Armel Bella-Kotchap is the surprise in the German World Cup squad. In order to take the young professional with him, national coach Hansi Flick even does without the in-form Mats Hummels. Flick explains the plan behind it. The past shows how this plan can work.
Mats Hummels himself only needed a few words at first. “Unsurprisingly, this is one of the biggest disappointments of my career,” wrote the 33-year-old on Instagram after national coach Hansi Flick publicly presented his squad for the World Cup in Qatar. Without bumble bees. The central defender has been showing strong performances at Borussia Dortmund for months, and despite the commitments of Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck he has once again established himself as the chief of defense there. Flick even certified Hummels as “an excellent form”. Nevertheless, he is now missing a major tournament for the first time since the 2010 World Cup.
A contradiction that the national coach must be aware of, after all, Flick also said about his criteria for personnel issues: “Our focus is on how someone performs.” In this regard, there is currently no way around Hummels – and yet this Sunday it will not be the 2014 world champion who will board the plane to Oman, but Armel Bella-Kotchap. Moved from VfL Bochum to FC Southampton in the Premier League in the summer, equipped with a few seconds of international experience since he came on in injury time in the wild 3-3 win in England in September. But above all, almost 13 years younger to the day than Hummels, who celebrates his 34th birthday in December and would have been the second-oldest professional in the squad after Manuel Neuer.
The decision was made “in the coaching team”, explained Flick in Frankfurt, “for a younger player”. According to the national coach, to do without Hummels and instead appoint a 20-year-old is “a look into the future”. Although he is highly talented, he is still a bit raw in his game, which is not even 100 competitive games as a professional not surprising for Bochum and Southampton. However, Flick will not take Bella-Kotchap with him as a top performer anyway, but will want to challenge him, especially in training, and also want to watch him over the maximum four and a half weeks between departure in Frankfurt and the World Cup final. A role with which Hummels would have done much more difficult.
Surprises are not revealed yet
The national coach not only seems to have the home European Championship 2024 in mind with this personnel planning for the 2022 World Cup. With Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller, only two nominees were born before 1990, but with Bella-Kotchap, Karim Adeyemi, Jamal Musiala and Youssoufa Moukoko four after the year 2000 – the BVB striker only celebrates on the day of the opening game between Qatar and Ecuador his 18th birthday. And with Florian Wirtz, one of the greatest talents is still missing, because the 19-year-old should not play in a world tournament without match practice after a cruciate ligament tear in March. “We would have liked to have had a player of his quality with us,” said Flick, but “he’s only just back in team training.”
On the way to the final 26-man squad, “all options and if-then strategies were played through intensively,” explained Flick, who at the same time hinted at one or two surprises for the World Cup. “I don’t want to give too much away just yet,” but “something can happen that isn’t so obvious in advance.” Flick and his assistants are apparently hoping for more potential from junior staff than from veterans like Hummels, who was already part of the permanent staff in 2014 and made a decisive contribution to winning the title with his header in the quarter-finals against France (1-0).
Ultimately, questions such as who could “become the match winner for one situation or another” were decisive for the nomination. For example, Flick praised Moukoko, who will become the youngest German World Cup participant, for the speed and agility he brings with him. In Dortmund, the 17-year-old slipped into a key role after Haaland’s successor Sebastién Haller was diagnosed with cancer, which he can fill more and more often with growing success and self-confidence.
Who will provide the Odonkor moment of the 2022 World Cup?
Musiala’s qualities have become indispensable at FC Bayern this season at the latest, he is involved in 18 direct goals in 20 appearances in Munich in all competitions. How big his role in this World Cup will be is unclear, especially since in addition to club colleagues such as Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané, Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry, Kai Havertz, Mario Götze and İlkay Gündoğan are also in the starting XI. The 19-year-old has been playing so well in recent weeks that the question shouldn’t be whether he’ll play – but in which position his strengths can best be used. Another proof of this look into the future, which is already shaping the present.
The situation at Adeyemi is completely different, which Flick even openly admitted. The national coach himself said that the nomination came as a “surprise” for some, especially since the performance at BVB was not outstanding: “I think he promised more, Dortmund promised more. With his pace and his degree but he can give something to the team.”
A look into the past shows that such personnel decisions have often paid off. David Odonkor burned himself into the collective memory with his run on the right flank and the cross to Oliver Neuville in the 2006 World Cup group match against Poland Failure of Michael Ballack carried the DFB-Elf to third place. In 2014 it was Christoph Kramer who suddenly moved into the starting XI shortly before the World Cup final and made a strong impression until his injury. Or Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who gained their first tournament experience at the admittedly messed up European Championship 2004.
Flick will also hope for such moments when he gives the youngest in his squad minutes to play in Qatar. That Karim Adeyemi overpowered a stable defense with his speed, that Youssoufa Moukoko found the gap with his goal drive that hadn’t opened up until then. That Jamal Musiala shows the playfulness with which he has already scored nine goals at FC Bayern this Bundesliga season. Or as Fredi Bobic, the 1996 European champion, summed it up after the nomination: “Hansi Flick has created an incredible number of possible variations with the squad.” Now he just has to implement this together and successfully with the DFB-Elf.