Marvin Ducksch has picked up a lot of new experiences in the past few weeks. With his first international cap, the 29-year-old fulfilled a childhood dream whose magic lasted throughout his time with the German national side. “It was very special for me from day one,” explains Ducksch. “Running out onto that pitch with the eagle on my chest is something that I’ll probably take with me for the rest of my life.”
In the shape of Ilkay Gündogan, Mats Hummels and Antonio Rüdiger, Marvin Ducksch already knew three of his new teammates from his time at Borussia Dortmund, but he is unsurprisingly closest with Niclas Füllkrug, with whom he was still leading the line for SVW until the summer. “I was received very well by the whole coaching team and staff,” says Ducksch. “That made it a lot easier for me.”
However, the Germany national team had a difficult international break. Julian Nagelsmann’s side suffered a severe setback with the losses against Turkey (2-3) and Austria (0-2). It was no easy task for Ducksch, who appeared for eight and 13 minutes as a substitute. “I wasn't able to provide any kind of inspiration, but I did everything I could to make my presence felt and bring intensity to the pitch,” says the right-footed goalscorer, who got the call up to the Germany team thanks to his strong performances for SVW. “Now I’ve got to carry on performing well at club level and work hard to get the call up for the EUROs in the summer.”
His first two international games have made him hungry for more. The only way to get more caps is to put in good performances for Werder Bremen. The performance level which Ducksch achieved with the national team cannot drop in his day-to-day life in the Bundesliga – after all, the Bundesliga leaders, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, are the visitors at the weekend.“We know about the opposition’s quality. However, it’s game that we’re looking to win like any other,” the Green-Whites’ current top scorer says. “We can see our opportunity and want to make use of it, but we need to produce our best performance on the pitch for that to happen.”
