Among other things, two new players and two anniversaries are the focus of the German national team in the international match against Belgium. The new sports director will be absent.
Serge Gnabry and Thilo Kehrer are new to the team. That’s what national coach Hansi Flick said before leaving for the Cologne venue, where the game against Belgium will kick off at 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday (March 28, 2023). The two changes became necessary because Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck left the quarter with a muscular problem in his thigh and Kai Havertz from Chelsea with a flu infection.
Flick announced another change for the test match (from 8:44 p.m. live in the radio report on sportschau.de) in Cologne, without naming names.
Völler is absent due to renal colic
In the storm it should stay with the attackers Timo Werner and Niclas Füllkrug. Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen had already received the confirmation a few days ago that he would be allowed to play both friendlies in March.
Rudi Völler will not be there in Cologne. The new DFB sports director suffered kidney colic on Monday, the DFB announced a few hours before the Belgium game kicked off. The 62-year-old is “now symptom free and resting at home”the association said.
Flick: “We could use self-confidence after the World Cup”
In an interview with Sportschau, Flick emphasized that sporting success was the priority against Belgium: “Every win is important for self-confidence. I think we can use that after the World Cup.” He saw a lot of positive things in the 2-0 win against Peru on Saturday (March 25, 2023), but there is still work to be done on the defensive setup.
Kehrer came on late for Schlotterbeck against Peru. The Dortmunder had previously been treated on the thigh. “Everything okay”, Flick later said that replacing Dortmund was a precautionary measure. On Monday, however, the national coach said that Schlotterbeck only “in two or three days” can return to the training ground.
However, this does not jeopardize an appearance in the top game of the Bundesliga on Saturday between FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Ginter and Goretzka before their 50th mission
Flick will only take the forthcoming duel into account to a limited extent when it comes to the playing times of the national players of both clubs. “We are considerate when it comes down to protecting players from injury”, according to the national coach. But he will with his coaching team “do not make a precise plan who plays how many minutes”.
In Emre Can and Marius Wolf, two BVB professionals are still in the squad. The record champions from Munich have three players in captain Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Gnabry.
Like Matthias Ginter from SC Freiburg, who is expected to play alongside Kehrer in central defence, Goretzka is facing his 50th international match.
Maybe against Austria in November
The game against Belgium will be the 999th of a DFB senior national team. It is still not officially known when, where and against whom the anniversary game will be played. According to information from the sports show, the presidium of the association decided that Ukraine will be the opponent on June 11 or 12 in Bremen. Games in Warsaw against Poland and in Gelsenkirchen against Uruguay are to follow. However, not all contracts have been signed yet.
Flick therefore only confirmed on Monday that the DFB was interested in playing in Austria in the last international match of the calendar year in November. A trip to the eastern United States with two games is planned for October.