In the last group game of the Nations League, the German footballers will meet Wales on Tuesday (December 5th, 2023, from 7:20 p.m. in the live stream on sportschau.de and in the ARD media library). The long-distance duel with Denmark is about winning the group. The Germans are ahead in the table, but they shouldn’t stumble at the Welsh outsiders.
There is a lot of laughter in the German team hotel. Also with interim coach Horst Hrubesch and Klara Bühl shortly before the press conference on Monday. “If you don’t annoy me, I’ll stay a little longer,” says Hrubesch to the attacker. “That would be nice,” Bühl replies with a laugh. The two continue to joke, but then switch gears just as quickly as the Germans did on the pitch last time they beat Denmark.
To the live ticker: Wales – Germany arrow right 6th group match day arrow right
“We’re in the last few meters. I know this from my career too: you think you’ve already gotten over the mountain, that you’ve already defeated the toughest opponent. But we still have to win this game against Wales. And we’re starting from scratch “,” Hrubesch clarifies and continues: “We accept this game as you have to accept it: give one hundred percent from the start, be there one hundred percent.”
Going into the game against Wales with confidence
In the 5-1 first leg, his team initially struggled against the underdogs from Wales, and in the first half at the end of October there were hardly any clear chances to score.
“Wales has a very robust team and is very strong in duels. We want to keep up and play power football like we did against Denmark right from the start in order to score a goal as quickly as possible,” says Klara Bühl, who scored the important third goal last Friday :0 scored. The FC Bayern Munich attacker added: “It’s the most difficult of the six Nations League games because the expectations are high. We have to deal with that.” Interim coach Hrubesch has no concerns about that: “I don’t think we’re going to let it get to us anymore.”
In pole position after a bad start
The 72-year-old took over the team in October. In his second term in office, he won all four games – after the DFB selection was surprisingly eliminated in the preliminary round of the World Cup this summer and threatened to squander its chances of qualifying for the Olympics with a defeat in Denmark at the start of the Nations League.
“We have taken one step after the other, we are on the right path. The important thing is that we have found our faith again,” says Hrubesch. Like her teammates, Klara Bühl emphasizes the importance of the coach for success: “Horst has brought back our self-confidence and self-image. And he has always encouraged us to trust in our strengths and focus on them. Of course, we are rather bad in the Nations League started, it’s even nicer that we were able to play our way into pole position. Now we have to use it and show courageous and attacking football again against Wales.”
Goal Olympics
On Tuesday evening, Denmark will play against Iceland in the last group game. If the Danes win, Germany will also need a win to maintain first place in the group. Only with this would the team reach the semi-finals of the Nations League and fight for a place in the Olympic football tournament next summer.
“We’re taking it step by step, making sure we get the game against Wales together and then that we qualify,” says Hrubesch quite seriously. A little later he jokes about parallels between Klara Bühl and his wife – success in the penultimate step towards the Olympic Games will not fail because of the atmosphere.
