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Germany substitute Nadiem Amiri eyeing more playing time after 'huge' World Cup moment

RE

Reuters

Published 1 day ago

Germany's attacking midfielder, Nadiem Amiri, came on as a substitute, delivered ⁠an assist that led to an equaliser in their last-gasp 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast on Saturday and is now ‌hoping his big moment was not just a flash in the pan at ‌the World Cup.

[p]The 29-year-old floated a ball for striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/undav-deniz/tUHAdtMH/"]‌Deniz Undav[/a] to cancel out the Africans' 1-0 lead and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/germany/ptQide1O/"]Germany[/a] won ‌the game to secure top spot in Group E and ‌a place in the knockout stage ahead of their final match against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ecuador/8tbm8Tri/"]Ecuador[/a] on Thursday.[/p][p]"[b]I think every player wants to start well in the ‌tournament. I was not disappointed not to ⁠play against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/curacao/bLLGpOkQ/"]Curacao[/a]. I don't ‌need a lot of minutes to get into the game and the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ivory-coast/G2FRjBgn/"]​Ivory Coast[/a] match was the perfect example[/b]," [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/amiri-nadiem/b3H5VR8I/"]Amiri[/a] told a press conference on Monday. "[b]It was a huge moment for ​me[/b]."[/p][p]Germany have already qualified but Amiri said the match against Ecuador would be like a final for the team, eager to ⁠maintain their winning momentum, ​with the Germans having won their last 11 international matches.[/p][image alt="Amiri made a big impact against Ivory Coast" id="447ddcaa-7232-4270-9683-60dcf43bd94a" credit-line="REUTERS / Piroschka Van De Wouw" guid="70f06b74-8103-45c4-887e-78b6ed2c08be" original-width="3025" original-height="2079" /][p]Four-time world champions Germany, who made it to the knockout stage for the first time in 12 years, are on six points. The Ivory Coast ‌are second on three, with Ecuador and Curacao on one point from their two matches.[/p][p]Coach Julian Nagelsmann will have to make some changes to his lineup following the injury of central defender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schlotterbeck-nico/hKLN8mA7/"]Nico Schlotterbeck[/a], while there are growing calls to bench midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/musiala-jamal/nVzSNrOf/"]Jamal Musiala[/a] as well, following a lacklustre performance against the Ivory Coast.[/p][p]"[b]Ecuador have a very good team but did not start well. We have to be prepared and I hope that I ‌get more playing time but I am ready to be deployed ​as the coach sees fit[/b]," Amiri said.[/p][p]"[b]We have to stay ‌in the flow because every win is good for us. It is an extremely important match for us with a lot of fans coming from Germany so we want to win it 100% and we will go in with ⁠maximum intensity," he said. "We are ⁠all prepared and that's ‌how we approach it - like a final[/b]."[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]

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