Jozo Stanic celebrates his Bundesliga debut

Despite a disappointing result on Sunday, there was a moment of pride for Augsburg fans – Jozo Stanic became the latest talent from the youth academy to make a Bundesliga outing for the first team. In the 87th minute of Augsburg’s clash with Werder Bremen, Stanic’s number flashed up on the fourth official’s board. It was a moment that the 19-year-old had been working towards for a long time. “It was a dream come true and an amazing feeling.” Stanic was however disappointed with the result. “We have to look ahead and make sure we perform better next time out.” Stanic, who has Croatian heritage, was born in Augsburg and joined the club from FC Stätzling at the age of 15, playing at every level of the club’s academy.  After breaking into the first team squad in the summer of 2018, Stanic started 19 games in this season’s Regionalliga. Stanic played once for Germany’s U16 national team before representing Croatia four times at U19 level. An unexpected appearance The defender didn’t think he would come on in the Bremen clash. “I went back to the bench after warming up and didn’t think there would be any more substitutions in the match – then they called my name. I was a bit nervous at first, but that quickly went away after I stepped onto the pitch. Stanic replaced Daniel Baier in the 88th minute, a change which saw Rani Khedira move into the number 6 role and Stanic partner Reece Oxford in defence. On a disappointing day in Bremen, the debut of another academy product was one source of pride.