Flick rewarded offensive player Götze, who shot Germany to their fourth and last World Cup title in the 2014 final against Argentina in Brazil, for consistently strong performances at Eintracht Frankfurt this season with a comeback in the German Football Association (DFB). “We’re looking forward to him,” said Flick. Götze played his last of 63 international matches five years ago in a 2-2 win against France in Cologne.
Götze really deserves the comeback because of his performances at Oliver Glasner’s Frankfurters, where he switched to this summer, according to Flick: “Our focus is on how someone performs. We all know that Mario is a brilliant footballer who has flashes of inspiration. If you look at the last games, he was at a very high level.” The 30-year-old is also “in top shape and can walk 90 minutes three times a week.”
Bayern block forms squad core
In general, the former Bayern coach, who celebrated the World Cup title as Joachim Löw’s assistant in 2014, was confident about his selection for the finals. “We have a very good squad that we can take with us,” said Flick. “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.
Because the core of Flick’s squad is unsurprisingly a block from Bayern Munich around goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The record champions also have the largest contingent with a total of seven players. In addition to Neuer, Thomas Müller, who, like his goalkeeper in 2014, is also part of the world champion squad, will be playing his fourth World Cup tournament in Qatar.
Young stars in, veterans out
After Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Wolfsburg’s Lukas Nmecha were out due to injury, Flick brought in young Dortmund star Moukoko and Niclas Füllkrug, who has regularly scored at Werder Bremen this season, to attack. The 29-year-old has scored ten goals in 13 games for Bremen. Moukoko, who turns 18 on the day of the opening game on November 20, is the youngest World Cup participant in DFB history. There is also former Salzburg player Karim Adeyemi, who has so far fallen short of expectations with two goals in 17 appearances at Borussia Dortmund.
Speaking of Dortmund: Two prominent absentees from the squad list also earn their money at BVB. For example, defender Mats Hummels, who was also part of the world champion team eight years ago, had no place in the squad, nor did Marco Reus, who was recently unfit. Above all, the failure of Reus, who is struggling with a damaged ankle, “simply hurts. Because we can make good use of his quality,” said Flick: “I’ve often said how much I appreciate him as a footballer. With his gift, which he has in the last third, he is good for every team. We will miss him.”
Germany’s 26-man squad
Tor: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (FC Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Defense: Armel Bella Kotchap (FC Southampton), Matthias Ginter (SC Freiburg), Christian Günter (SC Freiburg), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid) , Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Niklas Sule (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfield: Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Müller (all Bayern Munich), Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Mario Götze (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Attack: Kai Havertz (Chelsea), Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund), Niklas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen), Karim Adeyemi Borussia Dortmund)
