In the meantime, national coach Hansi Flick looked around the Gelsenkirchen Arena with empty eyes and took note of the piercing whistle after the final whistle. He will have a lot of uncomfortable questions asked in the coming days. Because in the third friendly game at the end of the season, the DFB team disappointed across the board and lost 2-0 to Colombia on Tuesday evening.
50,000 spectators in the not sold out (!) stadium saw only one chance for the German team in the first half, the DFB team presented themselves largely tame. The first shot on goal came shortly before the end of the first 45 minutes. Musiala deflected a Havertz ball from the air towards goal, but Colombia keeper Vargas made a save. Hansi Flick’s team was accompanied by whistles from the ranks as they went into the dressing room. The performance didn’t get any better in the second heat either, on the contrary. Can lost the ball, shortly afterwards Cuadrado crossed and Luis Diaz headed in in the 54th minute. After that, the DFB-Elf reared up briefly – by the 82nd minute at the latest, hopes of at least a draw were buried. After a handball by Kimmich, who had just come on as a substitute, referee Meler (Turkey) pointed to the point. Cuadrado converted ice cold – 0:2. Not much more came.
The discussion about the future of the national coach should pick up speed after the defeat. His crew seemed harmless, sometimes unmotivated; he himself makes an increasingly planless and helpless impression. “Flick out” could already be read on posters in the stadium.
After about 23 minutes, two people ran onto the field. According to RTL reporter Marco Hagemann, the two wanted to stick to the goalposts, but were quickly overwhelmed by folders and taken out of the interior. “Stop the fossil madness!” was written on the T-shirt of a speedster. The last generation claimed the action for themselves. The game resumed after a short break.
Before the game, the mascot for the home European Championship 2024 was presented to a stadium audience for the first time. The bear with trousers greeted the spectators in the Gelsenkirchen Arena. A name for the character is yet to be found.
Also before kick-off, Monica Lierhaus was on the field for the first time for RTL at a national game. There she asked national coach Hansi Flick about the lack of leaders in the DFB team – and received objection from Flick: “We already have a few players who have leadership qualities and take on this task,” he said. “I see and feel that one or the other is developing in that direction. This process is not yet complete.”
Sources: RTL, DPA news agency
