{"id":509228,"date":"2026-06-24T19:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/509228\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T19:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T19:26:08","slug":"germanys-kai-havertz-i-make-runs-that-look-pointless-but-im-creating-space-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/509228\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s Kai Havertz: \u2018I make runs that look pointless but I\u2019m creating space\u2019 | Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kai Havertz is recalling the cocktail of feelings that swirled around his head in Budapest three-and-a-half weeks ago. Arsenal could not have lost the Champions League final<\/a> in more agonising circumstances but the only available option was to straighten up and start smiling. They were due to set off on a bus around Islington for the Premier League trophy parade at 2pm the following day. Was this really the moment to bathe in a million onlookers\u2019 adulation?<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, it was tough,\u201d says Havertz, whose early goal against Paris Saint-Germain had looked a possible winner for nearly an hour. \u201cAfter the match, I initially thought we would call the whole thing off. By the next morning, things looked different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mass of joy, colour and sheer emotional release proved resoundingly that the north London tour was appropriate<\/a>. \u201cWe had a huge season behind us,\u201d Havertz says. \u201cThe club had gone 22 years without a league title so that had to be celebrated properly with the fans. I have to say I\u2019ve never experienced anything like it. So many people on the streets, so many supporting us. It ranks among my top three experiences as a professional.\u201d Now he is immersed in the prospect of extending the list to four.<\/p>\n

Havertz is speaking at Germany\u2019s World Cup base in Winston, North Carolina, where a sense of momentum is building. For one thing, Germany have a monkey off their back. Group stage eliminations in 2018<\/a> and 2022 added to this year\u2019s mental burden, but they have already been confirmed winners of Group E<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the second of those exits, Havertz scored twice against Costa Rica but they still tumbled out<\/a>. \u201cQatar was anything but successful for us as a team and for me personally,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a different energy in our squad now. I was quickly convinced that things would go better this year. We knew we had a duty not to fail early on again. We are Germany. But now the tournament is really just beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody is performing cartwheels around the Graylyn Estate, the splendid castle-like facility where Julian Nagelsmann\u2019s side have taken residence, after a demolition of minnows Cura\u00e7ao and a late win over C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. But Germany<\/a> managed 42 shots across those matches and Havertz feels the fun has returned. \u201cWe radiate a real joy in playing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe move a lot, play offensively and create scoring chances. And we bounce back after conceding goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Havertz scored twice against Cura\u00e7ao; a penalty and a neatly-dinked late finish, to maintain a formidable strike rate with the national team. The 27-year-old has 24 goals from 60 caps and is established as Nagelsmann\u2019s starting centre-forward, even if it was the substitute Deniz Undav who swung the C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire game with his own brace. There have been calls for Undav to start against Ecuador on Thursday and perhaps they are of a piece with much of Havertz\u2019s career: the sense has often been that, for many in his home country, his gifts fly under the radar.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably because I don\u2019t play in the Bundesliga,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the same at times with Toni Kroos and Ilkay G\u00fcndogan, who were abroad for years. It is often said about me: \u2018Havertz didn\u2019t score again, he\u2019s useless!\u2019. And when I do score, they say: \u201cWell, he\u2019s supposed to, it\u2019s about time!\u201d I don\u2019t hold it against anyone; that\u2019s perfectly normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We radiate a real joy in playing. We move a lot, play offensively and create scoring chances. And we bounce back after conceding goals.\u2019 Deniz Undav celebrates with Kai Havertz after scoring against C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Photograph: Frank Gunn\/The Canadian Press\/AP<\/p>\n

Maybe it is Havertz himself who tends towards the unconventional. He is a unique footballer: a blend of movement, tactical awareness and timing whose ruthless streak is more quiet than bombastic. \u201cDefenders should never know where I am, where I\u2019m going, what I\u2019m planning, or where I\u2019ll be at any given moment,\u201d he says during an interview arranged in collaboration with Die Zeit. \u201cThat\u2019s the worst for them. I try to be like a ghost to defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that comes a selflessness that has made him a manager\u2019s dream. Mikel Arteta, in particular, rarely spurns a chance to wax lyrical about Havertz. \u201cI can\u2019t just wait around in the penalty area, I need to be involved,\u201d he says. \u201cI also make runs which I know sometimes look pointless, but I\u2019m creating space for the players coming up behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n

It helps that Havertz, for all that decisive finishing ability, has often been the definition of plug and play. He began as a winger and largely played in midfield until Peter Bosz began deploying him as a spearhead at Bayer Leverkusen. There was even the night in 2023 when Nagelsmann started him at left-back in a friendly against Turkey; it spoke volumes when Havertz nonetheless scored after five minutes. \u201cIf he were to ask me to do it again, I would,\u201d the player insists.<\/p>\n

An unfussy demeanour can sometimes be misinterpreted as casual but Havertz is simply one to crack on with the job in hand. \u201cI\u2019m aware of the debates that I\u2019m too laid back or my body language is wrong,\u201d he says. \u201cThat always comes up when I\u2019m not playing well. But I\u2019m not the sort of person who dwells on it too much. It used to be different. I don\u2019t brood on things any more..\u201d Nonetheless, nerves occasionally strike. \u201cI know it doesn\u2019t show from the outside, but I feel it,\u201d he says. \u201cBefore a Champions League final, or at a World Cup<\/a>. Or before penalties. I need that tension to stay focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m aware of the debates that I\u2019m too laid back or my body language is wrong \u2026 But I\u2019m not the sort of person who dwells on it too much.\u2019 Kai Havertz scores in Germany\u2019s 7-1 hammering of Cura\u00e7ao. Photograph: Eric Smith\/AP<\/p>\n

Pure instinct may be the key to delivering Germany a first World Cup title since 2014. That cannot be discounted despite a buildup fraught with question marks and the prospect of a last-16 showdown with France. Havertz is fit and well after a season whose early months were derailed by knee surgery. \u201cThe last year and a half has gone badly for me,\u201d he says of problems that also included a hamstring injury in 2024-25 and make his contributions for Arsenal all the more commendable. The desire burns to cast old frustrations aside.<\/p>\n

Havertz was in the Germany team that, amid a tide of host country fervour, narrowly fell to Spain in the quarter-finals at Euro 2024, and he has detected an even higher-octane environment in North America. \u201cThe atmosphere is amazing. I was really excited before the Euros in Germany, too. A World Cup is even bigger. There\u2019s incredible energy in the stadiums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Havertz says he is yet to be desperate for a drink in the 23rd minute of a game, perhaps because Germany have hardly sweltered when playing in Toronto and the air-conditioned arena in Houston. He is not on the side of Fifa\u2019s so-called hydration breaks. \u201cThey\u2019re usually annoying, especially when you\u2019ve just had two or three good situations and feel your flow is being interrupted,\u201d he says. \u201cBut others decide that.\u201d<\/p>\n

More firmly in his gift is the chance to shape Germany\u2019s fortunes. When he was 17 and gearing up for stardom at Leverkusen, Havertz wanted to drop out of school and forgo the Abitur, Germany\u2019s university entrance exam. He was put straight by a staff member at his club, who saw it as a critical test of willpower. \u201cAt 17, you don\u2019t think you need school any more,\u201d he says. \u201cAt that age, you also don\u2019t think about injuries or how things can suddenly take a completely different turn. It was a life lesson for me: seeing things through to the end instead of just quitting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps that is also the model for a winning World Cup campaign and a less conflicting victory tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kai Havertz is recalling the cocktail of feelings that swirled around his head in Budapest three-and-a-half weeks ago.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-509228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}