Even if it didn’t look like it at the back: The 4:0 win in northern Macedonia was a hard piece of work for the German national team. Afterwards, national coach Hansi Flick praised the attitude of his team.
The first half against Northern Macedonia was very reminiscent of the game against Romania: a deep-lying opponent who waited for the DFB team to make a mistake and then quickly change gear. “You have to tire out a team like that first,” said Leon Goretzka after the match, praising the hosts’ determined performance. While the German team took eight shots on goal in the first 45 minutes and failed to convert any of them, the first goal in the second half was scored directly. “Thanks to my goal, we started the second half well and had the game completely under control,” said goal scorer Kai Havertz.
The fact that the game then tilted more and more to the German side had to do with the better use of chances on the one hand, but also with the weakening forces on the part of the northern Macedonians on the other. “After the first goal it was very consistent,” said national coach Hansi Flick, happy that the game was decided relatively early. “The determination that was missing in round one we had in the second half,” Flick concluded.
Baking small buns on the way to the top
With their World Cup ticket secured early, the DFB squad now has planning security for next year’s final tournament in Qatar. The goal there? “When you play for Germany, the goal is always to win titles. That’s why we’ll be travelling like this next year,” says Havertz, setting the course for Qatar.
The 22-year-old also knows, however, that despite the good form under Flick, there is still work to be done. “I still think there is a long way to go and a lot of work ahead of us, but we will do everything we can to prepare well,” Havertz said.
Teammate Goretzka still sees a similar amount of potential, but on the way back to the top of the world, the Munich native said there will still be small buns to bake in the future. “There is hardly anyone better than Hansi for this path,” Goretzka knows about the importance of the new national coach, who is getting better at communicating his idea of the game to the national team. “Since we can’t train as much, we have to talk a lot with the players,” Flick explains his approach with his coaching team. In any case, the start for the new national coach went according to plan. Winning the first five matches and conceding only one goal has only been achieved by one other national coach besides Flick: Joachim Löw.
