Football Neuer impresses in goal
Germany misses victory in European Championship test against Ukraine
Status: 07:44 am | Reading time: 4 minutes
No goals for Germany – and a “concrete danger situation”
Germany missed out on a win in the international match against Ukraine. Despite numerous chances, there were no goals in the European Championship test. After the draw, the national team experienced a moment of shock in the Nuremberg stadium.
The German national football team could only manage a draw against Ukraine. Julian Nagelsmann’s team showed good approaches, but lacked the final determination. The national coach still has eleven days and one test before the European Championship kicks off.
That was not the fireworks display of the European Championship: Despite great dominance and a lot of offensive drive, the national football team was unable to continue to ignite the euphoria for the big home tournament. Against Ukraine on Monday in Nuremberg, the selection of national coach Julian Nagelsmann missed many excellent opportunities in the penultimate international test match and had to settle for a 0:0 eleven days before the opening match against Scotland. The national coach repeatedly grabbed his head in despair, stunned that the ball just wouldn’t go into the goal.
When goalkeeper Manuel Neuer returned to the pitch, the score was at least zero – not least because the Bayern goalkeeper made several courageous saves in front of 42,789 spectators in the sold-out Max-Morlock Stadium. To attack the fourth European Championship title, more effectiveness and determination are needed in attack. The DFB team was particularly unlucky when debutant Maximilian Beier hit the crossbar (61st minute).
Maximilian Beier impressed after his substitution
Source: AP/Matthias Schrader
The last chance to test the team will be on Friday in Mönchengladbach against Greece, and a few hours later Nagelsmann will have to report his final squad to UEFA. Nagelsmann will now have to continue working on the final touches for the European Championship in the training camp in Herzogenaurach.
The Chancellor hopes for EM atmosphere
Chancellor Olaf Scholz watched with interest from the stands in Nuremberg; the head of government had probably travelled to Nuremberg because of the political dimension. Shortly before kick-off, the Chancellor had wished for “a great football festival for the whole of Europe” with a view to the European Championship. The German fans’ choreography was reminiscent of a song from the 2006 World Cup summer fairytale: “With the heart in the hand and passion in the legs,” was written on a large banner.
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The line from back then (… “we will be world champions”) could certainly be easily rewritten during the European Championship. And the DFB selection was well on its way to getting the German fans in the mood at the start of the game. Even without the Champions League winners Toni Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger, who were set to be regulars, Germany dominated the game, but they were lacking decisive passes into the penalty area against the tightly packed Ukrainian defense.
Gündogan misses first big chance
The very offensive captain Ilkay Gündogan should have scored the first goal in the 15th minute, but he failed to get the ball into the net after a cross from Kroos’s replacement Pascal Groß. The German fans celebrated the chance extensively, but it remained a one-off opportunity for a while.
Nagelsmann coached energetically on the sidelines as usual. The national coach’s game plan with Bayern pro Jamal Musiala and Leverkusen champion Florian Wirtz as super creatives in midfield was clearly visible. But the two 21-year-olds had a tough time against two, three, sometimes four opponents. A deflected shot from Musiala went wide of the goal (42′).
Julian Nagelsmann made a lot of substitutions in the second half
Source: dpa/Christian Charisius
Nagelsmann seemed to have got the defensive vulnerability, which had led to years of fan discontent, under control during the March victories in France (2-0) and against the Netherlands (2-1). On Saturday evening, the Ukrainians, led by the fast Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk, repeatedly revealed weaknesses. The 23-year-old himself came close to the German penalty area early on in a counterattack (4th minute), and Roman Yaremchuk tested Neuer twice during his comeback at the end of the first half (38th minute and 45th minute +1).
Four Stuttgarters on the pitch
For the second period, Nagelsmann brought Stuttgart’s Deniz Undav and Chris Führich into the game for Wirtz and Gündogan – after Rüdiger’s substitute Waldemar Anton and Maximilian Mittelstädt, the VfB professionals number three and four on the pitch. For several minutes, the DFB selection then developed a kind of power play in the Ukrainian penalty area with chances from Kai Havertz with a header (53′) and Undav, whose shot was blocked (56′).
Nagelsmann made three substitutions after just over an hour. Beier celebrated his international debut and almost scored the lead with his first touch of the ball, but the Hoffenheim player only hit the crossbar. A few minutes later, the 21-year-old was stopped by Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatolij Trubin (63′). In the 70th minute, Bayern youngster Aleksandar Pavlovic made his DFB debut. At the beginning of the final phase, Führich tested goalkeeper Trubin (78′). Neuer caused a moment of shock with a careless pass to the lurking opponent, but it had no consequences (89′).
