Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade scored his first goal for Germany in their World Cup qualification win over Northern Ireland on Monday night.
The German media have previously criticised Woltemade following his big money move to Newcastle United from Stuttgart.
Woltemade has been in fine form for the Magpies since joining the club, bagging four goals in his six outings thus far.
He took his goalscoring touch onto the international stage in Belfast, although somewhat fortuitously. Indeed, the 23-year-old scored the only goal of the game, with the ball appearing to come off his shoulder rather than his head when attacking a corner.
That will not matter to the Newcastle forward, however. He’s had to deal with criticism from figures in Germany, so scoring his first international goal was a welcome response.
Here’s what prominent media outlet BILD made of his outing.
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German media hail Nick Woltemade
BILD gave Woltemade a grade of two.
They referenced the fact he joined the camp reasonably late after suffering from flu and, having previously questioned some of his performances, have now described him as Germany’s “saviour”.
“Scores for the first time in a German national team uniform – with his shoulder – from close range (33rd minute),” they wrote.
“The German national team had previously gone 528 minutes without a goal from a center forward. He arrived late after a cold and ended up being the savior in Northern Ireland. GRADE 2.”
Nick Woltemade stats for Germany vs Northern Ireland
As per FotMob data, Woltemade made his touches matter in the Northern Irish capital.
He only touched the ball 29 times, one of those being for the goal. With Germany struggling up front in recent years, having a player boasting a striker’s instinct will be a welcome boost.
| Northern Ireland vs Germany statistics | Nick Woltemade |
| Minutes played | 89 |
| Touches | 29 |
| Shots | 2 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Possession lost | 0 |
| Tackles | 2 |
| Clearances | 1 |
| Recoveries | 3 |
Woltemade didn’t lose the ball at all, while also doing his defensive duties.
He made two tackles, one clearance and three ball recoveries.
While it wasn’t the most headline-grabbing performance, Woltemade is off the mark for his country as they take a major step towards automatic qualification for the World Cup next summer.
Given all that’s been said about him in his homeland, that is an impressive response.
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