National team
Gündogan in the DFB selection: hopefuls with a handle pot
Comes to the DFB team as a Champions League winner: Ilkay Gündogan. photo
© Mark Cosgrove/News Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Treble winner Ilkay Gündogan returns to the national team as a beacon of hope. The DFB selection can use that at the moment. Now the focus is also on the home EM.
Ilkay Gündogan had other things on his mind in the past few days than playing the beacon of hope for the ailing German national football team.
From the big Champions League party in rainy Manchester, the 32-year-old shared a photo of himself with the pot, the half-naked Erling Haaland and the jubilant Kevin De Bruyne. A picture full of world class – different from what Gündogan will see when he arrives in the DFB quarter.
Currently the most in-form professional
After the triple triumph with Manchester City, Gündogan returns to the circle of national coach Hansi Flick as currently the most in-form professional. “When it mattered,” the attacking midfielder was “always there,” Flick said on Sunday – before the disappointing 3-3 win over Ukraine. “He performed in the decisive games.” Focused on the mood around the DFB selection exactly one year before the home European Championship kicks off on June 14, 2024, the upcoming game on Friday in Warsaw against Poland is definitely a decisive game.
“Results are important. I don’t expect magic football,” said record national player Lothar Matthäus in an interview with the Munich Merkur/tz media group. “Although the quality would be in the team. Gündogan may come back to the team as a treble winner and bellwether. (Jamal) Musiala and (Kai) Havertz may also play from the start.”
Gosens had a difficult season
Robin Gosens from the defeated Champions League finalist Inter Milan joins the team with Gündogan. The 28-year-old, who has endured a difficult season in Italy, is an alternative on the left wing where David Raum disappointed against Ukraine. After the draw in Bremen, Flick announced that he wanted to continue the experiment with a three-man defense.
In the afternoon, the national coach and some players will be present at the “One-Year-To-Go-Event” for the European Championships at Frankfurt’s Hauptwache. The national team travels to Warsaw on Thursday. At the end of the summer break, after the game against Poland next Tuesday in Gelsenkirchen, we will face Colombia.