DFB youngster Jamal Musiala played a decisive role in the equalization in the last European Championship group game against Hungary.
© ULMER/imago-images
Jamal Musiala saved Germany with his action against Hungary. Now he can have hopes of playing time against his “second home” England.
Munich – In the first two group matches of the European Championship, Jamal Musiala (18) only had one place in the stands. Of course, the youngster was disappointed, but instead of burying his head in the sand, he thought to himself: Especially now! So Musiala tried to give even more gas during training to enchant national coach Joachim Löw with his skills.
Musiala initiates the acclaimed equalization against Hungary
In the last group game against Hungary the time had come: Musiala had fought for a place in the squad and was substituted on when the score was 1: 2 in the 82nd minute. With a courageous dribble against several Hungarians, he initiated Leon Goretzka’s 2-2 equalizer. In doing so, he saved the national team from the next tournament disgrace – and played a major role in ensuring that Germany was on Tuesday (9 p.m., ARD and MagentaTV) continues in the round of 16 against England.
This is one of Musiala’s greatest strengths: he delivers when he is needed. “Be at your best, when your best is needed” is his favorite motto. In other words: Be in top form when your best is needed. Musiala adopted this credo from basketball coach legend John Wooden, from whom he has already read several books.
Mental and neurotraining helps Musiala to get to the point of his performance
What helps Musiala to call up its performance in a nutshell: Mental and neurotraining! He has been working intensively on these topics since he was a child. The youngest German EM player of all time always has the same sequence on the evening before games. Then he listens to his favorite song, among other things, and watches videos of his idols Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. This gives Musiala a good feeling before he goes to bed early to get enough sleep.
On matchday he goes through the same sequences of movements before kick-off, which also encourages the youngster to be able to use his potential on the pitch.
Even as a junior player at Chelsea, Musiala was always confronted with pressure situations. When he was the top scorer with 50 goals in his youth, the Chelsea officials said: We are looking for a striker who scores even more goals. Musiala always knew how to deal with expectations. Therefore, the instructions of the national coach to the youngster before his substitution against Hungary were not a problem. “I should dare to do things. I’m supposed to play in the half-space and move forward aggressively, “reported Musiala. He did that and made it possible for Germany to reach the round of 16 at Wembley.
Jamal Musiala: “I’m looking forward to playing against my second home”
It is a special game for Musiala, who played for the English association as a youth before the DFB secured the talent for the senior division. The England international in the service of Borussia Dortmund, Jude Bellingham (17), is still one of Musiala’s best friends. Both write messages to each other regularly and actually wanted to visit each other in Germany. But the corona pandemic thwarted the befriended soccer talents.
“I’m looking forward to playing against my second home. It’s going to be a cool game and I look forward to it no matter what. It’s a big game at Wembley, ”said the DFB kicker about the upcoming duel. Musiala should have his squad place in this duel. Because Löw knows: With him he has the perfect substitute. Maybe even more. – Manuel Bonke
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