“That’s one of the coolest jobs ever, to come in in the 70th minute and bang one in,” says the basketball world champion.
For basketball players like Moritz Wagner, it’s normal to sit on the bench sometimes, but for soccer players it’s more of a flaw.
“I think it’s really cool what Füllkrug did at the last European Championship,” said the NBA professional in the podcast “Wie geht’s? mit Robin Gosens” and showed sympathy for this special role: “That’s one of the coolest jobs ever, when everyone is tired, to come in in the 70th minute and bang one in.”
Gosens sees “huge problem” in soccer
National striker Füllkrug (West Ham United) scored twice as a substitute at the home European Championship 2024, including very late to make it 1:1 in the last group game against Switzerland (90+2). Gosens (AC Florence), who was not at the European Championship the year before, wants a rethink in soccer, “because with us the bench is still very much associated with not being so important for the team, and that’s a huge problem.”
For world champion Wagner (Orlando Magic), a fan of Füllkrug’s former club Werder Bremen, training is also about “optimizing the minutes I have,” says the Berliner: “I play an average of just under 20 minutes – and whether I play more or less, I ask myself how I can manage to be even more effective in that time.”