Stuttgart is to be the national team’s second European Championship show stage. The national coach wants to see his players in their purple and pink jerseys play football “that is fun” against Hungary.
Second game, second party. Germany is full of anticipation and with rapidly rising expectations for the next football festival at the home European Championship. Whether Scotland or Hungary: the main thing is that the new summer fairytale season continues after the 5:1 win in the opening game at the tournament premiere in the purple and pink jersey in “Wusiala” show style.
However, after the short journey from the camp in Franconia to the Stuttgart venue, Julian Nagelsmann did not want to promise another goal-scoring gala: “We do not expect to shoot every opponent out of the stadium.”
The national coach’s expectation, however, is that the second victory will be achieved. And that is in line with his players. “We’re trying to get better every game. And we’ll start the game against Hungary with the same intensity,” promised Jamal Musiala, who wants to work his magic again with his friend Florian Wirtz, to the party-loving fans.
Völler already talks about the goal of group victory
Before the often tricky second tournament game on Wednesday (6 p.m./ARD and Magenta TV), sporting director Rudi Völler was already looking beyond the qualification for the round of 16 to an ideal starting position for the knockout phase. “We definitely want to win the group,” said the 64-year-old. Dortmund, Stuttgart and Munich would then be the further stops on the tournament path to the final dream destination of Berlin.
After the five-goal spectacle against an overwhelmed Scots, the Hungary test will be a litmus test. How solid is the “foundation” that Nagelsmann spoke of after the wonderful opening evening and now five international matches without defeat in the European Championship year? Does Germany really have what all other nations feared until the botched World Cup and European Championship finals of the past six years, namely a tournament team? Nagelsmann is determined to continue to fuel this belief.
Football as entertainment: a ticket costs money
The young national coach is enjoying his role. And he absolutely does not want to be a warning voice, a worrier, or a brake on the euphoria that is developing in the country. On Tuesday, he gathered his 26 players in a circle on the pitch in sunny Herzogenaurach before the final training session began. And his speech was noticeably long.
Perhaps the eloquent national coach has reiterated what he had already formulated before the tournament began as his plan and mission for this summer. He sees himself and his players as entertainers, as jokers, as bringers of joy.
“For me, the first step is always to show a type of football that is fun. A ticket costs money. The effort that the fans make must be repaid by playing football that is fun, that is meant to entertain,” said the national coach. That is why: “People watch football in their free time. And we always try to combine that with a good result at the end.”
“Already in the flow?” For Kroos, this comes too early
A good result would be a second win, which would mean six points and probably an early place in the round of 16. But even if Nagelsmann and his boys are only too happy to ride the wave of sympathy and success from the opening game’s goal gala, they will “keep their feet on the ground,” as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer assured.
It is the tournament veterans like Neuer (38), Thomas Müller (34) and Toni Kroos (34) who are able to assess the situation sensibly. Kroos, who is directing the German game after his comeback with his resting pulse and the aura of a six-time Champions League winner, answered the question about the “flow” with a pleasant realism. “I don’t know whether you are already in the flow after a game,” said the man who made 101 of 102 passes to his teammates against the Scots and never lost track of things – let alone the ball.
No reason for personnel changes
The uncomfortable Hungarians, who are manned by several Bundesliga professionals such as Leipzig’s Willi Orban and Péter Gulácsi, are no lightweight for Kroos like the Scots, who let Musiala, Wirtz and Co. combine and shoot to their heart’s content. “We are expecting a team that is at least a class better than Scotland,” said Kroos.
“Hungary has a good transition team,” said Nagelsmann. But that doesn’t mean he will change his approach very much. “It depends on how we perform.” The plan is to focus on ourselves and trust in our own strengths. There is no reason for changes. Nagelsmann can once again send his dream eleven onto the pitch with Neuer, Kimmich, Rüdiger, Tah, Mittelstädt, Andrich, Kroos, Musiala, Gündogan, Wirtz and Havertz.
And yet he expressly emphasised the value of the substitutes, for whom his predecessor Joachim Löw once coined the term “special forces” on the way to the 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil. “It is important in a tournament that we also have players from the bench who bring impetus,” said Nagelsmann. Substitutes Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can scored the celebrated fourth and fifth goals against Scotland in Munich.