OneFootball
·29 mars 2026
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·29 mars 2026
Only recently, Carney Chukwuemeka chose to represent the Austrian national team and was promptly called up by coach Ralf Rangnick for the friendlies against Ghana (5-1) and South Korea (Tuesday, March 31).
After the match against Ghana, who will play the German national team on Monday, Rangnick said he was surprised by his player’s language skills. The midfielder has been at BVB for over a year now, but still barely speaks any German.
"It’s not that easy for guys like that. Because English is spoken everywhere, people understand them everywhere. Of course, Carney gets by with English in our group too, but I was a bit surprised that in Dortmund they apparently haven’t even tried to give him German lessons yet," said Rangnick, adding that this should be in the club’s own interest.
At the same time, he did not want it to be understood as criticism and added: "At Leipzig or Hoffenheim, it was mandatory — German lessons three times a week. Anyone who missed it was treated as if they had missed training. But of course every club handles it differently."
To communicate with Chukwuemeka, there was a small dictionary with the most important vocabulary. In addition, physiotherapist Peter Geigle acted as a simultaneous interpreter so that the BVB star would understand everything Rangnick expects from his players.
Without any language problems, things went smoothly on the pitch too, as he scored his first goal right away. Let’s see whether he can add another against South Korea.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
📸 Christian Bruna - 2026 Getty Images








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