Florian Wirtz earned rave reviews from the German media following his man-of-the-match performance for his country. While it's been a tough first season for Wirtz at Liverpool following his £116milion move from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, he has become a talisman for Julian Nagelsmann's side.
Germany began their World Cup preparations with a chaotic 4-3 win over Switzerland in Basel and Wirtz was the difference-maker. The 22-year-old contributed to all four German goals, with two assists and two goals.
His assists came in the first half, which ended 2-2. Wirtz gave his side the lead for the first time on 61 minutes with what Bild described as "goal of the month contender", a wonderful curling effort from the edge of the box that found the top corner.
After Switzerland drew level, Wirtz had the final say with another cracking effort on 85 minutes, which proved to be the winner. Unsurprisingly, Wirtz was given top marks by Bild, a rating of one, the highest possible.
The title said: "Wow, Wirtz! Our linchpin in attack. A beautiful one-two with [Kai] Havertz, a strong cross from midfield before the 1-1 equaliser, a great pass to Gnabry before the 2-2. Involved in almost every chance after the break as well. A fantastic goal in the 61st minute. His second goal sealed the victory."
Wirtz's performance masked an error-strewn German performance, with De Welt saying: "A superb performance from Florian Wirtz saved the national team from a bumpy start to the World Cup year in Basel, where their match was marred by errors."
Alluding to his struggles for the Reds, the same title added: "At least Wirtz, who had long seemed out of sorts in Liverpool, displayed a joy for the game, setting up the first two goals and crowning his performance with two stunning goals to make it 3-2 and 4-3."
Meanwhile, Sky Sports Germany lauded: "The outstanding magician Florian Wirtz has raised great hopes for magical World Cup nights among the German national team" before adding that he had masked the side's defensive shortcomings.
Meanwhile, the Bavarian Football Works site asked, as it named Wirtz man of the match: "Was this award really ever in doubt? Wirtz yet again had a flawless performance for Germany.
"He single-handedly won this game for Die Mannschaft. Two goals and two assists against a strong side on the road is a simply mind boggling performance. It is hard to make an argument against Wirtz being the best player in this squad at the moment."
Germany continue their World Cup preparations on Monday when they take on Ghana in Stuttgart.
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