DFB team in East Germany
German national team plays out plan against “right-wing twist”
26.05.2024, 14:14
The national football team is starting its preparations for the European Championship in eastern Germany. DFB managing director Rettig thinks this is “great”, especially from a political perspective. National coach Julian Nagelsmann is immediately pulling the reins – although important parts of the team are still missing.
DFB managing director Andreas Rettig also sees political significance in the German national football team’s training stay in Thuringia shortly before the European elections. He thinks the association’s decision to deliberately hold a preparation camp in Blankenhain, Thuringia, in eastern Germany before the home European Championships is “great,” the 61-year-old told the “Frankfurter Rundschau” newspaper, which was published on Monday. “Because we don’t want the feeling of many people in eastern Germany that they have been left behind to be reinforced.”
“There are reasons why we have a right-wing drift in our country. We don’t want to exaggerate, but the fact that the national football team is preparing for this big tournament in the east is a wonderful symbol that should have an effect: ‘You’re there too!’ Also with a view to the European elections on June 9th. This message is important to me: ‘Don’t fall for every right-wing slogan!'” said the managing director. He hopes “that a sense of unity will emerge in these dark times that we are unfortunately experiencing right now.”
“We wanted to show that we all belong together,” said DFB sports director Rudi Völler at a site visit in Blankenhain. There, people often feel neglected when it comes to big-time football. As was the case for the 2006 World Cup, Leipzig is the only European Championship venue in the new federal states. The three European Championship group matches against Scotland (June 14/Munich), Hungary (June 19/Stuttgart) and Switzerland (June 23/Frankfurt) will all take place in the South-West cluster.
Different times than before the 2006 World Cup
Rettig does not want to compare the atmospheric 2006 World Cup, which painted a new image of Germany abroad, with the current home tournament. He feels that this is “unsuitable because the conditions are completely different.”
18 years later, there are “wars and conflicts, the pandemic that we have struggled through, inflation, economic conditions that weigh on our minds and our wallets. But you can feel that something is happening, also because of the positive spin we got from the games against France and the Netherlands.”
Julian Nagelsmann’s European Championship squad is preparing from Sunday to Friday in Blankenhain in Thuringia for the home European Championship, which begins on June 14. This Monday, the national team will be doing a public training session in Jena. The national coach is tightening the reins right at the start of the training camp. After seven weeks of summer football, the crowning glory of the European Championship title will be celebrated across the country. “Everyone is always expected to give it their all, regardless of whether they are 14, 2 or 18. That creates the necessary competition and excitement,” said Nagelsmann.
The national coach has to find a good mix right from the start. Of his 27 provisionally nominated players, only 18 are there for the start because of the DFB Cup final and the Champions League final. “We have found a good mix, between very strong personalities, between personalities who can subordinate themselves and push the others,” said Nagelsmann. “There are already two buses full of people, and that has to fit together.”