Lothar Matthäus firmly believes that the German national soccer team will reach the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar. Compared to the embarrassing preliminary round four years ago, the situation is completely different.
“We have players who weren’t there at the time, the national coach’s name is Hansi Flick and not Jogi Löw. And Costa Rica isn’t as strong as South Korea,” Matthäus wrote in a column for “Sport Bild”.
The 61-year-old also believes that a “big win” is possible on Thursday, which the DFB believes would be necessary if Japan beat Spain. “Our chance of progressing is much greater than eliminating the danger,” said Matthäus.
The 1-1 draw against Spain gave the German team more self-confidence than the “lucky 2-1 win against Sweden” in 2018, Matthäus explained. “They played well now, improved and deservedly got a point.”
The DFB-Elf sent a “strong signal” against a World Cup favorite.
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Lothar Matthäus on the DFB team: “German virtues are back”
“The German virtues, which we had been missing a bit lately, are back,” wrote the German record international: “Now every team at this World Cup knows: we don’t want to play against Germany!” The German team also has “the individual quality,” Matthäus continued.
National team newcomer Niclas Füllkrug, who scored the important 1-1 equalizer against Spain after being substituted on, received explicit praise from Matthäus.
“A clipper with a beefy body who is looking for a finish, who is keen on scoring the goal. He can do the header! Who can also provide assists, has an eye for his teammates,” the record international trusts the Werder Bremen attacker “now even more so,” he wrote: “I believe in this player! I would start him against Costa Rica because we’re likely to have a lot of goalscoring.”
Matthäus is also “firmly” assuming “that our team will continue to improve from game to game over the course of the tournament”: “We have the potential! Germany is a tournament team – this rating still inspires great respect from other nations.”
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