There is only one Rudi Völler! The one-game team boss has breathed life back into the fallen German national team and is now working hard to find the new national coach. The fan favorite led the greatly improved DFB selection to an unexpected 2-1 (1-0) prestige win against runner-up world champion France two days after Hansi Flick was released.
Völler celebrated early in Dortmund over Thomas Müller’s 45th international goal (4th), Leroy Sane’s late goal (87th) and the first victory over the strong neighbors since the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals. Almost 20 years after his last game As team boss, the DFB sports director ended the negative series of three defeats in a row that had sealed Flick’s exit. Antoine Griezmann shortened the score for the French with a penalty kick (89′).
“You have to be up for a game like this! We have to give something back, show something,” said Völler before the game. 276 days before the start of the tournament, he emphasized again that he was not ready for the European Championship mission as a coach.
With DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and Vice Hans-Joachim Watzke, he is supposed to find Flick’s heir. According to Neuendorf, a foreign coach such as Louis van Gaal is explicitly an “option”. The search will be intensified from Wednesday.
Mbappé is only injured on the bench
Previously the focus was on France, with captain Kylian Mbappé (knee) just watching. Völler managed to spur the team on with his assistants Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner. Passion, enthusiasm, compactness – all of this could suddenly be seen in the previously completely unsettled team.
It took less than 210 seconds for Müller to complete a wonderful attack in the center forward position on a pass from Benjamin Henrichs. Like Jonathan Tah, the two came after the embarrassing 1:4 against Japan for the ailing Joshua Kimmich and the two most glaring weak points, Nico Schlotterbeck and Kai Havertz.
At 1-0, which was preceded by Ilkay Gündogan winning the ball, Völler threw his arms in the air and roared with joy. There were immediately chants for him. There wasn’t much missing and Völler could soon have celebrated again: Serge Gnabry (9th) failed after a great solo, Müller (15th) missed another chance.
The DFB team was lucky when a push by defense chief Antonio Rüdiger (20th) against ex-Frankfurt player Randal Kolo Muani was not punished with a penalty. Shortly afterwards, Captain Gündogan, who had an unfortunate fall during an aerial duel, had to leave the field (25th).
There was a small break in the German game, but La Ola still swept through the stadium, which was almost full with 60,486 spectators. France slowly gained access and first opportunities.
Schweinsteiger praises the DFB team’s “perfect” initial phase
“The first ten minutes were perfect, after that it was good too,” said “ARD” expert Bastian Schweinsteiger at the break: “The question is whether we can maintain the level.”
This was initially achieved primarily defensively. France, who had only lost the World Cup final in their last nine games, were usually stopped well in front of the goal. “The most important thing is defensive behavior,” Völler demanded. His team played with discipline and the players supported each other.
Offensive actions became rarer. Florian Wirtz (67th) could have increased the score, but his shot got stuck in the French defense. A few more changes disrupted the flow of the game. In the 82nd minute, Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved from Ousmane Dembele, on the other side Sane stayed cool and shot into the far corner. In return, however, the Bayern player fouled Eduardo Camavinga in the penalty area.