National coach Hansi Flick is confident that the German national soccer team will soon present a better picture.
“Everything will look very different in September,” announced Flick at the press conference in Frankfurt/Main. “Then we will definitely see a team that should, for the most part, also achieve the success that we want for Euro 2024.” Flick explicitly did not want to talk about the European title.
Before the international match on Tuesday (8.45 p.m. / RTL) against Colombia in Gelsenkirchen, criticism of the behavior of the DFB team is justified according to Flick. “The results leave little room for anything else,” said the national coach after the 3-3 win over Ukraine and the 1-0 draw in Poland. But Flick emphasized: “We believe in our path. We are convinced of our path. We have seen progress, even if Poland was viewed negatively.”
They want a win against Colombia, even if it’s not easy to win at the moment when “a touch of confidence, a touch of determination” is missing. Joshua Kimmich will again wear the captain’s armband against the South Americans if he is in the starting XI. It depends on the number of international matches, said Flick. Otherwise, this part Champions League winner Ilkay Gündogan would take over.
Flick: level of Spain’s claim
Flick sees the DFB selection under optimal conditions at the level of Nations League winners Spain. “If we bring in everything we can, we play at the same level. That must be our claim, we want to be able to keep up with the best,” said Flick. “We have to work that out step by step, we’re further away at the moment.”
The Spanish selection had won the Nations League on penalties against Croatia. At the World Cup last November and December, Germany and Spain drew 1-1 in a group match. The DFB team was eliminated in the preliminary round, for Spain it was over in the round of 16 against Morocco.
When asked whether the DFB selection could be a favorite at the home European Championship in 2024, Flick replied: “I’m not a clairvoyant.”
One day before the important mood test against Colombia, Flick gathered all the national players still in the squad for the final training session. The DFB selection trained on the DFB campus in Frankfurt/Main before traveling by train to the team headquarters in Essen in the afternoon.
