KHIRBET AL-GHAZAL, Syria (AP) — Deniz Undav, one of the surprise stars of this World Cup, is playing for powerhouse Germany. Yet with his Yazidi and Kurdish heritage, the 29-year-old striker is representing two communities on the global stage with no realistic chance of having World Cup teams of their own.
After entering as a substitute for Germany, Undav scored three goals and set up two more, putting him just behind top-scoring superstars such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé of France and Vinicius Jr. of Brazil on the leaderboard.
Undav, who identifies as a Kurdish Yazidi, is the son of Yazidi refugees. His success is being celebrated by a small, insular community that has endured decades of oppression and violence, notably a 2014 onslaught in which thousands of Yazidis in Iraq’s Sinjar region were killed or abducted by militants from the Islamic State group who considered them to be heretics.
Responding to a question at a news conference Wednesday, the German-born Undav said he hoped his performance would inspire fans everywhere, especially within the Yazidi community.
“I always get the news from my parents how they view me, how they see me and it’s making me proud, you know, that we finally have somebody,” he said.
Undav has fans across Syria, Germany and Iraq
In the village of Khirbet al-Ghazal in northeastern Syria, a small group of Yazidis gathered Thursday night to watch the Germany-Ecuador match at the home of community leader Ismail Dalaf. Many residents are related to Undav’s mother, who is from a now-deserted nearby village whose residents left for economic reasons or fled during Syria’s long civil war that began in 2011.
Dalaf said Undav’s World Cup performance has made him “a symbol that shows Yazidis can reach a higher position and be seen with respect.”
“When people see a Yazidi entering the field, scoring goals and changin …
