Stately property
©IMAGO
The German national team is staying in a stately home in the US state of North Carolina during the World Cup in the USA. National coach Julian Nagelsmann and the team around captain Joshua Kimmich are moving into summer quarters at the Graylyn Estate in Winston-Salem, a castle-like, traditional hotel with a large park in the eastern United States. The DFB announced this on Friday.
According to Nagelsmann, training takes place on the grounds of the private Wake Forest University, which, according to Nagelsmann, can be reached on foot or by bike in ten minutes from the hotel and which “super impressed” the national trainer with its professional equipment.
The hotel complex reminds Nagelsmann of the advantages of the DFB refuge Homeground in Herzogenaurach, which has proven itself many times over and was also used at the home European Championships in 2024. They found a “place that allows people to come together again and again, but still has the necessary peace and retreat,” explained Nagelsmann.
The German World Cup squad will fly to Chicago on June 2nd. The World Cup dress rehearsal against hosts USA will take place in Soldier Field there on June 6th (8:30 p.m./CEST). On June 8th, the DFB team will move to Winston-Salem and prepare there for a maximum of eight tournament games until the final on July 19th.
University home of an NBA star – World Cup hotel as a sticking point for the DFB team
The city with around 250,000 inhabitants is famous for its sporting activities thanks to an ATP tennis tournament. Basketball star Tim Duncan played for Wake Forest University before his NBA career. But Winston-Salem is not a center for the mega World Cup. Atlanta and Philadelphia, the closest of the 16 World Cup venues in the USA, Mexico and Canada, are several hours away by car.
The DFB selection will fly to their venues the day before the group games. The opening game in Houston against World Cup newcomer Curaçao is on June 14th (7 p.m.). The Ivory Coast will be played in Toronto, Canada on June 20th (10 p.m.). And on June 25th (10 p.m.) the preliminary round against Ecuador follows in East Rutherford.
The selection of tournament districts has long been of great importance to the DFB. The self-built complex in Campo Bahia in Brazil was idealized as a success factor after winning the title in 2014. There was a lot of criticism of the quarters in Watutinki near Moscow in 2018 and in the Qatari desert in 2022 after their early failure in the group phase.