Munich (AFP)
Hansi Flick, coach of the German national football team, confirmed that he still believes that he is the right man to lead Die Mannschaft, despite the humiliating defeat against its guest Japan 1-4 in Wolfsburg in an international friendly match nine months before hosting the 2024 European Cup finals.
Flick said in a statement to the German channel RTL after the match that he believes he is the right man for this position, “even if it is difficult to see.”
He added, “I cannot predict what will happen, for my part, with the technical staff. I think we are trying everything to prepare this team. I find that we are doing it well, and I believe that I am the right coach.”
Flick, who took over as coach of the national team in the summer of 2021, succeeding Joachim Loew, who spent 15 years at the helm of the national team and led it to the 2014 World Cup title, added: “Above all, we are very disappointed. We do not currently have the necessary means to overcome a very cohesive defense line.”
He added, “We received a painful blow. We have to stand up and try to show a different face on the field against France,” referring to the international friendly match scheduled between them on Tuesday in Dortmund.
This is Germany’s fourth loss in its last five matches, and its coach, Flick, is more threatened than ever with dismissal, after this negative series and exclusion from the first round of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
For his part, the team captain, Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Ilkay Gudogan, said when asked if he still trusts his coach, “Yes, at some point, it is not only about the coach, but also about the team.”
The Catalan club’s goalkeeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, shared his opinion by saying that he trusts Flick, believing that it is a bit easy to blame the coach for everything.
The team’s sporting director, Rudi Föller, said that the German Federation avoids making any rash decisions regarding Flick’s future, adding, “I suggest that we pull ourselves together. We are all in a bit of shock, a painful defeat, and we must all do some soul searching and think about the matter. What happens next, we’ll see.”
On the other hand, former star Lothar Matthaus, captain of the 1990 world champions, considered that it had now become difficult to keep Flick as coach of the national team.
He added, “I know what happened in recent months in the German Federation. Many no longer support Hansi Flick, Rudi Voller, the “sporting director,” yes, but can we still keep him now? I doubt it”.
The German national team is experiencing a deep crisis after its exit from the first round of the World Cup in Qatar, and the results of the friendly matches in which many players were tested in March and June were not good, as it achieved one victory, which was over humble Peru 1-0, and tied with Ukraine 3-3 and lost to Belgium 2-3, Poland 0-1, Colombia 0-2.
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