Arsenal summer signing Shkodran Mustafi says that he held the shirt of Germany team-mate Marco Reus aloft during the 2014 World Cup celebrations because he didn't want the Borussia Dortmund star to be "forgotten."
Mustafi achieved the ultimate ambition of footballers around the globe as he won the World Cup with Die Nationalmannschaft in Brazil two years ago, but the centre-back almost missed out on Joachim Low's final 23-man squad.
The defender only made his national team debut a month before the tournament and was included in the World Cup squad after Germany star Reus suffered an ankle injury in a warm-up friendly against Armenia.
Mustafi made two substitute appearances before starting the last-16 win against Algeria, but a thigh injury ended his World Cup - and the 24-year-old made sure Reus was not forgotten due to injury either as Germany triumphed over Argentina in the final.
"I played a game just before the World Cup," Mustafi told Arsenal Player. "I was in the last 27 but I didn’t make the last 23. But then Marco got injured and I got a call to join the team again, so I went to Brazil.
"When you think that you didn’t make the 23 players the first time, you think, 'OK, I go there now, but my chances of playing aren’t going to be that big'.
"But straight away in the first game, you have to go out on to the pitch and in the second game you play again. Then you play again and again, and end up winning the World Cup.
Shkodran Mustafi signs for Arsenal
"When people said to me that Marco was injured and now it was my turn, it always sounded a bit like they had forgotten about Marco because I was in the final 23 players.
"What I didn’t want was to forget him. I think he deserved to be there as well. He’s a fantastic player and that’s why I didn’t want to forget him."
