World Cup qualification
“We are missing players”: trouble at Germany opponents
02.09.2025 – 12:09 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
On Thursday, Germany will play against Slovakia at the start of the World Cup qualification. There is something at the DFB opponent-because of a 39-year-old.
The big announcement was missing. Peter Pekarík’s comeback at Hertha BSC was communicated inconspicuously. The 39-year-old was only on the U23 game report in the Regionalliga Nordost against Hertha Zehlendorf. Pekarík has a special story at Hertha. From 2012 to 2024 he played for the capital club, played more than 230 competitive games and became a crowd favorite. When he did not receive a new contract, he initially moved back to his home country Slovakia, but he did not stay there for too long. Now he is back in Berlin, back at “his” Hertha.
And even if it is currently only enough for the regional league, Pekarík is still in defense in the national team. Despite high-class players in the defense center like Dávid Hancko (Atlético Madrid) or Milan Škriniar (Fenerbahçe), the right side is a problem area of the German opponent in the World Cup qualification on Thursday (from 8:45 p.m. in the live ticker at T-Online). Despite his 39 years and underclass game practice, Pekarík therefore remains the first choice of coach Francesco Calzona that he simply has no other right -back at this level, he emphasized.
The young Samuel Kopásek from MSK Zilina is “a solution to the future”. But, coach Calzona bloped the critical reporters: “Can I use it against Germany? Or name me a name that could play on Thursday. We are missing players in some positions.”
Pekarík himself let the discussion bounce off. “I very much appreciate our fans, every single opinion,” said the Slovak defense routine. But he ignored the vertebrae for his nomination for the World Cup qualification game against Germany. At the age of 39, he was “experienced enough” to deal with the excitement.
With more than 130 international matches, Pekarík is on the best way to replace record national players Marek Hamšík (138 games) in the coming months. He now wants to start against the DFB team. “Germany is a large-scale football power and can set up several teams at the highest level,” warned Pekarík, who played 243 Bundesliga games for Wolfsburg and Berlin. “I know the German mentality, I know how to work there that they pay attention to every detail. We have to be well prepared, so an opponent punishes every hesitation.”