Germany only won against teams outside Luxembourg brilliantly. Julian Nagelsmann’s team appeared very disappointing in the first half. Individual criticism.
William Laing reports from Luxembourg
Luxembourg and Germany are separated by 87 in the world rankings. But there was little to see on Friday at the Stade de Luxembourg in World Cup qualifying. From the start, it was the outsiders who dominated the game, putting pressure on favorites Germany and repeatedly forcing them into mistakes. From the DFB’s point of view, it was fortunate that the score going into the break was 0-0.
Striker Nick Woltemade admitted on RTL: “The behavior in the first half was not good. We had too little intensity, too little possession.” National coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted: “We deserved to concede a goal, but we didn’t get it. We can consider ourselves lucky.” Danel Sinani’s Pauli twice missed in front of the German goal (11th and 16th minutes), and FC Augsburg’s Aiman Dardari also fired a shot past the DFB goal shortly afterwards.
“It was much more difficult than we expected. In the first half we didn’t do everything from the start,” Nagelsmann concluded on RTL. “We couldn’t calm him down at all.”
The disappointing performance, especially in the first half, was also reflected in the t-online scores. Some players have been very disappointing in midfield. Three national players got a five, one even got a six. Anyway: With Nick Woltemade and Leroy Sané there are also two bright spots among the field players. You can find the full individual reviews in the photo display above or here.
Of course Jeff Strasser was in a much more positive mood. Luxembourg’s national coach said: “You can be proud of the team’s performance. We defended, attacked Germany and caused them problems. We have to give ourselves credit in the first half. We were punished mercilessly. A team like Germany, with such quality, takes advantage of such mistakes.”
One thing is clear: the national team will have to show a better face against Slovakia on Monday, otherwise there will be a serious defeat. Because that would mean missing out on direct qualification to the World Cup and resulting in the playoffs.
