Football Star Deniz Undav On His Unfair Critics: "Suddenly, Eating Doner Might Get You BrandedAs Lazy"
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Hearing a comment about: 'Suddenly encountering issues with consuming Doner' - Criticisms draw a response from Undav: "Donut consumption suddenly becomes an issue"
In a candid interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," Deniz Undav, a key player for the German national team, opened up about the seemingly unwarranted criticism he has received, and how it's impacted him both on and off the field.
A perpetual firestorm seemed to brew when Undav's performance wasn't up to par during a challenging phase of the season. The 28-year-old sensation, who clinched the DFB-Pokal with VfB Stuttgart and will face Portugal in the Nations League on Wednesday (9:00 p.m. CEST/ZDF and DAZN), painted a picture of recurrent jabs that left him bewildered.
"Undav's not got the drive, Undav's too slow," he recounted. "I wasn't a different player back then. I wasn't any quicker or slower, I didn't run more or less than usual."
Despite the seemingly baseless accusations, Undav couldn't help but feel the weight of such scrutiny. "People started bashing me online, saying my body language was off, that I was giving up. Honestly, that's nonsense. It's ridiculous. And it just kept building up, suddenly eating doner became a problem."
Cutting doner from his diet, swapping out chocolate for self-discipline, and reducing energy drink consumption - Undav tried to appease his critics, regardless of the merit of their arguments. Yet, the sheer audacity that people could assume something as mundane as consuming doner could be indicative of a lack of dedication proved unbearable.
Criticism took a toll on his self-confidence. "I care about what others think of me, the fans, my teammates - it makes me perform at my best. But when you're relentlessly hit with these accusations, it's tough," Undav candidly admitted. Between mid-January and mid-April, the striker failed to score a single goal in the Bundesliga.
- Deniz Undav
- Football National Team
- Munich
- SZ
- VfB Stuttgart
- DFB-Pokal
- Germany
- Nations League
- Portugal
- ZDF
- DAZN
[1] Deniz Undav: "Man macht mir nur schlimme Sachen aus" – Süddeutsche Zeitung https://www.sueddeutsche.de[2] Germany football team: Deniz Undav shrugs off criticism as 'part of the game' - ESPN FC https://www.espn.com[3] Deniz Undav: "Jeder Mensch hat seinen Timeout" – VfB Stuttgart 1893 https://www.vfbstuttgart.de[4] Germany Snatch DFB-Pokal victory, with Deniz Undav contributing decisively – DW https://www.dw.com
- Deniz Undav, in a candid interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung," discussed the unfair criticisms he received, even comparing it to baseless assumptions about his lifestyle choices, such as eating doner - a comparison he found ludicrous.
- Despite his best efforts to appease his critics, such as altering his diet and energy drink consumption, Deniz Undav, a key player for the German football national team, continues to train rigorously for the upcoming Nations League match against Portugal (SZ, ESPN FC, DW), demonstrating his unwavering dedication to the sport.
