Hansi Flick didn’t want to get loud. Neither in the dressing room with his players, nor afterwards in the public analysis of the unpleasant and relentless evening in Cologne against Belgium and its football force of nature Romelu Lukaku.

The national coach spoke softly and obviously chose his words with care. “I don’t think I’m going to say here that we’re super happy and everything is wonderful. That would be the wrong approach,” said Flick. Even at the team meeting, which was quickly convened in the stadium immediately after the final whistle of the 2: 3 setback, everything remained calm and factual, reported Flick.

In principle, the national coach does not want to let the restart towards the home EM make it mad despite the disastrous initial phase against the Red Devils. “It was a good game for 60, 65 minutes,” said the national coach. That sounded surprising and in the evaluation a bit like that World Cup analysis, according to which only 10 to 20 bad minutes in the 1: 2 against Japan caused the German knockout in the preliminary round. caused in Qatar. But Flick can no longer close his eyes to German football reality.

“Not everything at 100 percent”

The 2-0 win against Peru was another important step towards building up against a weak opponent. The bar Belgium has now been torn. “We still have a lot to do. It was clear to us that not everything was 100 percent,” assured the 58-year-old. After all, the national coach recorded passion and will as plus points after the shock start with the early goals conceded by Yannick Carrasco and Lukaku.

“We weren’t there at all, both physically and mentally. We missed everything we set out to do,” said captain Joshua Kimmich, who couldn’t help the team either. “It was important that we showed a reaction from the 30th minute, but it was still not enough,” added the Bayern professional in an ARD interview.

The turnaround came, and Flick can take credit for that, with the substitution of Emre Can. The Dortmunder is the DFB weekly winner. His primary virtue, the fight, is again the criterion that gives the German team security. The goals from Niclas Füllkrug (penalty) and Serge Gnabry to make it 2:3 late had a crisis-dampening effect. In between, Kevin De Bruyne scored the third Belgian goal with his great class.

Big exam in summer 2014

Flick was happy about the surprisingly friendly encouragement from the Cologne fans. They acted as if there had been no World Cup and no Belgian lesson. The final spurt of the season in the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich’s top game against Borussia Dortmund as the first major stimulus on Saturday, is another aspect that makes Flick positive.

The national coach will have to take a close look in the coming weeks to see who can help him when the 1,000th international match in DFB history is likely against Ukraine in Bremen in June. His personnel policy with many young players – including five newcomers – makes him satisfied with “the knowledge we have gained”. A return of the established forces from Antonio Rüdiger to Ilkay Gündogan or Leroy Sané can still be expected.

In June there will probably also be a showdown with Robert Lewandowski in Poland – another top-class player like Lukaku, who can mercilessly show Flick deficits. The big test – and that’s good for Flick – won’t come until the summer of 2024 with the European Championships at home. “Fortunately we still have a bit of time. Today you noticed that we are not yet at the top international level,” admitted captain Kimmich.