Lennart Karl’s first trip to the World Cup was not supposed to end this way.
It surely was not supposed to finish before it actually started either, but a muscle injury has felled the Bayern Munich phenom. According to a report from Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), the young attacker took the news extremely hard:
Lennart Karl was utterly dejected and cried on the pitch immediately after his injury as he knew right away it was something serious. Antonio Rüdiger accompanied him to the dressing room.
Since the term was training in small groups, not all players noticed the injury at first. He was then taken to hospital and diagnosed with a torn muscle.
In the evening, the entire team gathered to console Karl and bid him farewell. Julian Nagelsmann gave a speech, emphasized how bitter Karl’s injury was – especially since he had practically secured his place in the World Cup starting lineup. Nagelsmann then addressed a personal message to Karl and told him to look at the positives: “that you’re still so young and you have many more World Cups ahead of you.”
Karl then tried to address the team but barely could get a word out. The room fell completely silent several times. He was finally taken to the airport to make the journey back to Munich and start his rehab. Karl will be sidelined for several weeks.
Kicker (via @iMiaSanMia) had a similar account of how things transpired:
Julian Nagelsmann gathered the entire team and staff at the hotel to say goodbye to Lennart Karl yesterday, before the latter headed back home after it became clear he was out of the World Cup
DFB president Bernd Neuendorf: “Julian said a few words, the whole team was there. Lennart also managed to say a few words, even though it was difficult for him. He was extremely sad. I think he shed a few tears.”
There are no real positives to the story for Karl, but — at least — he avoided a major tear or break that would have sidelined him for an even longer period. While Karl will no doubt miss this experience, you could argue the German national team will miss his presence even more.
Clearly, even at a young age, the way the German national team rallied around him and sent him shows how important a figure he quickly became in the squad.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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