World Cup dream once ended: Germany star dropped for team-mate?
World Cup dream once ended: Germany star dropped for team-mate? "I have to say, I expected to be included," a visibly shocked Benjamin Henrichs said in a video ahead of the 2022 World Cup in response to Hansi Flick leaving him out of the squad. At the time, he told fans on his stream that it had been totally disappointing for him.
Henrichs explained that he had been involved in all of Germany’s internationals in 2022, which was why he had felt confident. However, the full truth is also that in eight matches he only came on twice and was on the pitch for just 68 minutes. Even though he did not address it in the stream, what must also have stung was the fact that Flick nominated his teammate Lukas Klostermann instead of Henrichs.
At the time, he was one of the surprise names in the squad, as Klostermann had previously been out injured for three months. Nevertheless, the then Germany coach opted against a fit Henrichs and chose Klostermann instead. Henrichs on the back foot He was said to be flexible enough to play in a back three, four, or five, according to a report by 'rblive' at the time.
He likely also got the nod over Henrichs because of his reliability. Former Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann once said that if he woke Klostermann up in the middle of the night and told him, "Now bread a few schnitzels for me," he would do that too. Klostermann went to the World Cup and even played a few minutes, but as we know, it was only a short stay in Qatar for the German team.
Their tournament ended after the group stage. In a way, that also felt like the end of Klostermann’s international career. He was still called up for a few friendlies in 2023, but by now he is only a benchwarmer at club level as well and as far away from a World Cup ticket as Leipzig are from an international title this season.
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