👀 Just 37 minutes this season! Why this Bundesliga ace got a WC spot | OneFootball

Adam Hložek made just 37 minutes of Bundesliga appearances for TSG Hoffenheim last season. The reason: numerous injury-enforced layoffs.

Even so, he is part of the World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. That certainly came as a surprise. Not every national team coach would surely take a player who, in total, did not even spend a full half on the pitch.

Miroslav Koubek – currently in charge of the Czech team’s sporting affairs – still nominated the 23-year-old and explained it to ‘kicker’ as follows. Before making his decision, he had watched Hložek’s six minutes, including stoppage time, from the 1-0 win over Bremen in May: “He had four game situations there and solved all of them perfectly. And that surprised me. Physically, he looked excellent.”

Very much in line with the motto “It’s not always about duration,” the 74-year-old coach included Hložek in his squad and does not believe this is a risk because of his injury history.

“We know him, we know what kind of player he is and how he can help us. Besides, a German club does not put a player into a match if he is not fully fit,” Koubek continued.

So far, it has not really mattered yet, but the Bundesliga pro has already made a good impression. In the Czech Republic’s friendly against Kosovo, he set up the 1-0 and scored the 2-0 himself – his team won 2-1.

So from his point of view, things can continue like this. And who knows: maybe at this major tournament he will even collect more playing time than in the entire Bundesliga season. Let’s just hope he stays fit.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 DANIEL ROLAND - AFP or licensors