Flick’s resignation was not a surprise. Under the leadership of the former Bayern Munich coach, the Bundesteam suffered several setbacks. It all started with a failure at the 2022 World Cup, when Germany could not even get out of the group, and ended in fiasco in Saturday’s friendly match at home against Japan (1-4).
– It is a pity. I can’t find another word. We are all still in shock. A 1:4 home defeat is a disaster. It was very embarrassing, just incredible,” admitted German football legend, DFB sporting director Rudi Völler, who will coach the national team in the next friendly match against France on September 12.
Flick became head of the Bundesteam in 2021 after Euro 2020, replacing Joachim Löw, who had worked in this position for 15 years. In the last five games under Flick, Germany suffered five defeats and one draw with a goal difference of 6:13. The main candidate for the vacant position is former Leipzig and Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann.
As you know, Germany, as the host, is exempt from participating in the qualifying round for Euro 2024. Other teams have to fight to reach the final phase of the tournament.
We have passed half of the qualifications and can therefore summarize the provisional results. Thus, the finalists of the 2016 tournament, France and Portugal, are very close to entering the European Championship early. Both teams have five wins and confidently lead their groups with 15 points.
The French beat Ireland at home (2-0) in the fifth qualifying round. In this match, the tricolor’s main star, Kylian Mbappé, failed to score, but Aurélien Tchouameni and Marcus Thuram did score.
If everything is obvious with the first place in group B, then who will qualify for the Euro with France is a big question. There are three contenders: Holland, Greece and Ireland. The second place here is shared by the “oranges” with the Greeks (six points each), while the “greens” have so far added three points.
Unlike the French, Portugal, despite five victories at the start of qualifying, still cannot feel calm. Roberto Martínez’s team is only five points ahead of Slovakia and Luxembourg. Tomorrow the Portuguese will face a complicated trip against the Luxembourgers, even without their main star Cristiano Ronaldo, disqualified for too many cards.
The Germans lost in four of the last five meetings with a goal difference of 6:13.
– Ronaldo’s absence is a big blow for us, because we are talking about our captain. But there are guys in the team who can replace him,” said Portuguese coach Roberto Martínez.
The situation is extremely confusing in group D, where four teams are still fighting for both tickets to the Euro Cup. The leader here is Turkey with ten points, which almost suffered defeat in the home match against Armenia. The match between the main rivals ended in a 1:1 draw, and the guests were in the lead until the last minutes, but could not preserve the victory. In the sixth round, the Armenians scored the same seven points as the Croatians. Wales have four points, while Latvia has lost every game so far.
Meanwhile
The composition of the Russian football team has become known, which will play a friendly match in Doha against Qatar.
As planned, the coaching staff of the national team, headed by Valery Karpin, called up the strongest players for the next match. For the first time in two years, Monaco midfielder Alexander Golovin can take the field in the national team jersey; Spartak captain Georgy Dzhikia and one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers, Matvey Safonov, from Krasnodar, are also included in the request.
The full composition of the Russians is as follows: goalkeepers: Mikhail Kerzhakov (Zenit), Ilya Lantratov (Lokomotiv), Ilya Pomazun (Ural), Matvey Safonov (Krasnodar). Defenders: Sergei Volkov (Krasnodar), Georgy Dzhikia, Ruslan Litvinov, Daniil Khlusevich (all Spartak), Artem Makarchuk (Sochi), Dmitry Skopintsev (Dynamo), Alexander Soldatenkov (Soviet Wings) Midfielders: Dmitry Barinov, Maxim Glushenkov, Artem Karpukas, Anton Miranchuk (all – Lokomotiv), Danil Glebov (Rostov), Alexander Golovin (Monaco), Anton Zinkovsky (Spartak), Maxim Mukhin, Ivan Oblyakov (both CSKA), Daniil Fomin (Dynamo), Alexander Yushin (Ural).Forwards: Nikolai Komlichenko (Rostov), Alexander Sobolev (Spartak), Fedor Chalov (CSKA, Moscow).
Let’s add that tomorrow the Qatar – Russia match will be played. The meeting starts at 18.15 Moscow time.
