said. Discussions with each other, with the coaching staff and with a sports psychologist helped him and Ngankam to come to terms with what had happened. “We always stick together, we are one team, one team,” said Di Salvo.
The coach is now particularly challenged in his first tournament as head coach. Even if the 44-year-old and Chatzialexiou publicly declared the topic over on Friday and the substitutes around Ngankam focused on the sport again with a training session in front of hundreds of fans – the incidents should continue to accompany and also keep the young team busy. Di Salvos expressed his great wish before the Czech Republic game: “Hopefully we’ll see the reaction of the team on the pitch.”