The Hungarian footballers present the German national team with the task that national coach Hansi Flick expected. Nevertheless, the DFB-Elf does not find a solution. Two months before the World Cup, the Nations League game shows what the problem is, especially offensively.
The last home game of the German national soccer team before the World Cup. Yes, at the end of September and not at the beginning of June as usual. The Winter World Cup in Qatar overshadows the two Nations League appearances against Hungary this Friday evening in Leipzig and on Monday in London against England. Especially in this competition, whose sporting value even for the interested public just about exceeds the threshold of insignificance. Or did you know that the final tournament in October 2021 was played in Milan and Turin with the selections from Italy, Spain, Belgium and France? Even.
Instead, the German Football Association is trying to credibly formulate its cautious criticism of the situation in Qatar, for example with a new captain's armband before the kick-off against Hungary. It shows the colors of the rainbow and is supposed to stand for the elusive slogan "One Love" - the reaction to it was more surprised than appreciative, even if a total of ten European associations unite in it. ZDF presenter Jochen Breyer wanted to know from DFB President Bernd Neuendorf why the internationally recognized and, above all, clearly interpreted rainbow flag was not used.
"Because this sign goes beyond that," Neuendorf replied, before he enumerated in a clichéd manner why the stripes in orange, black, green, pink, yellow and blue were the better choice. These stand "overall for what the DFB stands for" - but it probably doesn't do much if hardly anyone knows this color combination. To his credit, Neuendorf has only been in office for six months and at least said that the association, which far too often remains silent on human rights issues, would "consider whether further action is possible." Though it probably says most that these vague words already represent an improvement.
Stephan Uersfeld reports from Leipzig: The hawkers brought cans of beer and Germany scarves to those arriving on the streets. The "Fan Club National Team" had pulled up its bus on the fairground in front of the stadium. Employees distributed Germany flags to people in Germany jackets and in the Leipzig Arena final preparations were made for a choreo in honor of Uwe Seeler, who died in the summer, well before kick-off.
The Hungarians, on the other hand, were a little surprised. They sang and drank around town to warm themselves up and suddenly saw the "Fridays For Future" demo pass them by. They continued to drink beer and were still confronted with one or the other rainbow flag in the stadium. After all, the rainbow flags covered the famous bulls of the group that brought professional football back to Leipzig.
Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, had also allowed himself to travel to Leipzig. Over the past decade, his government has invested more than two billion euros in state money in the development of Hungarian football. The culture was forgotten. The infamous "Carpathians Brigade" was just a black bloc that night.
He clapped when the life of Uwe Seeler passed by again on the stadium screens. Seeler hit the back of the head, he laughed like an old man and shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II. Both are no longer alive. In the stadium, Seeler was commemorated with a minute's silence. At the end the stadium shouted "Uwe, Uwe, Uwe" and then the game started. After 12 minutes the stadium shouted "Let's go Germany, score a goal", Antonio Rüdiger headed a cross away. At the end of the first half, when the Hungarians were 1-0, some choreo snippets flew onto the field. The Hungarians felt disturbed by a corner, the game was briefly interrupted. The stadium announcer left it at a warning, the Hungarian fans whooped with joy. It wasn't about her.
Germany: ter Stegen/Barcelona (30 years/29 international matches) - Hofmann/Gladbach (30/15), Süle/Dortmund (27/41), Rüdiger/Real Madrid (29/54), Raum/Leipzig (24/10) - Kimmich/FC Bayern (27/69), Gündoğan/Manchester City (31/61) from 69. Musiala/FC Bayern (19/16) - Gnabry/FC Bayern (27/35) from 46. Kehrer/West Ham ( 26/21), Müller/FC Bayern (33/117) from 86 Lukas Nmecha/Wolfsburg (23/7), Sané/FC Bayern (26/46) - Werner/Leipzig (26/54) from 69 Havertz/ Chelsea (23/29). - Coach: FlickHungary: Gulacsi/Leipzig (32 years/50 internationals) - Lang/Nicosia (29/52), Orban/Leipzig (29/34), Attila Szalai/Fenerbahçe (24/28) - Fiola/Fehervar (32/ 49), Nagy/Pisa (27/64) from 78. Styles/Millwall (22/7), Schäfer/Union Berlin (23/21), Kerkez/Alkmaar (18/1) - Gazdag/Philadelphia (26/16) from 67. Kleinheisler/Osijek (28/43), Szoboszlai/Leipzig (21/25) from 86. Nego/Fehervar (31/25) - Adam Szalai/Basel (34/85) from 67. Adam/Ulsan (27/ 7). - Coach: RossiReferee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia) Goal: 0: 1 Adam Szalai (17th) Spectators: 39,513 (sold out in Leipzig) Yellow cards: Kimmich, Rüdiger - Adam Szalai
Before kick-off: A minute's silence for "Us Uwe", for the unmistakable Uwe Seeler, the honorary captain of the German national team who died on July 21st. The silence quickly turned to applause to honor the life's work of the 85-year-old, whose down-to-earth attitude is almost completely lacking in modern football.
17 minutes, GOOOOOR FOR HUNGARY: The league leaders take the lead with a dream goal. A Dominik Szoboszlai corner is found at the near post by Adam Szalai, who knows how to do great things with this pass. With the right heel, the captain of Hungary is in front of Thomas Müller, the German captain, on the ball - and caresses it beautifully in the far corner. Marc-André ter Stegen is powerless.
25 minutes: The 0: 2 is closer than the 1: 1. The German defense fell asleep with a free kick near the center line, Attila Fiola crossed in the penalty area and suddenly Ter Stegen had to save against Daniel Gazdag in dire need in the six-yard box. It was probably offside before, but the lack of attention doesn't make it any better. The DFB-Elf is still without a degree.
39 minutes: The German team's first serious attempt to score a goal themselves. Thomas Müller climbs up into the Leipzig evening sky from a short distance, heads a cross from David Raum powerfully, but unplaced. Peter Gulacsi has little trouble.
Halftime: Lots of ball possession, no yield, instead whistles accompany the DFB-Elf into the catacombs. It was frighteningly unimaginative offensively and inattentive enough defensively to have deservedly fallen behind.
51 minutes: Antonio Rüdiger captures the ball deep in his own half, and at the end of various passes, İlkay Gündoğan lobs it into Leroy Sané's run from the left. The striker first moves towards the baseline and then shoots – but Gulacsi saves the attempt from a tight angle.
53 minutes: Gündoğan chips through the defense into Jonas Hofmann's off-center run, who hasn't played much more offensively since the break. His run is offbeat because immediately afterwards the assistant's flag shoots up. The goal doesn't count, but at least the DFB-Elf looks a little more dangerous now.
57 minutes: Again through the middle, quick passes, this time with Timo Werner as receiver. He also comes to an end, but unplaced and without pressure. Gulacsi will have fended off better attempts by his Leipzig teammates and has no trouble with them.
60 minutes: The next attempt to equalize, this time from a distance by Joshua Kimmich. The shot just missed the left post, the wobbling side netting triggered a moment of confusion because the ball seemed to have landed in the goal.
72 minutes: Ter Stegen can't do much when conceding a goal, but now he fulfills his task with a Hungarian counterattack and prevents the 0:2. The attack rolls towards the German goal from the left, Martin Adam gets into the penalty area, but ter Stegen fends off his shot effortlessly.
86 minutes: Kleinheisler runs over substitute Thilo Kehrer, and luckily there is Marc-André ter Stegen in the German goal. Its presence apparently unsettles Kleinheisler, at least the opportunity to make a decision fizzles out.
87 minutes: Kimmich tries again from the back, this time in a central position, but his shot goes wide of the target again.
90 5 minutes: That's it. Hungary wins in Leipzig and, to be honest, not undeservedly.
You can find the detailed match report here.
Little, at least on the German side. Sure, there are still almost eight weeks until the World Cup, but an encourager looks different. After three 1-1 draws at the start of the Nations League and the exhilarating 5-2 win against Italy, Hansi Flick has to make up for a defeat for the first time in his 14th international match as national coach. Marc-André ter Stegen proves with good reflexes that Germany has a luxury problem in the goalkeeper position, things are currently looking much worse in many other positions.
Hungary, on the other hand, is playing just as coach Marco Rossi might have imagined. The Italian in red-white-green services "managed to put up a team that hardly leaves the opponent any room," Flick said in the run-up to the game - and yet his team seemed overwhelmed to get through against this well-organized defense Find. Conversely, it was a strong display from Hungary, crowned by an outstanding goal from Adam Szalai.
The German offensive. There are no impulses from the outside, symbolic of this is a dribble by Serge Gnabry early in the first half. Played free on the right wing, he fails to accept the ball, which is apparently not that complicated, and ends the attack prematurely. Thomas Müller then says on the ZDF microphone that many professionals in the DFB team are going through a difficult phase in their clubs. Above all, of course, the Munich axis - Kimmich, Müller, Gnabry, Sané - who, even in the new home jersey of the German selection, cannot shake off the form crisis at the record champions.
The first half in particular is a revelation in the worst possible sense. Because the German need in front of the opposing goal is revealed above all in the fact that there is simply no such type of guy who can be described as a final and target player. One of the Miroslav Klose type, maybe a Mario Gomez. Timo Werner is trying hard, but he hardly ever seems really involved in the attacking efforts. Kai Havertz, who came on for him, also does not fall into this category. Lukas Nmecha lacks the class for the starting eleven - and perhaps this gaping gap best describes the fact that the discussion about filling this position, which is indispensable in international football, has now extended to Niclas Füllkrug from Bundesliga promoted Werder Bremen.
"We have very good goalkeepers, central defenders, midfielders," Flick said this week, as well as "a large selection of outside players. But the middle? We don't have that high quality there." A conclusion that has been confirmed once again with this weak performance. Especially since this type of striker, who simply scores one of those much-cited "goals out of nowhere" on such an evening.
Hansi Flick: "The defeat doesn't knock us down. We now know what it's about, that opened our eyes. We played a very bad first half, didn't have much courage, didn't occupy the spaces as we planned weren't active. The second half was good, but we never created any chances. We're more annoyed now than at the World Cup."
Again national coach Hansi Flick: "The defeat doesn't knock us down, we know what it's about" and "that opened our eyes." His team played a "very bad first half" and "without self-confidence". Due to the defeat, Germany can no longer win the Nations League group. "We tried everything in the second half, unfortunately it didn't work out," said Flick two months before the first game at the World Cup in Qatar against Japan. "It's just that games like this happen from time to time - better now than in November. The team has been woken up and I think that'll do them good."
Thomas Müller: "The first half was really disappointing. We made a lot of mistakes. You noticed that the phase in the club is not the easiest for many people. We didn't get the power onto the pitch. There was a lot going on in the second half better, but the 1-0 is now in the books, so we have to put up with criticism. But we have to stand above it and continue to follow the coach's concept."
Joshua Kimmich: "Especially in the first half we didn't happen at all and we missed everything. We were far too slow in the passing game and made far too many mistakes. Winning the group in the Nations League was the clear goal, even if you did it in didn't notice in the first half."
Jonas Hofmann: "The first half just sucked. We slept through a lot. We were dominant in the second but didn't create a few hundred percent chances. That must be a lesson for us. That wasn't enough for the most part. It's annoying, that It hurts, but the defeat doesn't knock us out, we're going on our way."
