Liverpool forward Florian Wirtz answered some of his critics on Sunday with a wonderful free-kick goal for Germany.
The 22-year-old has not quite been at his best during the early part of the season and has taken some flak in the press as a result.
Wirtz failed to spark for Germany against Slovakia last week, leading to some concern over his level since arriving at Liverpool this summer.
However, class is clearly permanent, and the £116m man hit back with a superb strike to finally see off a spirited performance from Conor Bradley‘s Northern Ireland in Cologne.
Wirtz will now head back to Liverpool, where he should go into this weekend’s match against Burnley with a spring in his step.
There he will join back up with Bradley, who was not in the best mood following his teammate’s goal on Sunday evening.
Conor Bradley says Florian Wirtz free-kick shouldn’t have been given
Bradley was looking forward to facing Wirtz in Germany, joking before the game about the all-Liverpool match-up.
However, having seen his team beaten 3-1 in what appeared to be a relatively even game, the right-back was in a more sober mood as he spoke to the Belfast Telegraph after the match.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz told he ‘should be smarter’ as Julian Nagelsmann echoes Arne Slot point
“We’re disappointed,” said Bradley. “They are a good team but I thought we played well on the night, especially in the first half, and I’m disappointed because I thought we should have got more than that.
“I don’t think they were overly great on the night. I don’t think we lost because they were brilliant. I thought we lost because obviously the goals weren’t great that we conceded.”
On Wirtz’s free-kick, whilst he hailed the quality of the strike, Bradley insisted that it was not even a foul in the first place.
“The third one was a brilliant free-kick by Flo,” he admitted. “But I don’t think it was a free-kick. So, it’s disappointing but we will see them in Belfast in a month’s time.”
Liverpool teammates react to Wirtz magic
Bradley was in the wall which Wirtz beat to score his eighth international goal on Sunday. He saw his teammate’s genius up close.
But other members of the Liverpool squad were equally impressed by the Reds’ No. 7 after watching from afar.
After Wirtz posted on Instagram following the game, both Curtis Jones and Ibrahima Konate offered their reactions.
Wirtz and Jones have struck up a friendship, and the Scouser showed his support by adding four flame emojis under the German’s post.
Konate, meanwhile, left two raised fists emojis as his own reaction.
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