What will happen to visitor Sané?
DFB creates a bang, but Nagelsmann doesn’t
March 25, 2024, 8:38 p.m
The win against France is good for the German football soul. It’s not just the result that creates euphoria, but above all the way it is done. National coach Julian Nagelsmann declares the performance against the runner-up world champion to be a benchmark. This is not good news for many players.
Tuesday evening in Frankfurt will be bright. This is already official before kick-off. While the Dutch, the German national football team’s next opponent, will be wearing the classic orange, the DFB team will be appearing in a game for the first time (from 8:45 p.m. on RTL and in the live ticker on ntv.de) the new pink and purple jerseys. The next bang? The change of jersey should be the only thing that changes with national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team. Everything in the starting line-up should stay as it is. The protagonists of Lyon, who surprised runner-up world champions France on Saturday evening (2-0), have earned a small credit.
For example, Joshua Kimmich on the right, who unnerved Mbappé. Or Robert Andrich as the man next to the outstanding returnee Toni Kroos. Or Jonathan Tah, the Leverkusen defense chief, who has never been as good in the jersey with the eagle on the chest as he was in Lyon. And Maxi Mittelstädt can also continue to participate, even if he occasionally struggled against Ousmane Dembélé. But a master… you know that.
“Everyone is fit, apart from one or two minor aches and pains,” explained the national coach late in the afternoon. “The game was intense, but the plan is for it to be the same team as against France. Nevertheless, I’m just waiting to see the impressions from the final training session.” If no one falls off, seems tired or gets injured, then there are no changes. This could also hold true with a view to the European Championships, with one exception: If Manuel Neuer is fit, he will be number one again. Marc-André ter Stegen can probably do whatever he wants, such as defusing Kylian Mbappé’s top chance, and he still won’t make it as a regular for the Turin team at home. This could also happen to Leroy Sané. The suspended Bayern star will join the team on Tuesday, but is only allowed to support them from the stands.
Sané has to “integrate”
However, it doesn’t necessarily have to stay that way. Of those players who are coming back into the team, he is likely to be one of the most promising candidates. When he plays at his best. The national coach has been making it clear for weeks that this is all that matters. “He has a quality that we don’t want to or can’t do without,” said Nagelsmann, but Sané also has to “integrate.” In other words: The winger has to accept his role, no matter what it is. The national coach remains firm. Nagelsmann emphasized that he ultimately conducted the role discussions at the beginning of the measure in the team headquarters in Neu-Isenburg “with a certain idea in mind.” Everyone knows their job – the core of the “first twelve, 13” players, as the coach calls it, as well as the many challengers around the strong Stuttgart players Waldemar Anton and Deniz Undav.
In the subtext, the signals are also unmistakable messages to forces currently decommissioned, such as Bavaria’s machinist Leon Goretzka. Or the entire Dortmund defense around Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle. The door remains open, but simply walking through is no longer possible. If you want to be there in your own country in the summer, you have to throw yourself into it with verve. And even then, it’s not clear whether the gap will be big enough to actually squeeze through. But what is given in one direction also applies in the other. A strong performance after countless pickle appearances by the national team in recent years is not a guarantee of a secure place in the squad in the summer.
And so we need another performance against the Netherlands that waters the tender plant of hope. What a great mission against the nation of tulips. “We must not fall into hysteria and not go to extremes, from very bad to very good,” warns the national coach. “We took a step and turned onto the road towards the home European Championship. It’s now about the team believing in this path. Even if they have a negative moment.” And so Nagelsmann would also like to see further development among his players. Above all, he wants to see his exciting magicians Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz again have the courage to make decisions in attack.
Better Major Tom than Zombie Nation
Things that didn’t go his way against France should now work out. “We didn’t get in front of the goal enough in the first 20 minutes. Things were better before the break. We want to solve things playfully, get into the flow better when we are pressed man-to-man. In the second half “It’s much better. A willingness to counter-press like I saw against France at the end is something I’d like to see tomorrow too.”
And what does he want to hear? Legitimate question. But in the goal anthem discussion that broke out over the 80s global hit “Major Tom,” the coach has no particular preferences. “I’ll be honest: I always scream so loudly when I score my own goal that I always notice the music very late. I high-five with 30 people and then it’s always over.” Thousands of fans have been storming the DFB for days, especially on Instagram and X, to play the song with the catchy line “Completely detached from the earth” when a goal is scored. A corresponding online petition found tens of thousands of supporters. So far, “Kernkraft 400” by Zombie Nation is playing. But the German national team no longer wants to be that team anyway.