Failure of the U21 representative increases the pressure on Germany
Germany to succeed at Euro 2024 has suddenly increased in recent months, following a string of poor results.
Germany’s youth team, champions of Europe in 2021, were eager to show a better side than the A team in the final games. But they lost 2-0 to England in Georgia on Wednesday to crash out of the group stage with just one point from three games. This early elimination has caused Germany to lose its place in the “Paris 2024” Olympic Games.
“Everyone, including the players, imagined our performance in this European Championship in a completely different way, which turned out to be a complete failure. We didn’t do well and it cost us early elimination”, admitted the coach of the U21 team of Germany, Antonio Di Salvo, on Thursday. “We must analyze what happened and work so that such a thing does not happen again in the future.”
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With German fans fearing they will hear the same words at Euro 2024, all eyes are on Germany coach Hans Flick. His squad looks nowhere near the level required for next year’s European Championship, where the Germans will be aiming for success and justification for a disappointing five-year run.
Germany drew 3-3 at home to Ukraine, lost 1-0 to Poland in Warsaw and 2-0 at home to Colombia in friendlies earlier this month, confirming their poor run of form since their group-stage exit. World Cup “Qatar 2022”.
When Flick took over as coach in September 2021, Germany were in free fall and in a crisis of results. It was eliminated from the group stage in the 2018 World Cup and was defeated by England in the 1/8 finals of “Euro 2020”. The start with Flick was good and promising, as Germany recorded an eight-game winning streak under him. However, recently the situation is not good at all. The Germans have just one win in their last five matches, since an early exit at the World Cup in Qatar. In total, they have only three wins in the last 11 games.
Germany are hosting next year’s European Championship, a tournament in which they have automatically qualified, but Flick’s preparations are not going according to plan. In September, Germany has arranged two friendly matches, which may decide Flick’s fate at the head of the national team. He will face Japan and the French representative, a match that he must win to restore the confidence of the fans.
“I believe we will come back strong in September with two wins, which we will achieve thanks to good performances against both Japan and France. What is important, I think, is the way we will appear in these matches because there is not much time until the European Championship”, admitted the director of the German representative, Rudi Voeller.
