During the final training session in the morning, the national players still needed sunscreen to protect themselves from the rays on the pitch in Herzogenaurach. When they arrived in Frankfurt in the afternoon after a bus ride, umbrellas were more in demand. Nevertheless, the mood was high among the German Football Association (DFB) entourage before the third match of the European Championship this Sunday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ARD and on MagentaTV).
All 26 national players are ready for action, but the national coach will not change his starting eleven compared to the victories over Scotland and Hungary. Qualification for the round of 16 is already certain. It is now just a question of first place – with a win or a draw – or second place – with a defeat. Julian Nagelsmann did leave a back door open – the meeting with his coaching team in the evening – but “as of now there are no” changes. It is important “that the rhythm is maintained”.
The threat of suspensions for Robert Andrich, Antonio Rüdiger, Jonathan Tah and Maximilian Mittelstädt in the event of another warning will not change this. “I am not taking the yellow card situation into account,” said Nagelsmann, “because I trust the squad.” As an example of a possible change to the starting eleven, he chose the “regular” Andrich, who is threatened with a suspension, and for whom “challenger” Pascal Groß could slip into the starting lineup.
“That is the most disrespectful thing you can do to Pascal,” said the national coach. “I nominate the squad because I trust everyone, even if they have different roles.” His players should “give it their all until the rule bans them. And then another player will come in.” Tah, one of those at risk, goes into the game without a ban in mind: “You know about the risk, but that won’t change the way I tackle.”
What Tah has to get used to is the damaged pitch. The problem is old; many players had problems during the European Championship duel between England and Denmark. Tah has bad memories of the test against the Netherlands. Back then, too, the pitch was not in “optimal condition, but we can’t change anything. We have to adapt as best we can.” The European Football Union announced that it was working on a “detailed maintenance plan to fix certain problems and further improve the quality of the pitch before the upcoming matches.” READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
“Very greasy, very soft”: The grass in Frankfurt is not only worrying Nagelsmann.dpa
Nagelsmann has “little hope” for the grass. The surface is “very greasy, very soft”. The reason is the replacement after the American football game in November. After that, natural grass was rolled out, “which simply didn’t grow properly”. The national coach is less worried about the quality of the football game than about the risk of injury. In England, he saw actions “that could end in cruciate ligament tears”. That is like driving with summer tires in winter: “Not good.”
Nagelsmann had a clear opinion on the debate about whether falling back to second place might not make for an easier path to the final. “I can discuss that with the coaching team, but it’s difficult to tell the team that we want to lose tomorrow.” That makes no sense for players who are competitive athletes. “They play a football game to win.” In addition, it is not yet possible to say who exactly the upcoming opponents will be.
There are currently seven possible opponents for the round of 16: The group winners will face England, Denmark, Slovenia or Serbia in Dortmund on June 29th, and the runners-up will face Italy, Croatia or Albania on the same day in Berlin. If Germany finishes first and wins the round of 16, the strong Spanish team could be waiting. That doesn’t matter to Tah either: “We want to win every game because we want to be at the top. That is our goal.” Now Switzerland awaits, which Nagelsmann calls “the strongest opponent in the group phase.”
Related
METRO2 weeks ago
SPORTS2 weeks ago
SPORTS2 weeks ago
SPORTS2 weeks ago
IN-THE-NEWS2 weeks ago
SPORTS2 weeks ago
SPORTS2 weeks ago
SPORTS2 weeks ago