Deniz Undav on Crafting Composure for Success
Deniz Undav talks about scoring as if it were a craft, not a gift. Not something mystical, but something you grind at until it becomes second nature.
“Composure in front of goal is very important for strikers because it makes your shots more accurate,” the VfB Stuttgart forward explains. “If you drill that every day, you become ice-cold. If I had a bit more of that, I'd surely finish more chances.”
It is a revealing admission from a 29-year-old who has made a habit of finding the net, yet still chases a higher standard. The timing is no coincidence. On Saturday, Undav walks out in Berlin for a final in which Stuttgart, the defending champions, are being cast firmly in the role he knows only too well: underdogs.
Underdogs in the capital
“In Saturday's Berlin final, the defending champions are complete underdogs against the record winners,” he says, not dressing it up. “Bayern are the clear favourites, and there's no point pretending otherwise.”
No bluster. No bravado. Just a clear-eyed view of what awaits against the giants from Munich.
But he doesn’t sound beaten. Far from it.
“Still, anything can happen in a single game. We know we can disrupt them, unsettle them. We'll give it our all.”
That is where Undav’s obsession with composure and repetition feeds into something larger. Stuttgart know they cannot match Bayern’s star power man for man, but they can lean on structure, intensity, and a striker who has built his game on staying cold when the noise around him rises.
A final… and a kebab
If it all goes right under the Berlin lights, there is a reward waiting that is as unpretentious as Undav himself.
After the match, the squad will celebrate with a “victory kebab” — a ritual born in the capital and now firmly part of the club’s folklore. “If we win, everyone's having a kebab,” Undav says, already planning the details. “I'll watch a few YouTube videos about the top five kebabs in Berlin and decide which one I like.”
It is a small glimpse into the dressing-room culture at Stuttgart: serious on the pitch, light enough off it to enjoy the journey. Win a trophy, share a kebab. Football at its most basic, and most human.
Berlin, then the world stage
The stakes for Undav stretch beyond one night in Berlin. Once the final whistle blows and the kebab boxes are cleared away, his attention will switch to the biggest stage of all.
After that, Undav will join Germany at the World Cup — a remarkable rise for a player who not long ago was fighting for recognition rather than trophies. He may arrive at the tournament with more than just a medal; a new VfB contract could be in his luggage as well.
“There's no reason why not,” he says of extending his stay. “I've said many times that I enjoy playing here; I feel at home. I feel like a Stuttgart native, even if I'm not one. We're not far apart; it's just the small details.”
The message is unmistakable: he wants this to continue. The goals, the growth, the sense of belonging.
First, though, comes Bayern. A final in Berlin. A team branded outsiders. A striker chasing that extra ounce of composure.
If he finds it at the right moment, the night might end exactly how he imagines it — with a trophy in his hands, a contract on the horizon, and a “victory kebab” in the heart of the capital.
