Double strike from Füllkrug & Musiala
Julian Nagelsmann got the gift of victory he was hoping for at the start, but in the rain in Hartford everything didn’t go according to plan until after the break. The new national coach initially had to be annoyed about the deficit caused by former Dortmund player Christian Pulisic (28th) in the 3-1 (1-1) draw in the drafty Pratt & Whitney Stadium on Saturday in an intensive test match against hosts USA.
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But then Hansi Flick’s successor was able to celebrate the goals of captain Ilkay Gündogan (39th), striker Niclas Füllkrug (58th) and Jamal Musiala (61st) in front of 37,743 spectators. Nagelsmann coached actively, the 36-year-old repeatedly applauded and corrected on the sidelines. The beginning was successful, Nagelsmann football was already recognizable.
At the next DFB departure for the home European Championships in 2024, there were a lot of good actions to be seen from the national team, especially offensively – but there were also well-known deficits in defense. But that wasn’t due to the returnee Mats Hummels, who radiated presence and calm in the center of defense during his international comeback after more than two years until he was substituted after 62 minutes. After the game, the DFB entourage went straight on to Philadelphia, where the controversial US trip will conclude on Wednesday (2 a.m.) with the second friendly against Mexico.
Before the ball rolled in Hartford, there was a minute’s silence for the victims of the devastating terrorist attack in Israel by Hamas. The DFB and the US association documented their solidarity with Israel. Afterwards we got down to business on the lawn without much searching. The German team tried to put the US team under pressure with high pressing and a lot of movement. However, the DFB selection once again had big problems defensively and lost too many balls, especially the two full-backs Robin Gosens and Jonathan Tah had significant speed disadvantages, especially when the hosts’ game was played by the lightning-fast Timothy Weah. Nagelsmann, wearing a blue and white checkered jacket, tried to help with active coaching on the sidelines.
After just four minutes the ball was in the German goal, but ex-Dortmunder Pulisic came offside. In the period that followed, Hummels, who returned, did not have to complain about a lack of work in central defense. The Dortmund player, who played his last international match in June 2021 in the European Championship exit in the round of 16 against England, impressed with his opening game and header strength. After his yellow card shortly before half-time for a rough tackle, the 34-year-old had to act more cautiously until he was substituted.
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Nagelsmann’s game idea, who relied on experience with an average age of 28.97, was visible despite the few training sessions in the 4-2-2-2 system with the double ten Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. Sané, who has also been a great player at Bayern for weeks, caused a lot of excitement as he played alongside Füllkrug in the attack and was difficult to get under control when dribbling at high speed. Behind the offensive line, Captain Gündogan and Pascal Groß protected with great presence. Groß had joined the team to replace Kimmich, who was suffering from a flu-like infection. The Bayern professional headed home to Munich on Saturday. “He has a fever of over 38 degrees. “It makes no sense to leave him in the hotel room all the time,” said Nagelsmann on “RTL”.
Groß also had the German team’s first top chance when he hit the post from the edge of the penalty area after work from Wirtz (11th). Füllkrug had two good chances in the first half, but his shots were too imprecise (22nd/27th). On Füllkrug’s second shot, US keeper Matt Turner initiated Pulisic’s goal with a throw, who put the ball in the corner unstoppable for Marc-André ter Stegen. Shortly before, Pulisic had tried to get a penalty, but the Mexican referee didn’t fall for the swallow. There was no video referee at the game. Even before the break, Nagelsmann was able to celebrate his first goal as national coach. Gündogan was there after a great co-production with Sané and marked the by no means undeserved equalizer. Nagelsmann also looked happier.
The second half began with good chances from Gündogan (46th) and Füllkrug (49th). The desire to start the Nagelsmann era with a win against the eleventh in the world rankings was noticeable. The German team was now even more determined and took control of the game. The well-deserved reward was the opening goal by Füllkrug, who scored his eighth goal in the tenth international match after an assist from the otherwise rather weak Gosens. Shortly afterwards, Füllkrug also prepared the third goal when he passed the ball across to Musiala. It was the preliminary decision, after which the DFB team confidently achieved victory.
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