Hector resigned in 2020
Flick’s DFB wish to return rejects World Cup advertising
11/02/2022, 4:28 p.m
In the coming week, Hansi Flick will have to make a final decision: Who should wear the German colors at the World Cup in Qatar? He has to sort out his provisional squad and hurt one or the other in the process. But one also lets the national coach rebuff: Jonas Hector.
Niclas Füllkrug, Mats Hummels, Mario Götze – Hansi Flick still has a lot of names buzzing through his head. According to the national soccer coach, the pros and cons when looking at his wobbly World Cup candidates don’t rob him of his sleep, but Flick’s agony of choice is increasingly tensing the Qatar driver-to-be. Flick will nominate his squad on November 10 – and a week before that, trends are already emerging.
So Niclas Füllkrug can hope to get a place in the 26-man squad for the finals (November 20th to December 18th). “We can see that Niclas has skills that can enrich our game. In general: a tall, athletic forward in the penalty area would make our attacking game more variable,” Flick told “Stern”. The 29-year-old Werder Bremen player, who has not yet played an international match, is the top scorer in the Bundesliga with nine goals. Füllkrug himself recently commented calmly on the speculation: “We’ll see where this will lead in the end.”
Füllkrug would receive a refusal from Sami Khedira. “He’s a really good striker for the Bundesliga, but: can he also prevail against top teams?” said the 2014 world champion when asked whether he would take “fullness” with him: “For me it would be an experiment so I’m leaning toward no.”
“70 to 75 percent” are fixed
A negative trend can also be seen with Khedira’s world champion colleague Mats Hummels – despite his strong performances recently in the Borussia Dortmund jersey. “Basically, the question arises here: do we take an experienced player with us to Qatar? Or do we think about the future, nominate a young one and give him the chance to prove himself at the highest level?” Flick said in an interview with RTL/ ntv on the situation of the 33-year-old defense routine.
Many other professionals also have to hope and fear. After all, according to Flick, “70 to 75 percent” of the squad has already been determined. So it will be tight for Götze (Eintracht Frankfurt), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig), Robin Gosens (Inter Milan) – and all the others who still want to jump on the World Cup train.
Hector stands his ground
“I can’t take one or the other with me who deserves it,” said Flick of “Zeit” – and announced “one or the other surprise”. Such would have been the nomination of Jonas Hector. The man from Cologne officially ended his career in the DFB selection in October 2020 after 43 international matches, but Flick had tried to convince him to return. The left-back refused, as Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart confirmed: “I talked to both of them about it,” Baumgart said: “But that’s a personal decision that Jonas made alone, he doesn’t need any help. We should accept it .”
Flick has no doubts about the timely return of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who has been missing from Bayern Munich for weeks due to a shoulder injury: “Manuel Neuer is our captain, he will be a leader again at the World Cup.” At the same time, Flick hopes that other players will also make claims for leadership. “I wish that İlkay Gündoğan finds more of a role like this. He is the captain of Manchester City, a world-class team. İlkay has everything he needs to be an absolute leader with us,” said Flick: “Same with Antonio Rudiger. Before moving to Real Madrid, he was the undisputed leader at Chelsea. I believe he can play an even bigger role in the national team.”
From November 14th we will see how the hierarchy develops. Then the German convoy flies to Muscat. Two days later, the team will do their World Cup dress rehearsal there against Oman before heading to Qatar. At the latest then it will no longer be about 26 names – but about eleven.