Julian Nagelsmann was still singing the praises of the great conductor Pascal Groß when he switched to Aleksandar Pavlovic in the middle of the sentence. “Pavlo played a very good game. He is a player with a lot of courage and good ideas. He embodies a lot of what I want to see at number six,” enthused the national coach.
That was the verbal conclusion to a wonderful evening of football for the 20-year-old Bayern professional Pavlovic during the 5-0 goal fest in the Nations League against Hungary. In a way, it was also the end of a summer that had also brought frustration with the necessary tonsil operation and the resulting European Championship exit.
The almonds are out
The present is now big in the control center of the national football team. Pavlovic and Stuttgart debutant Angelo Stiller, who came on later, embody the promising future. “They wanted the balls straight away and tried to create something – without fear,” the national coach praised the young duo.
Pavlovic later had more trouble describing his performance in the second international match than he did on the pitch. The young Munich player stood shyly in the interview zone. He said it was “fun”. And it was “very nice” to get a good half hour of playing time as a substitute for Groß, crowned with his first goal in the national jersey.
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In the spring, Pavlovic decided to play for Germany rather than Serbia. But things got off to a difficult start. An infection prevented him from making his debut in March. After his first appearance in the European Championship test against Ukraine (0:0) at the beginning of June, he was eliminated from the tournament due to persistent tonsil problems, which included an operation in the summer.
Pavlovic and Stiller – two sixes for the future
Now the young star is the first option behind Groß and Robert Andrich at number six. And together with Stiller (23), who was also born in Munich, a duo is growing up that can have a formative impact beyond the 2026 World Cup. Captain Joshua Kimmich, who is planned to play right back and no longer centrally, had praise for all the sixes: “Very good. They harmonized well.”
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