Germany’s Kai Havertz talks pivotal penalty concession against Turkey
Arsenal FC star Kai Havertz’s turn at left-back for Germany is the talk of the town. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder was in the spotlight on both ends of the pitch in Germany’s 2-3 international friendly loss to Turkey, scoring early via an assist from Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sané and conceding a penalty late that led to Turkey’s winning goal.
After the match, Havertz talked about the decision to award the spot kick, which he did not entirely agree with.
“I tried to talk to the referee but he didn’t answer. It felt a bit strange on the pitch. I didn’t even see the ball,” Havertz said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “It felt like my arm wasn’t that far out.”
Viewers can judge for themselves. Havertz swung both his arms as he went to stretch for the ball but was caught by surprise by the pull-back; it ended up clipping his trailing arm, which was certainly nowhere near his body even if it was arguably a natural part of his running motion.
Still, while Germany fans may be wondering just what has possessed coach Julian Nagelsmann to install a struggling half-space attacker at club level on the left wing, it was the sort of position any unlucky left-back might have found themselves in. More worrying, perhaps, how easily Turkey managed to get in behind against Nagelsmann’s numbers-forward, attack-minded scheme — and that Nagelsmann intends to continue.
The more things change for the German men’s national team, the more they stay the same?
Interested in a more in-depth look at what went wrong for Germany, or do you just want to revel in our misery? Well either way, our podcast has you covered. In our newest episode, we discuss Germany’s humiliating loss to Turkey, and also take a minute to discuss whether Alphonso Davies will stay at Bayern Munich. Listen to it below or on Spotify.
