Murat Yakin didn't let Noah Okafor play for a second during the European Championship, and now he's not even offering the striker for the restart in the Nations League - despite the 24-year-old playing and scoring for Milan in Serie A.
On Thursday, Murat Yakin will announce his squad for the Nations League opener in Denmark and against Spain. Among the European Championship heroes, Xherdan Shaqiri, Yann Sommer and Fabian Schär, who have since retired, will certainly not be included.
Noah Okafor will also be missing from the squad. According to Blick, Yakin wanted to give the Milan striker a lesson because he was not satisfied with his training intensity and body language during the European Championship in Germany.
Even during the European Championships, Yakin criticized the speedy Okafor harshly on blue Sport during the home game with the national team: "Noah has to be able to cope with competition. Talking all the time doesn't help, he has to perform on the pitch."
Yakin already punished the Basel player in Germany. He didn't let Okafor play a single second of the five European Championship games. Differences resolved? Not at all! Now, at the restart, Okafor is not even supposed to get a call-up.
Yet Okafor has actually fulfilled Yakin's requirements. He has recently performed well on the pitch. In the Serie A opener against Torino, he scored in stoppage time with a great direct shot to make it 2:2. In the 1:2 in Parma, he even played from the start.
Even during the weeks in Germany, those close to Okafor were anything but pleased with Yakin's handling. No one made a public statement at the time. The big question now: How will they react to being booted out again?
