Niclas Füllkrug has long since given up the nickname “ugly bird” that he once gave himself. However, the Borussia Dortmund striker became an early bird in the assembly line nomination for the home European Championship. In the morning radio show on WDR’s 1live, the 31-year-old was issued with a ticket for the home European Championship early on Tuesday. “I get goosebumps when I think about it,” said the football professional, who was connected by telephone, looking ahead to the tournament in a few weeks. “It makes me so proud.”
The DFB thus continued its unusual form of nominating national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s squad. Previously, Nico Schlotterbeck via ARD “Tagesschau”, Aleksandar Pavlovic on RTL and Manuel Neuer and Jonathan Tah had already received the European Championship confirmation via social media films.
After Schlotterbeck, Füllkrug is Borussia Dortmund’s second and possibly last German European Championship player. Like his club colleague as well as Toni Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger, the attacker will start Nagelsmann’s tournament preparation late. The Champions League final is still scheduled for June 1st at Wembley.
Füllkrug has an impressive goal quota in the DFB team. He has scored eleven times in 15 international matches so far. The BVB striker can also be relied on under national coach Nagelsmann. He scored four times in six games, including in the late 2-1 win against the Netherlands in March.
Füllkrug said that the nomination was no longer a surprise for him. Nagelsmann had already signaled this to him during the international matches against France and the Netherlands. “We talked in private for a long time at the last course,” said the striker. The national coach described what he expected from Füllkrug at the European Championships. “If he’s having these conversations and you’re not on the fence, you should understand that he’s planning on you.”
