When the German team arrived at the Zulal Wellness Resort in the middle of the desert that night, Bremen's Niclas Füllkrug went to bed.
Hours earlier he had saved Germany with his joker goal.
A year ago he played with Werder Bremen at Erzgebirge Aue and was suspended for the game against Sandhausen for disciplinary reasons. Now he was the hero at the World Cup against Spain.
So there are still wondrous fairy tales in the sad, so fairy-tale-less world football.
The morning after the game. Full pitcher wakes up, goes into the bathroom and looks in the mirror.
FULL KRUG: Today I feel like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Today I feel like John Wayne.
Today I feel like Indiana Jones and Uwe Seeler at the same time.
And now I'm going to brush my teeth.
It must be pointed out that the new hero of German football has a conspicuous gap in his teeth, which has earned him the nickname "Gap" in Bremen. He brushes around the gap with his toothbrush and sings.
FILLING JUG: Oh, how is that beautiful, ohhhhh, how is that beautiful...
LÜCKE: Congratulations on the goal, dear Niclas.
FILLER JUG: Huh, you speak???
LÜCKE: Yes, moin, moin, as they say in Bremen.
Full pitcher covers his mouth in shock.
LUKE: Hello?? … Niclas, please open your mouth while brushing your teeth. Did you read? We're even in the Times: Füllkrug, the killer with the gap in his teeth. In the Times! We are famous!
The filling jug opens his mouth again because he has to smile.
LUKE: Nice, thank you. I thought I'd have a little chat with you. I was told by the "One Love" captain's armband that it could be done. She spoke to Müller in the changing room. I like the One Love pad. If I could, I would tie them on.
FULLKRUG: An expert said after the game that I finally closed the gap in the German attack! There has been a gap since Miroslav Klose.
LÜCKE: But I'm still here! Since your childhood, we were always together. Do you remember how many times our knee was broken? cartilage damage! Do you remember how coach Markus Anfang wanted to throw us out in the second division? The guy just yelled around the whole time, which made us nervous too. Do you remember how we almost got into a fight with your strike partner Marvin Ducksch in Aue? After that we weren't even allowed to play against SV Sandhausen, we went through hell.
Füllkrug cries, the whole difficult time comes up in him again.
LÜCKE: Niclas, don't cry, we have left the valley of tears and now our star is shining in the desert. We'll definitely be in the starting lineup against Costa Rica! But first, let's tell the world something about human rights!
FILLER: What?
LÜCKE: Thank God you haven't yet mastered the softened DFB language, you're new and fresh. Let's smack Gianni Infantino in the face before Costa Rica, before it's too late and while we're still here in the desert. Instead of Ducksch, it's better to hit Infantino in the mouth!
The doorbell rings at the filling jug. The DFB spokesman.
DFB PRESS SPOKESMAN: Good morning, Mr. Füllkrug. Sorry to bother you, but requests are coming in from all over the world. El País, Washington Post, L'Équipe, the FAZ, it's amazing!
LÜCKE: Let's say in all these newspapers that we're going to hit Gianni Infantino one at a time!
DFB PRESS SPOKESMAN: Excuse me?
FILLING JUG
(to the gap:)
Psssssst!
... Is there a request from home, from the Weser-Kurier?
Or the Deichstube, the gateway to the green and white lifestyle?
The DFB spokesman rummages through his documents. The gap begins to sing.
LÜCKE: A steady stream flows in Bremen / past the Weser Stadium / this is where we are at home / we are Werder Bremen...
Füllkrug agrees.
LÜCKE/FULL KRUG: Werder Bremen, green and white for life / We belong together, la-la-la-la-la...
DFB PRESS SPOKESMAN: You didn't drink anything last night, did you? Otherwise I'll have to report it to the coaching staff, with all the understandable exuberance, then Costa Rica won't work. You have toothpaste all over your face, by the way.
PITCHER: Oh...
(Now tries to keep his mouth shut, but he keeps smiling)
.
DFB PRESS SPOKESMAN: Here is a question from the Bremen Senate, whether you would object to a statue of you being placed next to the city's landmark on Bremen's market square, next to the Bremen Roland? Are you familiar with the Bremen Roland?
LÜCKE: Geil, yes, of course, he's five meters tall! But then the sculptor also has to create a huge gap!
FILLING JUG: Be quiet now! Otherwise I'll do an implant or whatever it's called!
DFB PRESS SPOKESMAN: The knight stands for the freedom of the city of Bremen. A sketch of what that might look like has been attached.
Her sister, who also plays soccer successfully, doesn't come next to Roland, they forgot to cut her out here.
FILLER: What? No, she's also coming with the Roland!
LÜCKE: I think so too. The sister and the gap too!
FILLING JUG: As sure as I'm standing here in Qatar, in this shitty desert! I don't play with Müller or Musiala up front against Costa Rica, but with my sister, she's strong in the air! Tell FIFA and the sheikhs that I'll smack them in the face if things don't work out with my sister! So! Human rights or whatever it is called!
LUKE: Bravo, bravo, I love you, abundance, I always want to be with you, I find you sexy! In eternity, your gap.
The DFB spokesman runs away, distraught. Füllkrug closes the door and then finally his mouth.
Moritz Rinke is one of the leading playwrights of his generation. He is also the official ambassador of SV Werder Bremen.