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Reus 2 Men

World Cup 2014: Reus sets sights on Sweden

Marco Reus has already been dubbed Germany’s Mr Indispensable ahead of tonight’s WC qualifier against Sweden in Berlin.

MARCO REUS IS set to make only his 13th international appearance against Sweden in Tuesday’s 2014 World Cup qualifier, but the attacking midfielder has already been dubbed Germany’s Mr Indispensable.

His recent form has relegated Arsenal’s Lukas Podolski to the bench and team manager Oliver Bierhoff has admitted Reus is one of the few players they cannot afford to do without ahead of the match at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

“It’s amazing how he always keeps going forward and attacking,” Bierhoff said of the tattooed Borussia Dortmund star who has already scored six goals in 10 appearances this season for his new club.

“He is currently some way ahead of his competitors.

“His speed and quality is impressive. We can’t replace him like for like.”

The reason why the 23-year-old has relegated Podolski to the bench was self-evident last Friday as the quality of his two goals in the 6-1 drubbing of Ireland in Dublin spoke for themselves.

With 104 international appearances, Podolski has been impressive at Arsenal since his move from Cologne at the end of last season with four goals in nine games for the Gunners, but Reus has made Germany’s left-wing berth his own.

Podolski is not the only senior German player to have thrown a few envious looks Reus’ way.

“His shooting technique is outstanding,” said veteran striker Miroslav Klose, no stranger to hitting the net himself having scored his 65th international goal last Friday on his 125th appearance.

“If I could shoot like him, I would have had a few more goals.”

Even former Germany captain and television pundit Oliver Kahn, never one known to gush, was eager to wax lyrical about Reus’ form.

“We need to go a long way back to remind ourselves of such a talent in Germany,” said Kahn by way of explaining why Dortmund paid Moenchengladbach 17 million euros (US$22m) for Reus.

“He is very, very fast, he is always dangerous in the area and he is a very intelligent player.”

Having scored Dortmund’s all important goal in their 1-1 draw at Manchester City in the Champions League at the start of the month, Reus showed the same clinical finishing to score both Germany’s first-half goals against Ireland.

Reus’ debut was delayed five times by injury until he finally played against Turkey in November 2011, but his outstanding performance in the 4-2 quarter-final win over Greece at Euro 2012 marked him out as a future star.

“I make no claims, that is not my nature,” Reus said modestly after another impressive display against the Irish having been dubbed Rolls Reus by the German media.

“If I play well and work hard, then the head coach rewards me.”

After Ireland failed to contain him, it remains to see whether Sweden can put the brakes on Reus.

World Cup 2014 qualifying – Group C

  • Faroe Islands v Republic of Ireland (7pm)
  • Austria v Kazakhstan (7.35pm)
  • Germany v Sweden (7.45pm)

Open thread: How do you think tonight’s Ireland match will go?

Faroe Islands v Ireland: Past meetings between the sides

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