Cd Player Baku
Macabeo Eastman
"It was a big moment for me, it was a dream come true to play for the national team," says Ridle Baku, looking back on Germany's friendly against the Czech Republic in November, when he made his senior international debut.
He burst onto the Bundesliga stage on April 29, 2018, having just turned 20, with a debut goal against an RB Leipzig side featuring Naby Keita and Dayot Upamecano. Over the course of the 90 minutes, he won his midfield battle with Keita before darting past Upamecano in injury time to score Mainz's third goal in a 3-0 win.
"It's not easy for a young Black guy to want to become a professional football player," he tells DW. "You always have to perform well as a Black player. You have to do more than the white players, you have to work more, you have to perform better. That's 100% true and it's been in my head since I was young."
Baku's testimony is depressingly familiar. It was only in September 2020 that Erwin Kostedde, the first Black player to play for Germany in 1974, told DW: "I had to do everything better than my neighbor, than my white comrades. And if I did anything wrong, it was always twice or three times as bad. On the field I could hear them shouting, take the n***** off!"
It's tempting to believe that German football has come a long way since then. After all, of the 2014 World Cup-winning alumni, Jerome Boateng is Black, Mesut zil was born to Turkish parents, and Sami Khedira's father came from Tunisia. When Baku made his international debut, Jonathan Tah, Antonio Rdiger and Ilkay Gndogan were also in the starting line-up. Mahmoud Dahoud, Benjamin Henrichs, Nadiem Amiri and Felix Uduokhai were on the bench.
"I think as a professional football player, you have to take responsibility and stand up and say something. For example, Jerome Boateng and Antonio Rdiger are two big players who take the lead, and we need more players that do the same.
Born Bote Nzuzi Baku, his father Lutumba, who played with Jrgen Klopp at Mainz in the 1990s, nicknamed him "Ridle" in honor of German World Cup winner and Borussia Dortmund Champions League winner Karl-Heinz Riedle. He legally added "Ridle" to his name in 2018.
"I speak my home language Lingala and also German and I play for the national team," he tells DW. "I will never forget my origins. I'm German, but I'm also Congolese, I can never forget the other half of me."
With five goals and four more assists this season, Baku is playing a significant role in Wolfsburg's push for Champions League football. "I think I'm doing well at the moment," he says, but he is demanding and ambitious by nature, and he always wants more.
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After Azerbaijan regained its occupied territories in a military offensive this September, following three decades of armed conflict with Armenia, the world is faced with the possibility of the country becoming a constructive player in the South Caucasus. However, in order to succeed, such a transformation would require much more coordinated involvement from the United States and the European Union.
The 23-year old Mainz native has often been compared to Naby Keita and Philipp Lahm in the past, two players who share little in common, but whose differing skillsets are expressed as one in the form of Ridle Baku. As for the comparison with Keita, Baku personifies his energy and ability to carry possession forward.
With both players under 1.76m, the pair have had to learn how to use their low center of gravity to get the better of bigger, stronger, opponents. With quick changes of direction, a glue-like control, and fluid movement, Ridle Baku is able to wriggle free from any lunging challenges and create the attacking impulses which have made him such a resounding success at the Volkswagen Arena.
Following an opposition free kick, the ball finds the feet of Ridle Baku on the edge of his own box. Aware of the onrushing defender, the German international takes one good touch to control the ball and then with a quick change of direction leaves him for dead. With a better layoff Wolfsburg could have created a 3v2 situation in their favor.
Baku completed the 5th most crosses of any Bundesliga fullback last season, routinely searching for the head of Wout Weghorst or providing a driven ball into the run of an advancing midfielder. Whilst he may not be as prolific as either Borna Sosa or Filip Kostić, the variety of ways Baku can hurt an opposition defense makes up for his somewhat inconsistent crossing.
Ridle Baku may have only registered 1 assist from the wide right channel this season, but when afforded time and space he is more than capable of finding his target. The best example came against Hungary in the under 21 Championships. With nobody applying pressure, Baku was able to pick his head up and find the head of Lukas Nmecha.
Despite impressive pressing numbers and the aforementioned willingness to track runners, Baku is far from a top-tier 1v1 defender and lacks a competitive aerial ability. Whilst his deployment in right midfield has offset some of these deficiencies, the competition for attacking places in the national team setup means Ridle Baku will find a home at right back under Hansi Flick.
There, the 23-year old Congolese-German needs to improve his numbers if he is to be relied on in an international tournament where mistakes are ruthlessly punished. In his competitive debut against Liechtenstein Baku failed to win any of his 3 aerial duels and contested just 1 tackle in his favor.
When it comes to providing pressure and defensive intensity Baku is second to none. However, when deployed in a deeper starting position, the German international has a tendency to overcommit to 1v1 situations and allow himself to be easily drawn into fouls or beaten by an opposition winger.
The blow of missing out on the current round of World Cup qualifiers will have stung for the German fullback, but his impressive performances at Wolfsburg and ability to continuously improve his game will make him a key factor for Hansi Flick when the Qatar World Cup rolls around next November.
Baku is a cold, calculated, cunning, intelligent, and compassionate individual whose surrounded with an aura of self-confidence and charisma. Steadfast and ruthless while maintaining a carefree and somewhat negligent attitude towards those around him, highly observant and extremely intelligent with a self-assurance his deductions are always correct. He values his established friendships and sees them as important people in his life, while also seeking their development individually and has a unique hidden desire to see them grow.
Baku is always extremely calm and composed with deviations from this temperament always being a ruse to confuse, misdirect, or trick his opponents into making dangerous mistakes. His tendency to smile when he has the upper hand showcases a violently devious underbelly which is complemented by his ability to predict his opponent's mindset, mood, or method of cheating which borders on clairvoyance.
His devilish charisma and unshakable aura of invincibility attracts a multitude of characters who're drawn to this magnetic persona of - comparisons always being made with being comparable to the devil himself.
On November 20nd, 1998, he met Hachina Naoki at an old bookstore. Baku, supposedly a collector of rare items, wanted The Prince Bee book that Hachina had ordered. The two gambled for it and Baku won. Hachina started to follow Baku in order to retrieve the book. Baku promised to give it to him after he finished reading. Baku gave Hachina the nickname "Hal" and the two became fast friends.
Baku defeated the son of the president of the SAKASA cooperation in a Kakerou match. In an attempt to re-gain what was lost, the president later challenged Baku in a restaurant. They played a game involving guessing how the meat would stick to the clams and Baku won. One of the president's allies was Sasaoka of the MPD. Baku planted the idea of the L-file in Sasaoka's head, leading to the eventual birth of the Labyrinth Game.
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