At six feet, there is nothing that really separates Niklas Fullkrug from the average German footballer.
At this edition of the European Championship, Fullkrug, a journeyman in German football, is heralding a return of the classic No.9 forward. The current top scorer of the Euro 2024 has conjured two archetypical striker goals. His first was in Germany’s opener against Switzerland. Brought on as a substitute, Fullkrug showed exactly what the Germans values in a player like him. Galloping into the box with a Scotsman at his arm, the German deftly pushed a ball, passed into him, slightly to the right with his left foot. He then unleashed a shot for the ages.
A football dips, it curls and sometimes it swerves. Not when it’s been struck by Fullkrug. When he commands a ball to go goalwards – it moves like lightning, it stays true to its course and when it hits the back of the net, there is an air of inevitability that lingers in the aftermath. Fullkrug’s right foot is the answer to Podolski’s left foot. Ask the fan who made the foolish attempt of stopping a stray shot with his hands during Germany’s training session. The Borussia Dortmund striker was nice enough to apologise for the broken hand, and gave a signed shirt. Lethal at close range, as Scotland found out — even more so as one of their own supporters realised.
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Against Switzerland on Sunday, with their backs against the wall and the top position of their group on the line, Fullkrug turned to one of his other strengths – headers.
Soccer Football – Euro 2024 – Group A – Switzerland v Germany – Frankfurt, Germany – June 23, 2024 Germany’s Nico Schlotterbeck, Manuel Neuer and Niclas Fullkrug react after the match REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
Once again, whenever the Kai Havertz experiment has faltered for Germany, the tried-and-tested striker formula seems to deliver results. This time around, with players surrounding him and the referee close to blowing his whistle, the 31-year-old willed his body into the air, higher than the Swiss defence could leap, and directed a looping question towards the far post. Yan Sommer — coveted across Europe as a top custodian, had no answer.
“This belief that we can score goals right up until the end of the games, that is something that we want to internalise. In case we need it again, we will have it in our minds,” Fullkrug said to DW Sports after the match.
This isn’t the first time that he has been brought on as a substitute striker and has produced the goods. At the 2022 World Cup, Spain were dominating the ball and were leading thanks to an Alvaro Morata goal. Fullkrug, barely a few games old for Germany, came on and slammed the ball into goal to equalise in the 82nd minute.
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At the time, there was wonder in the discourse towards the German. How did a country as steeped in history and as drenched in bench strength decide to give a 29-year-old a debut that late in his career – especially when he was playing for the second division a year earlier and would become the oldest German debutant in 20 years?
13 goals in 19 matches, six starts
If Opta’s statistics have to be invoked, the German has only enjoyed six starts in his 19 appearances for his country – and yet has provided 13 goals and two assists in a grand total of 755 minutes that he has played for his country. It’s a remarkable statistic for what many considered to be an average striker.
.@BellinghamJude‘s form hasn’t impressed Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug 👀
🔗 https://t.co/DnIeIiBNzE pic.twitter.com/A3JCBYi4Wa
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) June 20, 2024
The epitome of club success Fullkrug has enjoyed is with Werder Bremen where the German scored 45 goals in 90 appearances – a goal every two games might not be bad but Bremen was also briefly in the second division of German football.
In fact, what he has been known in Germany is for his ankle and knee injuries. He suffered his first in 2013 while playing for Bremen because of cartilage damage in his right knee. He then suffered the same injury in his left knee in 2015 and as if that injury case was permanently hanging over his head, found himself with furthermore cartilage damage in the right knee. By the end of 2018, it seemed like Fullkrug would be a German footballer that never scaled the heights of the national team but was instead lost to the depths of injuries that take away talents far too soon away from the game.
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But a four-year resurgence with Bremen saw him return to the Bundesliga top flight. A transfer to Borussia Dortmund then yielded a 12-goal season, one which ended cruelly at the hands of Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Eventually consecutive German managers in Hansi Flick and Julian Nagelsmann saw his value as a late substitute and a goal-scoring striker at that.
