display
Duisburg (AP) - After the final whistle, Timo Werner stood lonely on the lawn of the Duisburg football arena and guiltily lowered his head.
The legendary 9 of the big center strikers on jersey and pants almost looked like an early April Fool's joke.
Werner's big chance to make it 2-1 was not only a harbinger of the embarrassing 1-2 of the national soccer team against North Macedonia.
It also went with the personal international match week to forget.
In contrast to the malice on the net, neither Joachim Löw nor his teammates wanted to accuse the attacker from Chelsea.
But they couldn't leave the key scene unmentioned when the score was 1: 1.
"That Timo misses such a big chance, he probably makes the biggest reproaches himself," said the national coach.
display
And substitute captain Ilkay Gündogan, who had put the ball on Werner in the 80th minute in a two-on-one majority situation, commented sympathetically: “I'm sorry for Timo.
He wants to be the very first to score. "
Werner raced towards the goal at full speed and missed the 100 percent chance from nine meters in a central center forward position.
He hit the ball with his left foot so badly that it rolled past the casing on the right.
Werner sank into a crouch and put his hands on the floor, where he would have loved to sink.
After the game, he disappeared wordlessly with the England group around Gündogan and Chelsea colleagues Kai Havertz and Antonio Rüdiger in the mini-van towards the airport.
That night we went back to London.
Even Löw could not explain Werner's faux pas later: "In such situations, Timo has already proven in the past that he can solve them correctly and score goals."
The national coach clearly classified the importance of the scene: "I had the feeling that it was a bit of a crack for the team, that we missed this chance."
It was 1: 2 promptly.
display
Werner, who has so far been successful 15 times in 38 international matches, is now taking his personal low point with him to England in the final spurt of the season with Chelsea.
And in the national jersey he will drag him to the EM in June.
A joker goal would probably have made Werner the match winner and Germany savior against North Macedonia.
It would have been a happy ending after three frustrated international matches as a reservist on the bench.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210401-99-53339 / 2
Sports management around Löw
display
Team behind the team / support staff
National team schedule
National team schedule
National players from A to Z
Match record against 91 DFB opponents
DFB record player
DFB record shooters
display
Schedule of the EM 2021
FIFA World Ranking
Profile Löw
Coaching balance Löw
World Cup qualification schedule
Information on World Cup qualification
Current DFB squad
Tables World Cup qualification
UEFA press kit for the game