"Fülle" and "Duckschi" international: friends in the DFB jersey
At least for a few minutes it was like Bremen's best days. Julian Nagelsmann had Niclas Füllkrug and Marvin Ducksch play alongside each other on the small pitch at the end of the first training session ahead of the Turkey test - in blue instead of green and white shirts. However, the self-proclaimed "ugly birds", who were reunited in the national team somewhat unexpectedly, will not get too many opportunities to score goals together in the national jersey.
"We can still do it," BVB professional Füllkrug assured on Tuesday, "We would still get on really well." In Nagelsmann's European Championship planning, however, the DFB team has enough to do "first of all to perfect a system". And as things stand now, only one of the two friends would find a place in that system as a striker - despite the "great" time the congenial duo had last season in the Bundesliga.
"It was such a great match that it just had to harmonize," said Füllkrug, who was top scorer in a Werder jersey with Ducksch at his side. Accordingly, he had "hoped, counted on it a little" that Nagelsmann would invite Ducksch for the first time for the games against Turkey in the packed Berlin Olympic Stadium on Saturday and three days later in Vienna against Austria. The "ugly birds", as he once dubbed himself and his buddy, "goes international", said Füllkrug.
Slight doubts about the Nagelsmann call
Ducksch said that he initially thought Nagelsmann's call was a "fake", but then quickly recognized the national coach's voice. "Relatively quickly" followed the contact with Füllkrug: "I'm in. "He made a few enquiries", Ducksch reported.
Füllkrug had already celebrated his international debut a year ago in Oman and scored straight away. However, Nagelsmann's predecessor Hansi Flick had tolerated rather than loved the crowd favorite despite his strong goal rate. "We're in a position where you often get better as you get older," said Füllkrug, who at 30 is almost exactly a year older than Ducksch. "It's a good and correct decision for the national team coach to line up based on performance."
Madness helps - friendship too
Nagelsmann had also justified the appointment of Ducksch with his "good degree of craziness", which the DFB selection needs. "Especially when players come off the bench as a wild card." The fact that Ducksch knows the "abundance very, very well" was also "a component" in the coaching team's considerations.
The fact that friends in the national team can help with the eminently important internal climate has been proven time and again by players over the (successful) years. In November 2023, it will be "Fülle" and "Duckschi", whose classification as "ugly" was meant "very sarcastically" from the outset, according to Füllkrug. "There were a lot of great duos that we can't compare ourselves to," said the 30-year-old, who made the move to BVB in the summer and is currently struggling with sporting crises even more than Ducksch, who continues to play for Bremen.
Success is not luck
In the first training session in front of selected fans and DFB staff, he was able to adapt "relatively quickly", said Ducksch, who had kicked in the second division for a long time as a less professional late starter and was judged moderately. "After the call, I definitely reminded myself of where I was a few years ago, but I didn't question myself: What if?" he said. "It's part of being human to make mistakes, and it's part of learning from mistakes."
In recent years, he has "always worked on myself", said Ducksch. During the warm-up program on Tuesday, which lasted a good fifteen minutes, he and his teammates listened to the hip-hop song "Success is not luck" from the loud speakers on the sidelines.
Despite their friendship and successful partnership in the Bundesliga, it's uncertain if both Füllkrug and Ducksch will get many opportunities to play together in the national team jersey, as the DFB team has several tasks to perfect under Nagelsmann's leadership. However, Ducksch was thrilled to be invited for the Turkey and Austria matches, marking a momentous international debut for the "ugly birds," as Füllkrug fondly calls them.
Source: www.dpa.com
