Germany fulfilled its duty against Luxembourg in the World Cup qualification, winning clearly 4-0. The Bayern block in particular stands out positively.
Benjamin Zurmühl reports from Sinsheim
The German national team won their World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg comfortably and thus achieved their second victory in their group. National coach Julian Nagelsmann’s selection won 4-0 (2-0) against the outsiders in Sinsheim. Thanks to Northern Ireland’s 2-0 (1-0) win against Slovakia, Germany is at the top of the table.
David Raum scored with a free kick in the 12th minute and Joshua Kimmich scored with a hand penalty in the 21st minute to make it 2-0 at halftime. Luxembourg’s Dirk Carlson was shown a red card for his handball. Serge Gnabry (48th) and Kimmich (50th) increased shortly after the break.
The captain summed up after the game: “It was important to win, but it was also important that we won in the way we did,” said Kimmich on ARD and followed up with: “We were handy and absolutely deserved to win even at a high level.” Bayern colleague Gnabry recalled the Slovakia defeat: “We knew we had to step on the gas and not let anything burn. Then of course you go into a game like this with a lot of anger in your stomach and enthusiasm.”
The Bayern duo was good for the German game. Kimmich played on the right side and knew how to contribute dangerously to the German offensive game. Gnabry, who continued his strong start to the season, was also a constant presence in the final third. The 30-year-old wasn’t above working backwards and decisively disrupting the opponent.
How Kimmich and Gnabry did in the t-online individual review and who still has room for improvement after their performance against Luxembourg can be read here or in the photo show above.
Meanwhile, national coach Julian Nagelsmann was satisfied with his team’s performance. However: “Sure, with your dominance you might be able to score one or two more goals in the end, but it was really close.” Overall, it was a deserved victory “that we definitely wanted and needed.”
The next German opponent is Northern Ireland on Monday in Belfast. Only the group winner qualifies directly for next year’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.