Once upon a time, when Germany was still a formidable team, one that won titles and was not eliminated in the first round of the World Cup or in the round of 16 of the Euros, they also had formidable strikers.
In the 1970s, it was "Der Bomber" Gerd Miller, who scored the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final. In the following decades, Karl Heinz Rummenigge, Jurgen Klinsmann, Rudy Feller and Miroslav Klose, the all-time top scorer of the "Manchester" with 71 goals, arrived. .
But Klose retired from the national team after winning the 2014 World Cup, Germany's last title, and since then the successor has not been found, for over 8 years.
Timo Werner was marked as the future striker of the team, but did not live up to expectations.
Kai Habertz, who scored the winning goal in the Champions League final two years ago for Chelsea, is an excellent player but definitely not a typical 9.
And so is Karim Adeyemi.
Clouse.
In Germany, someone like him is missed, photo: AFP
In the match against Spain, coach Hansie Flick fielded a team that did not have a real striker.
Thomas Müller was actually a dummy 9, but didn't get any chance.
In the 70th minute, eight minutes after Alvaro Morata put Spain in the lead, Flick sent Niklas Polkrug to the grass in Müller's place.
13 minutes later Polkrug beat the Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon with a tremendous kick and saved Germany from a second consecutive loss, which would have left them with a much smaller chance of qualifying for the round of 16.
Polkrug will be 30 years old next February, but until a few weeks ago no one at all thought of him as an option for the national team.
Polkrug was born in Hannover and started his career at Werder Bremen.
He also played for Greuther Firth, Nuremberg and Hannover before returning to Bremen in the summer of 2019. He was then considered a reasonable league striker and nothing more.
He also went through a lot of injuries that stalled his career.
Then, in the summer of 2021, Bremen was relegated to the second division.
Fulkoorg.
Injuries stuck the career,
Polkrug decided to stay, and in retrospect it was the best decision he made in his career.
He scored 19 goals and was one of the main factors in Bremen's return to the Bundesliga.
He started the current season with a bang and scored 10 goals in 16 games.
Bremen is ranked 9th in the table, but Polkrug himself is ranked second in the scoring table, after Christopher Ankonko, who scored 12 times in Leipzig's uniform.
The excellent form Polkrug is in, along with the lack of strikers, led Flick to the decision to invite him to the World Cup.
In his debut game, on November 16 against Oman, he came on as a substitute and scored.
Flick was satisfied and realized that his bet was correct.
In the loss against Japan, he came on in the 79th minute instead of Habertz, but it was too late.
Against Spain he entered and scored.
Tonight, against Costa Rica in a match in which they must win in order to qualify for the round of 16, Polkrug is already scheduled to start in the lineup.
Cinderella, did we say?
Polkrog.
Will he continue his great form against Spain?, Photo: AFP
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