European Football Championship squad: Julian Nagelsmann doesn’t want any more surprises in the European Championship squad

At the end, Julian Nagelsmann straightened the collar of the black shirt again and straightened the jacket: The final photo with the European Championship ball should also look good after all, after the national coach underpinned the most extraordinary squad nomination in the history of the German national football team with enlightening explanations had. For more than an hour in Berlin, the 36-year-old exuded anticipation that was exemplary for the home European Championships.

»Great team – could be mine. But it’s our squad!« A video of the 18 preliminary nominations ended with this flippant Nagelsmann saying. The 36-year-old found the fact that a pensioner, a hairdresser and a roofer were involved a “brilliant idea”, a first step towards everyone feeling like they belong. His team would also like to reduce the distance to people again: “Everyone in the country should identify with it.”

There was no sensation at the actual nomination date for the European Championship squad consisting of 27 players. Not everyone would have chosen four goalkeepers – including surprise guest Alexander Nübel – but Nagelsmann would also like to give Manuel Neuer and Marc-André ter Stegen a break during training. In this constellation, 26 players are a “good size” as the final European Championship squad. If everyone stays healthy, they will be banned from the Uéfa nomination deadline on June 7th. The shaky candidates are probably Robin Koch, Waldemar Anton and Maximilian Beier, who was nominated as a backup for the ailing Leroy Sané.

As expected, Leon Goretzka and Mats Hummels, whom the national coach contacted at the beginning of the week, did not receive an invitation: “I had conversations with both of them. Of course the players are extremely disappointed.” The conversations with those not taken into account lasted between one and 22 minutes and were “not nice,” Nagelsmann reported on further phone calls. But the team, which was convincing against France (2:0) and the Netherlands (2:1) in the spring, apparently worked so well off the pitch that he no longer wanted to tear this community apart. “If you add a lot of new elements to a growing structure that is still fragile, the whole house will collapse.”

Soon everyone will only be talking about those who are working on Summer Fairy Tale 2.0. The national coach believes it is logical to strive for the European Championship title as usual, but on the other hand he also sees professional football as an entertainment industry. The thoroughbred coach wants to see interesting games. “I want it to be exciting, exciting.” Therefore, an exit in the knockout round could happen – and he would perhaps still “rate the tournament as good”. Ideally, this could coincide with the home World Cup in 2006, when a DFB selection that was always lively at the limit sent storms of enthusiasm through the country even as third.