Marco Reus has only contested one World Cup so far – and it will apparently stay that way. Several media reports that the ailing Borussia Dortmund captain will not be part of Hansi Flick’s squad for the tournament. Other surprises are also in the offing.
Borussia Dortmund’s captain Marco Reus remains the German national team’s tournament unlucky man. According to information from Sky and Sport1, the 33-year-old offensive player will not be part of the 26-strong DFB squad for the World Cup in Qatar, which national coach Hansi Flick will announce at 12 noon in the DFB Academy in Frankfurt am Main.
Reus injured his foot in mid-September. After two short game comebacks, he fell out again and is currently pausing. Flick appreciates Reus’ qualities very much, but the injury-prone attacker lacks the necessary fitness for a tournament with a maximum of seven games in four weeks. The waiver of him would therefore be absolutely understandable. Meanwhile, there are rumors that the weak Dortmund winger Karim Adeyemi will travel to the desert.
The “Bild” newspaper also reports that the in-form Mats Hummels does not get a place in Flick’s squad. The “Kicker” had already indicated that the BVB central defender would probably not be there. The reasons given included his claim to leadership.
Reus had already missed the 2014 World Cup in Brazil due to a foot injury in the last friendly before leaving for South America. In 2016, the then national coach Joachim Löw cut him out of the training camp before the European Championships in France because of his lack of fitness. In 2018 in Russia Reus played his first and probably only World Cup, but at that time Löw’s team failed catastrophically in the preliminary round. The German team was eliminated after the group stage, Reus scoring one of only two German goals.
The tension before the squad announcement is increasing. It is questionable, for example, who will be nominated in attack for the injured Timo Werner. According to Sport1, BVB youngster Youssoufa Moukoko makes it into the team. He could then play his first international match for the DFB on the big stage of all places. It is questionable whether Niclas Füllkrug from Werder Bremen will also be there, since Lukas Nmecha is also injured as a candidate, but there is a place in the large squad of 26.
According to “Kicker”, Robin Gosens, who was seeded at the European Championships last year, is out, instead Christian Günther from SC Freiburg is said to have made the leap into the squad. Lukas Klostermann should also return to Flick.
It is still unclear how Flick will decide on a possible DFB comeback for the 2014 world champions Mario Götze and Mats Hummels. The current top form speaks in sporting terms in particular for a World Cup comeback by Frankfurter Götze, who scored the winning goal in the final against Argentina in Rio in 2014. What is certain is that FC Bayern will have the largest block in Flick’s squad.
