Actually prefers to hold the balls up: national coach Julian Nagelsmann.
Photo: imago/Kessler
Large football arenas far away from city centers are not uncommon across Europe. But hardly any are as far away from the pulsating center as the stadium in Décines-Charpieu, which is usually used by the French first division soccer team Olympique Lyon. This built-up suburban community has about as much in common with the charming old town district at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône as a fast food joint has in common with a gourmet restaurant. But here, this Saturday, the footballers from France and Germany are dueling in a classic international match.
No constellation has been more common in the past ten years: In addition to a World Cup quarter-final in 2014, two European Championship duels in the semi-finals in 2016 and in the preliminary round in 2021, as well as two games in the Nations League in 2018, both associations agreed on three more friendly matches. The last comparison served as one of the few German encouragements for the home European Championship next summer: When Rudi Völler stepped in as team boss on a one-off basis in September last year, the result was a lively performance and a 2-1 win. “Let’s go out and play football,” “Aunt Käthe” seemed to have said to the chosen ones in the best Franz Beckenbauer style.
Unfortunately, that performance in Dortmund was not to be a consistent benchmark after the transition from Hansi Flick to Julian Nagelsmann. The next national coach is also still desperately working on a turnaround. With just one success in the 3-1 win in the USA, a draw against Mexico and defeats against Turkey and Austria, the 36-year-old has put himself under pressure. His personal spiraling course should end now. And such an endurance test also gives the chance to take the skeptical public along on the long road to an atmospheric European Championship.
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At a fan press conference on the DFB campus on Wednesday, Julian Nagelsmann told how he experienced the 2006 World Cup: “I was on one or two fan miles back then. That was very, very emotional. We’ll try to restore that.” But it’s not just the organization and weather that have to be right – inspiration should also come from the host team, like in the summer fairy tale. Nagelsmann wants to deliver: “I would like to win this thing with the team, otherwise we don’t have to start at all, then we’d better go on vacation – whether we’re favorites or not.”
But this requires people who have more resilience, a sense of community and identification. In this respect, it is not so bad that the completely renewed ensemble is being put to the test with a top favorite with Didier Deschamps, who has been responsible for the Equipe Tricolore since 2012, and his wonder striker Kylian Mbappé. Lyon is experiencing the maturity test for a black, red and gold framework of footballers of advanced age. The fact that Marc-André ter Stegen is standing between the posts for the injured Manuel Neuer is probably the least of the problems. The back four with Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Antonio Rüdiger and Maximilian Mittelstädt as the only starting candidate from the four remaining newcomers have never played together like this before. The same applies to the midfield block with Toni Kroos, Robert Andrich and captain İlkay Gündoğan, who, as a precaution, reminded his colleagues of the big picture: “It’s a huge privilege to have the chance to play a World Cup or European Championship in your own country.”
In contrast to the returnee Kroos, Gündoğan has not yet celebrated any success with the DFB selection. His tournament participation in 2018, 2021 and 2022 resulted in failure. Like some others, it seems unlikely that the 33-year-old will continue until the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. It is therefore good that Gündoğan is surrounded by two young hopefuls in the system with three tens: Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala should also show their great talent in the national jersey in the absence of the suspended Leroy Sané, which will, by the way, still be classic white against France. We want to put these guys “in positions where we enjoy them,” says Nagelsmann.
It seems unnecessary that the football teacher has made his own future an issue. Is DFB President Bernd Neuendorf well-advised with the publicly announced negotiations about a contract extension? The time pressure doesn’t really make sense. Even if Nagelsmann wishes to “regulate the future” and Neuendorf emphasizes that “the chemistry is right,” nothing needs to be rushed.
The examples of the working papers of Joachim Löw and Martina Voss-Tecklenburg as women’s national coaches, which were hastily extended before the 2018 and 2023 World Cups, should actually be warning enough for the DFB. Nagelsmann should also deliver against France and then on Tuesday against the Netherlands in Frankfurt am Main before expensive pegs are driven in again for the football association, which is in dire financial straits.
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