The moment the ball crosses the line, Karim Adeyemi sprints to the sideline and jumps into the arms of assistant coach Sebastian Geppert. He then lets out all his emotions and rushes to his teammates, who are celebrating Julian Brandt’s goal together in front of the East Borussia team. It’s the 2-0 win against Newcastle United, it’s the preliminary decision in the fourth group game of the Champions League.

Adeyemi prepared the goal wonderfully with a long ball into Brandt’s path and picked up his well-deserved assist in this game. The 21-year-old rewarded himself for a strong and, above all, combative performance in the Westfalenstadion.

Adeyemi in a difficult phase of his career

For Adeyemi, the game against the English is his first start since the duel against Paris Saint-Germain in mid-September. The Dortmund player is currently in the most difficult phase of his young career.

The audience honors his courageous effort that evening, giving him applause when he looks for the finish after a wonderful dribble or when he runs a ball with a lot of physical effort on defense against Magpies kicker Joe Willock.

After this scene, Niklas Süle is right there with him and high-fives his colleague. The national player was also allowed to start against the Premier League club from the start because an injured Marius Wolf could only sit on the substitutes’ bench.

Süle responds to Nagelsmann’s message

Like Adeyemi, Süle also plays a strong game as a right-back. An important sign from the defender, who had recently fallen a little behind. In the center of defense he couldn’t get past Mats Hummels and Nico Schlotterbeck, and since the PSG game he has only started on the field in the DFB Cup against TSG Hoffenheim (1-0). A situation that national coach Julian Nagelsmann is also worried about.

On the trip to the USA he strongly supported Süle, but also challenged him. The starting eleven against Mexico was a “calculated risk”. The defender simply lacks rhythm. The DFB coach was and is not satisfied with his playing time in Dortmund.

Süle must “aim to be an absolute regular player in Dortmund. Whether on the right or inside is secondary. Not just to run along, but to play a key role.” If he has this role in the club, “there’s nothing wrong with having it at the DFB.”

Especially in defense, the German national team urgently needs every defender in top form, and according to Nagelsmann, Süle is “one of the best players in the position in the Bundesliga,” which is why he cannot do without him.

With his appearance against Newcastle, Süle proves that his coaches can still count on him – both Dortmund’s Edin Terzic and Nagelsmann.

Adeyemi also understood Nagelsmann

Adeyemi also received a message from the DFB coach and has now signaled that he has understood it.

Nagelsmann did without Adeyemi on the last international trip to the USA. In a personal phone call, he recommended that the 21-year-old play for the U21 national team. “He said it would be good for me to come here. I can go in confident,” Adeyemi said in October.

U21 coach Antonio di Salvo already felt that the Dortmund player was accepting “the challenge”. “It’s important for him to step out of the shadows and be the young player in the senior national team or at BVB. He has to lead the way with us, that’s what he wants,” said di Salvo.

Adeyemi promised improvement and said he wanted to do his best to “gain a foothold again as quickly as possible”. It took a while, but he showed an improvement in form in the 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga after coming on as a substitute at half-time.

Terzic praises Adeyemi

“Karim played a great game today, in all directions. “He also helped on defense to close the spaces,” Terzic praised his protégé afterwards and was happy that he was finally able to use his potential again.

“To be honest, today he showed the performance that we have shown in training in the last few weeks,” said Terzic and continued: “He didn’t have an easy start to the season and unfortunately didn’t always manage to influence things in his appearances Like Süle, he brought his best performance of the season to the field against Newcastle. An important – and desperately needed – signal.