Ex-Leeds United man nightmare as error proves final nail in coffin for national side in sour ending twist

An ex-Leeds United player’s recent international rise had a sour ending twist as a moment to forget proved the final nail in the coffin.

Former Leeds defender Robin Koch has made big strides during the 2024-25 season with both club and country and the 28-year-old was handed another start for Germany in Sunday’s Nations League third-place play-off against France.

Koch lined up alongside Bayern Munich’s Jonathan Tah at centre-back but Germany fell behind on the stroke of half time as Kylian Mbappe bagged his 50th goal for his country following Real Madrid team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni’s pass.

“From which there was no way back”...

Germany remained within a goal of the French heading towards the closing stages but a big error from Koch led to his side conceding their second goal of the game, from which there was no way back.

The ex-Whites defender got his attempt to deal with a French clearance all wrong on the halfway line as his touch instead sent Mbappe away one on one.

Mpabbe quickly raced clear looking all set to bag his second goal of the game but the Real Madrid star unselfishly squared the ball to Michael Olise to slot home into an empty net, sealing a 2-0 victory in the process.