Kiwior scores against Germany
Next EM test, next setback: Twelve months before the home tournament, Hansi Flick’s very insecure German national soccer team was not able to get out of the mood in the second of three test games. The national coach, who almost set up a completely new team in the 0: 1 (0: 1) on Friday evening in Warsaw against a conservative Polish selection, is awaiting further days with clear criticism. In the final test before the summer break on Tuesday in Gelsenkirchen against Colombia, the national team urgently needs a sense of achievement after three games in a row without a win.
Four days after the sobering 3-3 draw against Ukraine, the DFB selection appeared to be more stable and, at the beginning of the second half, also more offensively imaginative. The defense around the chain of three, which Flick declared a mandatory experiment, remained vulnerable in front of 57,098 spectators. The goal by Jakub Kiwior (31) came from a corner, the Polish star Robert Lewandowski only played in the first half. DFB captain Joshua Kimmich hit the crossbar shortly after the restart (48′).
The long-time Bundesliga goalscorer Lewandowski was warmly hugged by the German players in the dressing room, but the friendship ended when the whistle kicked off. The two-time world footballer was in good hands with the German three-man defence, in which Malick Thiaw made a convincing international debut in the center of AC Milan and had a great chance to equalize in the 78th minute, until he was substituted.
After the three goals conceded in the 1000th international match against Ukraine, which was not ready for the European Championship, the almost completely reformed DFB defense again showed weaknesses when it came to the deficit. After a corner, defender Kiwior clearly beat Thilo Kehrer in an aerial duel, after the header touched down the ball flew over goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen into the goal. In the following standard situations, the German team revealed further coordination problems.
But there was also a lack of momentum on the offensive. With Kai Havertz, who was able to prove himself from the start after his strong performance after being substituted on against Ukraine, there was a lot of idleness in attack. Significant: Two long-range shots by Kehrer (23′) and Havertz (29′) were the best chances in the first half.
Poland’s Jakub Blaszczykowski left the field after just 16 minutes – but that was a gesture of the utmost respect. The former Dortmund player was substituted after 16 minutes, to great applause and loud chants, in accordance with his long-standing shirt number. In his 109th and last international match, the 37-year-old almost made it a dream come true. But in the running duel against Thiaw, Blaszczykowski was too slow and therefore couldn’t get a shot on goal (13′).
In addition to Thiaw and Havertz, Flick had nominated seven other new starting eleven players and justified the large rotation with wanting to “try something out” against Poland and also at the end of the season against Colombia. Champions League winner Ilkay Gündogan from Manchester City was rested again. Gündogan’s ideas would certainly have done the German game good. The youngsters Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz showed good approaches in building up the game, but the Flick team could hardly get through to the penalty area.
ARD expert Bastian Schweinsteiger criticized during the half-time break: “There is a lack of creativity in the game going forward, you can see a bit of a lack of ideas.” Flick may have found similar words in the dressing room, because the DFB selection was much more determined after the change of sides. Substituting Champions League finalist Robin Gosens, who quickly made it 1-1 (48′), paid off. And Kimmich was not only much more active because of his crossbar shot.
The Poles, who defended cleverly for a long time and for whom the European Championship qualifier next Tuesday in Moldova is much more important, now came under more pressure. Referee Orel Grinfeld rightly took back a hand penalty whistled against the hosts (56th). In the final phase, the DFB selection failed several times due to the strong Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
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