Many construction sites for Germany with Flick
In Doha, capital of the emirate Qatar, there is still a lot of work going on these days. Almost eight weeks before the start of the highly controversial football World Cup, the hosts are embarrassingly anxious to sell the world a diagram at the end of the year that only sparkles and amazes. But the clever minds have known for a long time that the ideal world is not far away. The situation in Qatar is far from ideal in terms of human rights, labor rights and sustainability. Quite a few therefore turned away from this tournament long before the first kick-off on November 20th in Doha.
Work was also still going on in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, on Monday evening. A few weeks before the German national team’s first game at the World Cup, the Selection of Hansi Flick at the end of the Nations League 3: 3 against the English. After a sluggish first half, things went wild at Wembley after the break. Ilkay Gündogan (52nd minute) with a penalty and Kai Havertz (67′) gave the Germans the lead, then Luke Shaw (71′), Mason Mount (75′) and Harry Kane (83′) turned the game around with a penalty before Havertz equalized in the end (87′).
The picture that the senior national team of the German Football Association (DFB) in London on Monday is the final picture ahead of the trip to the Arabian Peninsula a good week before the opener against Japan on November 23. Flick knows that the impression of London and the three days before when 0:1 against Hungary in Leipzig sticks. And the national coach knows that it’s not just results and statistics that count, but also emotions and mood before such a tournament, which for him is the first in a responsible position for the first football team in Germany.
World Cup start against Japan
The public German anticipation is not undivided anyway because of the circumstances for the World Cup. This is also because the games are embedded in a season that means an unprecedented hunt for everyone. The climatic conditions in Qatar made it necessary to move to the winter. The schedule is tight. In mid-October, Flick has to report a squad of 50 players to the world association. A few days before leaving for the short training camp, 26 World Championship drivers will be there. On November 13th, the German entourage will meet in Frankfurt, the next day they will go to Oman, on November 16th there will be a friendly match, before two days later they will go to the camp in Qatar and on November 23rd Japan waits.
In Wembley Flick tried to draw an autumn picture that didn’t appear too cloudy. “I saw a lot of positive things – and a few negative ones,” he said of the game against England. “We did a lot of things well.” Or: “I’m rather positive by nature.” Or: “We played really good football for 20 minutes after half-time.” Or: “It’s positive that we (after the 2:3 -Backlog/ed.) came back.” Or: “I’m more of a coach who prefers to make the players a head bigger. In the end, that might bring one or two more wins.”
However, there have recently been few victories for the Germans. There was that 5-2 against Italy in June in the last game before the summer break, which possibly left a wrong impression, since it left an impression that was too radiant. Otherwise, in addition to the introductory test win over Israel, it was enough for five draws in the World Cup year and that 0-1 draw against Hungary. The frightening performance on Friday was also a reason why Flick now spoke of an increase. “What we need is not to give up,” he said of the late equalizer after the remarkable loss of control with three goals conceded.
