Let’s go!
Things will get serious on Saturday, the first international match under new national coach Julian Nagelsmann (36) will take place in Hartford/Connecticut against the USA (9 p.m. German time, live RTL).
On Friday lunchtime, the team drove the two hours from the Foxborough training location to Hartford, and on Friday evening Nagelsmann spoke about his first game as national coach in the “Pratt & Whitney Stadium”.
Is he nervous about his debut? Nagelsmann laughed: “It’s a great honor to be the coach of a football nation like Germany. I briefly practiced the national anthem again so that it worked. Otherwise it’s just fine…”
Nagelsmann before the game against the USA: “I’m confident that it will work well tomorrow”
Photo: Federico Gambarini/dpa
“We want to play aggressive, attractive football”
The national coach continued: “I hope that you can see what we have focused on. We want to play aggressive, attractive football. It’s also about the way to create a certain mood that is good for us, that makes us successful, then that spills over automatically. People should enjoy our football.”
Nagelsmann is hoping for a win at the start: “Of course a win is important to me. Not just me, but all of us. The team is very focused, I’m confident that things will work well tomorrow.”
Do we already see the possible European Championship eleven against the USA? Nagelsmann: “That’s still a few months away, a lot can still happen. It’s cool to say that the team that starts tomorrow at the European Championships is also the one. But we don’t have forever. We are confident that we have a good team both tomorrow and in the summer.”
► One of the most important players is out: Joshua Kimmich (28). Nagelsmann: “Josh can’t play Stand now. The cold got worse in the evening and it looks like he won’t be playing. He was also isolated so he wouldn’t infect anyone. Otherwise, everyone is available.”
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The first eleven has not yet been decided
Nagelsmann is still keeping a secret about his first eleven: “I haven’t decided yet about the first eleven.” It’s quite possible that our two hopefuls Jamal Musiala (20) and Florian Wirtz (20) will whirl together: “It’s one Idea, but I haven’t decided yet. These are two footballers who have extreme talent. I think it’s a very good idea to let them both play together. If both are healthy, I will definitely use this good idea…”
Musiala wouldn’t mind: “We have a good relationship, are good friends and have a lot of fun on the pitch. We’re both looking for each other. If we implement Julian’s tactical ideas well, we will have a lot of fun.”
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“Playing football that inspires us all”
Typical of Nagelsmann, there was another funny comparison when it came to the atmosphere in the team: “In football you always want this ‘you have to be eleven friends’. That’s cheese in my opinion. This is even more difficult than in a school class where everyone is the same age. Even there you have your five or six friends, then there are five or six where you say ‘yeah, neutral’, and five or six where you say ‘I’m not drinking cocoa with them during the break’. It’s the same in football. We don’t have to create the atmosphere by constantly talking about it, but rather by being a team. In the end, we will only achieve it by playing football that excites us all. It’s about playing football where everyone goes to bed afterwards and says: ‘Wow, that’s what makes me want to play!’”
By the way: Apart from practicing the national anthem, Nagelsmann didn’t have to sing for his debut. Nagelsmann: “There is no ritual, it’s more of a club issue…”
Musiala joked directly: “Good idea, I’ll tell Thomas to plan something!”
Today Nagelsmann sings for the first time before the game – and hopefully wins straight away afterwards!
2023-10-13 23:48:00
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