Washington (dpa) – After an American World Cup crash course with the controversial FIFA tribute to Donald Trump and lots of glitter, Julian Nagelsmann now knows what to expect next summer. But the national coach didn’t want to spend too much time with politics and all the other nonsense after the favorable World Cup draw in Curaçao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Washington.
«The draw was a great entertainment show. I think it will be the same next summer,” said Nagelsmann. Just America. At the Los Gala, Trump also received the world association’s peace prize, which was awarded for the first time.
Nagelsmann quickly switched to sporting duties for the German national soccer team. «It’s a group that challenges us immediately. “It’s not a group that we’re going to get through super easily,” he warned.
Do one “step” after the other. This is the route. «It is important for us that we take the first step before the second. “We didn’t organize the last World Championships in such a way that we could always plan firmly,” said the national coach.
The national coach also didn’t want to give too much space to the discussion that quickly broke out about a round of 16 clash against top favorites France that was now possible thanks to the draw. Their coach Didier Deschamps “doesn’t clap his hands eight times when he plays against us,” said Nagelsmann.
With his unshakable optimism, the national coach is a perfect fit for America. “I promise that we will be in a very good mood and in very good shape in the summer and we will be a good competitor,” promised the 38-year-old.
He told an international reporter, who may not have been aware of the German excitement surrounding Nagelsmann’s bold title announcements, about the tournament’s goal: “I’ve already said that I think every team that plays in the World Cup somehow also has the urge and desire to win the World Cup.”
DFB boss: Everyone is ambitious
Winning is what America is all about. The DFB delegation was happy to be infected by this natural enthusiasm. “The national coach is ambitious, the captain of the German national team is ambitious and, to be honest, so is the president,” said DFB boss Bernd Neuendorf.
So a brilliant World Cup prospect? In any case, the draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts didn’t end Nagelsmann’s business trip to Washington. On the contrary: the World Cup work is now really starting.
Venues and kick-off times
The next show act staged by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino with football legends like Ronaldo and Francesco Totti was on Saturday. Christo Stoitschkow was also announced to announce the exact World Cup venues and kick-off times at the Capitol Hilton Hotel not far from the White House, who unceremoniously knocked Germany and Bulgaria out of the tournament with a 2-1 defeat in the quarter-finals at the 1994 World Cup in the USA.
Nagelsmann’s next steps are: book the World Cup quarters. Find test opponents. And above all: prepare the team around DFB captain Joshua Kimmich for a tournament in which they can no longer afford the doubts and lack of concentration they have recently shown.
Nagelsmann is spared the feared extremely difficult tournament logistics in Group E, at least for the first phase. The Midwest and the East Coast will become the German World Cup orbit. This also makes some things easier in terms of the climate.
The desired accommodation that the DFB can now book, reportedly in the American heartland, remains an option. “Short routes to the training ground”, a “certain exclusivity”, “simply the necessary peace and quiet” is how Nagelsmann described the advantages of the base camp, which will at best be announced quickly.
Ivory Coast falls flat for March
The draw required additional work to select the test opponents for March. The Ivory Coast, scheduled for March 30th in Stuttgart, is no longer a World Cup opponent. There are already replacement options, said Nagelsmann and Neuendorf. Murat Yakin, the Swiss coach, revealed somewhat cryptically on the Sky microphone that there could be a duel between the Swiss and the DFB team on March 27th. That would be the start of the World Cup year.
