Secret weapon for storm problem?: Full pitcher swears by number "9" and attack

A "rascal" as a secret weapon for the World Cup: Bremen's Niclas Füllkrug could be a solution to the German storm problem and brings things to the team that nobody in the DFB team can do apart from the attacker.

Secret weapon for storm problem?: Full pitcher swears by number "9" and attack

A "rascal" as a secret weapon for the World Cup: Bremen's Niclas Füllkrug could be a solution to the German storm problem and brings things to the team that nobody in the DFB team can do apart from the attacker. But he also warns that no miracles should be expected of him.

Niclas Füllkrug was immediately in his element. In his first training session as a national player, the late bloomer in Oman was on the agenda for header exercises - a specialty of the Bremen player. Also because of this strength, Hansi Flick shows courage to “gap” at the World Cup.

Füllkrug, the man with the prominent gap in his teeth, is to revive the great center forward tradition in the DFB selection - with the legendary "9" on his back. The idols Fritz Walter, Uwe Seeler, Klaus Fischer, Horst Hrubesch and Rudi Völler once wowed German fans with this number at world championships. This time: filling jug?

"They were all good guys, real guys. I think I'm a good guy too," says Füllkrug. But the number 9 was the idea of ​​the DFB. "You asked if I was fine with that." His answer? "Yes, of course I'm happy about it, it's definitely a cool thing." He often wore them in his youth, for TuS Ricklingen he scored 162 goals in a single season as a "niner". "Nine is never wrong for a centre-forward," says Füllkrug with a smile.

It was "a long way" from the Ricklingen district of Hanover to Qatar, says the latecomer. The now 29-year-old jug literally came to the World Cup out of nowhere. As a prospective professional he made a name for himself, he played from the U18 to the U20 for the DFB, also under coach Hrubesch. But at Werder Bremen he didn't make the breakthrough at first and had to take a long detour: Fürth, Nuremberg, Hanover, back to Werder. If the World Cup had taken place in the summer as usual - the then second division striker Füllkrug would not have been an issue for Flick.

The German World Cup nine wants to throw himself into the finals, regardless of his role, and goes on the offensive: "Sometimes a tournament takes paths that you can't even imagine right now. You need every player with 100 percent every second. It doesn't matter whether he gets a minute to waste time or always plays from the start," said the Werder Bremen professional in Muscat and promised: "I'll try to be ready and help."

The national coach, however, has already prepared Füllkrug for his role on the pitch. "First impressions were given to him via video analysis," "how my position is to be played and how you can function in this unit," he said, but pointed out: "I don't think it will work perfectly on a rush."

With ten goals for newly promoted Bremen, the most accurate German attacker this season stormed into the national coach's notebook. Füllkrug has "the momentum," said Flick, "we can see that Niclas has skills that can enrich our game." He knows: "A tall, athletic forward in the penalty area would make our attacking game more variable." He would also fit in perfectly with the strong Bayern block, like Robert Lewandowski once did or Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting currently at the club. The absence of Timo Werner, placed under Flick in the center of the attack, increases his chances. He will make his debut in the national team at the World Cup dress rehearsal in Oman on Wednesday (6 p.m. CET/RTL).

His mentor Hrubesch is still a "fullness" fan today. Flick "does not otherwise have such a powerful striker in the squad", the Bremen player "has all the requirements," he told the "FAZ". Hrubesch likes the guy “Füllkrug” who is “always a bit of a rascal”. Sometimes, Fullkrug admitted, he "opened his mouth at the wrong moment". In the scramble for places, he has to assert himself against the first Werner alternative Kai Havertz, behind whom he sat in the World Cup plane, and the second newcomer Youssoufa Moukoko. His club coach Ole Werner says: "I trust him. He can help the team."

It's quite possible that Flick plans him as a joker, like the World Cup nines Mike Hanke (2006) or Stefan Kießling (2010). Füllkrug is "one who gives the team the confidence that something is still possible," said the national coach. Then "fullness" or "gap" would become: the gap filler.