Who is the “Beard of the Nation”?
The best is now playing for Nagelsmann’s DFB team
By Tobias Nordmann
March 14, 2024, 3:11 p.m
Julian Nagelsmann has every freedom to get the national team fit for the home European Championships. These freedoms lead to a radical restructuring of the team. Numerous new names appear in the first squad of the year. Among others, Jan-Niklas Beste. Who is this?
Jan-Niklas Beste declined last weekend. He was very amused by rumors that he would be part of the German national team squad from Thursday. “I can still laugh about it because there hasn’t been a conversation with the national coach in the last week or two,” said Beste on ZDF’s “Sportstudio”. However, we don’t know whether there was contact with Julian Nagelsmann beforehand. In fact, it remained a secret until the end whether the 25-year-old would make it into the squad. The secret was only revealed when the test matches against France and the Netherlands were officially announced.
There are two special features in this. On the one hand, almost everything that Nagelsmann was carrying out in terms of renovation work had already been worked out in advance, including the abandonment of the entire BVB defense and the absence of Bayern playmaker Leon Goretzka, and on the other hand, the nomination of Beste is one of the most exciting personnel changes in the “new ” DFB team. Because he comes from the smallest club in the Bundesliga with the highest stadium. The best comes from promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim. Together with his team, which had been considered a sure candidate for relegation before this season, he is shaking up the upper house. The 25-year-old scored the first Bundesliga goal in Heidenheim’s history with a spectacular free kick, which was crowned with the “Goal of the Month” award for August.
Wedding saves the Viking beard
And Beste is striking in several ways. On the one hand, because of his distinctive beard, which already has the potential to become the “beard of the nation”, he should actually be called up to the squad for the home European Championships in the summer. His distinctive symbol was in danger last summer. He was actually supposed to be shaved at the ascension ceremony. But Beste was just able to defend his beard: “Four days before my wedding they didn’t want to do that to me. That’s why he’s still there.”
On the other hand, he is noticeable because of his dangerous standards. A quality that the national team has lost in the recent past. Having such a specialist in the squad is also an idea with a view to the home team, the national coach revealed at the nomination press conference. With this outstanding danger, Beste is a little reminiscent of David Odonkor, who was surprisingly included in Jürgen Klinsmann’s home World Cup squad in 2006 and became a temporary hero with his courageous cross run against Poland to make it 1-0 through Oliver Neuville .
But one thing separates the two surprise men. Beste has more to offer than the one outstanding quality that was Odonkor’s pace. The 25-year-old is not only dangerous from corners and free kicks, but can also open the game well and quickly with sharp passes, is very confident on the ball, agile and good at dribbling. And use his flanks to feed a big man in the middle. That could be Niclas Füllkrug from BVB.
Little odyssey to happiness
Beste once made his professional debut for that club, Borussia from Dortmund. The Hammer native was in the starting line-up on August 12, 2017 in the DFB Cup first round game against sixth division club 1. FC Rielasingen-Arlen, which BVB won 4-0, was allowed to play through and helped Marc Bartra make it 1-0. That was a long time ago, as can be seen from the names of the colleagues with whom Beste played, among others: André Schürrle (now a free-spirited bon vivant), Nuri Şahin (now assistant coach at BVB), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (still active at Olympique). Marseille) or Lukasz Piszczek (retired cult footballer).
The game wasn’t the breakthrough for Beste. It remained a professional appearance in the black and yellow jersey. What followed was a little odyssey that took him via Werder Bremen, FC Emmen and Jahn Regensburg to 1. FC Heidenheim in the summer of 2022. Under coach Frank Schmidt he became an indispensable figure. The trained left-back moved forward, became a left winger and played a key role in the small club’s fairytale promotion. He played in all games and contributed twelve goals and 13 assists. And he maintained this level in the upper house too. In 22 games he scored seven times and made ten appearances.
“He has exceptional scorer points”
In the Bundesliga scorers list, the fifth best player is with a German passport, ahead of him are Leroy Sané (20 points), Füllkrug (19 points) as well as Deniz Undav (19) and Maximilian Beier (18), who are also new to the DFB team. “He does it very well, he has exceptional scorer points. To have such values at Heidenheim, you have to test him at national team level,” said Nagelsmann, justifying the nomination and praising the 25-year-old’s aggressiveness, especially after losing the ball, which then made him also makes it an alternative to the rear left. He has played full-back 105 times in his career – but never in the Bundesliga.
Beste himself is surprised by the rapid pace that turned him from an outstanding second division player into a DFB man. In the “Sportstudio” he said on the day when he lost 1-0 with Heidenheim at FC Augsburg: “I think after today you can see that there is still a lot missing for the national team. I haven’t had a season in the Bundesliga yet played, and then you’re directly linked to the national team. I think that’s a bit too early.” Nagelsmann sees it differently.