analysis
The German national team shined against Slovakia and took momentum into the World Cup year. A player like Leroy Sané embodies better than others that predictions for the tournament remain difficult. The national coach even dislikes the question.
Julian Nagelsmann likes to explain the appeal of football with comparisons to other sports. In basketball and handball, the national coach said again on Monday evening in Leipzig, a lot of points or goals are scored, so surprises are rare and the better team usually prevails. In football, however, it sometimes happens that a losing team scores a goal and defends the lead either heroically or luckily or with a mixture of both.
Not knowing how things will turn out is what makes football so fascinating, says Nagelsmann.
However, German football tends to be very boring at times. Because if the national team starts qualifying for the World Cup, they will ultimately make it to the tournament. This was the 16th time this has happened, and there was no doubt about it when the group was drawn with opponents Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg.
After the first game, however, things got a bit exciting as Germany lost 2-0 in Slovakia. “Earned”as Nagelsmann emphasized on Monday in Leipzig, the same “earned” However, it was the 6-0 win in the second leg that took away the possibility of a historic failure.
It was a brilliantly played victory in a pressure situation that had not been noticeable since kick-off. “The fact that there was such a mega game compared to last Friday was perhaps a bit surprising”said Serge Gnabry, who, like Nick Woltemade, Ridle Baku, Assan Ouédraogo and Leroy Sané (2), was one of the goalscorers. The DFB selection also won on Friday (2-0), but especially before the break they lacked everything that makes a good performance possible.
DFB team in flow
Slovakia could have copied something with high pressing and the now modern man marking, but decided on a very passive approach, positioned far back. The German team had problems with that too, but on Monday they were in “Flow”As Woltemade said, that feeling now “take you on a long break” wants. There won’t be another international match until the end of March.
That’s just the way it is, said Nagelsmann, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. “Football can’t always be planned”the national coach apologized for some tough performances without scolding the critics who had condemned such performances.
But once he said “Better not what I’m thinking now”. That was when he was asked how he sees his team now with a view to the World Cup compared to Argentina, Spain and France. “We can’t always go from black to white in 90 minutes.”
The question of whether Germany is ready to compete for the title in the USA, Canada and Mexico will then be asked again after the group draw on December 5th and then in March at the latest, just like the question of who will be in goal, whether Antonio Rüdiger should play in central defense instead of Nico Schlotterbeck, and who has to be left out of the team for Jamal Musiala.
Sané as a symbol
Leroy Sané can be used to answer the question about whether he is ready for the title. He is one of the most gifted German footballers of the past ten years. Speed, dribbling, sharp passing, goal threat – Sané combines everything in high to highest quality.
Leroy Sane in the game against Slovakia
For the 29-year-old professional from Galatasaray, it’s Nagelsmann’s “sometimes like this; sometimes like that” but particularly pronounced. If Sané plays like he did against Slovakia, he will be capable of outstanding performances even against stronger opponents.
If he plays erratically, slumps his shoulders, dribbles out of bounds, things often go poorly with his colleagues.
The cold and wet November evening in Leipzig showed what Germany can be capable of when it gets hot next summer.
“I think we go to America with more self-confidence than we did to Qatar”said Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck, who expressed two expectations. On the one hand, that it – keyword: one-love captain’s armband – “not so many negative influences from outside” will give. The other: “I’m going there to win the World Cup.”