dpa
Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann doesn’t want to complain about the long list of injured players ahead of the Nations League match
against Bosnia-Herzegovina on
Friday.
Instead, the coach wants to see the situation as "an opportunity for the regulars, the newcomers, and those who have played less recently,” he said in a news conference on Thursday.
Nagelsmann told the players who are called into action to "fully commit to the game in terms of character, throw everything into it and win in the end.” Benjamin Henrichs, David Raum, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Robin Koch were forced to withdrawn at short notice, while goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and striker Niclas Füllkrug weren’t even named to the squad this time.
"We don’t yet know how it will actually affect us,” Nagelsmann said of the long list of absent players.
Ter Stegen was named Germany’s number one after Manuel Neuer retired following this summer’s Euro 2024. But he suffered a serious knee injury with his Barcelona team and is only expected to return next summer.
Against Bosnia, VfB Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel will make his debut for the national team, while Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann will get his first-ever Germany game against the Netherlands on Monday.
"In sporting terms, it’s the highlight for now, a huge thing for me,” Nübel said.
Nagelsmann, however, is yet to decide who will start up front, replacing Füllkrug. He will choose between Mainz’s Jonathan Burkardt or Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Tim Kleindienst. For both it would be a first time playing for Germany.
"One of the two will start,” Nagelsmann said. Kleindienst said that the team had to "take the game into their own hands” and that he was "convinced that we have the quality to beat Bosnia in any case.” Nagelsmann with warm words for hosts after deadly floods Before turning his focus to football, Nagelsmann addressed warm words to hosts Bosnia. The nation was recently hit by devastating and deadly floods.
The mountain village of Jablanica, approximately 30 kilometres north of the city of Mostar, was the most severely affected. Heavy rain and storms caused significant rock debris to bury houses. The boulders are believed to have come from a quarry located above.
Nagelsmann said that Germany were trying to "provide Bosnia with an evening of football, that will bring a change and put a little smile on their faces.” Clear message to goalkeeper Leno Nagelsmann also sent a clear message to goalkeeper Bernd Leno, after he was not satisfied in joining the squad as the number three.
"Bernd has made this decision. It doesn’t close the door, but it hasn’t opened it any wider either,” the coach said.
After Ter Stegen’s injury, Nagelsmann want to name the 32-year-old Fulham goalkeeper to the squad as a third option, but that was not enough for him.
Leno told Nagelsmann that he would prefer to train in London without a commitment to the national team.
"It’s relatively simple. He made demands that I couldn’t meet for internal reasons, which I discussed with the coaching team and also with the goalkeeping coach. That’s why I gave him a very interesting perspective, which is not short-term, but medium-term. However, the player was not happy with this and decided not to come now,” the coach said.
"If he plays outstandingly and everyone else doesn’t, the door can open wider again,” Nagelsmann noted, but he added: "Bernd is no longer a 25-year-old, but he also has a certain maturity to evaluate things. And if that’s how he assesses them, he’s welcome to do that for himself.”