Borussia Dortmund Niclas Füllkrug was not the first striker on Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team sheet. On Sunday, in the hosts’ final group stage match of EURO 2024 against Switzerland, he was not even the second.
But Füllkrug proved to be the one Germany needed at the last.
On a day where Germany’s top stars misfired, Füllkrug took his one chance in his only 15 minutes of play and bagged it, beating Yann Sommer with a deftly-placed header in the second minute of stoppage time. The goal restored parity in the match and lifted the Germans above the Swiss to a first-place finish in Group A. That’s one goal involvement for every 50 minutes on the field, if you’re keeping tally:
Niclas Füllkrug for Germany
19 games
6 starts
13 goals
2 assists
Involved in a goal every 50 minutes
It is a twist of fate that may prove vital to Germany’s hopes of winning the tournament. But is it more luck or fate that the 31-year-old late bloomer keeps rising to the occasion — literally — for his national team?
Arsenal FC striker Kai Havertz clearly has something managers love. He led the way for Gunners coach Mikel Arteta en route to a Premier League title challenge, and is Nagelsmann’s first choice in a similarly suffocating system. But where the former Leverkusen and Chelsea FC star offers flexibility and dynamism from the opening whistle, Füllkrug is the one who seems to score goals and change games late.
It’s only the second major tournament for Fülle, who is used to being overlooked and underrated. He was a surprise inclusion in Hansi Flick’s squad for the FIFA 2022 Men’s World Cup, where he helped Germany salvage a late draw with Spain. Now the Spanish — likely winners of Group C at this EUROs — are lurking again in Germany’s path. Will history repeat? Is it #FülleTime?
Whether Füllkrug starts getting starts or not, we may not have seen the last of his heroics for Germany at EURO 2024 just yet.
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