National coach Hansi Flick has to do without five players after the corona infection Niklas Süles. Before the international match against Liechtenstein, he answers questions from the press.
Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala and Karim Adeyemi: These four DFB national players Niklas Süles had to be in quarantine after the positive Corona result. This means that national coach Hansi Flick has to do without five professionals for the last two international matches of the year. Even if the opponents are Liechtenstein and Armenia, this should not be an easy undertaking for Löw’s successor.
In view of the increasingly dramatic infection situation, however, the sporting questions are increasingly taking a back seat. At the press conference before the last home international match in 2021 against Liechtenstein in the sold-out Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg, national coach Flick will certainly be asked about his view of soaring incidence values, 2G and 3G rules and people who don’t like vaccinations in professional football.
t-online will tick the entire press conference live for you from 12.30 p.m. Follow the key statements here:
12.55 p.m .: The question and answer session with national coach Hansi Flick ends after a crisp 25 minutes. Although Flick advocated vaccination as the only way out of the pandemic, he also asked for understanding towards unvaccinated people. From a sporting point of view, the knowledge gained from the press conference remained thin.
12:51 p.m .: Now it’s about Joachim Löw, who will receive his official farewell as national coach tomorrow. Hansi Flick says he’s happy to see him again. Löw, who once made Flick his assistant, “changed his life.”
12.49 p.m .: How did Flick react to yesterday’s Corona outages? “We are all in the same hotel, so the distances are short. The meeting room is not far, there is a coffee machine in it, so we can exchange ideas.”
12.47 p.m .: Flick talks about the new German Striker Guard. He praises Lukas Nmecha, who was nominated for the first time. The Wolfsburg had “developed great.” With Mainz coach Bo Svensson he is in regular contact with goal scorer Jonathan “Jonny” Burkardt.
12.45 p.m .: Flick is approached again about the corona issue. Wouldn’t it be wiser for the players to have themselves tested before they even arrive? Flick explains that this is certainly an aspect that the experts in the DFB team should discuss.
12.44 p.m .: Flick expects a high stake from tomorrow’s opponent Liechtenstein. “Liechtenstein will want to give us a great fight from the very first minute.”
12.43 p.m .: Now it’s about the World Cup in Qatar. Flick says a DFB delegation will travel to the desert state this winter to familiarize themselves with the local conditions.
12.40 p.m .: Flick seems annoyed by the subject, says, “I’ll leave it on this topic” after reiterating that he was in favor of the vaccination and that he would like all of his players to be vaccinated.
12:39 p.m .: Flick is asked if there should be a compulsory vaccination. “There are enough experts who can recommend it if they are of the opinion.” Once again he pleads for understanding towards non-vaccinated people.
12:38 p.m .: Flick does not want to comment on his conversations with the players on the subject of vaccinations: “I won’t say anything about internals.”
12:36 p.m .: Now the question and answer session of the journalists present begins. National coach Flick is asked about the possibility of nominating only vaccinated players for the DFB-Elf. Flick emphasizes that there is no compulsory vaccination. “We shouldn’t judge people who don’t want to be vaccinated.” However, he also emphasizes that vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic.
12.33 p.m .: Hansi Flick announces four successors: The two Wolfsburg Maxi Arnold and Ridle Baku could play a home international match against Liechtenstein. Leverkusen’s central defender Jonathan Tah and Monaco striker Kevin Volland also traveled to the event.
12.32 p.m .: Hansi Flick gives an update on the failures: In addition to the five quarantine cases, Florian Wirtz and Nico Schlotterbeck, “who have already come to us in distress,” had to leave the DFB camp. Julian Draxler is also out with a muscle injury.
12.30 p.m .: Hansi Flick has reached the podium. The press conference has started.
12.15 p.m .: The DFB press conference with national coach Hansi Flick and Thomas Müller starts in fifteen minutes. Both face questions from the press ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein in Wolfsburg.