Soccer, Germany with B-Elf against the Czech Republic: “The measure is good”

WITHat least in the afternoon it cleared up a bit. The clouds that hung over Leipzig on Tuesday morning had disappeared. Over the city in which the day before there was symbolic talk of a “dark cloud”.

Oliver Bierhoff, the director of national teams at the DFB, had used meteorology in a minute-long monologue and criticized the wrong “tonality” with regard to the public assessment of the German national soccer team and called for a return to a “positive spirit”.

That the former striker addresses that is his right. But he should be aware that the critical discourse can also be traced back to what the supposed elite selection of the German Football Association (DFB) recently presented. In some cases it was not attractive or even promising.

But at least on Wednesday in the test match against the Czech Republic (8.45pm, RTL), after four draws and nine goals conceded in the past five games, there is now the opportunity to regain lost credit.

Without Neuer, Goretzka and Havertz

However, it will not be so easy, as national coach Joachim Löw decided to forego some established players in the first of three upcoming international matches due to the tight schedule and the high burden. Since Manuel Neuer, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sané, Matthias Ginter, Toni Kroos and Timo Werner will only join the team on Thursday and professionals like Julian Draxler or Kai Havertz will be absent due to injuries or a positive corona test try a German team against the Czech Republic that is peppered with some players who would certainly not have been associated with a nomination for the A-team a few weeks ago.

The fact that Löw called Felix Uduokhai from FC Augsburg and Philipp Max from PSV Eindhoven into the squad came as a surprise. When Ridle Baku, who recently played for the starving FSV Mainz 05 and is now under contract with VfL Wolfsburg, came up on Sunday, quite a few were amazed. But the coach now offers you the chance to show yourself sustainably – whether in the game or at the end of one of the few training units. How great the chances are of being a candidate for the coach in the future remains to be seen.

For Löw, in any case, it’s players who definitely have perspective. Which brings us to a selection that the current team of lesser-known national players, none of whom has more than 39 internationals (Gündogan), reminds a little of.

After the 2006 World Cup was awarded to Germany, a selection team – the “Team 2006” – was created the following year as a result of the poor performance at the 2000 European Championship, which should offer young players in particular the opportunity to compete in international games for the A- Team to be recommended.

Uli Stielike, the first trainer, was followed by Erich Rutemöller in April 2003. “I thought it was a very good idea at the time because we gave talented players the opportunity to offer themselves,” said Rutemöller in an interview with WELT. It was an “excellent idea” from Löw, added the 75-year-old, who currently works as a consultant at 1. FC Köln and trains coaches around the world to introduce second-tier players to the senior team. “Löw and his trainers are setting an example. They show the players that they are seen by them and that they now want to be seen in an international match. The measure is good, it fills players with pride. “

73 players were used in “Team 2006” in ten games – four (Borowski, Friedrich, Hanke and Hildebrand) made it into the squad for the home World Cup, which 14 years ago caused euphoria that had lasted for years National team sparked.

Bad odds

But that has long since ebbed. Road sweeps are no longer international matches. Less than six million people watched the game against Turkey in October. According to information from RTL, ARD and ZDF, this has been the worst rate for a German international match broadcast in the evening for at least 20 years. The number of spectators in the stadium had also declined before the corona pandemic.

In particular, the commercialization of the national team is, according to a survey, the main reason for the declining interest of Germans in the Löw team. More than half of the more than 2000 people questioned stated this in a survey by the opinion research institute Civey for “t-online”. An unsympathetic DFB leadership (39.7), an unattractive style of play (35.6) and too high a number of competitions (33.9) were also given as reasons.

The burden of regaining trust is great. For the national coach. For the players. “I can only say that we are happy to play for Germany and want to represent our country well. We are responsible, ”said midfielder Gündogan on Tuesday.

He understands, he added, that many people are wondering why they would play in times like these, when many have completely different thoughts about the corona pandemic. Gündogan himself had tested positive for Covid in October and appealed urgently to deal with the situation responsibly.

“Before the corona illness, I did not take it fully. After that, my thinking changed. We should be as careful as possible to protect the people around us, ”said Gündogan, the captain for Neuer who may be represented as captain in his absence.

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Löw, who is responsible for the decision, is hoping for a good performance by his team before the Nations League games against Ukraine on Saturday and three days later in Spain. He has full confidence in his players, each of whom is having fun and energy.

One is happy, said Löw, that in times like these one can pursue one’s job and play. “But that requires that we take responsibility. It’s not that easy to deal with. We have to give the players breaks, ”said the coach. “It would of course be easier if we could always have the congruent team play. Thats not OK.”

Which is why players are allowed to show themselves on Wednesday evening who are otherwise usually only granted the role of spectator.