World Cup 2014: Christoph Kramer 'can't remember' final after collision with Ezequiel Garay

Youngster was substituted after after suffering what appeared to be concussion

Tom Sheen,Lizzie Dearden
Tuesday 15 July 2014 11:30 BST
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It should have been a dream come true. But Christoph Kramer's World Cup final lasted only half an hour - and he doesn't even remember it.

The 23-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder was drafted in as a last minute replacement for Sami Khedira after the Real Madrid man suffered a calf injury in the warm-up.

Kramer only made his international debut in May and had played just 12 minutes in Brazil before the final.

But Joachim Low trusted him enough to start the youngster, who had impressed last season on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach, in the biggest game there is.

Kramer might have been expected to show some nerves during the game but he played well, completing 75 per cent of his passes.

However, he was then involved in a collision with the Argentina defender and didn't recover.

"I can’t really remember much of the game," he told German newspaper Die Welt after seeing his team-mates beat Argentina 1-0.

"I don’t know anything at all about the first half. I thought later that I left the game immediately after the tackle. I have no idea how I got to the changing rooms. I don’t know anything else. In my head, the game starts from the second half."

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