The German national team will play their World Cup group finale against Ecuador on Thursday (10:00 p.m. local time / ARD) without Nathaniel Brown. The 23-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt left-back only completed an individual session with light running on Wednesday, as ZDF reporter Nils Kaben reported from the DFB camp in Winston-Salem. The reason is minor adductor discomfort, which will likely prevent him from playing on Thursday.
Brown had impressed as a starter in the first two matches against Curaçao (7-1) and Ivory Coast (2-1). He had only secured a regular spot in the run-up to the World Cup. Against Ecuador, RB Leipzig’s David Raum will take over the left side. Leipzig player had previously lost his place to Brown.
This means head coach Julian Nagelsmann will have to change his starting lineup in at least two positions. In addition to Brown, Nico Schlotterbeck is also out after suffering an inner ligament injury. Antonio Rüdiger will replace him in central defense alongside Jonathan Tah. The DFB team has already qualified as group winners, and Nagelsmann had announced a “mix” in the starting lineup.
All other 21 outfield players and four goalkeepers took part in the final training session at the team base camp in North Carolina. In the evening, the team will fly to New Jersey, where the match will take place at the World Cup stadium just outside New York. Germany will play their first knockout match on Monday (10:30 p.m. / ZDF) in Foxborough against a yet-to-be-determined third-place team from another group.
Source: www.zdfheute.de
