After a difficult few months at club level, Dan Ndoye is regaining his confidence in the national team. He has scored more often for Switzerland this season than for Nottingham Forest.
28.03.2026, 01:45
28.03.2026, 07:34
SDA
After the game against Germany, Dan Ndoye is torn. On the one hand, he knows that not everything went according to plan in the 4:3 defeat. On the other hand, his goal was a huge weight off his shoulders. He was finally allowed to show his claws again. Just like he always does when he celebrates a goal.
"When you play against an opponent like Germany with so much quality, it's good to see that we can keep up with such top teams," said the attacker, referring in particular to the first half. "Today it was back and forth between attack and defense, but it was also good to be able to try out certain things in a game like this."
Stalled after a dream start
His move to the Premier League came with high hopes. At Nottingham Forest, a seemingly up-and-coming club, Ndoye wanted to take the next step after two strong seasons at Bologna. The English club, which finished a surprising 7th last season, paid a good 42 million euros for the transfer.
Ndoye made a dream debut: he scored in his first game and set up another goal in the second round. At the time, it would have been hard to imagine that these would remain his only two goals in the league until the end of March.
However, it was not made easy for Ndoye. He has already experienced four coaches this season. The team, which is only a few points ahead of the relegation places in the championship, lacks a clear direction and consistency. And Ndoye? After an injury in December, he has mostly only been used as a wild card this year.
Nati as a welcome break
The move to the national team must have been all the more liberating for him. Under coach Murat Yakin, he enjoys great confidence and is practically a permanent fixture. Ndoye is repaying this with strong performances: in his last eight games for Switzerland, he has scored five goals and provided three assists. This is well above his club tally - two goals and two assists in 34 games in all competitions.
Nevertheless, Ndoye was also critical of the performance in Basel: "We need to find our automatisms offensively and defensively and become more compact. We left too many spaces," said the attacker, adding conciliatory: "These are small things that can easily be corrected through video analysis, discussions and communication." After all, that's exactly what test matches are for: gaining knowledge and making adjustments.
Perhaps he will also take a new self-image with him to England thanks to his latest goal. It's not just about the relegation battle there, there's still a chance of winning the title: Nottingham Forest are in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
