Emre Can received heaps of praise from his manager and fellow team mates following his international debut for Die Mannschaft.
Can played 90 minutes in Germany’s 3-1 win over Poland, as they went two points clear at the top of Group D thanks to a brace from Mario Götze with Thomas Müller adding to his impressive six goals in the qualifiers already.
The Liverpool midfielder started at right-back for Joachim Löw’s side in the defence of Jonas Hector (FC Köln), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) and Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich) with Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) in goal.
The Germany manager tested Can on the right side of defence to see whether the Reds player can fill the void left by Philipp Lahm who retired from international football after Germany’s World Cup triumph.
The 21-year old made two tackles, three clearances as well as winning five aerial challenges; not a bad return for a player playing out of position.
Speaking to the German National Website, DFB, Mats Hummels was impressed by his defensive compatriot for the night.
I play directly alongside Jerome Boateng and Jonas Hector, but obviously I’m aware of his talent. He’s a great player, a quick and powerful one. His performances at club level meant that he fully deserved his international debut.
The former Leverkusen man has played in every Premier League game this season for Liverpool and his performance on Friday night impressed manager Joachim Low, as quoted on SportsMole:
“I like the way he plays, I was pleased with Emre’s first game [for Germany]. It was not easy for him to withstand the pressure of playing the group leaders Poland, in his first game; he has done well.
He is not a player who is used to playing in the right side of a back four. It was good to see him do well. He tackled well, showed strength and has a good passing game.
“It was a decent debut performance. Technically he is clever, he plays clean, simple passes and has a good positional sense.”
