Hans Flick, coach of the German national team, said that the players pledged to beat the Spanish national team tomorrow, Sunday, in a difficult task in order to preserve their chances in the “Qatar 2022” World Cup.
The team, which had previously won the title 4 times before, had lost the opening match in this year’s edition (1-2) against Japan and might be eliminated from the group stage for the second edition in a row if it lost to Spain and Japan did not lose against Costa Rica in a match that will take place before his match.
Flick said in a press conference, today, Saturday: “Tomorrow, we will see a team that knows very well that it is at stake and will do its best to advance to the round of 16 in the last match in the group stage. We need to present a convincing performance, especially against Spain.”
He added, “I am convinced of the way we work and the way we play. We are convinced that the team has the necessary capabilities to implement.”
The German national team has not been able to beat the 2010 World Cup champion Spain in a major tournament since 1988, and it lost to it with a big score (0-6) in the 2020 European Nations League.
The Spanish national team began with a landslide victory over its Costa Rican counterpart (7-0), while Flick confirmed that he knew very well that coach Luis Enrique’s team had great potential.
The German national team performed poorly against its Japanese counterpart, and its defense was slow, which allowed its opponents to end things in their favour.
Fingers were pointed at some people after the match, but that was followed by a session of clearing the air between Flick and the list of 26 players.
Flick said, “We set the record straight. It is important that we know what was bad in our way of playing, and at the end of the day it is about preparing the team for a difficult match.”
It is expected that Flick will make changes to his team, but he said that the last training today, Saturday, will decide after it whether winger Leroy Sane will participate or not in the Spain match, after he missed the match against Japan due to a knee problem.
On the other hand, the German national team is expected to receive a fine because it did not send any player to join coach Flick in the mandatory press conference today, Saturday, to talk about facing Spain.
And the German Football Association stated, earlier, that it would not attend any player, and therefore they expect to receive a fine from the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA).
The DFB had hoped to hold press conferences before the matches at the media center at the team’s residence in northern Qatar, but these press conferences are held at the International Media Center in Doha.
It seems that the German Federation does not want the player to go through a two-hour trip before the decisive match, which the German team cannot lose, especially after the loss (1-2) against Japan in the first round.
