If Germany are crowned European champions on July 14, it will be a symbolic image of their fighting spirit. In the third minute of injury time in the Germany-Denmark clash, the Nordic side’s last dangerous attack was snuffed out by a superb save from Antonio Rudiger.

The 31-year-old centre-back celebrated wildly as if he had just scored an important goal. Despite falling to the ground, Rudiger raised his fists in the air and roared in excitement. “I watched the footage again. I asked myself what I did. I was just too excited,” Rudiger told Sky about his final celebration.

Germany are still making progress at EURO 2024 thanks to the talents of Jamal Musiala, Toni Kroos and Kai Havertz. But talent is not enough for a team with ambitions of domination. They also need the fighting spirit of Rudiger, one of the world’s top central defenders at the moment.

On the day Musiala continued to score, Rudiger was the player voted “Man of the Match” by UEFA. The UEFA technical subcommittee’s assessment of Rudiger in the win over Denmark stated: “Rudiger played very solidly, winning many duels throughout the match. He was particularly strong in the air and also had the ability to dribble effectively.”

During his 90 minutes on the pitch, Real Madrid’s centre-back cleared the ball 4 times, blocked 4 shots from the opponent, had 100% successful duels both on the ground and in the air, passed the ball 55/63 times and even had an opening that led to a scoring opportunity for Germany.

But statistics do not fully demonstrate the importance of Rudiger. The fiery spirit, the certainty in every move and the experienced playing style of the 31-year-old central defender have helped his teammates feel more confident.

Not far away, Nico Schlotterbeck played much more confidently when paired with his senior. The Dortmund center-back was under a lot of pressure when he had to replace Jonathan Tah, who was suspended for this match. Schlotterbeck admitted before the match that he could not forget the terrible mistake against Japan at the 2022 World Cup that made him a sinner for Germany.

But alongside Rudiger, Schlotterbeck also had a successful match. Confident, confident and without a single mistake. After the final whistle, the first person Schlotterbeck gave a hug to was Rudiger. The old and young central defenders had a good day and Nagelsmann can consider whether to bring Jonathan Tah back to the starting lineup.

Rudiger has played every minute since the start of EURO 2024. In fact, it was a great effort from the Real Madrid center-back. In the match against Switzerland in the final round of the group stage, Rudiger suffered a thigh strain injury. The German defense is facing a crisis when Jonathan Tah is suspended and Rudiger is injured.

But somehow, by some miracle, Rudiger recovered in time for the match against Denmark in the round of 16. Even the German team’s doctors were surprised by Rudiger’s rapid recovery. And even more surprising was that the player who was injured in the match against Switzerland had the best performance against Denmark.

“We still have three finals ahead,” Rudiger declared about his ambition to win the title on July 14 in Berlin. For Germany’s number one centre-back, every match now is a life-or-death encounter in which Rudiger will give his all as if there is no tomorrow.