Rio world champion Bastian Schweinsteiger does not count the German national soccer team among the top favorites at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
However, the 38-year-old certainly sees parallels to the DFB selection with which he won the title in Brazil eight years ago. “No one expects us to become world champions, at least the expectations are lower than in previous years,” said the ARD expert in an interview with the “German Press Agency”.
“I do believe that we have good quality in the team – and maybe it’s good for us to come into the tournament as a surprise team.”
He is “pleased” that a “certain impetus has come into the national team with the appointment of Hansi Flick as national coach,” said the former Bundesliga professional. “We have a lot of new players. The question will be whether we can minimize these fluctuations from past games. We need that in the tournament. We have to be able to be good defensively too. You can’t always score five goals. That’s it the main task for Hansi in this short preparation.”
Comparing individual players in the current squad with the professionals from 2014 is “difficult”, said the former DFB captain, who ended his national team career after the 2016 European Championship. “It’s comparable that most of the players have already played in a tournament. It was a bit different at the 2010 World Cup – but that helped us a lot for the 2014 World Cup.”
In the Flick team he sees a “scaffolding in the team – players like Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Antonio Rüdiger,” said Schweinsteiger, who will report from the stadiums in Qatar for the public broadcaster. “Besides that, you’re still a bit in the discovery area.”