seven months before Euro 2024 on home soil, Germany sinks in Austria

2023-11-22 01:01:08

By Le Figaro with AFP

Published yesterday at 10:50 p.m., Updated 2 hours ago

Mats Hummels and his teammates in the dark. LEONHARD FOEGER / REUTERS

Second defeat in a row for the Germans, beaten in Austria this Tuesday after a setback against Turkey.

Less than seven months before “its” Euro 2024, Germany ended a catastrophic 2023 on Tuesday evening with a setback in Vienna against Austria (2-0), a sixth defeat in eleven matches for an ever more worrying Mannschaft . With only three victories against Peru (2-0), France (2-1) and the United States (3-1), the Germans experienced their worst calendar year since 1964 in 2023, with only 1.00 point per match, worse than the 1.15 points in 2018. The last two losses, Saturday in Berlin against Turkey (3-2) and Tuesday in Vienna, are cause for alarm across the Rhine, against teams that Germany could well return next summer for Euro 2024 (June 14-July 14), with an opening match scheduled in Munich.

Certainly, coach Julian Nagelsmann was deprived of his Bayern midfielder Jamal Musiala for this international window, but these two meetings showed the difference between a German selection in doubt and opponents who had a remarkable qualifying phase and were confident.

Before the start of the match, Nagelsmann admitted to German public television ZDF that his team had a “pressure for results» as much as a «pressure in the way“. For the Germans on Tuesday evening, there was neither the result nor the manner. With countless ball losses against intelligent Austrian pressing, and a first shot on target only after the first half hour of play, Ilkay Gündogan’s teammates suffered during the first 45 minutes of the match.

And if Kevin Trapp won his duel with Freiburg center forward Michael Grigoritsch in the 17th minute, the Frankfurt goalkeeper was unable to do anything about Marcel Sabitzer’s strike in the 29th minute. The midfielder transferred this summer from Bayern Munich to Borussia Dortmund took advantage of the passivity of Jonathan Tah, behind Sabitzer.

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Sané’s bad mood gesture

Of the eleven matches in 2023, Germany only finished one without conceding a goal, against Peru in March. The ten consecutive matches in which they conceded at least one goal illustrate the Mannschaft’s recurring defensive problems for several months, even years.

German frustration erupted upon returning from the locker room with a bad gesture from Leroy Sané on Austrian left-back Philipp Mwene after a duel. The in-form Bayern striker logically received a direct red card, the first of his career in more than 400 matches, at the age of 27. Already in difficulty eleven against eleven, the second period with a numerical inferiority was an ordeal for Nagelsmann’s men. Ideally served by Grigoritsch’s pivotal pass, Christoph Baumgartner doubled the lead in the 73rd minute for Austria.

The change of coach (Hansi Flick was dismissed on September 10 and was replaced by Nagelsmann on September 22) bore little fruit during the October window (victory against the United States and 2-2 draw). 2 against Mexico) and the questions quickly resurfaced.