Before the group final against Slovakia
©IMAGO
Rumbling victory instead of a celebration of goals: The road to the World Cup remains a football ordeal for Julian Nagelsmann and the fans of the national team. Without their injured captain and leader Joshua Kimmich, the DFB team averted an embarrassment against Luxembourg after an indisputable first half thanks to a brace from Nick Woltemade.
The center forward (49th/69th minute) redeemed the DFB team, which was plagued by many failures and was disappointing in all respects, in the Stade de Luxembourg, which was sold out with 9,214 spectators, with his goals for a flattering 2-0 (0-0) mandatory win against the pointless underdogs who played with a lot of passion.
The title goal once loudly proclaimed by Nagelsmann is unrealistic seven months before the start of the World Cup after a discouraged and uninspired performance against the world number 97.
For the first time under Nagelsmann as national coach, there are four wins and three games without conceding a goal in a row in the statistics. But the manner of success does not give rise to any hope of a brilliant World Cup summer. At the premiere of the new World Cup jerseys, reminiscent of the 1990 triumph, nothing came together.
The only good news after a sobering evening of football in the Grand Duchy: A draw against Slovakia in Leipzig on Monday is enough to defend first place in Group A and book a direct ticket to the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
If there is another defeat against the Slovaks, as was the case with 0-2 in the first leg in Bratislava, the four-time world champions will have to win nerve-wracking playoff games again after 24 years in order to avert a first-time failure in a World Cup qualification.
Personnel concerns or not, a performance like that doesn’t give you any hope for the World Cup. Jonathan Tah, as substitute captain, had to save after just 180 seconds against a surprisingly confident Luxembourg team. The German team, on the other hand, was slack and just too anemic. No trace of another mood enhancer.
11th minute: Danel Sinani from FC St. Pauli misses the German goal. And the attacker from table 16. The Bundesliga continues to try: Tah blocks once (16th), then Oliver Baumann parries (21st), in between Aiman Dardari from FC Augsburg aims just past the German goal.
Determination, penetrating power, will – Luxembourg showed the way and repeatedly put the DFB team in serious trouble. After two or three good scenes at the beginning, there was little to see of Leroy Sané, to whom Nagelsmann had made a clear statement of probation. Florian Wirtz also didn’t look convincing in two shots (9th and 18th).
And the longer it lasted, the more the spectators rubbed their eyes in amazement. After half an hour, the Luxembourgers even called for a penalty. After a corner, Ridle Baku cleared. The ball flew from Leipzig to Bayern’s Leon Goretzka’s head and from there it seemed to have touched his hand minimally.
Here is number 97 in the world rankings, whose coach Jeff Strasser grinned smugly and with satisfaction when the half-time whistle blew. There was the four-time world champion, whose coach Nagelsmann complained on the sidelines and stalked straight into the dressing room after the first half.
It’s not just about the win, but also the way in which they want to win, Kimmich emphasized before the game. Also a mentality thing. But someone who could inspire the team was missing from the pitch. Sané and Wirtz could not take on the role in the offensive, Tah had more to do with the Luxembourgers than expected in defense.
Nagelsmann’s alternatives on the bench were also rather manageable – at least in terms of experience. Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jonathan Burkardt had the most appearances with five international matches until the match in Luxembourg. The players were still talking to each other in the catacombs; Nagelsmann had long since taken his seat in the coaching chair again in the rain in Luxembourg. He didn’t make a change at first.
Now everyone was playing probation. So there was great joy when the ball was in the hosts’ goal. Finally a quick, nice move. The ball landed at Sané via Aleksandar Pavlović and he set the ball up for Woltemade from the right side.
The near-disillusionment came less than two minutes later. Augsburg’s Dardari missed the equalizer by a few centimeters. And because Goretzka was also close to a yellow-red card, Nagelsmann took the Bayern professional off the pitch and brought on Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha.
At least at times the German team seemed a little more confident with the lead behind them, but they were also lucky that Christopher Martins didn’t put the ball into the German goal from three meters. Shortly afterwards, Woltemade struck for the second time, again thanks to work from Sané. Baku was also involved. And now even Kimmich had a good laugh on the bench again. The embarrassment was prevented, but not much else.
Croatia wins World Cup ticket, Netherlands has to wait
The Croatian national team became the third team from Europe to book their ticket to the World Cup after England and France. A 3:1 (1:1) over the Faroe Islands gave the Croatian team victory in Group L. The Dutch national team, on the other hand, still has to wait. After a 1:1 (0:1) in Poland, Bond coach Ronald Koeman’s selection still has a three point lead over Poland and a significantly better goal difference, which means that participation in the World Cup should only be a formality.
However, Croatia initially had a difficult time against the outsiders. After Géza Turi gave the Faroe Islands the lead in the 16th minute, former Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol (23rd), Petar Musa (57th) and Nikola Vlašić (70th) scored for Croatia. Due to the defeat, the Faroe Islands no longer have a chance of second place.
In Warsaw, shortly before half-time, Jakub Kaminski (43′) gave the Poles the lead after a counterattack and a one-two with Robert Lewandowski. Shortly after the restart, Memphis Depay (47′) scored with a goal to equalize for the Netherlands. Depay scored his ninth goal in World Cup qualifying.
DFB opponents Slovakia win in the last minute
In Group A, Slovakia remains level with Nagelsmann’s team before the final group game against the DFB team. After a 1-0 (0-0) win over Northern Ireland, Slovakia, like Germany, has twelve points. On Monday in Leipzig it will be about winning the group and direct World Cup qualification; the German team has the advantage due to the better goal difference.
The Slovaks were initially denied two goals against Northern Ireland in the second half after a VAR check, and substitute Tomas Bobcek (90+1) saved the hosts after a corner kick in stoppage time.