DFB stars are booed
Playful Turks spoil Nagelsmann’s home debut
November 18, 2023, 10:45 p.m
Bitter setback for the German national soccer team on the way to the home European Championship next year: In an emotional duel with Turkey, national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s first international match on home soil was deservedly lost.
Tactical surprise failed, home debut failed: national coach Julian Nagelsmann experienced a rude awakening with the German national soccer team in Berlin, the place of longing. In the final stadium of the European Championship, the DFB team lost 2:3 (1:2) against a better B team from Turkey; the required defensive stability was not visible. Kai Havertz (5th), called up as left-back by Nagelsmann with “a lot of imagination” and completely unexpectedly, gave the hosts the lead. And nine Niclas Füllkrug (49th) was there again. But Ferdi Kadioglu (38th), Regensburg-born Kenan Yildiz (45th + 2) and Yusuf Sari (71st) with a penalty after Havertz’s handball sent tens of thousands of people in the Turkish cauldron into ecstasy. It was the first home defeat against Turkey in over 72 years.
“The team knows what to expect,” said Nagelsmann, primarily referring to the atmosphere. The 45,000 to 50,000 Turkish fans loudly whistled at the DFB team and especially captain İlkay Gündoğan in his first game against his parents’ country. But the German selection set a counterpoint early on: After a fine pass from right-back Benjamin Henrichs to Leroy Sané and his pass, Havertz ice-coldly finished to make it 1-0. Nagelsmann’s surprising plan seemed to work, the national coach raised his fists.
Havertz, he explained on RTL, is “a very good option” at the back left, but of course “not a classic” full-back. The Arsenal professional gave much more of a kind of hybrid. When he had the ball, he rushed forward. But when the Turks came, he fell back into the back four. In midfield, Nagelsmann fielded his former Munich star student Joshua Kimmich alongside Gündoğan for the first time. In October, the Bayern professional was still missing due to illness, but this time, in addition to losing the ball a few times, he also showed his value: after his fine pass, Sané missed the possible 2-0 (16th).
The offense is coming into play well
There was a lot of movement in the German offensive. Sometimes Sané went steeply, sometimes Florian Wirtz dribbled his way through, sometimes Julian Brandt pushed deep. Füllkrug alone seemed somewhat indifferent to all the goings-on. But the momentum faded after a good 25 minutes. The guests who were missing stars like Hakan Calhanoglu and Cengiz Ünder or talent Arda Güler showed up – and how! Thousands of Turkish fans lit up the stadium with their cell phone lights and were soon able to cheer. At 1-1, which was preceded by a long ball, Henrichs and Sane were not in their positions.
Nagelsmann had warned: “We must not give up so much space by throwing balls over the chain.” Vain. At 1:2, Havertz failed to prevent the cross and Henrichs slipped unfortunately in the center. Kevin Trapp, who replaced Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back) in goal, had no chance to defend both times when the European Championship ball hit “Football Love”. Wirtz drove this across half the pitch at the start of the second half and found Füllkrug, who scored for the tenth time in his twelfth international match. The German team temporarily gained more control, but was lacking in ideas going forward.
Turkey was different: Dortmund’s Sali Özcan hit the post (53′). When Sari took a penalty, Trapp sensed the corner and was on the ball, but he couldn’t prevent it from making it 2-3. Brandt missed the chance to make it 3-3 (74th). In the final phase, Marvin Ducksch celebrated his international debut.