Hansi Flick has formulated a clear goal for 2022: the world champion title should be at the end of the year. Accordingly, all measures are geared towards the tournament in November and December. That causes hardship.
National football coach Hansi Flick is sending clear signals for the World Cup in Qatar with the 26-strong squad for the upcoming Nations League games in June. In the games against top teams such as European champions Italy and the European Championship finalists England, Flick no longer tests newcomers, but largely relies on established players and prominent returnees such as Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Niklas Süle, Marco Reus, Jonas Hofmann or Karim Adeyemi and Lukas Klostermann .
"The squad that is there now is the measure of all things in terms of trunk," said the 57-year-old Flick on Thursday in a media round. Players such as Gladbach's Matthias Ginter and Florian Neuhaus, Freiburg's Christian Günter or last year's European Championship participant Robin Gosens are missing from the squad, which will initially meet on Monday for a training camp with family members in Marbella, Spain. "I understand anyone who is disappointed," said Flick. His nomination criteria? "We made it very clear to the players what we expect: that they have practice and rhythm, that they develop."
For goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, who is scheduled to take a break in the summer, Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann is the third keeper alongside captain Manuel Neuer and Frankfurt Europa League winner Kevin Trapp.
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