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On the training ground in Winston Salem on June 24, Nathaniel Brown was jogging alone on the sidelines. Official report: minor adductor discomfort, precautionary measure.
At the training ground in Winston-Salem on June 24, Nathaniel Brown jogged alone on the sidelines. The official report: mild adductor discomfort, a precautionary measure.
24 hours later, in New Jersey, Germany lost 1-2 to Ecuador.
A 23-year-old left-back's "mild discomfort" came just in time, right after a €50 million transfer was finalized.
Sané scored within 1 minute and 49 seconds, Germany's second-fastest World Cup goal in history, behind only Ernst Lehner's strike against Austria in 1934. After that lightning opener, Germany's midfield lost all rhythm. Angulo equalized in the 9th minute, and Plata scored the winner in the 77th minute. Ecuador had failed to score in their first two group matches, yet here they scored 2 goals from 7 shots.
Germany had 61% possession and 11 shots. Ecuador had 7 shots with an xG of 1.51, scoring 2. Most of Germany's 11 shots were wasteful long-range efforts. Germany strung together possession like prayer beads, counting each one, but none were lethal.
Brown played a completely different style in the first two group matches. On June 14, Germany faced Curaçao in Houston; Brown started, scored a volley in the 68th minute to make it 5-1, and was substituted in the 73rd minute. On June 20 in Toronto against Ivory Coast, he played the full 90 minutes again, clearing a certain goal off the line in the 2-1 narrow victory. His performances at both ends of the pitch put him directly on Bayern Munich's shopping list.
During the World Cup, Schira confirmed that Brown's transfer to Bayern Munich was sealed. The deal is €50 million fixed, plus €5 million in add-ons, totaling €55 million, with a contract signed until 2031. Eintracht Frankfurt initially held out for €60 million or more, but the total price eventually dropped to €55 million; however, Bayern accepted the €50 million fixed fee without budging. The negotiations were essentially completed during the group stage. When Brown was running around in the German shirt, he was already a line item on Bayern Munich's balance sheet.
The Bundesliga's most expensive signing this summer had just completed his transfer when his adductor experienced "mild discomfort." With the group top spot already secured, this match was what the German FA categorized as dead rubber. But on Bayern's books, this was a €55 million asset protection plan.
The injury timeline stretched out: individual training on the 24th, missed the match on the 25th, missed full team training again on the 26th. He didn't return to the squad until two days before the knockout match. A "mild discomfort" took days to recover from.
The defense couldn't afford to wait. On June 20 against Ivory Coast, Schlotterbeck suffered a torn medial ligament in his left ankle, replaced by Rüdiger at halftime, and after an MRI, he withdrew from the entire tournament. Four days later, Brown was also sidelined in the stands; the same defensive line lost two players in four days. One was a hard injury (ligament tear), the other a soft injury (adductor discomfort).
David Raum replaced Brown in the starting lineup. He had only appeared as a substitute in the first two group matches—replacing Brown in the 73rd minute against Curaçao and coming on in the 72nd minute against Ivory Coast. Having played fewer than 40 minutes total, he was thrown straight into Ecuador's counterattacking assault.
In the mixed zone after the match, Undav admitted to the cameras: "I felt they wanted to win more than we did. Ecuador was more aggressive and fought harder; that's something we should learn from."
When Nagelsmann heard the reporter's paraphrase in the press conference, he snapped on the spot: "Ecuador wanted to win more than us? Nonsense. Please stop this nonsense."
He then reflected: "There was too much spontaneous play. We need to be more patient and maintain structure in our positions."
An inconsequential group stage match, yet the coach and a player openly clashed in front of the media.
On June 29, in the knockout match against Paraguay at Gillette Stadium in Boston, Brown returned to full training and was expected to start. The national team used five days of "precaution" to protect Bayern's €55 million asset. Now, that asset has to clean up the mess left by the national team's complacency.