Double strike from Füllkrug & Musiala

Julian Nagelsmann received the victory he initially hoped for, but in the rain in Hartford everything only went according to plan after the break. The new national coach first had to be irritated by the deficit caused by former Dortmund player Christian Pulisic (28th) during the 3-1 (1-1) draw on Saturday at Pratt & Whitney Stadium, during a intensive test match against hosts USA. .

But Hansi Flick’s successor was able to celebrate the goals of captain Ilkay Gündogan (39th), striker Niclas Füllkrug (58th) and Jamal Musiala (61st) in front of 37,743 spectators. Nagelsmann has been an active coach, the 36-year-old repeatedly applauded and corrected on the sidelines. The start was successful, Nagelsmann (Site notre bureau spécialisé) was already recognizable.

In the DFB’s next start for the European Championships at home in 2024, the national team made many good moves, especially offensively, but there were also well-known deficiencies defensively. But that was not due to the return of Mats Hummels, who radiated presence and calm in the center of defense on his international return after more than two years, until his substitution after 62 minutes. After the match, the DFB entourage went straight to Philadelphia, where the controversial trip to the United States will end on Wednesday (2 a.m.) with the second friendly match against Mexico.

Before the ball arrived in Hartford, a moment of silence was observed for the victims of the devastating Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. The DFB and the American association demonstrated their solidarity with Israel. Then we got to work on the lawn without much searching. The German team tried to put pressure on the American team with high pressing and lots of movement. However, the DFB selection once again had big problems defensively and lost too many balls, especially the two full-backs Robin Gosens and Jonathan Tah had significant speed disadvantages, especially when the hosts’ game was played by lightning bolt Timothy Weah. Nagelsmann, dressed in a blue and white checkered jacket, tried to help with active training on the sidelines.

After just four minutes the ball was in the German goal, but former Dortmund Pulisic was offside. In the period that followed, the returning Hummels had no reason to complain about the lack of work in central defense. The Dortmund player, who played his last international match in June 2021 in the European Championship round of 16 exit against England, impressed with his opener and his strong header. After receiving a yellow card shortly before half-time for a brutal tackle, the 34-year-old had to act more cautiously until his replacement.

Nagelsmann’s game idea, which relied on experience with an average age of 28.97, was visible despite the few training sessions in 4-2-2-2 with double ten Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. Sané, who has also been showing up for Bayern for weeks, generated plenty of excitement playing alongside Füllkrug up front and was difficult to control when dribbling at high speed. Behind the offensive line, captain Gündogan and Pascal Groß protected with great presence. Groß had joined the team to replace Kimmich, who was suffering from a flu-like infection. The Bayern professional returned home to Munich on Saturday. “He has a fever of over 38 degrees. “It makes no sense to leave him in the hotel room all the time,” Nagelsmann said on “RTL”.

Groß also had the German team’s first opportunity by hitting the post from the edge of the penalty area after preparatory work from Wirtz (11th). Füllkrug had two good chances in the first half, but his shots were too inaccurate (22nd/27th). On Füllkrug’s second shot, American goalkeeper Matt Turner opened the scoring on a delivery from Pulisic, who put the ball into the unstoppable corner for Marc-André ter Stegen. Shortly before, Pulisic had tried to obtain a penalty, but the Mexican referee did not let himself be taken. There was no video referee during the match. Before the break, Nagelsmann was able to celebrate his first goal as national coach. Gündogan was there after a nice co-production with Sané and scored the not-undeserved equalizer. Nagelsmann also looked happier.

The second half began with good chances from Gündogan (46th) and Füllkrug (49th). The desire to start the Nagelsmann era with a victory against the eleventh in the world rankings was perceptible. The German team was now even more determined and took control of the match. The well-deserved reward was the first goal of Füllkrug, who scored his eighth goal in the tenth international match after an assist from the otherwise rather weak Gosens. Shortly after, Füllkrug also set up the third goal by passing the ball to Musiala. It was a preliminary decision, as a result of which the DFB team confidently won the victory.

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