A gala evening for the German national team. Led by Jamal Musiala, they deal with an overwhelmed Bosnia-Herzegovina. National coach Nagelsmann celebrates a record and Kleindienst celebrates his goal debut.
With fun and greed to record goals and win the group: The national team thrilled their fans with another fantastic football festival in the last home game of the year and gave Julian Nagelsmann his biggest win to date as national coach. Jamal Musiala as the new header monster with a lightning strike after just 80 seconds, Tim Kleindienst (23rd minute) with his first international goal and Kai Havertz (37th) already scored in the 7-0 (3-0) win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first half for clear conditions.
Florian Wirtz (50th and 57th) with a brace, Leroy Sané (67th) and again Kleindienst (79th) made the biggest German victory in the Nations League in a euphoric football at the Europa Park Stadium in Freiburg, which was sold out with 28,143 spectators -Evening perfect. The last time Germany won higher was three years ago under Hansi Flick when they beat Liechtenstein 9-0.
Even before the trip to Budapest for the last preliminary round game against Hungary on Tuesday, the group victory in the UEFA competition that Nagelsmann had declared as a goal was confidently completed. The positive effect of first place: In the quarter-finals in March, captain Joshua Kimmich and Co. are spared knockout duels against European champions Spain or Portugal for Cristiano Ronaldo. Nagelsmann will find out next Friday who the last opponent will be on the way to the finals in June.
However, the national team doesn’t have to fear any opponents in this form anyway. The overwhelmed A-League relegated Bosnia-Herzegovina under coach Sergej Barbarez felt this mercilessly. After the lesson in fun football, Nagelsmann replaced a quartet around Musiala and Wirtz after just under 60 minutes. There was no break in the German game.
First fog, then celebration: goal after 80 seconds
The eleven players that the national coach sent onto the field knew exactly what they had to do from the first minute. “We are on the right track. We should keep going,” emphasized Nagelsmann immediately before the game. And they did.
He must have at least hoped that he would be able to celebrate the DFB team’s first goal after less than two minutes. The dense fog in Freiburg, which had massively limited visibility when we arrived, had almost disappeared and the German fans in the audience had a clear view of Musiala’s early and famous header.
The ball landed at Kimmich over several stops. The Bayern professional, who caught up with Berti Vogts with his 96th international match, crossed into the middle for his Munich club colleague. And he didn’t have to be asked: Musiala rose into the air and spectacularly headed the ball into the goal from eight or nine meters. Only 1:20 minutes were played.
Being satisfied with the early lead does not fit into the direction of the team under Nagelsmann. From Kleindienst to Havertz, Wirtz, who recovered from an infection in time, and the highly gifted fun footballer Musiala to the defense, the DFB team remained wide awake and hungry.
Bosnia-Herzegovina, who suffered their sixth defeat in their seventh game under Barbarez and only managed a draw, didn’t make things easy for the hosts, at least tactically. The guests retreated far into their own half. Stuttgart attacker Ermedin Demirovic, who replaced captain Edin Dzeko, who was surprisingly relegated to the bench, was unable to excel offensively.
Havertz’s first goal from the game since the beginning of June
But Gladbach’s small service. After the Bosnians tried to defend, the ball landed at Robert Andrich. Kleindienst gave his shot another change of direction with a small but subtle touch – right into the goal. After their rollercoaster ride at Europa-Park during the week, things only went downhill for the guests this time. The German team acted too decisively, too clearly, too confidently in their last home appearance, which was intended to further intensify the mood.
And that’s what it did: Havertz three times, Musiala once, despite the visitors’ defensive tactics, the German team continued to diligently create chances. The fact that goalkeeper Oliver Baumann easily held on to a shot from Nail Omerovic (34th) in one of the few opposing attacks at his old place of work and brilliantly parried against Holstein Kiel’s Armin Gigovic shortly before half-time was fitting for an extremely successful evening of German football.
Especially when Havertz also scored. For Havertz, after three penalty hits, it was the first goal from the game in the DFB jersey since June 7th in the 2-1 European Championship test against Greece. Wirtz didn’t want to miss out either and scored a few minutes after the break. Guest keeper Nikola Vasilj from FC St. Pauli didn’t look good when the free kick was taken – especially since he had recently conceded a similar goal from Musiala in the league.
Matthäus verdict: “German team plays dream football”
Wirtz then increased the score again with a shot before he and Musiala were replaced to applause and received by a visibly pleased Nagelsmann on the sidelines. “The German team is playing dream football today,” enthused record national player Lothar Matthäus before the next goals were scored. In his first international match since the European Championship exit, Sané was there just a few minutes after coming on for Musiala before Kleindienst scored again.
jm/dpa
