Hansi Flick fears Red Devils: “Playing football one of the best teams in Europe” | Friendly 2023

Hansi Flick shows his cards. The national coach of Germany announced that Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United) and Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich) will start in the friendly match against the Red Devils.

So Flick is already making at least two changes compared to the previous exhibition match against Peru. Then Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund) and Kai Havertz (Chelsea) were sure of a place in the starting eleven. Havertz is ill and Schlotterbeck is struggling with a muscle injury. Up front, Flick retains confidence in attack duo Nicklas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen) and Timo Werner (RB Leipzig).

A warned German is worth two. The German national coach Hansi Flick is wary of the duel against the Red Devils. Germany booked a simple 2-0 win against Peru on Saturday in the friendly match. But that’s not a good indicator according to Flick.

“It will be a different match, against a different opponent. Belgium is of a different caliber than Peru. The team plays with a compact defense and beautiful offensive football in possession of the ball. Belgium refueled confidence with a convincing victory in Sweden,” said national coach Flick.

“Belgium is a team that can play football under pressure, that can find solutions, in football terms it is one of the best teams in Europe. It is a good opponent for us. It will not be easy.”

As an organizer, Germany has been directly qualified for next year’s European Championship and is preparing with friendly matches.

22 Red Devils, 19 field players and 3 goalkeepers, were present this morning on the practice field of the national football center in Tubize for the last training of the Red Devils before the friendly match in Cologne against Germany.

Leicester midfielder Dennis Praet was the only one absent from training, he was still there on Sunday. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois dropped out slightly injured after returning from Sweden. He will be replaced in goal by Koen Casteels, who trained with a face mask. With Arthur Denil, another referee was present at training.

The selection will travel to Cologne at 2.30 pm, where Casteels and national coach Domenico Tedesco will speak to the press at 6 pm.

The German national coach Hansi Flick cannot count on midfielder Kai Havertz (Chelsea) and defender Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund) on Tuesday.

Havertz contracted a flu infection, Schlotterbeck is struggling with an injury in his hamstrings. Flick does not summon additional players. This leaves 21 players for Tuesday’s confrontation in Cologne.

This afternoon 23 Red Devils, 20 field players and 3 goalkeepers, trained in Tubize.

Just like last week, a referee was present. This time it was Brent Staessens who took care of the mutual matches.

Compared to the 24-man selection that returned from Sweden on Saturday morning, Thibaut Courtois was the only one absent. The goalkeeper of Real Madrid dropped out on Saturday with a slight injury, which means that Koen Casteels will more than likely be in goal in Germany.

The Red Devils train one last time on Belgian soil on Monday morning and then travel to Cologne.

The Frenchman Willy Delajod has been appointed as referee for the friendly match.

Barely 30-year-old Delajod has been leading matches in the French Ligue 1 since 2018. In September 2020, he played a European club match for the first time. In mid-October last year, he was the referee in the Conference League match between West Ham and Anderlecht (2-1).

The international match in Cologne will only be Delajod’s second international match ever. He made his debut in June 2021 with a friendly match between Spain and Lithuania (4-0).

In 19 international matches between Germany and Belgium, the Belgians could only win 4 times. 3 of those victories date from before the First World War, when football was still in its infancy.

For the last Belgian victory we have to go back to September 1954, when a friendly match was won 2-0.

The 10 confrontations that followed were all won by Germany. Striking: none of the 19 official duels between the two countries ended in a draw.

The last Germany – Belgium dates back to the qualifying campaign for Euro 2012. On October 11, 2011, the young Red Devils had to win to be able to go to the European Championship, but it became 3-1 in Düsseldorf.

Marouane Fellaini scored the honor saver in the final phase after a corner kick from Dries Mertens. The only Red Devil who was at the kick-off then and is now also there is Jan Vertonghen.

With a friendly match against Germany, the Red Devils close their first diptych on Tuesday evening under brand new national coach Domenico Tedesco.

With Friday evening’s 0-3 in Sweden in the opening match of the European Championship preliminary round, the Belgians have already achieved their most important result. In Cologne, it is a question of seeking confirmation of the positive things that have been reported in Sweden.