Neuhaus out of World Cup – Fans believe DFB team can compensate for his absence

By Jasmin Eigl

Florian Neuhaus of Borussia Mönchengladbach will not recover in time from his partial cruciate ligament tear, and therefore will not participate in the upcoming World Cup. His comeback in the Bundesliga will not take place until January 2023. Meanwhile, national coach Hansi Flick must announce on 10 November which 26 players he has nominated for the tournament in Qatar. There are rumours circulating that Mario Götze is on the shortlist. It would be his national team comeback after five years. For this reason, FanQ has surveyed German football fans about the personnel matters of Florian Neuhaus and Mario Götze.

Götze reportedly rejected DFB invitation

Gladbach's Florian Neuhaus recently sustained an injury in a Bundesliga match during a challenge with Freiburg's Daniel-Kofi Kyereh. The midfielder has already spoken with national coach Hansi Flick about his situation and decided that his health is the priority. „There was contact with Hansi Flick, we discussed the situation as it is. The World Cup is just around the corner. Unfortunately, it won't quite work out time-wise,“ Neuhaus is quoted as saying by the football portal „90min.de“. The ten-time international will not be back on the pitch for the ‚Foals‘ until the second half of the season. His coach, Daniel Farke, also regretted the 25-year-old's injury-related absence. „I hope he's back soon, but we have to be careful with him,“ he warned in a „Sky“ interview.

FanQ surveyed football fans in Germany in this context, asking how much they will miss the DFB-Elf's central midfielder. For this, fans awarded an average of just 2.34 out of five possible stars. 22.76 % of survey participants voted with the minimum rating of one star, and another 26.83 % of respondents voted with just two stars. This is certainly linked to the fact that the German national team is excellently staffed in Neuhaus's position anyway, with players like Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, or Ilkay Gündogan.

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„Bild“ is putting Mario Götze forward as a serious candidate for a World Cup ticket. The 30-year-old has reportedly been on Hansi Flick's wish list since his transfer to Eintracht Frankfurt. He apparently wanted to nominate him at the end of September as a replacement for Julian Brandt and Leon Goretzka, who had departed from the DFB squad, for the Nations League matches against Hungary and England. At that time, however, the attacking player declined and instead took a break in Milan. The 2014 World Cup final goal scorer has 63 international caps to his name so far. However, his last appearance in the DFB jersey was five years ago. Further call-ups were not forthcoming due to persistent fluctuations in performance.

Since his move to Eintracht Frankfurt, however, the 30-year-old has rediscovered his old quality. On the sidelines of the team's 3-1 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend, Götze received praise from World and European Champion Lothar Matthäus. „Hansi Flick will have seen a Mario Götze in outstanding form today. I could imagine him having a huge chance of making the squad. He has outstanding abilities and has once again shown that he belongs in the national team circle,“ stressed the TV expert at the „Sky“ microphone.

Given the recent rumours, FanQ surveyed German football fans on whether they were surprised that Mario Götze allegedly turned down a DFB nomination. Supporters have taken this news differently. For example, 47.66% of survey participants did not expect the 30-year-old to pass up such an opportunity. Another 46.77% of respondents, however, had anticipated a rejection from the midfielder, who has since developed into a key player for Eintracht.