Eat. After the bitter 1-2 draw against Spain and Germany’s elimination from the European Championship, coach Julian Nagelsmann, among others, spoke out. Ticker to read.
One day after Germany’s bitter elimination in the quarter-finals of the European Championship against Spain (1:2), the national coaches intervene Julian NagelsmannDFB President Bernd Neuendorf and DFB sports director Rudi Voller in front of journalists. You can read the press conference in the live ticker.
13:51: The press conference is over.
1:50 p.m.: Did the group hear anything new about handball? Nagelsmann: “Some people asked the referee. I don’t know if it was offside. It would be easier to publish it once. I have different information about why it wasn’t analyzed. That’s not very clear. I would like the referees to take a closer look at certain situations to make themselves less vulnerable. We won’t have a replay. So. Check it out.
1:47 pm: How does Nagelsmann think retrospectively about the starting XI against Spain? “It’s always easy to assess that in retrospect. We would have expected something a little different, but they put everything into it. It wasn’t because of Can and Sané that we were eliminated. In the end, we had to make decisions at half-time.”
1:45 pm: Will Gündogan stay? “I haven’t received any signals,” says Nagelsmann. “He has done very well. As captain, he was the last to leave the camp and waited until all the players had left. He is an intelligent guy, a quiet leader. He has a good feel for the group. I would be happy if he stayed. In the end, he will have to decide for himself. Right now I assume he will stay.”
1:45 pm: Völler praises characters like Füllkrug: “You have to be ready immediately. That was him coming off the bench. It’s great that he’s a guy, but the most important thing is his footballing qualifications.”
1:42 pm: Will Nagelsmann continue to appoint players based on the best collective rather than the best individual players? “I have never played at this level. That is why people like Sandro Wagner are important. He knows how the players feel in certain situations. I would like to mention Robin Koch, who did not play a single minute. He did not deserve it, but he behaved in an absolutely exemplary manner. That is what the group carries.” Nagelsmann once again emphasizes that the foundation of the squad has been established.
1:40 pm: Nagelsmann is expected to give a little insight into the evening after the elimination: “Some sat together for a long time and talked. I always come to the room early and want to sort everything out myself. I have a lot of content-related things in my head that are no longer relevant. Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller were no sadder than the other players. We still have to make a decision about what will happen next for them.”
Many players and staff were in tears. “It’s a great prize, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
1:36 pm: The European Championship is important for the DFB, says Neuendorf. “We also come from a not so easy time on the association side. There was a turnaround. That is also recorded and goes hand in hand with this tournament.” He particularly praises tournament director Philipp Lahm. “We still have a week to go. We are very, very satisfied with the progress so far.”
1:35 pm: He asks Nagelsmann to what extent the players have “erased” negative memories of previous tournaments: “The belief has grown. We came back after the Spanish won 1-0. That would have been hard to imagine a few months ago. All players have their human problems too. Nobody likes to be eliminated. Nobody voluntarily says ‘I’m going to Qatar now and I’ll be eliminated in the preliminary round’. Some of them are young people who are under the microscope in everything they do. You can see in this tournament that we are much more stable.”
1:33 pm: Another question for Nagelsmann. “The unpleasant thing about being national coach is that we now have to wait two years for the next big tournament. The job is very rewarding for me and cannot be compared to the club job. The European Championship at home was something special, a unique opportunity. It will probably not come back, which is why it hurts even more. We said many times how much we would have liked to play the last five minutes against Spain again. Many people who don’t watch club football were there now. I am very happy that it was extended and I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.”
13:29: Nagelsmann once again specifies his desire for cohesion in all areas of society. “We live in a time when individual posts are more important than spending an hour together. We come from a country with many different clubs. This communion of achieving things together is very important. We live in a big country and we have great opportunities if we stick together. I have never met a person who does something better alone than with someone working in the same direction. If everyone in a small group starts helping their neighbors when something is wrong, a lot will be gained. You can always see problems or talk about solutions.” Nagelsmann calls for seeing solutions instead of doom and gloom.
13:27: Ask Rudi Völler if euphoria is worth more than a semi-final. “The will and fighting spirit were visible. That’s the basis of everything. You can see how quickly you can win people over to your side – despite the unfortunate defeat. Of course the euphoria will subside a bit. We are all challenged. That’s the secret of a home tournament. On the one hand, arouse the euphoria, but on the other hand, don’t let the pressure get too great. We managed that well.”
13:24: What will Nagelsmann miss most after the end? “The people. Working together in a big group is always special and not easy. I will miss that. Of course the games too. I rarely get really nervous, but of course those emotional moments do something to you. We had brutal emotional clashes against Switzerland, Denmark and Spain. That will be missed.” Nagelsmann has never had a situation like this, where the group clicked together like this.
13:23: Nagelsmann did not see himself as a firefighter. “We will continue to approach the job in the same way as we have recently. We will not shake up the squad too much. We have a good base.”
13:21: How does Völler see the potential of German football in the next two years? “We wanted to get back to the top of the world. I believe we have achieved this, even if we are not yet where we want to be. Coming from behind against Spain would have been unimaginable a few months ago. We have a base of young and experienced players with whom we will succeed and we have an obligation to continue playing football like this. It doesn’t always work, but we want to keep doing it.”
13:19: Question about a possible successor to Kroos: “It is difficult to replace him individually at the moment. But there are some types of players who could fit in. Angelo Stiller, for example, has to prove his worth.”
13:16: Question for Nagelsmann: How difficult will it be to bring that emotional connection with you to the Nations League? “That’s our job,” says Nagelsmann. “It’s always exciting to play for your country. But it’s also clear that test matches are ranked differently than competitive matches. The Nations League is a tournament that you can win. So we have to approach it differently.”
Nagelsmann wants to keep the team together, the “base” must remain. “We saw a lot of good things in this tournament, but we also still have work to do. Toni Kroos, for example, is running away. We have to react to that. We want to use the Nations League to develop ourselves.”
13:13: Now it’s Nagelsmann’s turn. First he thanks the fans. “I’m fighting back tears. I’ve always said that we need the people of the country to stand together behind us. The last few tournaments haven’t been good. From the international games in March onwards, you could see that the fans understood that we wanted to make a difference. We had a vision and the belief that we could do well in our own country. We would have liked to have played another week and won the title.”
The team has managed to bring people together. This is important and Nagelsmann hopes that this will continue in other areas in the long term.
13:11: Now Rudi Völler says: “The team has achieved what was unthinkable just a few months ago: it has created euphoria in the country. As a veteran, I have experienced a lot, but the atmosphere when we took the bus to the stadium yesterday was unique. “People are behind us. That is a good sign. Now we have to do more in September. We want to stay at the World Cup in the USA until the end. We have to confirm our performance now. But I am totally optimistic about that.”
1:10 pm: Neuendorf: “We have not failed. We will continue on the path we have started and attack again.”
13:08: High praise for Nagelsmann: “He redefined the position of national coach with his behavior. “That was a special energy,” says Neuendorf.
13:04: Bernd Neuendorf speaks first on his birthday. “I feel blessed by this tournament. We can all be proud together. The fans felt comfortable. We had fan marches. All of this shows that people really enjoyed coming to us. We can also be proud of the team. We have re-established the connection between the national team and the fans. “It was an extraordinary success.” He found it remarkable that the national anthem was played repeatedly in the stadiums.
13:04: But now. The three protagonists step onto the podium.
13 hours: The podium is still empty. It’s about to start.
IN 2024: Hand or not? Nagelsmann does not feel cheated
There were problems on Friday night, mainly because of a possible handball by Spaniard Marc Cucurella. Nagelsmann did not feel cheated, despite referee Anthony Taylor’s failure to blow his whistle after the handball by Spaniard Marc Cucurella. But the national coach still called for a rule adjustment: if the ball had gone into the goal with the same clarity as after Jamal Musiala’s shot, there would have been a penalty – regardless of the angle of the arm.
Jamal Musiala (left) shoots into the hand of Spaniard Marc Cucurella (right).
© Ralf Ibing / firo Sportphoto | Ralf Ibing
Robots can now make coffee, so there should also be artificial intelligence that calculates the trajectory of the ball, argued Nagelsmann. The national coach did not see the decision as the main reason for the elimination. Manuel Neuer, on the other hand, made it clear that he would have liked the video assistant referee to intervene. And veteran Thomas Müller summed it up almost philosophically: “The hand is a very complicated dog,” he said.
After elimination from the European Championship: Nagelsmann aims for the World Cup title with Germany
Despite all the sadness, Nagelsmann quickly regained his desire for new goals. The 2026 World Cup is still two years away, but it is already on his mind. “The saddest thing is that a European Championship at home will probably never happen again in my career. That hurts. And the fact that I have to wait two years to become world champion also hurts,” said the national coach.
After this statement, Nagelsmann paused briefly – and then said with a smile in the direction of the journalists: “You liked that statement, your eyes are getting big. What can I say that we were eliminated in the preliminary round? Of course we want to be world champions, all the teams participating in the qualification want that.” with dpa