According to Sport1, Ondav is still blaming himself for his handling of Germany's humiliating exit from the World Cup.
Following Germany's humiliating exit from the World Cup, fan favorite Deniz Ondaf has spent weeks reflecting on his responsibility for the tournament's failure. In an article to be published Friday in the Bundesliga magazine, Ondaf, quoting an earlier interview cited by the German newspaper Bild, said: "I've been thinking whether I also bear responsibility for our elimination, because against Paraguay, I missed a shot a few minutes into the game instead of passing the ball across. But I definitely didn't see it at that moment; perhaps a teammate was in a better position."
Another reason that made Ondaf suspicious was a statement made by then-German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann immediately after the team's elimination in the round of 16. Nagelsmann, speaking about an attack in the 5th minute, said: "We had four players one-on-one in front of the goal; a simple cross would have put the ball into the empty net. Instead, Deniz chipped the ball towards the far post. It was a very simple move, not complicated at all."
Ondav now says that after hearing those words, his immediate thought was, "We still had 115 minutes left in the game, so this elimination can't be blamed on just one round." However, he also admits that the thought still keeps coming back: "Was it really your fault?" The 30-year-old player also said that Nagelsmann hasn't contacted him since, "but he didn't need to." Ondav's greatest wish is to "put this World Cup elimination completely behind him."
However, as a substitute, he remained one of the few bright spots for the German team, contributing 3 goals and 2 assists. It wasn't until the match against Paraguay that this international, who had made 13 appearances for Germany and scored 9 goals, finally entered the starting lineup as many had called for, but his performance was poor, and he was substituted after playing for just over an hour.
