Niclas Füllkrug on his home game with Germany in Bremen

At the same time, the 30-year-old caused the first reaction from the crowd when he had a great chance after less than 120 seconds. Mykhailo Mudryk didn’t notice Füllkrug when playing a pass-back and the striker missed the opportunity from a central position. The fact that he then deflected a shot by Marius Wolf just four minutes later was not important to the Bremen fans. “Today I was shot at,” said Füllkrug, smiling, after only finding out in the dressing room that the goal had been awarded to him. “These are often the nicest goals for a striker.”

The Bundesliga top goalscorer was substituted off after the end of the first half, which the spectators weren’t overjoyed about. They whistled after the substitution and later also at the performance of the national team, who were trailing and only found their way into goalscoring positions late in the game. “The Bremen fans are now used to high-quality football,” said Füllkrug with a wink. “But there were also periods for us players when we asked ourselves how we could get into this situation.”

Kai Havertz (83’) and Joshua Kimmich (90+1’) scored late on to earn Germany a draw. Niclas Füllkrug strode across the pitch after the final whistle to applaud the crowd. “Of course I would have liked the goal to have been awarded to me from the start,” explained the Werder goalscorer. “I would have liked to celebrate it with the fans.”

Walking out with his daughter at his home ground ????????❤️

What a night for Fülle ????#werder#GERUKRpic.twitter.com/AjkT9YCnl6

— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) June 12, 2023