Nick Woltemade draws another blank for Germany after being hooked an hour into 4-0 win over Luxembourg
Newcastle United striker Nick Woltemade picked up another senior cap for Germany last night, but that's about where the good news ends.
After shaking off an illness which saw him delay his departure from Newcastle to link up with his national teammates, Nick Woltemade was deemed fit enough to start up top for Germany last night.
The Germans romped to a 4-0 victory over Luxembourg, but Newcastle's star striker failed to get amongst the goals as his wait for his first senior goal continues.
Julian Nagelsmann pulled Woltemade out of the game after an hour, while German media weren't overly impressed with our record signing.
In Germany, high numbers = bad rating. Because of course they do.
The criticisms weren't too harsh with Spox labelling Woltemade as 'unlucky', but their grades were telling with Woltemade picking up a 4/5 (on a scale where the higher the number, the worse the rating, because whatever the hell these days.
“Woltemade travelled to the national team on the back of a run of three goals in eight days at Newcastle, but was unlucky, managing only 14 touches. He scored early for the first time in a Germany jersey, but played the ball with his hand after Gnabry’s shot – a goal that appeared to be the first goal was rightly disallowed (4th minute).
“In the 32nd minute, Woltemade was well played through by Wirtz, but couldn’t control the ball in front of the keeper. After just over an hour, it was over.”
Nick Woltemade had been struggling with illness, so we're giving him the benefit of the doubt
Sport.de were equally harsh with their rating of 4/5 (again, high numbers are bad) and their write-up was a lot more critical, too.
“He had a tough time as a centre forward against a deep block. He created a few half-chances, but always seemed unlucky in his actions. At times, he was even completely in the air. He at least managed to gain some success through his intensity in counter-pressing, but he’s still waiting for his first international goal.”
Can we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he wasn't fully recovered from his illness? Or is he simply not suited to the national side's way of playing? Who cares? As long as he continues bagging goals for Newcastle.
