Is Danilho Doekhi the most dangerous defender in Europe in the opposition’s penalty box? With nine headed goals since his Bundesliga debut in 2022, no defender has scored more goals with his head in Europe’s five major leagues since then.
In fact, in the Bundesliga, only Harry Kane and Serhou Guirassy have scored more headers. But now Doekhi, the Union Berlin centre-back, is branching out. Against Bayern Munich earlier this season, he scored twice - both goals coming with his feet.
Bayern dropped points for the only time so far this season in that 2-2 draw, only salvaging a draw thanks to Harry Kane's stoppage-time equaliser. Unsurprisingly, Doekhi is the only player to score two Bundesliga goals against Bayern this season.
"It is really amazing," says Doekhi. "Before the game, you're already hoping that you can score against Bayern, because we know it's a top team in Europe and in the whole world. They won 16 times in a row, so you know it's going to be a difficult match.
"You try to give a good performance yourself and maybe help the team with a goal. To score two was insane. Before, I scored a lot with my head. This season, I also scored a lot with my feet. It's a little bit crazy, to be honest. You are so close to winning."
Doekhi, 27, is speaking to a small group of journalists from around the world keen to understand how Union have managed to unsettle Bayern like few others have been able to do, pushing them hard in a cup tie last month too, being edged out 3-2 in the capital.
"We were really aggressive. We know it is not easy to play in our stadium with the fans behind us. We tried to get them behind us from the first second. They had the feeling that they had a hard day at our stadium. We managed it well and won a lot of duels."
Doekhi, whose uncle is the former Ajax, Chelsea and Netherlands defender Winston Bogarde, talks of it being "an eye opener" for Bayern's players. But what is it about Union's approach that has allowed him to score six times in all competitions already.
"We train a lot on standard situations, set-pieces. We know it's a strength of ours. We have good set-piece takers, and also good headers and people who are dangerous in the box. These situations, we try to use - long throw-ins, free-kicks, corner kicks.
"I know that in those situations, I can be dangerous. Sometimes I stay a little bit longer around the box, because sometimes the first attempt does not work, but then the second cross comes in and it is a little bit more chaotic in the opponent's defence."
A powerful presence at 6'3", Doekhi is regarded by many as Union's most impressive player, the rock around which their team has been built since being picked up from Vitesse in the Netherlands three-and-a-half years ago. He has become a fixture.
Doekhi's robustness is a feature of his game, reflected in the fact that he has not missed a minute of Bundesliga football this season or last. Only two other players in the competition can claim that and one of them is a goalkeeper. How does he do it?
"I think it's important to take care of your body, to sleep enough, to eat healthy, get good recovery after training, before matches, after matches. It's more kind of a lifestyle that you have to have and, of course, you also have to be lucky you don't get crazy injuries."
His run of Union games has now extended to 63 consecutive Bundesliga starts without being substituted, dating back almost two years. Asked by Your Site what motivates him to put in the work to maintain that, he explains that the alternative is not good.
"Let's be real, being injured is not really nice. You have to train even harder than when you're fit. You're mostly alone with the physical coach, you have long days, a lot of days, hours in the gym. And as a football player you want to be on the pitch, playing games."
Doekhi's schedule could be about to get even busier. With his Surinamese roots, he could be eligible to represent the nation at next summer's World Cup if they can negotiate the play-off round in March but the administration is proving complicated.
Having played for the Netherlands at age-group level, Suriname are still negotiating with FIFA to allow it. "I still have a chance through the play-offs, so let's see if I'm registered in time," he says. "It would be the first time in history, so I would love to be a part of that."
Do not rule out a World Cup goal for Danilho Doekhi just yet.
