On Wednesday, Emre Can is still on vacation, on Friday he will score for the German national football team in the opening match of the European Championship. In between, on Thursday, his club coach Edin Terzić will also resign from Borussia Dortmund. A “crazy story,” as the 30-year-old says.
It was barely two weeks ago that Emre Can chose a major tabloid to express his disappointment to the public. “There was hope that I would still be there,” he said at the end of May, after his name had not been mentioned in all the creative announcements of the German European Championship squad. While Günther Jauch announced Pascal Groß’s nomination in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire style, Robert Andrich received his confirmation from Toni Kroos himself and RTL presenter Katja Burkard handed over the European Championship ticket for Aleksandar Pavlović, Can had to realize that the midfield of the German national football team was being planned without him.
“I respect that,” said the 30-year-old, but also criticized national coach Julian Nagelsmann for not at least calling him and communicating the rejection in person. “But even so, my career in the national team is far from over,” said Can, who hoped “that I will be back in the future.” But he probably did not expect that this “back in the game” would happen so quickly, so turbulently and in such a unique way.
After all, Can was still on vacation two days before the opening match of this European Championship – and “then the call came on Wednesday.” He asked him to please make his way to Herzogenaurach as soon as possible. Pavlović’s absence had forced Nagelsmann to rethink things; FC Bayern’s discovery was ill and a replacement was needed. “I am grateful to Julian, grateful to the entire coaching team for putting their trust in me,” Can said, roughly 72 hours after that call. He had played straight away in the exhilarating 5-1 (3-0) victory against Scotland and, after being substituted late, had scored a historic goal with a fine curler from just under 20 meters.
A single training session with the DFB team is enough
Can’s goal in injury time sealed the biggest win in a European Championship opening match, with the DFB team overtaking Italy – the defending champions had started their winning streak in 2021 with a 3-0 win against Turkey. A tournament that the German footballers would also welcome. For the 30-year-old himself, it was the second goal in his 44th international match; he had beaten the opposing keeper for the first time on October 8, 2017 in World Cup qualifying. In the final score, and this is where it gets strange, 5-1 against Azerbaijan. “It’s a crazy story,” said Can on Friday evening in Munich, but he primarily meant that he “only joined the team on Wednesday evening” and “only trained once.”
As is well known, Thursday lies between Wednesday and Friday – and it was hardly less turbulent for the captain of Borussia Dortmund. At midday, the Champions League finalist announced, completely unexpectedly, that coach Edin Terzić’s contract would be terminated with immediate effect. An escalation that hardly anyone – at least publicly – had expected this week. Terzić took over the captain’s armband at BVB in July 2023, both were often criticized, but led the Black and Yellows to the final of the premier class. The big bang in Dortmund is also one of Emre Can’s wild days.
Can is number four in the DFB headquarters
After the promising 5-1 win against Scotland, the midfielder was probably referring primarily to Wednesday and Friday when he spoke of “a great feeling and a crazy story” that “makes us love football”. The developments at BVB, where Nuri Şahin is promoted from assistant to head coach, will probably only become a (bigger) topic again after the conclusion of the home European Championship. Can’s Dortmund teammate Niclas Füllkrug also focused on the events at the DFB team: “I’m very happy for Emre,” said the striker, who also praised Nagelsmann’s late nomination and the way he dealt with it: “Of course, it was also a great tact from the coach to bring him in straight away and to recognize him.”
Especially since it cannot be ruled out that Can’s first appearance at this European Championship could also be his last. Toni Kroos is untouchable as a playmaker in the center, and Robert Andrich is the first choice for the hard work alongside him. When he was substituted at half-time against Scotland because of his early yellow card, Pascal Groß came on. Kroos, however, left the field early in the 80th minute because the game had long since been decided and he should have received the applause he deserved. For 108 ball contacts (best) and 102 passes (also best), of which only one was missed (also best, of course).
Perhaps Can’s goal and the impression that he was already fully there despite the wild days also recommended him for further substitutions. Which he did in any case: He found a worthy conclusion to 72 absurd hours.