For a long time there was only Nowitzki. Now Schröder, Theis and twice Wagner are playing. The departed legend is optimistic for Germany’s national team. Internal trouble should no longer be a nuisance.
The retired basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki cannot actively help. But if national coach Gordon Herbert has his way, Nowitzki won’t be needed on the XXL road to Germany’s first World Cup medal since 2002. The 64-year-old Herbert went straight into raptures when asked to talk about his team led by captain Dennis Schröder. “We have a great squad – this is an outstanding team with even better people. It’s an honour for me to be able to coach this team,” Herbert said. The goal? A year after European Championship bronze in his own country, the next medal, of course.
And Nowitzki is enjoying his new role as a spectator from the sofa in his Texan homeland and at the World Cup as an ambassador and good luck charm on site. He led the German team to bronze in the USA 21 years ago and believes that such a coup is also possible at the World Cup in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines (25 August to 10 September).
“At the end of the day, we showed that we can play with the best countries in the world. Everyone is another year older. The distribution of roles was great,” said the 45-year-old from Würzburg. Nowitzki is now a fan – and hopeful that he will have plenty to cheer about this summer. “We have one of the best squads you could wish for. “
Part two of the three-year plan
The side noises caused by the discord between captain Schröder and Maximilian Kleber are to be ticked off with Saturday’s (19.00/Magentasport) test match start against Sweden. When head coach Herbert was asked in Bonn whether he missed Kleber after his cancellation in reaction to Schröder’s criticism, he only said: “Maxi is not here. Again, Maxi is just not here. We have very good players here.” Kleber had voluntarily declared his renunciation after Schröder had publicly reprimanded him for, among other things, cancelling last year’s home European Championship.
The association and above all Herbert clearly sided with Schröder. After all, the coach himself had announced a three-year plan. First the home European Championships, then the World Cup and in 2024 the Olympic Games in Paris. “We showed last year that we can keep up with anyone. We believe in ourselves. We have a goal for the World Cup, we have a goal for next summer,” affirmed centre Daniel Theis. In order to get the Olympic ticket already this year, we have to be one of the two best European World Cup teams.
Test matches against Canada, Greece and top favourite USA
But that is quite realistic. Where once there was only superstar Nowitzki for years, there is now a whole host of NBA-tested top players. Besides Schröder and Theis, the Wagner brothers Franz and Moritz in particular give hope for a strong summer. The Swedes, who did not qualify for the World Cup, are more of a compulsory exercise on Saturday, and the endurance tests quickly become more complicated as a result.
“We have a very good schedule. We’re in Germany for a couple of weeks, playing some strong teams in Abu Dhabi,” Herbert said. Games against Canada, Greece and top favourite USA should provide impressions whether Germany is ready for the tricky World Cup preliminary round in Okinawa, Japan. If they make it to the final, there will be 13 games in 37 days starting on Saturday. For Herbert, the first week of training is mainly important to whittle down his 18-man squad. “Our focus is to get to twelve players as quickly as possible and then become a real team,” Herbert announced.