Amateur football threatened: DFB star saves World Cup dream at the last second

The World Cup starts in a few months: According to DFB coach Flick, anyone who wants a place in the squad needs match practice.

A DFB star took that to heart.

Paris/Lisbon – The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is just around the corner, the scramble for squad places with national coach Hansi Flick is great.

26 players are allowed to fly to the World Cup: a large stage for numerous players to show themselves and their talent.

The squad density in the German national team is enormous, Flick can choose from a mass of highly talented people.

Especially in the attacking midfield of the DFB team there is a maximum oversupply.

This is also reinforced by the fact that not only "classic tens" but also hanging tips are possible in Flick's game systems: Kai Havertz, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala, Marco Reus, Thomas Müller, Karim Adeyemi, Timo Werner, for example, to name just a few.

World Cup 2022: Julian Draxler at PSG on the siding

A name that has not been discussed publicly for a long time is that of Julian Draxler.

The offensive man, once celebrated as a talent of the century at FC Schalke, threatened to disappear into the depths of the Paris St. Germain squad.

There he was only given a few minutes under various coaches: the competition for Neymar, Kylian Mbappé & Co. was too great. When the newest Parisian coach, Christophe Galtier, took office, the PSG squad had over 50 players.

Galtier demoted more than 20 of them, one of them: Julian Draxler.

In addition to Draxler, national player Thilo Kehrer apparently had no chance at the Saine, he switched to West Ham United in the Premier League.

Draxler even threatened to be transferred to PSG's second team.

This plays in the fifth French league, i.e. in amateur football: understandably not an option for the 28-year-old, especially in view of the upcoming World Cup.

World Cup 2022: Roger Schmidt developed Mario Götze – and now Julian Draxler?

Now Draxler is following the same path as Mario Götze, to Roger Schmidt: Götze, who now plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, also switched to Schmidt, but to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

What the international press initially viewed as a career step turned out to be an opportunity for Götze to develop undisturbed.

Roger Schmidt is now training Benfica in Portugal.

Draxler now wants to take off there – and convince Hansi Flick of himself.

In the transfer, which was preceded by the medical check on Wednesday, Draxler also benefited from Daichi Kamada's failed move.

The Eintracht playmaker was traded at Benfica, but the deal ultimately fell through.

At Benfica, Draxler plays Draxler in the Champions League: a suitable stage to be able to show yourself.

There is also the Schmidt factor: After Götze, he could help the next national player to shine again.

(do)