Niklas Filkrug or "Lücke", as he is nicknamed because of the gap between his teeth, at first glance he may look more like a boxer than a football player, he experienced the sports fairy tale late, but it is hard to imagine Germany's attack without him this summer...
The guy who turned 31 years old in February is clearly not the class of the legendary strikers of the "manchaft" that they used to be. Gerd Müller, Karl-Heinz Rumenige or Jurgen Klinsmann, but he is old school, a classic nine that solves games when the players in the formation he envisioned don't quite go their way Julian Nagelsmann.
On Sunday evening, Filkrug entered the field in the 76th minute, and in the 92nd minute he scored a goal for a draw against Switzerland and Germany's first place in the group before the battle in the knockout phase.
A goal in just 58 minutes
He made his debut for Germany before the World Cup in Qatar after good games in Werder Bremen, and so far he has played a total of 19 matches and scored 13 goals.
The Bundesliga website reminds that he scored an average of 0,68 goals per game, but also that throughout history (when players with 15 or more matches are counted) only Gerd Müller (1,1) Max Morlock (0,81) and Klaus Fischer (0,71)
However, the statistics also say that he is even better than the great Gerd in one parameter, since he shakes the net every 58 minutes, while the greatest German striker of all time did it every 80 minutes.
What is important is that out of the mentioned 19 matches, Filkrug was among Germany's starting 11 in only six.
- When we need him, he is there and does not make mistakes. We have to decide whether he will start in the next matches or whether he will continue to come from the bench - luck for us, but also a pity for him because he is good in that other role - said Nagelsman and added:
- The goal against Switzerland was not easy - now he has new training ahead of him to be even better.
Injuries slowed down his career
The silent hero of Germany until his transfer to Borussia Dortmund mostly "wandered" between the Bundesliga and Zvajta...
He wore the jerseys of Nürnberg, Greuther Firth, Hanover (he was born in that city) and Werder, and one of the reasons why he didn't "explode" before was frequent knee injuries, which he eventually had to operate on.
Everything finally came into its own when he managed to bring the team from Bremen back to the Bundesliga, after which the call from the former coach arrived. Hansia Flick, and he continued with goals in Borussia.
There is also an opinion that Filkrug is there because Germany currently does not have a world-class point guard, but every minute he got "Lücke" justified in the right way. In conclusion with his two goals at this year's Euros - a missile against Scotland in the opener and a skydive in the duel with Switzerland.
Bonus video:
