On Thursday, Germany unexpectedly included Youssoufa Moukoko, a youngster from Borussia Dortmund, in their World Cup roster as 2014 World Cup champion Mario Goetze made an astonishing comeback to the national team setup after five years.
German World Cup team includes veteran Goetze and teenager Youssoufa Moukoko
Moukoko, a 17-year-old who has scored six goals in the Bundesliga this season, was named to the 26-man roster by Germany coach Hansi Flick for the competition, which will begin in Qatar on November 20.
The player Youssoufa is vivacious and swift. Flick expressed, “We are overjoyed for him. Despite the unavailability of the unwell Timo Werner and Lukas Nmecha, Werder Bremen attacker Niclas Fuellkrug was given a berth after a great season in which he has scored 10 goals.
However, the return of 30-year-old midfielder Goetze, who scored the winning goal in 2014, to the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt this year, will undoubtedly grab all the attention. Mario Goetze was present. The previous occurrence occurred in 2017. Both Mario and us are overjoyed to have him. He is a superb player, as we all are aware. He has been playing quite well in the most recent games, Flick said at a press conference.
Team Squad:
Leroy Sane, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Mueller, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, and the young Jamal Musiala from Bayern Munich made up a potent midfield core. For the fourth straight World Cup, Manuel Neuer, the team’s starting goalie, will serve as captain.
Four-time champions On Nov. 23, Germany will face Japan in the first of its Group E matches in an effort to avenge their shocking first-round loss from 2018.
They next play Spain four days later, and then on December 1 they play Costa Rica. On Monday, Germany will go for Oman, where they will play their last exhibition match on November 16 before continuing on to Doha. However, the absence of Mats Hummels and captain of Dortmund Marco Reus was due to the former’s inability to fully heal from yet another injury.
Reus missed the 2014 World Cup as well because of an injury he suffered just before the team left for Brazil, where they won the tournament.