“I don’t want to rake over old ground”: German World Cup bench-warmer would have liked to take a penalty against Paraguay

Pascal Groß has announced that he would have been ready to step up in the penalty shootout in the World Cup round of 32 against Paraguay.

That never happened because Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann did not send the midfielder on. The DFB side lost the tie on penalties after 120 minutes had finished 1-1. TV pictures showed key man Joshua Kimmich struggling to find takers once it became clear more than the five pre-designated players per team would have to step up.

Leon Goretzka did not want to take one, so Jonathan Tah became the sixth taker and blazed the first penalty of his career over the bar. "I was prepared for that scenario, but I don't want to revisit it now," Groß said of his possible involvement in the penalty shoot-out in kicker. Afterwards, though, it was no longer an issue with Germany coach Nagelsmann: "No, there was no conversation. Naturally, it hurt him enormously as well, everyone was devastated," said Groß.

At the World Cup in North America, he came on for only 17 minutes in the group game against Ecuador. The 35-year-old then missed out on the squad named by new Germany coach Jürgen Klopp, which was hardly surprising given his age, even if he had initially not publicly announced his retirement from the DFB team. "After the World Cup, with a bit of distance, I had already decided that the matter was over for me," he admitted, adding: "I had no conversation with the Germany coach. For me, the non-nomination is not a problem."

What kind of form is Pascal Groß currently in?

Groß has won 19 caps for Germany. He has scored one goal. For Brighton, he has made a very strong start to the new season: the Seagulls head into the international break in third place. Groß has delivered an outstanding three goals and four assists in five Premier League matches.