The large audience presence on television was just one indication that the 180 minutes of football, in which Germany achieved two victories, changed feelings in Germany towards the national team, as the country approaches hosting the European Nations next summer.
More than 10 million people watched the RTL network’s television broadcast of the match between the German team and its Dutch counterpart, which was held – yesterday, Tuesday – and ended with the German team winning 2-1, with the market share reaching 41% only 3 days after the “Manschaft” victory. Led by Julian Nagelsmann, they defeated their French counterpart with two clean goals.
This was a dramatic shift from the pessimism of November and the gloom of defeats against Turkey and Austria, after the German team, the three-time world champion and three-time European champion, showed a disappointing performance, as the fans turned away from supporting the team, which was eliminated in the last two editions of the World Cup tournaments. Group stage.
Nagelsmann said – yesterday, Tuesday – “The spirit that I felt is completely different from what it was in November. We hope that this spirit will continue from the end of May until mid-July.”
The newspaper “Bild” reported – on Wednesday – that “the team is spreading euphoria,” while the newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported that the team had regained its “quality and essence” due to Nagelsmann’s standards, and the newspaper “Kicker” described the young coach as “the biggest winner” of the two confrontations. The last two.
Nagelsmann changed direction after the bump in November, which caused the German national team to end last year with only 3 victories from 11 matches.
Nagelsmann excluded senior players, such as Mats Hummels and Leon Goretzka, and brought back Toni Kroos as captain, summoned new faces such as Maximilian Mittelstedt, gave everyone clear roles, and introduced one formation in the matches on Saturday and Tuesday.
Nagelsmann said: “It was 10 days full of fun. The group did a very good job. The players have a good relationship with each other, and there is ruthless ambition. We had a good feeling against France, and again today.”
Toni Kroos, winner of the 2014 World Cup, said: “I am proud of the team because I know that the team has come out of a very difficult period.”
He added, “The good news is that we played two very strong friendly matches. The negative news is that this will not give us any points for the tournament. We have gained great confidence, and I hope that this confidence will remain with us in the tournament. After that, I will be convinced that we will give good performances in the European Nations Championship.”
The German national team will not play any friendly matches before Nagelsmann announces the list of players participating in the tournament.
The German national team will play two final friendly matches before the tournament against Ukraine and Greece in early June, before the German national team opens the Euro 2024 competitions on June 14 against the Scottish national team, noting that it will face the national teams of Hungary and Austria in the group stage as well.
But it will be difficult for any of the excluded players to enter the 23-player list for the tournament, with the exception of Leroy Sane, who will return to the national team after his suspension ends.
Kroos, the Real Madrid player, gave the team more balance that it needed, and Mittelstedt also participated in the first of his first two matches with the national team in the left-back position.
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