Mario Gotze took two shirts and a warm-up bib into the Maracana stadium for the 2014 World Cup final. Just before extra-time, after loosening up along the touchline, he was told by his manager, Joachim Low, to “go out and show them you’re as good as Messi.”
Gotze, on as a late substitute, went on to score the goal against Argentina that earned Germany their gold medals. He displayed his for the cameras alongside the second jersey he had carried onto the bench, a number 21 bearing the surname of his friend and colleague Marco Reus.
Most winning finalists at football’s greatest event extend their thoughts, at the moment of triumph, to a wider fraternity of teammates and support staff who, for one reason or another, cannot be among them.
Reus, the Borussia Dortmund striker, was the most conspicuous absentee from the German celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, ruled out by an ankle injury just before the tournament began.
It was not Reus’s first such setback. As a 21-year-old freshly capped prospect, injury struck him just before the 2010 World Cup. As a 33-year-old captain of Dortmund with five assists and two goals from his last three appearances for his country, he now dreads another heartbreak.
His chances of going to Qatar 2022 hang in the balance, amid concern that his return, off the bench in his club’s weekend defeat to Union Berlin, after a month out with another ankle problem may have come too soon.
By the end of Friday, Germany manager Hansi Flick, along with his 31 counterparts preparing for next month’s tournament in Qatar, must submit to Fifa a longlist of players they intend to pick their 26-man squads from.
The parameters are broad at this stage, Fifa allowing a maximum of 55 pre-chosen candidates before final squads are named on November 14. But tough phone calls will still be made, players being informed they have not made the first cut-off.
Flick has this week been seeking information on Reus’s condition. He was weighing up Gotze’s possible value, too, to a squad where the choice of attacking candidates can seem plentiful, a number of younger German talents having overtaken the attacker in the hierarchy over the eight years since the 2014 World Cup-winning hero eclipsed Messi in extra-time.
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HOW GERMANY QUALIFIED FOR WORLD CUP 2022: (Group J) March 25, 2021. Germany 3 (Goretzka 3', Havertz 7', Gundogan 56') Iceland 0: A comfortable start to the campaign for Joachim Low's men with Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan continuing his hot streak in front of goal with his 15th goal in 24 games for club and country. Low said: "It wasn’t our most incredible performance, but it was very important to make a positive start to the new year and that’s what we’ve done tonight." Getty -
March 28, 2021. Romania 0 Germany 1 (Gnabry 17'): Serge Gnabry's first-half strike made it two wins on the spin for Germany with a hard-fought victory in Bucharest. Germany captain Manuel Neuer said: "We should have scored the second goal, so we would not have been in danger of losing two points. We are lacking coolness, cleverness, maybe a bit of will inside the box. But their goalkeeper also had a few good stops, so kudos to him." Getty -
March 31, 2021. Germany 1 (Gundogan pen 63') North Macedonia 2 (Pandev 45'+2', Elmas 85'): Germany’s 35-match unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying ended with a shock home defeat. Their last loss had been a 5-1 home thrashing by England in September 2001. "This is bitterly disappointing," Low said. "We were not fresh enough, we made mistakes. When we played quickly we were dangerous but we did not find the tools to be really threatening." AP -
September 2, 2021. Liechtenstein 0 Germany 2 (Werner 41', Sane 77'): New manager Hansi Flick enjoyed a winning start to his reign against the minnows in Switzerland. Germany had 30 attempts at goal and 85 per cent of the possession. Flick said: "It took us too long to get our first goal, but it's a process. I won't let this first game ruffle my feathers, there's a long road ahead and we will make our way down it." EPA -
September 5, 2021. Germany 6 (Gnabry 6'&15', Reus 35', Werner 44', Hofmann 52', Adeyemi 90'+1') Armenia 0: An early double from Serge Gnabry put Germany on the road to an impressive rout of the Armenians in Stuttgart that could easily have been even more. Midfielder Leon Goretzka said: "The atmosphere was extraordinary. I felt lots of joy in the stands and we wanted to display the same kind of joy on the pitch. I think it worked out." AFP -
September 8, 2021. Iceland 0 Germany 4 (Gnabry 4', Rudiger 24', Sane 56'), Werner 88'): Flick's team sit top of the group four points clear of Armenia thanks to goals from Chelsea pair Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner, plus Bayern Munich duo Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane. Flick said: "We only had a few training sessions. Our goal was to win the three games, and we achieved that. We have taken a step forward. We're not at 100 per cent yet, but the team is on the right track." Getty -
October 8, 2021. Germany 2 (Gnabry 52', Muller 81') Romania 1 (Hagi 9'): Germany fought back from a goal down as Thomas Muller scored a first competitive goal for his country since March 2017, having been exiled for two years under previous manager Joachim Low. Flick said: "Conceding goals always annoys me. We were about to get a penalty and then we suffered. It wasn't easy for us to put up with it. In the end, we deserved to win against a team that defended very deep." EPA -
October 11, 2021. North Macedonia 0 Germany 4 (Havertz 50', Werner 70', 73', Musiala, 83'): A memorable night for Germany. Revenge for their shock defeat earlier in the campaign and, most importantly, qualification for Qatar secured in style. Flick said: "From the result it was perfect. We got what we wanted, qualified as quickly as possible and we now have five wins in a row. Again the attitude was right. Compliments to the team." EPA -
November 11, 2021. Germany 9 (Gundogan pen 11', Kaufmann og 20', Sane 22', 49', Reus 23', Muller 76', 86', Baku 80', Goppel og 89') Liechtenstein 0: Hansi Flick became the first Germany coach to win his first six games in charge as his Covid-hit team thrashed Liechtenstein, who had a man sent off inside 10 minutes. Forward Thomas Muller said: "We have to put things into perspective a little. We didn't have a really strong opponent in our group." AFP -
November 14, 2021. Armenia 1 (Mkhitaryan pen 59') Germany 4 (Havertz 15', Gundogan pen 45'+4', 50', Hofmann 64'): Hansi Flick extended his winning streak to seven matches in a row as Germany finished top of the group with 27 points out of a possible 30. Flick said: "It wasn't all brilliant, but the way we try to play football is great. You can see that the team always wants to attack and create chances. We know what we need to improve on; we've got time for that." AFP
Gotze has suffered serious illness and various injuries in a period that has seen him move from Bayern Munich, to Dortmund and to PSV Eindhoven before returning, with some of his old verve, to the Bundesliga and Eintracht Frankfurt. Flick has been in touch with Gotze, but it is still nearly five years since he last played for Germany.
He would be an outlier in Flick’s longlist, his chances, at 30, of another crack at the World Cup probably depending on others being unavailable. Flick has concerns not only over Reus, but Bayern Munich's Leroy Sane, who suffered a muscle tear last Sunday.
One world champion facing up gloomily to watching events in Qatar from long distance is Chelsea’s N‘Golo Kante, whose hamstring problem is forecast to keep him out of action until the new year.
Kante, the midfield motor of France’s triumph in 2018, is a significant loss for Les Bleus in an area of the pitch where manager Didier Deschamps has other worries.
Paul Pogba has only just returned to light training following surgery he had hoped to delay until after Qatar 2022. He joined Juventus in the summer, where the gravity of his knee injury became apparent, hastening him to the operating table.
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HOW FRANCE QUALIFIED FOR WORLD CUP 2022: (Group D) March 24, 2021. France 1 (Griezmann 19') Ukraine 1 (Sydorchuk 57'): The world champions took a deserved lead courtesy of a fine Antoine Griezmann finish, only for the Ukraine to equalise via a big deflection that wrong-footed goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. France attacker Olivier Giroud said: "When you don't score the second goal against a team defending very well with determination ... then it's hard." AFP -
March 28, 2021. Kazakhstan 0 France 2 (Dembele 19', Malyy og 44'): Barcelona attacker Ousmane Dembele put France on their way to a first victory of the campaign following good work from Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial. A headed own goal completed the victory. Manager Didier Deschamps said: “It’s a good result even if we could have won by more goals ... the only regret here was that we didn’t take our chances in the second half." AFP -
March 31, 2021. Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 France 1 (Griezmann 60'): Hugo Lloris produced several key saves as France secured a narrow win thanks to Antoine Griezmann's second-half goal. Griezmann said: "It was a difficult game. We had a bit of fatigue and a bit of trouble playing against five at the back. We know people expect things from us in every game." EPA -
September 1, 2021. France 1 (Griezmann 39') Bosnia 1 (Dzeko 36'): Another Griezmann goal earned 10-man France a point after Inter Milan's Edin Dzeko had put Bosnia in front. Griezmann had re-joined Atletico Madrid from Barcelona less than 24 hours earlier, while Jules Kounde was sent off for the hosts. Deschamps said: " It is obviously harder with 10 men. We had some chances but it is not the result we were looking for." AFP -
September 4, 2021 Ukraine 1 (Shaparenko 44') France 1 (Martial 50'): Anthony Martial bundled in a close-range equaliser for only his second international goal - and first since 2016 - as the world champions' stuttering World Cup qualifying campaign continued. "It was much better in the second half and we have regrets in the first as we conceded the goal just after missing a chance," said Deschamps. Reuters -
September 7, 2021. France 2 (Griezmann 25, 53') Finland 0: A Griezmann double took the striker level with Michel Platini on 41 goals for his country, leaving him 10 behind all-time top scorer Thierry Henry and five short of Olivier Giroud. Captain Lloris said: “It’s not easy to stay at the top level and Antoine has done it for many years now. He’s in the top three scorers of all-time for France and soon will have 100 caps." Reuters -
November 13, 2021. France 8 (Mbappe 6', 12', 32', 87', Benzema 55', 59', Rabiot 75', Griezmann pen 84') Kazakhstan 0: Kylian Mbappe notched his first hat-trick for France as the reigning world champions secured their place at next year's World Cup in Qatar in style. It was the first hat-trick by a France player in a competitive international since Dominique Rocheteau in 1985. "A World Cup is a dream, an aim, it's everything and ... We're going over there to win it," Mbappe said. AFP -
![November 16, 2021. Finland 0 France 2 (Benzema 66', Mbappe 76'): Substitute Karim Benzema combined with Mbappe for the opening goal while the prolific PSG striker followed on from his four against Kazakhstan with another in Helsinki. "We wanted to finish on a high and we're happy we did it," said Benzema. "Now we're looking forward to the World Cup. With the team we have it's natural to think about [winning] it." AFP](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/WFWBZXMNK7D7CQB36VZSIEGBJA.jpg?smart=true&auth=221980918ada744e0373ed2a7e53bf03fe40105f1af5e79c0973166f02fc55f2&width=400&height=225)
November 16, 2021. Finland 0 France 2 (Benzema 66', Mbappe 76'): Substitute Karim Benzema combined with Mbappe for the opening goal while the prolific PSG striker followed on from his four against Kazakhstan with another in Helsinki. "We wanted to finish on a high and we're happy we did it," said Benzema. "Now we're looking forward to the World Cup. With the team we have it's natural to think about [winning] it." AFP
![November 16, 2021. Finland 0 France 2 (Benzema 66', Mbappe 76'): Substitute Karim Benzema combined with Mbappe for the opening goal while the prolific PSG striker followed on from his four against Kazakhstan with another in Helsinki. "We wanted to finish on a high and we're happy we did it," said Benzema. "Now we're looking forward to the World Cup. With the team we have it's natural to think about [winning] it." AFP](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/WFWBZXMNK7D7CQB36VZSIEGBJA.jpg?smart=true&auth=221980918ada744e0373ed2a7e53bf03fe40105f1af5e79c0973166f02fc55f2&width=800&height=450)
Pogba has not seen any competitive action for six months. He has a maximum of six possible fixtures for troubled Juventus to prove he is World Cup-ready.
No such opportunity for Diogo Jota, the Liverpool forward, who feared, rightly, for his chances of making Portugal’s squad as soon as he was stretchered off late in his club’s victory against Manchester City on Sunday . “One of my dreams has collapsed,” he told supporters, reconciled to be just “a supporter” when his country head to the Gulf.
Others who await the naming of provisional squads with no suspense, but only sadness include Jota’s ex-Liverpool colleague, Gini Wijnaldum, who wore the Dutch captain’s armband at the last European Championship but effectively gave up his Netherlands number eight jersey for the rest of 2022 when he broke his leg shortly after making his Roma debut in August.
England’s midfield resources are likewise under threat of being diminished, with City’s Kalvin Phillips racing against time to shake off a shoulder problem. The famed English wealth of talent at right-back is also thinning, with Chelsea’s Reece James a serious fitness doubt and Kyle Walker in recuperation.
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HOW ENGLAND QUALIFIED FOR WORLD CUP 2022: (Group I) March 25, 2021. England 5 (Ward Prowse 14', Calvert-Lewin 21', 53', Sterling 31', Watkins 83'): England began their qualification campaign by brushing aside San Marino at Wembley with substitute Ollie Watkins scoring on his debut. Manager Gareth Southgate said: "Of course, it's an opponent we should beat, but I thought they went about the job really well." Reuters -
March 28, 2021. Albania 0 England 2 (Kane 38', Mount 63'): Two out of two for Southgate's men who stretched their unbeaten run in World Cup qualifiers to 23 games after Harry Kane scored one and supplied the other. Southgate said: "We had opportunities to make it three and should have killed the game off. I didn’t like the way we managed the game in the last 15 minutes, charging forwards when we didn’t need to." Reuters -
March 31, 2021. England 2 (Kane pen 19', Maguire 85') Poland 1 (Moder 58'): England overcame a dreadful error from defender John Stones that led to Poland - who were without Robert Lewandowski up front - scoring to make it three wins out of three. Southgate said: "We need to play top opponents and you could see tonight we still have a lot of improvements to make. That’s not anything I didn’t know." Reuters -
September 2, 2021. Hungary 0 England 4 (Sterling 55', Kane 63', Maguire 69', Rice 87'): Impressive England destroyed Hungary with four second-half goals in Budapest in a match where England players had objects thrown at them while some players suffered racist abuse from the home crowd. Southgate said: "We showed great maturity and kept the ball well. The attacking play was really exciting in the second half and we could have had more." Reuters -
September 5, 2021. England 4 (Lingard 18', 78', Kane pen 72'), Saka 85') Andorra 0: Three late goals made it five wins out of five for England, who made 11 changes from the side that won 4-0 in Hungary. Southgate said: "It was difficult for the players picked who didn't have as much games together. You have to keep moving the ball, keep being patient. It wasn't an easy task." AFP -
September 8, 2021. Poland 1 (Szymanski 90+2') England 1 (Kane 72'). An injury-time leveller ended England's 100 per cent record but still found themselves four points clear at the top of Group I with four games left. Southgate said: "It was no surprise that this was the hardest game in the group. Early in the game, we were a little slow to move the ball ... in the second half we controlled the game." AFP -
October 9, 2021. Andorra 0 England 5 (Chilwell 17', Saka 40', Abraham 59', Ward-Prowse 79', Grealish 86'): A stroll for England against a country ranked 156th in the world. Manchester City forward Phil Foden was the star of the show as Jack Grealish scored his first England goal. Grealish said: "In the back of my mind there has been that feeling that I've just wanted to score, just to get off the mark. Obviously I've done that tonight, I'm delighted." Reuters -
October 12, 2021. England 1 (Stones 37') Hungary 1 (Sallai pen 24'): A stumble in England's quest for Qatar as Southgate's side produced a disjointed display at Wembley with an out-of-form Harry Kane taken off despite the Three Lions still searching for a winner. Southgate said: "I don't think we played at the level we have done and Hungary defended very well. We didn't do enough to win the game." EPA -
November 12, 2021. England 5 (Maguire 9', Kane 18', 33', 45'+1), Henderson (28') Albania 0: Harry Kane was back in the scoring groove, hitting a hat-trick that left England needing only a point from their final qualifier in San Marino to qualify. Southgate said: "The first-half performance in the main was outstanding. Harry gave a fantastic centre-forward's performance ... I thought his all-round game was excellent." Getty -
November 15, 2021. San Marino 0 England 10 (Maguire 6', Fabbri og 15'), Kane pen 27', 31', pen 39', 42'), Smith Rowe 58', Mings 69', Abraham 78', Saka 79'): England reached double figures for the first time since 1964 and secured their spot in Qatar. Southgate said: "We gave a performance that was enjoyable for the supporters that travelled, was clinical in the way we went about it, and then showed some exciting young players coming through." Reuters
