A fearsome DFB team in LuxembourgPlease, what was that?
The German national football team won their visiting match in Luxembourg 2-0. World Cup qualification is now not far away. But there is no other good news from the DFB’s point of view.
Many district league coaches reflexively screamed at the home screen at the 35th minute mark. Germany versus Luxembourg. Jonathan Tah controlled the ball in his own area. At least not just anyone: a regular at FC Bayern, currently Europe’s best club team, and alternate captain of the DFB team. And this experienced guy suddenly did something that often went wrong on amateur football pitches – and that was not liked at all by the coaches there. Tah played a high pass back to goalkeeper Oliver Baumann from the edge of the pitch, but the ball fell too short. So the goalkeeper had to use a slapstick jumping action to block the ball in front of the Luxembourg player who was running.
Luckily for Tah, he succeeded. But it is still a mystery how something like this could happen to him. And that’s not the only action of the DFB team that will leave you confused. The German national football team won its guest match in Luxembourg 2-0 (0-0) and took a big step towards qualifying for the World Cup. On Monday against Slovakia in Leipzig (20.45/ZDF and on live ticker on ntv.de) A draw was enough to gain permission to start next year’s major tournament in North America. That’s the good news for now.
But vice versa? Not many positives. “It was much more difficult than we expected,” Julian Nagelsmann told RTL after the final whistle. And that’s still an understatement. As in the previous match, the DFB team won again in the World Cup qualifying group consisting of Luxembourg, Slovakia and Northern Ireland. In a stadium that is smaller than many in Germany’s second division, national coach Nagelsmann’s side sometimes looked like that. In the summer he still said he wanted to become world champion next year.
Luxembourg implements DFB plan
The DFB team put in a forgettable performance, especially in the first half. Bratislava vibes pop up every now and then. It was only in September that the national team slumped early in World Cup qualifying in Slovakia and surprisingly lost 2-0. It completely collapsed. It was hoped that this was just a small mistake, as Nagels’ team went on to win all the games.
Yes, that’s not it. Since kick-off, the DFB team appeared restless, nervous and afraid. National coach Nagelsmann actually wanted to bring a bit of FC Bayern to the national team, but the opposite happened. Luxembourg attacked their opponents so early – Bayern coach Vincent Kompany must have been proud in front of the TV at home.
Their tactic worked: the DFB team no longer understood the world and looked completely shocked. No dominance, no creativity, no courage. Center back Waldemar Anton played the ball out of bounds twice in the opening stages. Injured DFB captain Joshua Kimmich had to watch the spectacle helplessly from the bench. The German penalty box was on fire in the eleventh minute. After a good combination, Danel Sinani had the first big chance of the match. At least: Professional from FC St. Pauli was interrupted by Tah just in time.
But it continued: In Bratislava, it was Leo Sauer, a completely unknown 19-year-old player, who plunged German football into crisis. In Luxembourg, this is also inside information that scares the DFB team. His name is Aimen Dadari and he usually dribbles the ball (Danger!) with second team FC Augsburg in the Bavarian Regional League. He almost wasted his big chance in the 18th minute when Anton and Leon Goretzka entered the duel late.
“That’s not good”
National player Mathias Olesen announced in an interview with ntv.de before the 4-0 defeat in the first leg that Luxembourg were no longer football’s dwarfs. This time they really showed it: no squatting, no mixing concrete in front of your own penalty box. The world number 97 dribbled bravely and at times tied up a restless DFB team in their own penalty area. He, in turn, sometimes plays against his own goalkeeper from 70 meters. In the end, Baumann actually made 61 ball contacts. Nobody expected that to happen before kick-off.
And it just so happened that Luxembourg national coach Jeff Strasser walked into the dressing room at half-time with a big smile, buoyed by the applause of the home crowd. Meanwhile, national coach Nagelsmann then analyzed that the favored team actually deserved to lead at the break. “His attitude was not good,” said Nick Woltemade.
Anyone hoping the situation would improve after the break will initially be disappointed. Until the 51st minute. This is one of the few glimmers of hope, a world-class touch. Bayern star Aleksander Pavlovic delivered a perfect pass an inch from his own half 50 meters to the feet of Leroy Sané. The winger, previously calculated in length and width by Nagelsmann, placed the ball in an exemplary manner on the outside line – and passed it into the center. Woltemade went well and was able to take advantage of the template to make the score 1-0.
However, this goal did not bring calm to the game. Seconds after the goal, Dardari, who didn’t get many chances under coach Sandro Wagner at Augsburg, finished. His shot just missed the goal. The fact that Goretzka escaped a red card brought greater poignancy to the game. Until the 66th minute, Woltemade (again based on Sané’s template) made it 2-0.
The match then roared towards the final whistle. The question remains what this very weak 50 minutes meant for the DFB team. This reinforces the impression from the previous four games: that there are teams on the pitch that have little or no stability. The national team coach is still looking for an answer to this. There has only been one convincing performance in World Cup qualifying so far – and that was the first leg against Luxembourg, when the underdogs were outnumbered after just 20 minutes.
As the World Cup approaches next year, that should change quickly. The alarm sirens sounded more than 200 days before the opening game. After the World Cup failure in Russia in 2018 and the embarrassment in Qatar in 2022, there is also the threat of disaster in North America in 2026. Having (hopefully) survived the World Cup qualifiers, national coach Nagelsmann must find a way to ensure that the protagonists do not suddenly lose their form in the new DFB uniform. So as not to take action like what substitute captain Tah did in the 35th minute.
