Germany beat Hungary 2:0. Now it’s time to win the group. Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann should also now have his contract secured.
Second game, second day of celebration – and a national coach whose contract is now likely to last until the 2026 World Cup. By advancing to the round of 16 of the European Championship at home, the German national team has achieved its minimum goal – and thus also strengthened Julian Nagelsmann’s position.
His contract, which still has two years to run, could have been terminated prematurely if he had been knocked out of the preliminary round. DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and sports director Rudi Völler had included this clause in the national coach’s agreement – in the event of a lack of success, as was the case with Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick, who were once tied to long-term contracts.
Niclas Füllkrug thinks this is a good development. Nagelsmann’s influence, he said after the 2-0 win against Hungary, “is already great, he has already made many important decisions, changed a few things and given us an idea that suits us and isn’t too complicated. You can see that we are in a good position.”
Nagelsmann is determined to finish the group stage of the European Championship at home in first place. However, the national coach’s calculation for this interim goal is not only to do with a possibly not so strong opponent in the round of 16.
“First and foremost, it has an effect internally and externally when you come first,” said Nagelsmann on Wednesday evening in Stuttgart after the 2-0 win over Hungary, which saw the DFB team reach the knockout round early. “First place is important. We want to win all our games.” On Sunday, the direct duel with Switzerland in Frankfurt will determine who wins the group.
If they finish first in Group A, they might not have to face “a huge opponent” in the round of 16, which will take place in Dortmund on June 29. Their opponents would then be the runners-up in Group C with top favorites England, Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia. Captain Ilkay Gündogan also declared first place as his goal. “We want to finish first. To do that, we need a win against Switzerland,” said the 33-year-old, who scored the 2:0 against Hungary. dpa, sid