International football is known to be a cesspit of nonsensical opinions. Naturally, international fans are passionate about their country's success, but this often leads to uninformed opinions and reactionary calls for players to be benched, for no real reason.
Antonio Rudiger has suffered this fate for Germany. The Real Madrid defender is often criticised by his nation's fans, and some even feel like they would be better without him in the team.
The obvious retort to this is that if he's good enough for Real Madrid, he's good enough for Germany. The German national team has seen better days, and they could do with all the help of serial winners they can get (Rudiger being one of them, of course).
Germany fans called out after Rudiger snub blows up in their face
Well, last night, those Germany fans who were calling for Antonio Rudiger to be axed from the national team were severely humbled after the embarrassing Nations League loss against Portugal.
Former Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng jumped to Rudiger's defence by posting "Without Rüdiger, better right?" with a clown and shushing emojis to his Instagram story.
Context matters here, and Rudiger was not in the Germany squad through injury. However, for Germany to lose the Nations League semi-final without Rudiger in the squad, shows that those fans calling for his snubbing when he's fit need to be reevaluated.
Obviously, it works for Real Madrid if Rudiger doesn't play for his country. While we'd love to see him proud to represent his country, it does limit injuries if he doesn't play. This would be especially beneficial in competitions like the Nations League, which, let's face it, no fan cares about.
We are sure that Germany fans will gladly eat their words if Rudiger comes back to full fitness and blows it up on the international stage. After all, it would benefit Germany fans, so they'd happily be proven wrong.
Right now, Germany should take every bit of help they can get. Rudiger is still capable of playing at the top level as one of the best defenders in the world, even if it is not with Real Madrid, so Germany cannot afford to outcast him.
Needless to say, fair play to Boateng for sticking up for his former teammate.