Deserved reward for strong performances

There are now only 21 players ahead of him. Oliver Baumann has now made 467 Bundesliga appearances, recently overtaking icons Lothar Matthäus and Toni Schumacher in the Bundesliga's all-time appearance ranking. He will move into the top 20 in the coming weeks. The goalkeeper, who moved to TSG in the summer of 2014 and has been a consistent performer for Hoffenheim for 10 years, has long since been part of an elite circle.

Baumann has also frequently been part of the national-team setup but has not yet been able to call himself an international player. He has already been on the bench for 25 matches – during which time he has been coached by Joachim Löw, Hansi Flick, Rudi Völler and Julian Nagelsmann – and was part of the squad for the EURO on home soil this summer. Since his first call-up by the DFB in September 2020, 33 players have made their Germany debuts – including former and current team-mates such as David Raum, Anton Stach, Mergim Berisha, Maxi Beier and Angelo Stiller. Now his time has come – and Baumann is looking forward to his long-awaited debut. "I'm driven by achieving the maximum. I want to help the team on and off the pitch."

National team coach Julian Nagelsmann, whom Baumann already knows very well from TSG, addressed the player's international debut during the call-up announcement: "Oli has made a great start to the season in the league and in the Europa League. He deserves to get playing time, and he will get it." The end of a remarkable wait has thus come into view. Only two national team players to date have endured a longer wait before making their international bow. Following Austria's annexation, Karl Sesta made his debut for Germany in June 1941. But the then 35-year-old had previously played 42 international matches for Austria. Matthias Mauritz is also ahead of Baumann, who will be 34 years and 134 days old for his possible debut on Tuesday. Mauritz was marginally older – 34 years and 188 days to be precise – when he made his first and only international appearance in 1959.

In the December 2022 edition of the TSG magazine SPIELFELD, Oliver Baumann said the following about an international cap: "It's a big dream for me that is yet to come true. We have so many good goalkeepers in Germany, it's a tough one. If I can help the national team, I'm always happy to be involved." Now his patience and persistence appear to have paid off.