Germany wins a heated game against Northern Ireland. However, the DFB team’s performance in the Belfast cauldron is not a brilliant achievement. The individual criticism.
Benjamin Zurmühl reports from Belfast
Now the World Cup ticket is very close: striker Nick Woltemade led four-time soccer world champions Germany to an important 1-0 (1-0) in Belfast with his debut goal against rustic Northern Irish. After the victory, national coach Julian Nagelsmann and the DFB team will go into the final qualifying games in November as first in Group A. The dream of the tournament next summer is alive.
There was no beauty prize at stake on Monday evening at Windsor Park, where the Northern Irish lost for the first time in two years, in a game characterized by commitment and duels. The 1.98 meter tall Woltemade decided the duel when he shouldered a corner from David Raum into the goal in the 31st minute. It was the number one goal in the sixth international match for the 23-year-old from Newcastle United.
“That’s very important for me personally. My game hasn’t been that good in the national team so far. To make it 1-0 – somehow it’s fitting that it happened with the shoulder,” Woltemade said afterwards: “But it doesn’t matter, the ball was in.” There was also extra praise from the national coach: “In the last two games he was much more diligent defensively than before and then sometimes a ball falls on his shoulder and goes into the goal,” said Nagelsmann.
Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi could have given Germany a 2-0 win on a counterattack shortly after the break, but the Dortmund player missed a great chance. The very present defensive line around Nico Schlotterbeck and Jonathan Tah had to work hard until the final whistle. Nagelsmann spoke of a “dirty” victory.
In terms of football, it wasn’t a game for connoisseurs, it was hard work. Many tackles, many standards and also many long balls, especially from the limited hosts, characterized the action. DFB keeper Oliver Baumann became more of a focus as the game progressed. Shortly before the end, the Hoffenheim player saved the German victory against Callum Marshall (88th minute).