With World Cup hero Mario Götze, former Salzburg player Karim Adeyemi and Werder striker Niclas Füllkrug, the German national football team is flying to Qatar for the World Cup. Youssoufa Moukoko from Dortmund, who is only 17, is also there. His club colleagues Mats Hummels and the again unfit tournament unlucky Marco Reus are not part of the 26-player squad, which is led by a strong Bayern block around captain Manuel Neuer.
“We have a very good squad that we can take with us,” said national coach Hansi Flick when the 26 names were announced on Thursday. “We didn’t make it easy for ourselves in the coaching team. We went through a lot of things, if-then strategies,” said the 57-year-old.
Flick rewarded offensive player Götze, who shot Germany to their fourth and last World Cup title in the final against Argentina in Brazil in 2014, for consistently strong performances at Eintracht Frankfurt with the DFB comeback. “We all know that Mario is a brilliant footballer who has flashes of inspiration. If you look at the last few games, he was at a very high level,” said Flick. Götze played his last of 63 international matches five years ago in a 2-2 win against France in Cologne.
In addition to goalman Neuer, his Munich club colleague Thomas Müller will contest his fourth World Cup tournament. FC Bayern also has the largest contingent with a total of seven players. After the injury-related absence of Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Wolfsburg’s Lukas Nmecha, Flick called up the young Dortmund star Moukoko and the filling pitcher, who has regularly scored at Werder Bremen this season, for the attack.
The 29-year-old has scored ten goals in 13 games for Bremen. Adeyemi is keeping two goals after 17 appearances, including none in the league. Moukoko, who turns 18 on the day of the opening game on November 20, is the youngest World Cup participant in DFB history.
The fact that Reus is injured due to a damaged ankle “just hurts us because we can use his quality well,” said Flick. “I’ve said many times how much I appreciate him as a footballer. With his gift, which he has in the last third, he’s good for every team. We’ll miss him.” Reus was of course disappointed. “Unfortunately, a big dream of mine was shattered.”
Source: Nachrichten
