That’s it. Hansi Flick is no longer national coach. The embarrassment of the national football team on Saturday against Japan was one too many.
Hansi Flick is no longer national coach. The German Football Association parted ways with the 58-year-old on Sunday, the federation drew the consequences after the 1:4 on Saturday in Wolfsburg against Japan. At the next international match against France on Tuesday (21.00/ARD), sports director Rudi Völler, Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner will coach the selection on an interim basis.
“The committees agreed that the senior men’s national team needed a new impetus after the recent disappointing results,” said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf. He described Flick’s sacking as “inevitable”. Nine months before the 2024 European Championship at home, the association must look for a new coach in one of the deepest sporting crises in its history. At the end of 2022, the DFB team failed to reach the preliminary round of the World Cup, also after losing to Japan.
Several candidates had recently been mentioned as possible successors, first and foremost former Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann (36), Austrian Oliver Glasner (49) and also Völler (63), who was installed after the World Cup exit, and Matthias Sammer (56). The supposed 1A solution Jürgen Klopp (56) is tied to Liverpool FC.
Flick had taken over the national team from Joachim Löw after the 2021 European Championship and had won the first eight games, albeit against second-rate opponents at best. In Qatar, the DFB team was deservedly knocked out after games against Japan (1-2), Spain (1-1) and Costa Rica (4-2), and Flick failed to turn the mood around in recent months.
The 1:4 in Wolfsburg was the third defeat in a row, the last time the national team had played so unsuccessfully was almost 40 years ago. Flick had changed his team a lot, contrary to his announcement that he wanted to find his “core team” for the home tournament. A new tactic with Joshua Kimmich as a central right-back went completely wrong. Flick conceded his highest defeat in his 25th international match.
He was still allowed to lead the public training session on Sunday morning. A few hours later it was over.
