The shoulders on which the hopes and worries of an entire football nation rest are surprisingly narrow. At the national team’s training session before the final group games of the Nations League, Jamal Musiala, wearing a hat and gloves, looks like a 21-year-old who just wants to kick. Musiala laughs, he does a few inconspicuous tricks and listens carefully to the national coach. And with this carefree attitude that is predicted to lead him to a career without limits.
World footballer, <a href="http://www.world-today-news.com/lionel-messi-will-stay-at-barcelona/" title="Lionel Messi Will Stay at Barcelona”>Ballon d’Or winner, world champion – there doesn’t seem to be a title that hasn’t been associated with FC Bayern’s young professional. Musiala? He will one day be the best of the best, like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Part of the way there seems to be, above all, that the exceptional talent himself doesn’t already believe and live it all.
“He’s down to earth, that’s the most important thing,” said record national player Lothar Matthäus to the German Press Agency before the DFB selection’s games on Saturday (8:45 p.m./RTL) in Freiburg against Bosnia-Herzegovina and three days later in Budapest against Hungary ( 8.45 p.m./ZDF). Musiala has a “great environment, with his management, with his family. This is important in order to stay grounded despite all the praise.”
“Just get better”
The 21-year-old Musiala (M) has long been a regular player in the DFB team. Photo: Uwe Anspach/dpa
Musiala himself has found a very pragmatic approach to hymns of praise and prophecies. “Over the years I’ve paid less and less attention to it,” he said, pointing out that things won’t always go well for him either. Having the same rhythm “in good times and bad” helps. His focus is not on the media, but on “simply getting better.”
At Bayern he currently scores however he wants, whether with a long-distance hammer or now also with his head. Musiala made 36 appearances for the national team. It is still unclear that he will single-handedly decide an important game for the DFB selection, but that is not surprising at his age. “For me it’s about taking steps forward,” he said.
In the past few weeks, the 21-year-old has thrilled the Munich fans in several games despite minor injury problems. When Musiala did not appear in the top 30 list for the Ballon d’Or at the beginning of September, Bayern sports director Max Eberl found it “completely incomprehensible”. However, this will not have reduced the value of the offensive player for the record champions; Bayern want to extend the contract, which runs until 2026, as quickly as possible. “I can’t say much about that now,” said Musiala.
Praise from the national coach
In national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s World Cup title plans, the now multiple-time German champion, together with Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, plays a, if not the central, role. “He’s having a very good phase right now, he’s hungry to score goals,” said Nagelsmann.
Musiala plays a central role in Julian Nagelsmann’s plans. Photo: Uwe Anspach/dpa
Musiala has a “great responsibility” at Bayern, said the national coach. In Munich, the fans and those responsible have long been dreaming that Musiala and Wirtz will soon be together on the pitch in the record champions’ jerseys, based on the “Wusiala” hype during the home European Championship.
«Those are the two big players we have. But they need help from outside, from their own environment, from the trainers,” said Matthäus. But both are characterized by “great stability” at a young age – which is why the record national player himself starts to sing praises and mentions the names of Messi and Maradona when he talks about Musiala.
