Teen striker Youssoufa Moukoko? Classic nine Niclas filling jug? Another tournament comeback for the eternal Mats Hummels? Maybe a second Khedira?
Or does Hansi Flick end up letting Rio goal hero Mario Götze write another World Cup chapter after five years without an international match in Qatar? During the guesswork about the provisional XXL squad of the national coach for the World Cup, which was kept secret by the DFB, more and more names leaked out a good two weeks before the final nomination.
In addition to the many established regulars such as Joshua Kimmich or Antonio Rüdiger, Flick's list of a maximum of 55 players includes well-known shadow men and injured wobbly candidates as well as some surprise and numerous strike candidates. Before reporting the extended group of players to the world governing body FIFA last Friday, Flick and his coaching staff went into seclusion to map out all eventualities. "It's about if-then strategies," Flick said recently about the selection process: "What qualities do we need that a player has in certain situations?"
"Bild" has now published 44 player names that should "definitely" be on the DFB list. In fact, there are probably more. For example, the newspaper did not list Southampton FC U21 national player Armel Bella Kotchap, who recently made his debut in the 3-3 win against England in the Nations League and was highly praised by Flick, in the defense section.
"Will not issue an official list"
"We will not publish an official list," announced DFB director Oliver Bierhoff. The Netherlands, for example, had published Bond coach Louis van Gaal's 39 World Cup candidates. Flick only wants to announce the names of the maximum of 26 players on November 10th, who he will also take to the World Cup four days later. The 57-year-old promised one or two surprises. It could well be "that we take a player with us for a certain moment".
When Flick said that, it was about the problematic center forward position. Dortmund's youngster Moukoko, who has already had several special goal moments at BVB this season and appreciates his potential Flick - also with a view to the home European Championship in 2024. By the way, Moukoko will be on the day of the World Cup. opening game of age. Flick could also use "the three more options" that he has thanks to the increase in the World Cup squad to 26 players to appoint Niclas Füllkrug (29) in addition to Moukoko.
The Bremen player is at the top of the Bundesliga top scorers list with eight goals and brings the skills of a classic nine that seeded World Cup attackers such as Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Thomas Müller or Serge Gnabry do not have. "What Füllkrug does makes sense," praised Flick recently after watching the attacker live, who still had to prove his marksmanship on the international stage. In addition to "a very good run, Füllkrug might give his team an element that we don't have," said Flick.
With Hummels (33) and Götze (30), the DFB coach would know what he was getting, even if Flick had not yet nominated them for international matches during his tenure. Flick was Joachim Löw’s assistant during the 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil, for which Götze scored with his winning goal in the final against Argentina. Gladbacher Christoph Kramer (31), who now appears on Flick's XXL list, was also there at the time, but should probably travel to Qatar as a ZDF expert.
Prepared for all parts of the team
Flick has prepared himself for all parts of the team, even if professionals like Robin Knoche and Rani Khedira from Bundesliga leaders 1. FC Union Berlin should only be given a personal World Cup ticket if there are extreme staff shortages. Rani Khedira is the younger brother of 2014 World Champion Sami Khedira. There are currently a few injured wobbly candidates such as Gladbach's Jonas Hofmann, Leipzig's Lukas Klostermann or Dortmund's Marco Reus, who has problems with his foot again after a comeback that was probably too early. Flick also noted Leverkusen's young star Florian Wirtz (cruciate ligament rupture) on his World Cup slip.
Flick wants to observe what his candidates offer him up to the last moment. "I expect a development from every player. We're not quite there to be able to play at the top level when it comes to the knockout games at the World Cup, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, finals," said the national coach recently.
