In the midst of a sporting crisis, Germany trembles before challenging the French team in a friendly in Dortmund this Tuesday evening. Beaten 1-4 by Japan on Saturday, the Mannschaft is perhaps going through the worst period in its history, nine months before Euro 2024 organized on its soil. So when it comes time to find the Blues of Kylian Mbappé, finalists of the last World Cup and perfect in qualifying (5 victories), the German group plays it modest towards its historic rival. Interviewed this Tuesday by the newspaper l’Équipe, Ilkay Gündogan sang the praises of Didier Deschamps’ group.
“You are blessed with all these talents! The reservoir seems limitless. A retirement, an injured person? New ones arrive and are immediately at the level”, assures the new captain of Germany who points out “two or three world class players at every position” among the Blues. “Your team is always the one to beat. It’s really impressive to see the evolution of talents and their density.”
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Aware of the current superiority of the vice-world champions, the Barça midfielder tried to explain the setbacks of his selection. “With Hansi, a new generation has been launched. It was a transition and you definitely have to struggle. But it is since 2014 that we have not been able to reach the level to which we aspire,” he assumes. “It wasn’t easy to take over the team because we don’t have the confidence of the golden years. It takes time, but we must also have results. The more accustomed you are to winning, the more frustrated you are when you lose. When you’re not up to par, it’s immediately considered a failure, even if that’s not always true. We have experienced few positive things, we are at a difficult stage in our history, but we must create euphoria for Euro 2024.” Euphoria will perhaps be reborn from success against France, which hopes to push further a little more his neighbor in the crisis.