Bundesliga
Goal and template: Werder’s filling pitcher is recommended for the World Cup
Bremen’s Milos Veljkovic (l) and Hoffenheim’s Munas Dabbur fight for the ball. Photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Niclas Füllkrug also became the match winner in Bremen’s away win against Hoffenheim. The national coach watches from the stands. Füllkrug’s colleagues praise the striker in the highest tones.
This time Hansi Flick was able to convince himself of the qualities of the Niclas Füllkrug. The public discussion as to whether the national coach Werder Bremen should take the top scorer to Qatar for the upcoming Winter World Cup should continue to gain momentum.
In the 2-1 (1-1) at the start of the 9th Bundesliga matchday at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Friday evening, Füllkrug once again became the match winner for the Hanseatic League – and Flick – with his late winning goal and an assist for a 1-0 lead watched from the stands.
“Fülle is the best striker we have right now – in the league and also the best German for me,” said Bremen’s Austrian captain Marco Friedl after the somewhat fortunate victory in Sinsheim. “It was clear to me that he would score,” said substitute Leonardo Bittencourt of the attacker. “He’s been doing well for weeks.”
Strong start
Füllkrug has already scored eight goals this season and thus played a key role in Bremen’s strong start. The promoted team is the best away team in the league so far and has at least temporarily advanced to a place in the Champions League. “It wasn’t our best game, but the performance was okay for the 90 minutes,” summed up Werder coach Ole Werner. Sometimes his team just “depends on a bit of luck”. And the nerve-racking jug.
The 29-year-old converted the penalty kick in the 87th minute very coolly and thus secured the next three points for the final phase specialists from Bremen. Füllkrug had previously prepared the second goal of the season by his congenial strike partner Marvin Ducksch (18th) with a nice one-two. Munas Dabbur (32nd) scored the temporary equalizer for TSG, who suffered their first home defeat of the season.
Just like after the furious 5-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend, some Werder fans were already singing about the European Cup after beating Hoffenheim. That shows that “the people of Bremen have a bit of humor from time to time,” said coach Werner. “I think that’s more what it means. We all know where we come from and what the general conditions are like here. The team is doing outstandingly at the moment.” Above all Knipser filling jug.