Could the next young talent turn his back on the DFB? In Mio Backhaus’ case, it is at least not out of the question. The goalkeeper is eligible to play for both Germany and Japan. For years, the Japanese federation has therefore been courting the Werder keeper.
National coach Hajime Moriyasu visited him in Bremen when he was just 17, Backhaus reported in an interview with '11Freunde'. The coach told him that he could see him joining the senior national team in the foreseeable future.
"At that point, I wasn’t playing any role for the first team (at Werder; editor’s note) at all," says Backhaus. He said it impressed him that the national coach had still made the trip to speak with him.
So far, however, he has not made a decision, and he also does not want to make it dependent on the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Since both are wonderful countries, he said, "I feel like I can only make the wrong decision."
For the current international break, the goalkeeper has been called up to the Germany U21 national team. Antonio Di Salvo’s side will face Northern Ireland and Greece in the European Championship qualifiers. Before the U21s, Backhaus had progressed through Germany’s youth national teams since the U15 level. Because they had taken good care of him, he has a good relationship with the DFB, he explained.
"If I were to decide against the DFB and for Japan now, then it would feel like it affects 100 people who have lovingly and wonderfully looked after me over all these years. I do wonder whether they would then think: What did we actually do all this for?" the 21-year-old explained, describing his inner conflict.
He has not yet met Nagelsmann, but for now his focus is on the U21s, since that is the team he has been called up for. "With players like Noah Atubolu, you’ve seen how quickly things can move. And as long as I keep getting called up for the U21s, I’m not overthinking it or putting myself under pressure," Backhaus concluded.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
