After 8 World Cups and 7 European Championships on site, Frank Raes is experiencing a major tournament from home. In between his shifts as Journal anchor, he visited our daily Facebook Live – during the European Championships. In it, Frank expressed his doubts about the extra-sporty choices of the German Football Association: “It is a bizarre situation there.”
The bumpy trail of Löw
Frank Raes talked about Germany in our Facebook Live. National coach Joachim Löw especially had to suffer.
“It already started when he pushed the ‘old men’ Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels aside too early. A very bad move by Löw.”
“Hummels still has excellent positioning and Müller, Germany’s ‘Lieblingskind’, is brimming with confidence. He has his own style and is still good for goals. In the end, Low had to give in to public opinion.”
Hansi Flick already had to be national coach during this European Championship.
“You don’t understand that Löw is still national coach? Knowing that he will leave and that successor Hansi Flick is already ready in the wings. That is a very bizarre situation, isn’t it?”
“They should have installed Flick as national coach of Germany by now. And Loew, who has been through everything and has won everything, let you go in peace.”
‘Old men’ Müller and Hummels were fished back to Germany by Löw
There is also a hair in the butter with France
Raes also noticed the quarrel between Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappé.
“It is restless in France. I like that. France is always a hotbed for small issues. Mbappé has now cleverly solved that at the press conference.”
““But still… It is not inconceivable that the future champion will lose its first game. It was the case with Spain, when it lost its opening game against Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup.”
“The Netherlands also encountered it in 1988 against the Russians, who later defeated them in the final. If that happens with France, it will weigh mentally, because the French football press will be on top of it. But it doesn’t have to be dramatic. .”
It is not inconceivable that a later champion loses his first match. Mentally it will weigh, but it is not a drama.
“Yet the French are still the big favorite for me. Much more than Germany, even if you are never done with it.”
“France has an exceptional core, they are good in every line and with Benzema they now have a top striker. Much more than Germany. And then you have that very good team from Portugal. I hope all three continue to the next round.”
“And there is a chance, because now 36 matches are played to only have 8 dropouts. 4 best thirds continue. I have experienced another European Championship with 4 participating teams, just to outline how times have changed and the tournaments have been distorted by the TV industry, for example.”
Mbappé (here with Benzema) has already extinguished his fire with Giroud
About his farewell to the VRT
Frank Raes will hang his Sporza microphone at the end of this year, after 43 years of service at the VRT. “It had to stop. I started in 1978 at the then BRTN as a casual employee. At the time, the VRT building was still new, now it has gradually deteriorated.”
“In the long run you will become experienced, although every time I was somewhere in the commentary stand I was happy again. I will miss that very much. But I will not grieve, I have another son to raise and I also have hobbies: for example, I really like to take pictures.”
