DFB team – with Kleindienst and Gnabry in a special stadium
Stadiums like the one in Zenica are made for embarrassments: small, rustic and loud. Germany is fighting for points there today in the Nations League - most likely with Tim Kleindienst and Serge Gnabry (from 8.45 p.m. live in the radio report and in the ticker on the Sportschau)
DFB team: NK Celik Zenica plays here on a daily basis, but on Friday, fine technicians such as Florian Wirtz, Serge Gnabry and Deniz Undav are expected to bring Julian Nagelsmann’s team three points in Bosnia-Herzegovina. “I expect it to be emotional in the stadium, and that the home fans will cheer Bosnia-Herzegovina on extremely and push them forward ,” said Nagelsmann.
Kimmich finds the flood of cancellations “crazy”
The national coach has had to improvise a lot, because there has been a hail of cancellations: goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen will be out for months due to a torn patellar tendon in his knee, and Niclas Füllkrug will also be absent for a longer period of time due to chronic Achilles tendon problems.
But then came the self-exclusion of Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Robin Koch, David Raum and Benjamin Henrichs – in a similar dribs and drab manner to the DFB squad announcement before the European Championships at home. “Crazy ,” said captain Joshua Kimmich.
comeback of Gnabry
But all of this does not necessarily have to be a disadvantage. Nagelsmann, who in his own words wanted “as little change as possible” , has the chance to get to know new faces and possible alternatives for the World Cup in two years. Jamie Leweling, Tim Kleindienst and Jonathan Burkardt are taking part for the first time, while Kevin Schade and Serge Gnabry are returning.
Gnabry, who has played for 45 times in his national team, is celebrating his international comeback after almost a year with many injuries and missing the European Championship at home. The numerous absences are also an opportunity for “a returnee like Serge, who can collect a lot of minutes again and can also live up to the role of responsibility that he wants to take on ,” said Nagelsmann. Ganbry last played in November 2023 in the 2-0 defeat in Austria. With 22 goals, he is the most successful scorer in the current DFB squad.
castling in the goal
Alexander Nübel will be given a chance in goal in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and three days later against the Netherlands it will be Oliver Baumann’s turn.
Judging by his form in the Bundesliga, Burkardt should actually be allowed to play in attack, as he has recently scored some really impressive goals for Mainz or headed goals with his back to the goal in Uwe Seeler style. But everything looks like a debut for Tim Kleindienst.
“Most beautiful phone call of my life”
Kleindienst recently suffered in Mönchengladbach from the extremely poor delivery services from the wings and from the central midfield, but he still scored the 1:2 with his only goal chance in Augsburg. He told Sportschau afterwards: “The call from the national coach was the best phone call I’ve ever had. But it still feels unreal, especially at this point in time I would never have expected it.”
Before Augsburg, he had failed to score three times, while Burkardt comes with the wind in his sails having scored four goals in two games. Funnily enough, he managed one of these braces against Bosnia’s goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj, who earns his money at FC St. Pauli and is one of several professionals with experience of playing in Germany in Sergej Barbarez’s squad.
Kleindienst or Burkardt in the starting eleven
The likely line-up in front of goalkeeper Nübel is a back four with captain Joshua Kimmich on the right, Antonio Rüdiger and Jonathan Tah in central defence, and Maximilian Mittelstädt on the left. Pascal Groß and Robert Andrich are likely to play at number six as usual. Returning player Gnabry is needed on the right wing.
Florian Wirtz could play on the left, with Undav in the middle as a hanging striker. That would mean Tim Kleindienst’s debut in the center of the attack. “Tim will probably start up front ,” said Nagelsmann in a joint interview with ARD and ZDF, but referred to a final meeting with his coaching team.
The 1.93 meter tall Kleindienst is to be the target player in attack. “We will try to present him with the balls so that he can immediately put his stamp on the game because he is also very good in the air ,” said Nagelsmann.
“We have to be honest. We know that we are clearly the underdog ,” said the striker. Winning the game, said Demirovic, would be “very, very difficult. Not to say it’s impossible.”
quarter-finals in their own hands
Something tangible would be extremely important for the Bosnians, as they only played a 0-0 draw against Hungary in their opening match. Germany has so far beaten Hungary 5-0 and drawn 2-2 with the Netherlands in Amsterdam. This means that with two wins in the October games, the DFB team has its place in the newly introduced quarter-finals in March in its own hands.
It is slowly becoming time to make peace with this UEFA competition, which from the DFB’s point of view has so far been rather unpopular: so far, the team has embarrassed itself with unpleasant regularity, and Germany has only been able to watch the final tournament of the best four nations in the summer on television.
The expected lineups:
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Vasilj/FC St. Pauli (28 years/11 international matches) – Barisic/FC Basel (23/6), Katic/FC Zurich (28/5), Bicakcic/Eintracht Braunschweig (34/38), Kolasinac/Atalanta Bergamo (31/58) – Burnic/Karlsruher SC (26/4) – Gazibegovic/Sturm Graz (24/19), Gigovic/Holstein Kiel (22/6) – Huseinbasic/1. FC Köln (23/4), Dzeko/Fenerbahce (38/136), Demirovic/VfB Stuttgart (26/28)
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