National team
Flick’s patience test before the World Cup departure
Expecting his World Cup players in Frankfurt: national coach Hansi Flick. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
Here we go for Hansi Flick. At Frankfurt Airport, the national coach is making the last preparations for the World Cup before leaving for the Arabian Gulf. The attunement to Qatar must be quick.
Sun, beach and palm trees await Hansi Flick right at the elegant team hotel in Oman to set the mood for the World Cup. For the national coach, however, the hopes and fears continued until the flight to the Arabian Gulf.
The national coach waited patiently for his 26 World Cup players in a large hotel block at Frankfurt Airport on Sunday. A quartet around Rio hero Mario Götze as a great DFB returnee had to play again for Eintracht Frankfurt and SC Freiburg at the end of the Bundesliga year.
Of course, Flick was worried all weekend about a last-minute injury, which after the absence of goalscorer Timo Werner and veteran Marco Reus could throw further plans for the national football team’s title attack in Qatar overboard. The last world championship riders were not due to arrive until late in the evening. The World Cup pre-run with only ten days until the first group game against Japan is very tight.
Switching to tournament mode must therefore be all the faster. “I think we want to bring this momentum and the positives from our club to the team,” said captain Manuel Neuer before the arrival of the strong Bayern block around Juwel Jamal Musiala at the DFB hotel.
Bring security against Oman
“It’s important that everyone can play at their highest level. We only have one friendly against Oman beforehand. It will be important that we also get security,” emphasized the German record goalkeeper, who followed suit in good time his shoulder injury is in the World Cup form that Flick was hoping for.
The necessary change to tournament mode should hardly be difficult. The concrete backdrop at Frankfurt Airport is just a transit station. After the last advertising shots on Monday, the special plane takes off for Muscat. There, the national players can expect wonderful conditions in their quarters, which are located directly by the sea. The chasing of appointments by the Bundesliga and European Cup is to be stripped off in Oman’s capital as turbo acclimatization for Qatar.
“The alternative would have been to stay in Germany. But we know that the weather doesn’t always play along. That’s why it’s good to be there beforehand and accept the temperatures and the times of day. It was important to us that we could do that game against Oman on site,” said Flick, looking at the first days of the World Cup mission, which ideally should last until the World Cup final on December 18.
Bring players up to World Cup level
The national coach has already announced that he particularly wants to use players against Oman on Wednesday (6:00 p.m. / RTL) who recently had no game rhythm due to injuries. He wants to bring them up to the necessary World Cup level, provided their fitness allows it. Candidates would be Bayern’s Thomas Müller or defense chief Antonio Rüdiger, who recently had to pause at Real Madrid due to hip problems. Leipzig’s Lukas Klostermann should also resume the rhythm of the game after a three-month forced break as a right-back praised by Flick.
Neuer is positive about the top form of the Munich block he leads with a total of seven players. Bayern wanted to lead the team far in the tournament. “Of course our goal is to become world champions,” said the captain before his fourth World Cup.
After the Schalke game, in which young Bayern star Jamal Musiala came out on top, Neuer said: “It will also be important for us as a team if we have a few Bayern players who have shown good performances, that we can take the momentum and also transferred to the team. Now we are looking forward to the World Cup.”
“Create a special atmosphere”
“We have a lot of guys who are really in a good mood. And we want to take it over seamlessly and create that special atmosphere to go very far,” said Ilkay Gündogan from English champions Manchester City. For Flick and his players, the meeting point in Frankfurt was only the welcome zone.
In addition to Götze, Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was also required in the league game at Mainz 05 on Sunday. The Freiburg duo Matthias Ginter and Christian Günter had to play against Union Berlin two hours later in the very last Bundesliga game of the year. All other 22 German World Cup players had to play their last club game by Saturday at the latest and survived it without any noticeable ailments that could have an impact on their participation in the World Cup.
However, according to the current planning status, training will not take place on Monday. The last sponsorship appointments are to be completed in the hotel. Then it’s off to Oman on a special plane, where the DFB entourage is supposed to arrive at the hotel shortly before midnight local time.
The World Cup quarter Zulal Wellness Resort will be occupied a good hour’s drive north of Doha on the day after the sporting dress rehearsal in Oman. In Qatar, Neuer confirmed again on ZDF, the German internationals will stand up for the protection of human rights while concentrating on the sporting goals. “In close consultation with the DFB, the team, the team council and those responsible, we will see how far we can go. We are thinking and will represent our values,” announced Neuer.