Woltemade backed by Germany teammates after Köln booing

Nadiem Amiri and Pascal Gross defended Nick Woltemade after the striker was booed in Germany’s win over Northern Ireland.

Nick Woltemade received support from his teammates after being booed as he was substituted in Germany’s 3-1 win over Northern Ireland on Sunday.

Newcastle’s new record signing struggled during the match and was eventually taken off around the hour mark to the jeers of the home fans in Köln.

Nadiem Amiri, who came on to score, spoke out clearly against the criticism of the former Stuttgart striker in a post-match interview.

“I’m not in favour of that. He is a young player going through a difficult phase, with lots of transfer talk back and forth,” Amiri said.

“He flew to England and is now back here. It’s not easy. You have to put yourself in his shoes – that’s something not many do. I find it unfortunate – but that’s football.”

Midfielder Pascal Groß said he hadn’t noticed the whistles, but stressed that such behavior is “never good” in general.

“He’s one of us, a player who gives everything and represents the German colours. We should all be behind him,” said the Borussia Dortmund player.

Woltemade has made four appearances for Germany so far and is yet to score.