Mats Hummels produced an utterly outrageous outside-of-the-boot assist from his own half in Germany’s 7-1 thrashing of Latvia on Monday night.
Joachim Low’s side ran riot in their final Euro 2020 warm-up friendly, with six different Germany players all on target in the drubbing – including Ilkay Gundogan, Thomas Muller, Timo Werner and Leroy Sane.
The four-time World Cup winners were 5-0 up and flying at half-time when Serge Gnabry got in on the act. The Bayern Munich forward’s finish was an emphatic one but it was all about the pass from Hummels.
5-0 to #GER at half-time with 5⃣ different goalscorers!
This time it’s former Arsenal and West Brom winger Serge Gnabry
Watch #GER v Latvia live on Sky Sports Football 📺 pic.twitter.com/EHUzL1ohbG
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 7, 2021
Since when did Mats Hummels become a world-class midfielder 😱
That finish was nice too 🔥 pic.twitter.com/e3YBHL8Yj1
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 7, 2021
The Borussia Dortmund man conjured up a piece of play you would not normally expect from a central defender when he sliced the Latvia defence wide open with one swift pass.
In possession in his own half, Hummels spotted Gnabry lurking on the shoulder of the last defender. He then executed his pass perfectly to match his teammate’s run in behind, allowing him a one-on-one opportunity.
You could see how appreciative Gnabry was as he put his hand in the air to gesture towards Hummels before being embraced by his teammates.
In March 2019, Hummels, along with Muller, were told that they would not be picked again for the national team.
Over two years on, however, the pair were recalled to the squad for the European Championship.
Both were part of a wholly disappointing 2018 World Cup where the team were eliminated in the group stage but Hummels is confident they have moved on since then.
“At that time [in 2018], we had the problem that we had not yet found each other as a team, neither in the training sessions before nor in the game itself,” he said in an interview with Kicker, as per Goal.
“That will certainly not happen to us against France. It mustn’t happen to us again to lose sight of the team. I can honestly say the feeling now is different than it was back then.
“Everyone wants to become a unit, everyone is ready to sacrifice themselves for the team. We can go far. We are on the right track; we know that we have the skills to win this tournament.”