Musiala Jamal
Jamal Musiala is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and winger for the Germany national team. Widely regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world, Musiala is known for his dribbling, passing, goal threat, and technical skills, and is nicknamed “Bambi” for his close-control dribbling. Musiala has represented Germany at UEFA Euro 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Euro 2024. He was the joint winner of Euro 2024’s Golden Boot. Musiala was born in Stuttgart, Germany, to his Nigerian-British father Daniel Richard and German mother with Polish roots, Carolin Musiala. He lived in Fulda until the age of seven, before moving to England with his family, where he remained for the rest of his childhood. He went to primary school at the Corpus Christi School in New Malden, and represented the school on behalf of a succession of local football clubs, including Fulham, Brentford, and Wimbledon in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup, winning the competition twice. For secondary school, he went to the Whitgift School in Croydon. He was in the Chelsea academy for the last years of his childhood. Musiala has played for both Germany and England national teams at youth level, and eventually pledged his allegiance to the German Football Association for future games in February 2021. At the age of 16, Musiala and his mother returned to Germany for personal reasons and the impending Brexit.
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A versatile player, Musiala can play in any attacking or midfield position, though he prefers to play on the left side of the field.[71] Musiala is known for his close-control dribbling and can beat opponents with feints and tricks, which has earned him the nickname “Bambi”. He is also known for his vision and accurate passing. Hansi Flick, his former coach at Bayern Munich, stated, “He has a great eye and feeling for choosing the right spaces. He is very confident on the ball and can play well between the lines.” Musiala has been widely described as one of the best young players in the world. Musiala, who was also eligible to play for Nigeria via his father, represented both England and Germany at youth international level. In November 2020, Musiala was called up to the England U21 squad for the first time for their 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches. He made his U21 debut as a substitute during a 3–1 victory over the Andorra U21s at Molineux Stadium on 13 November 2020. He scored his first under-21 goal during a 5–0 win over Albania also at Molineux Stadium on 17 November 2020. After choosing to represent England’s U21s, the German football association indicated that they had stopped pursuing Musiala, with German youth team coach Meikel Schönweitz stating: “He has clearly signaled to us that he currently sees his future with the English national teams. We accept his decision and wish him all the best for his sporting career.” Musiala had previously indicated that he felt more comfortable playing for England at youth level than for Germany, as he grew up as a footballer at Chelsea with other English players, whereas for Germany, he did not know any of the other players. On 24 February 2021, Musiala announced he had decided to represent his mother’s nation and his birth nation Germany at the international level. He subsequently received his first call up to the senior team for the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers in March 2021, making his debut on 25 March 2021 as a 79th minute substitute in a 3–0 win against Iceland. According to former Germany coach Joachim Löw, he promised Musiala a call-up for the UEFA Euro 2020 if he chooses Germany over England. Löw said “It was the only time in my time as national team coach that I made a promise to a player: Even though he wasn’t a regular at Bayern, I told him that if he chose us, he would definitely be playing at Euro 2021 in the summer.
