DFB: U21 coach Antonio Di Salvo regrets parting with Hansi Flick

Rangnick rules out DFB job

U21 national coach Antonio Di Salvo believes the coaching trio around Rudi Völler at the DFB team is a good solution in the current situation. “These are top coaches. It’s a good composition for this phase and for the game,” said the 44-year-old in Pristina, where his U21 team starts their European Championship qualification against Kosovo on Tuesday (7 p.m./ProSieben Maxx). Völler will be on the sidelines for the senior national team against France on Tuesday with Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner.

Di Salvo did not want to assess whether this trio could also be a long-term solution. “This constellation is perhaps just as possible as other constellations,” said the U21 coach. “I’m glad that it’s not my decision.” Di Salvo regrets the separation from national coach Hansi Flick, who had to leave the DFB on Sunday after the 4-1 defeat against Japan. “It’s a shame for us because the collaboration was really good, we had good agreements.”

He was “extremely” sorry about Flick’s departure. “We would have liked different results,” said the former Bundesliga professional. Personally, he has no “wish solution” for Flick’s successor. He hopes “that we have a good atmosphere and talk about things, similar to Hansi and before Joachim Löw. The goal is close integration.”

In order for German football to return to the top of the world in the medium term, Di Salvo believes it is crucial that the reforms that have been initiated are consistently implemented. “We have to work more, train better, get the basics back,” demanded the U21 coach. “The football field no longer exists, we now have to incorporate that into training.” German football needs “a new mindset. We have to train harder and train better, then the successes will come naturally.”

Who will succeed Flick in the DFB team? Rangnick is not interested

Flick’s successor Ralf Rangnick has been ruled out. In an interview with “ORF” on Monday in Windischgarsten, the 65-year-old answered the question of whether he would be available to answer a request from the DFB with: “No.” He decided to work as a team boss in Austria 14 months ago and to prepare the team so that they would qualify for the European Championships in Germany next year and play a good role there, explained Rangnick. “Everything else is not an issue for me.”

Rangnick took over the ÖFB team in June 2022. The former Bundesliga coach previously worked at Manchester United. His contract with the Austrian association is still valid for almost a year. His team will play their next qualifying game in Sweden on Tuesday. He has been unbeaten with Austria for seven games and has averaged 1.62 points in 13 games under Rangnick. Rangnick had previously expressed interest in the position of German national coach.

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