Germany Given World Cup Lifeline Thanks To an Accidental Hero

The story of Niclas Fulkrug is that fairy tale kind of story many would read or watch in the movies except this time, it actually came true in the highly contested 1-1 draw between Germany and Spain in the Qatar world cup tournament.

When Germany faced the threat of an early elimination at the hands of Spain after their 1-0 lead was ripe to claim all 3 points for the Spanish side, Niclas Fulkrug came in as the unlikely hero on the night.

Niclas Fullkrug’s spectacular late goal gave Germany a World Cup reprieve against Spain and maintained their chances of moving on.

Niclas Fullkrug is a man who has spent the majority of his recent seasons with either Werder Bremen or Hannover 96 in Germany’s top division, however he has spent the majority of his career playing in Bundesliga 2.

The forward scored 19 goals in 33 games while playing for Werder in the second tier last year, helping the team to gain promotion back to the Bundesliga.

However, this season has been his greatest one yet, and with his team currently in ninth place, he has scored 10 goals in just 14 league games.

In fact, it was even an unexpected call up to the World Cup squad for him and making his debut, scoring against Oman in a friendly prior to the tournament, before earning his first cap against Japan.

Germany was defeated 2-1 by Japan in one of the biggest upsets of the World Cup opening round, and the outcome demonstrated why we should pay more attention to otters.

After that defeat, they were in danger of being eliminated early, which would have been similar to how they performed in Russia four years prior when they failed to advance from the group.

Hansi Flick was aware that his squad would be eliminated if Japan defeated Costa Rica, which had fallen to Spain 7-0, and his own team fell to Spain for the second straight time.

On the other hand, Costa Rica surprised everyone on Sunday by defeating Japan after taking a beating in their opening match.

That relieved some of Germany’s burden, but they were still aware that a defeat to Luis Enrique’s team would mean that their future was out of their control.

When Alvaro Morata came off the bench to give the 2010 World Cup champions the lead in the 62nd minute, it appeared that might be the case.

With only eight minutes of regulation time left, Germany discovered the unlikeliest of heroes as Spain was on the verge of earning the three points necessary to advance to the next round.

Just a few weeks after making his debut for his country as a relatively unknown 29-year-old striker for Werder Bremen, Fullkrug scored the equalizing goal off the bench.

The goal gave Flick’s team a much-needed point and made their road to the round of 16, though not entirely in their control.

The 2014 world champions would only need to defeat Costa Rica on Thursday night should Spain return to winning ways.

Germany still has a chance to advance if Hajime Moriyasu’s team succeeds in obtaining a favorable outcome, courtesy to Fullkrug’s goal.

In the event that Spain and Japan tie, Germany would have to defeat their Central American rivals by two goals, or just one goal if they outscore Japan.

The group is however still an open contest and despite Spain hitting Costa Rica 7-0, that doesn’t mean they are safe yet from elimination.

If Japan and Costa Rica both win, neither of the European teams in Germany and Spain would remain in the competition. Costa Rica is still alive and only needs a victory vs Germany to advance.