International match DFB vs Peru: Debt repayment with Niclas Füllkrug – Sport

Shortly before kick-off, national coach Hansi Flick said into an orange ZDF microphone that German national team be in the “obligation to bring”. The dictionary appropriately uses an exemplary explanation from football for this serious word. It says: “The club has an obligation to the fans.”

The national team of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund eV) disappointed their fans at the World Cup in Qatar four months ago, where they were eliminated in the first round. Since then, a loss of image of the national team has been discussed in Germany. In a good 14 months, the European Championship will begin in Germany. By then, the image should be regained and the obligation to deliver should be fulfilled.

The 2-0 (2-0) win against Peru on Saturday evening in Mainz was a small first step. This test match, in which many of the established German national players were not even there, was not about anything else. Flick had demanded “passion” from this deliberately improvised team, “not perfection”. Tonight, she met both requirements. It certainly wasn’t perfect, “but you could see the dynamism, especially in the first half,” said the national coach Hansi Flick. “It was also important for us that we didn’t concede a goal.”

Dortmund’s Marius Wolf is the only debutant in the starting XI

Both goals were scored by Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug, the striker whose supporting role at the World Cup had provoked a great deal of criticism of Flick. Many fans and experts would have liked to have seen Füllkrug in the starting line-ups in Qatar as well. But it was not until Saturday in Mainz that the 30-year-old was allowed to play from the start in his fifth international match. His record in the national team is now: five games, five goals. “I’m pleased that I’m already so well integrated in the national team,” said Füllkrug, who acted for the first time as part of a double leadership alongside Timo Werner – a system that Hansi Flick would like to include in the repertoire with a view to the home European Championship.

Full krug made it 1-0 in the 12th minute on a template from Kai Havertz, and 2-0 on a template from Wolf in the 33rd minute. He and his colleagues left other good opportunities unused in a superior first half. What was striking, however, was how well, in contrast to the European Championship, the opponent’s penalty area was occupied – by Füllkrug, Werner or the following Havertz.

Of the six debutants that Flick had called up to his squad, Dortmund’s Marius Wolf was the right-back position and only one was in the starting XI. Wolf’s BVB colleague Emre Can celebrated his return to the national team in defensive midfield after almost two years, and for Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz in attacking midfield it was his first appearance in the national jersey in almost a year and a half after his cruciate ligament rupture. All the other players were established forces, including goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, because he has been a national player for nine years. However, the 30-year-old never got past Manuel Neuer, who is currently injured.

Ter Stegen didn’t get much to do against the Peruvians. One would have expected them to be a bit more dangerous, after all they are only seven places behind the Germans, who are 14th in the world rankings. But the Peruvians trundle in from all over the world for such international matches quite exhausted: four of their eleven starting players are active in the USA, two in Saudi Arabia, two in South America, two in the Netherlands and one in Spain. Defenders Miguel Araujo from FC Emmen and Marcos Lopez from Feyenoord Rotterdam had the shortest journey.

On Tuesday we face Belgium and coach Tedesco

After the break, the German game remained modest in terms of perfection, and it also slacked off a bit in terms of passion. Frankfurt’s Mario Götze was lucky to escape a nasty Peruvian tackle and Munich’s Serge Gnabry needed treatment for a bleeding nose after a collision with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. There were now a few minor skirmishes between the players of both teams, with Italian referee Maria Caputi looking a bit lost at the centre. A penalty kick could have resulted in the third goal in the 68th minute. Nico Schlotterbeck was fouled. But Havertz put the penalty on the right post.

The new international Wolf with the historic German serial number 964 was joined in the final phase by Kevin Schade (debutant No. 965) and Mergim Berisha (No. 966). On Tuesday, the German team will play in Cologne against Belgium, fourth in the world rankings, with German coach Domenico Tedesco – the next chance to test and fulfill the obligation. The 1000th international match is coming up in June, probably in Bremen, maybe against the Ukraine. Football Germany then expects a ceremony.