National team
Nagelsmann’s EM planning also depends on Oranje
National coach Julian Nagelsmann is still looking for test match opponents as preparation for the European Championship. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
France and Holland are temptingly big opponents for Germany’s preparations for the European Championship. The luck of the draw will also decide whether the tests in March actually take place against both opponents.
For the final planning of his preparation for the European Championship, the national coach Julian Nagelsmann needs to be patient.
The test clashes in March against the Netherlands and France, which have been planned for a long time but have not yet been publicly confirmed, also depend on the draw for the European Championship groups on December 2nd in Hamburg. As usual, the national soccer team is scheduled to play against top-class opponents in the last games before the squad nomination in May.
Draw in Hamburg
The conditions: The opponents must be directly qualified for the final round, otherwise teams in this category would have playoff games in March. In addition, the DFB does not want to meet subsequent opponents in the preliminary round in the run-up to the tournament. They will be determined in the Elbphilharmonie in just over two weeks.
There are practically no doubts about the France duel in the spring, which, according to information from the German editorial network, will take place in Lyon. The Équipe Tricolore has qualified for the European Championships and, as one of the five best group winners, is also very likely to be in draw pot 1, from which Germany, as the head of Group A, will not have an opponent drawn.
Netherlands needs a win
The situation is different with the Netherlands. Oranje still need a win against Ireland or Gibraltar to get their ticket to the European Championship – that shouldn’t be a problem. As second in the group behind France, the 1988 European Championship winners will certainly not end up in the first draw and can therefore become Germany’s tournament opponent.
If this is not the case, the March test should take place in Frankfurt am Main. The European Championship Arena there was already planned as the venue for the Turkey game on Saturday (8.45 p.m./RTL), but was not available for an international match due to the previous NFL games. That’s why the game is now being played in Berlin.
More test matches in June
The national team will take part in two more European Championship tests during the training camp at the beginning of June. To do this, the DFB is looking for opponents after the draw who, as far as possible, match the profile of the first European Championship opponents.