It was a football game with special circumstances and that doesn’t even mean the debut of the new national coach Julian Nagelsmann. The broadcast on RTL started a little later, the reason, of course, was the war in Israel. RTL Spezial provided a compact update on the situation in the Middle East immediately before the start of the announced ground offensive, from there it went over to Hartford in Connecticut in the USA. The quick switch from the war zone to the football field, not an easy undertaking, but also part of an evening like this. A good half hour later both teams observed a minute’s silence because of the incidents in the Middle East.
Until then, Florian König and Lothar Matthäus had calmly prepared for a game on which a lot of expectations lay in terms of importance and perspective, in terms of the past and the future. It was fitting that evening that the tone was comparatively reserved, not for the umpteenth time the Qatar chapter, the crisis under Flick, the pressure on the kettle, instead reaching into the box with the souvenir album and looking at the national coach’s earliest beginnings became.
Julian as a junior, once in Issing, from Steppke to earring wearer with an almost neck spoiler, his old friend Benjamin Graf, who knew how Nagelsmann didn’t like losing even at Schafskopf – that’s the stuff winners are made of . There was also advocacy from Kloppo and Tuchel, as well as from a particularly animated Uli Hoeneß, who said that Nagelsmann was ready because: “He has recovered well.”
So well recovered, the highly praised man finally stood between Florian König and Lothar Matthäus to share some impressions and views. He didn’t have to say that much in advance, the actual introduction was already provided by Matthäus, his role model from his youth, so that Nagelsmann could only agree with a smile: “Right, everything said right!” In keeping with the superficially relaxed gesture, Nagelmann’s outfit is probably the most beautiful top since 1998, when Uli Stielike’s jacket caused a sensation: a grunge commemorative shirt with a light blue checked pattern, worn casually open and which has already caused so much excitement on bild.de. that a vote was immediately implemented there. The voting question: “What do you think of Julian Nagelsmann’s outfit?” The result: 79% liked it. (as of 12:20 a.m.)
A vote on the question “What did you think of Nagelsmann’s premiere from a footballing perspective?” would probably have been even clearer. looked. A lot of what happened on the pitch in the 3-1 win against the USA not only looked encouraging, but also very entertaining and skilful, especially in the second half. The two commentators also felt the same way, Marco Hagemann and his sidekick Steffen Freund, who perceived “a joy” “like we haven’t seen for a long time”. “A signature” could be seen there, “he sparks something”, in short: “a perfect debut”. Parallel to the game, the transmission cable also unraveled again in the second half after there were a few unwanted still images in the first half of the game.
After the game and another RTL news block, finally a few more player voices, including the visibly satisfied comebacker Mats Hummels, captain Ilkay Gündogan, who, as before, analyzed calmly and accurately, and the König/Matthäus team under cute transparent umbrellas to celebrate to defy the onset of precipitation, which then welcomed Nagelsmann again, this time for a follow-up. He could of course be satisfied, not only with his hands, but also with a convincing opening win in his pocket, summarized his view of things again and offered a preview of Tuesday’s game against Mexico, his conclusion: “Of course we want that too win.”
