20:41
Both teams step onto the lawn of the Volkswagen Arena. The anthems of both nations can already be heard in Wolfsburg. It will not be long!
8:38 p.m
João Pinheiro is responsible for directing this game. Assisting the up-and-coming Portuguese official are linesmen Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia.
8:32 p.m
Despite a 4-1 win over Peru, Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu also made a few changes. Reo Hatate from Celtic Glasgow is still recovering from an injury and is missing from the squad. Goalkeeper Kosuke Nakamura, Shogo Taniguchi and Kyogo Furuhashi are on the bench. They will be replaced by Keisuke Osako, Arsenal London’s Takehiro Tomiyasu, Hidemasa Morita and Ayase Ueda. Overall, the Japanese coach is potentially fielding his best team.
20:26
In real tactics, Flick pulls Kimmich back to the right side. Süle and Schlotterbeck complete a variable three-man chain, forming a Dortmund triangle with Emre Can on the six. Gnabry and Sané bring speed to the wings, while Wirtz and Musiala provide creativity from the center. Kai Havertz storms up front, which means that the offensive quality is extremely high.
8:19 p.m
Flick changes to five positions in his starting eleven compared to the recent defeat against Colombia. Jamal Musiala is officially out with minor back problems. Robin Gosens and Malick Thiaw are on the bench, while Marius Wolf and the aforementioned Goretzka are missing from the squad. Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Süle, Joshua Kimmich, returnees Florian Wirtz and Serge Gnabry start. In addition, Pascal Groß is on the national team bench for the first time.
20:12
At the World Cup, Japan ended in the round of 16 against Croatia. Since then they have played four friendly matches. Interestingly, the Blue Samurai, like the German team, tested against Peru and Colombia, winning one game and losing one. Japan also collected a draw against Uruguay and a win against El Salvador. The Asians are slightly ahead in the form curve.
8:03 p.m
The memory of the Japanese may still make some of those involved sweat. At the World Cup in Qatar, the DFB team lost a confident game for a long time. Two easy goals conceded resulted in an opening defeat, which was ultimately decisive for the team being eliminated from the group stage. The new comparison with the Asians is now correspondingly exciting, although today it is of course only a test match. Are the same mistakes being made or has Hansi Flick’s team learned from the bitter defeat?
19:54
Immediately after the messed up World Cup, the restart didn’t work. Although the DFB team won against Peru at the beginning of the year, they were unable to win any of their tests afterwards. For four games, 80 million national coaches have been waiting for another success, a rousing game idea and the elimination of recurring errors in the defensive transition game. In fact, Hansi Flick has some changes in store for this: Niklas Süle is back in defense, Joshua Kimmich closes the gap at the back right, Leon Goretzka gets a break for reflection, but İlkay Gündoğan is promoted to captain. A well-known opponent seems perfect to evaluate the impact of these measures.
19:33
A new season, a new opportunity for the DFB team. There needs to be euphoria for a successful home European Championship in 2024. Germany meets Japan from 8:45 p.m. Welcome!