Harry Kane hopes for DFB tips
Nagelsmann relies on the power of Goethe when preparing for the European Championship
December 15, 2023, 4:50 p.m
A European Championship training camp in the East is a first for the national team. The DFB entourage only stays in Thuringia for a short time. A possible preparatory game in Dresden also seems off the table. Bayern star Müller can present for a colleague on the golf course.
A few days in Thuringia and then off to Franconia earlier: Julian Nagelsmann wants to quickly make the recently stumbling national soccer team capable of winning the title before the home European Championships with a two-part training camp. A good week after the last Bundesliga matchday and just one day after the cup final, the DFB selection will move into the Weimarer Land spa and golf resort in Blankenhain in Thuringia on May 26, 2024. Training will take place there on the newly built pitches of the luxurious facility until May 31st, as the DFB announced.
Spicy: Thomas Müller and the other Bayern players can essentially act as trial accommodation for Harry Kane. A little later, the Munich star striker moved into the hotel with a half-timbered atmosphere south of the Goethe city of Weimar with England’s national team for the European Championships. Nagelsmann and his EM entourage have long since moved on to Herzogenaurach. A good week earlier than planned, the national team moved into the European Championship quarters in the “Home Ground” at the supplier Adidas.
A planned European Championship test match in Dresden is also off the table. The game planned for the first few days of June will take place in southern Germany, with the dress rehearsal possibly on June 7th with another test in North Rhine-Westphalia. The exact dates, venues and opponents have not yet been fixed.
Preparation begins without Spain professionals
For Nagelsmann, the tournament countdown begins in the rural idyll. However, it is not certain whether the DFB head coach can start with a complete squad straight away. Captain İlkay Gündoğan and goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, for example, still have to play with FC Barcelona at FC Sevilla in the Spanish league on May 26th. Participants in the DFB Cup final, possibly from Bayer Leverkusen or VfB Stuttgart, cannot be there right away. The Champion League final will not take place in London until June 1st – possibly with the Bayern national players or the BVB professionals.
These imponderables should not distract Nagelsmann. The location is fixed. “We have perfect conditions in the Weimar region to prepare for the great task of the home European Championship,” said the national coach. “We need a very special team spirit to get as far as possible in the tournament,” added the 36-year-old. The facility south of the A4 promises perfect conditions – also for passionate golfers like Müller and Kane.
For Völler, it’s also about the fans
As Thuringia’s Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee recently confirmed when the England Quarter was announced, the construction of the sports fields on the site and other infrastructure measures were supported by the state with around one million euros. The image gain for the region is said to be huge. Recently there have been repeated critical voices that the east of Germany, with the venues Leipzig and Berlin, is not enough of a European Championship showcase.
For Rudi Völler, the choice of hotel is also an important message to the fans. It was clear to prepare in Germany and not abroad, as was the case before tournaments in previous years. “The European Championship should not only take place at the ten EURO venues, but throughout Germany,” said the DFB sports director. “We are deliberately going to the east of Germany with the national team before we move into our quarters in the south of the country. We are looking forward to our fans in Thuringia,” said Völler.
The international year begins for Nagelsmann with the test games on March 23rd in Lyon against France and on March 26th against the Netherlands in Frankfurt. At the European Championships, the group opponents are Scotland on June 14th in Munich, Hungary on June 19th in Stuttgart and Switzerland on June 23rd in Frankfurt.