Most footballers would give an arm and a leg to score their first professional goal. Diego Demme only had to give a tooth.

Demme made his senior debut on December 4, 2010, playing in the German second and third divisions for Arminia Bielefeld and Paderborn before helping RB Leipzig achieve two promotions in three years to reach the Bundesliga in 2016.

Leipzig enjoyed a sensational start to life in the top-flight and topped the table early on before being knocked off the leaderboard by Bayern Munich. They nevertheless secured Champions League football thanks to Demme, who, after bagging three assists in the Hinrunde, finally broke his scoring duck on April 15, 2017.

Diego Demme sacrificed a tooth for his first professional goal

Demme wore the captain's armband for just the second time in his Leipzig career as second-placed Leipzig hosted sixth-placed Freiburg at the Red Bull Arena. Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner scored early on whilst Naby Keita extended Leipzig's lead to three after the interval.

With Leipzig cruising towards their fourth straight victory, Demme sensed that he had a golden opportunity to score his first goal in 189 senior appearances. And when Werner headed down Dominik Kaiser's cross in the 90th minute, Demme rose to the occasion.

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As Nicolas Hofler attempted to clear the ball, Demme stole in from behind and headed home Leipzig's fourth. But Hofler connected with Demme's face instead of the ball, leaving the midfielder writhing in agony as his teammates celebrated.

"It was funny because I was one of the players who needed the most time to score his first goal in Germany's top three divisions," stated Demme in an exclusive FourFourTwo interview. "I had never scored in the 3. Liga or 2. Bundesliga, but against Freiburg, I got a cross and then went up for a header, and the defender tried to clear the ball and kicked me in the face."

"I heard the entire stadium celebrating my goal to make it 4-0, but I was in pain. Marcel Halstenberg came around and said, ‘Oh f**k, you’ve lost your tooth.' It was funny because I had waited so long to score, only to end up losing my tooth…it was a crazy story."

Demme saw the funny side, placing the tooth in his trophy cabinet, and so did referee Manuel Grafe, who opted against cautioning Hofler. He would have to wait 934 days before scoring his second goal vs. Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Champions League. This time, Demme was able to celebrate with a well-deserved fist pump and team hug.

For whatever reason, Demme found it far easier to score in Italian football than in German football. It took him just five appearances to get off the mark for Napoli in February 2020, before scoring three goals in the following season.

After finding the back of the net on the last day of the 2021/22 season, Demme failed to score in his final four seasons. He watched from the bench as Napoli won the Scudetto before departing for Hertha Berlin in 2024. Initially a starter and captain at Hertha, Demme's playing time waned after two concussions, prompting him to retire in September.

Nearly a decade after losing his front tooth for his first professional goal, Demme's career came to an end after two more blows to the head, a cruel twist of fate for a player who had already learned that footballing glory can come at a painful price.

Whilst Demme spent the majority of his 16-year playing career toothless in front of goal, when it came to putting his body on the line for his team, he was anything but.