BERLIN: Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Saturday pledged changes to his side for Sunday’s crunch World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland in Cologne after falling to a 2-0 defeat in Slovakia.
The Germans were thoroughly outclassed against Slovakia on Thursday, losing to the underdog side for the first time in their history.
The four-time World Cup winners had never previously lost a qualification match for the tournament.
A further disappointment against Northern Ireland would leave Nagelsmann’s men with little room for error in their bid to qualify directly for the World Cup.
Nagelsmann, 38, slammed his players’ attitude after the defeat on Thursday, saying they lacked emotion and were “miles away” from a good performance.
“We had five decent minutes. That’s not enough,” the coach said.
At full-time, captain Joshua Kimmich said “if we perform like we did today, we’ll definitely not qualify” for the World Cup.
On Saturday, Nagelsmann said: “There will certainly be some changes in terms of personnel. Not all 10 players will be rotated, but we have to put in a better performance than we did on Thursday.”
Germany have improved under Nagelsmann after a poor decade, with group stage exits at the Russia and Qatar World Cups bookending a last-16 Euros defeat to England in 2021.
Taking over in late 2023, Germany lost just one of 15 matches in 2024 — a quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual champions Spain at the European Championships.
This year, Germany have lost three and drawn one of their five games and risk an unthinkable failure to qualify for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The coach said he had no fears about his future despite copping criticism in the German press, saying “it’s never good to be afraid.”
“I’m still brave enough and I want to win every game and we’ll try and do our best tomorrow,” he said.
“The team is important, not me, and I think we’ll do a better job tomorrow than on Thursday.”
Germany were given a rare bit of good news on Saturday, with forward Serge Gnabry cleared to play after picking up an arm injury against Slovakia.
The Germans are dealing with an injury crisis, particularly up front, with Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Tim Kleindienst and Niclas Fuellkrug all missing through injury.
On Thursday, Germany called up Borussia Dortmund forward Maximilian Beier to replace the injured Fuellkrug.
Under-fire Nagelsmann promises ‘changes’ after Slovakia upset
https://arab.news/mmgse
Under-fire Nagelsmann promises ‘changes’ after Slovakia upset
- The Germans were thoroughly outclassed against Slovakia on Thursday
- Nagelsmann, 38, slammed his players’ attitude after the defeat on Thursday, saying they lacked emotion and were “miles away” from a good performance
Hegerberg double sees Lyon past Wolfsburg in Champions League
- Lyon made it three wins from three with a 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg, star Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg netting twice in the first half before Wendie Renard claimed a third from the penalty spot
PARIS: Lyon and Chelsea maintained their form in a bid for direct qualification for the quarter-finals of the women’s Champions League with dominant victories on Tuesday.
Lyon made it three wins from three with a 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg, star Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg netting twice in the first half before Wendie Renard claimed a third from the penalty spot.
Dutch forward Lineth Beerensteyn claimed a consolation goal for Wolfsburg.
It seemed to have been set up as a good night all round for French clubs.
But there was heartbreak eight minutes into injury time as Real Madrid, through Caroline Weir, claimed a 1-1 draw with Paris FC, who had opened the scoring with a 41st-minute Lorena Azzaro penalty.
Like Lyon, Chelsea remained unbeaten, albeit with one draw in their opening three matches, following a 6-0 thrashing of pointless St. Polten of Austria.
Wieke Kaptein opened the scoring in the 13th minute before a quick-fire Catarina Macario double, including a 53rd penalty.
Sam Kerr, on her first start for Blues since December 2023, then claimed her own brace of goals either side of an own goal by St. Polten defender Lisa Ebert to make it six in a one-sided contest away from home.
In the early game, Valerenga, through Stine Brekken, snatched a 1-0 win over Roma, also without a point after three losses from their opening three games.
