Füllkrug champions Dortmund’s misfortune

He hit the post when Borussia thought they could win the final, hit a header that Courtois repelled when the game was tied and celebrated a goal he scored offside when his team was looking for a desperate comeback, after the 80th minute of play. when he thought he saw the light for a few moments, until he came face to face with reality. The date at Wembley was a carousel of misfortunes for Niclas Füllkrug, about whom jokes are made because there is a hole in his mouth where an incisor should have been, a bad joke when referring to a striker, a proletarian footballer who was punished by the injuries during his time at Werder Bremen, Greuther Fürth, Nurenberg or Hannover. He had three goals on the stage that he never dreamed of and all three passed him by. Füllkrug championed Borussia Dortmund’s misfortune, as well as his self-sacrifice. Nothing can be blamed on someone who gives everything.

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Gregor Kobel, Julian Ryerson, Hummels, Ian Maatsen, Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can (Malen, min. 80), Brandt (Sébastian Haller, min. 80), M. Sabitzer, Jadon Sancho (Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, min. 86) , Karim Adeyemi (Marco Reus, min. 72) and Füllkrug

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Courtois, Nacho, Dani Carvajal, Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Federico Valverde, Kroos (Modric, min. 85), Jude Bellingham (Joselu, min. 85), Camavinga, Vinicius Junior (Lucas Vázquez, min. 93) and Rodrygo (Eder Military, min. 90)

Goals 0-1 min. 73: Dani Carvajal. 0-2 min. 82: Vinicius Junior.

Referee Slavko Vincic

Yellow cards Vinicius Junior (min. 34), Nico Schlotterbeck (min. 40), M. Sabitzer (min. 43) and Hummels (min. 78)

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For many years, with Joachim Löw at the helm, the lists in which the German team’s call-ups were announced grouped together midfielders and forwards, a very Teutonic way of hiding the hole in the number nine. In the land of Fritz Walter, Gerd Müller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Rudi Völler or Miroslav Klose, in that of Horst Hrubesch or Carsten Jancker, area forwards stopped sprouting, a territory that became a wasteland of such magnitude that in the last World Cup coach Hansi Flick looked for a solution never before used, that of Niclas Füllkrug, the striker of the then recently promoted Werder Bremen. The man, who was in his thirties, not only had not worn the national team shirt, but his service record included more games played in the second division than in the top category.

Füllkrug went to Qatar and won the title. He scored a goal against Spain and at the end of the match Rodri, who acted as center back in that match, referred to him after the match as “the striker whose name I don’t know.” Since then the surname Füllkrug does not stop ringing. The Bundesliga that cut the Qatar World Cup ended with 19 goals, in the next one he signed 16 and Dortmund paid 15 million euros for his signing and offered him a contract until June 2026. Coach Edin Terzic had no doubts and made him undisputed starter ahead of Sebastian Haller.

“He has heart and knows how to score goals,” Flick defined him at the time. Füllkrug finishes this season with 16 goals in the three competitions, but in between there was a nine-game drought that was broken with a goal against Atlético in the Champions League quarterfinals. He scored again shortly after in the semi-final against PSG. Another goal in the final in London would have crowned him.

He started the game with brilliance, collaborative to give continuity to his team’s attacking actions, threatening in the area and in unchecking. Halfway through the first half, Maatsen put him in front of glory with a filtered pass that found a shot with his toe that crashed into the post and crossed the goal line. Perhaps the video refereeing would have found the way around when he started throwing lines. Shortly afterwards he came within inches of connecting with a rebound from Courtois after an attempt by the sparkling Adeyemi. He lunged for the eternal goal, but the ball passed him by. After the break he showed panzer credentials with a header that found the Real Madrid goalkeeper. You couldn’t finish that ball with more soul, but you failed to direct it towards a space unattainable for the Belgian octopus, if that dimension exists.

The disallowed goal at the end defined the game for Niclas Füllkrug, a want and I can’t. A heartbreak. Germany is already separating the wheat from the chaff and identifying the forwards in its squad. The next Euro Cup is led by the hard-working Füllkrug, who will then have time for revenge.

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