Sinsheim (dpa) – Nico Schlotterbeck dismissed the accusation of arrogance far into injury time after he missed the penalty kick he was guilty of.
“I wouldn’t say a fit of arrogance. It was just bad in the situation,” said the 22-year-old from Freiburg. Rather sleepy, he lost the ball to opponent Yonatan Cohen in his own penalty area and then hit him full on the foot.
With the action, Schlotterbeck clouded his debut in the national team in the 2-0 win against Israel, which had been absolutely successful up to this point in Sinsheim. After the final whistle, he hugged goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who had brilliantly parried Cohen’s penalty. “I have to thank Kevin. So it went quite lightly for me,” said Schlotterbeck. As a ZDF expert, ex-national player Per Mertesacker had accused him of a “attack of arrogance”.
There is “a very fine line” between “confidence and arrogance,” said the 2014 world champion. He said the right thing, but chose the wrong term. Hansi Flick also asked Mertesacker, somewhat puzzled: “Per, what do you mean?” Flick judged more mercifully. He had discussed the scene intensively with Schlotterbeck on the pitch.
The action must be a “good lesson” for the defender, who has good prospects for the World Cup. “At a World Cup, something like that can be deadly in the 90th minute,” said the national coach. Otherwise he praised: “Nico was very present. He was active. He acted with confidence in possession. He can be satisfied with his debut.”