National coach Hansi Flick wants to defy the World Cup mortgage with the German national team. 114 days after being eliminated from the preliminary round, the 58-year-old is back on the sidelines in an international match. The first touchstone for the DFB selection on the way to the home EM 2024 is Peru. The national coach made one thing unmistakably clear. A win is needed on Saturday (8:45 p.m./ZDF) in Mainz. This is the only way to achieve the necessary mood swing quickly.
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Flick has appointed six newcomers. In order to be able to see the youngsters play and certainly also to set stimulus points, he left proven players such as Thomas Müller, Ilkay Gündogan and Leroy Sané at home. Joshua Kimmich is the captain in his 75th international match. Marc-André ter Stegen stands in for the injured Manuel Neuer in goal. In the front line, Flick had already committed to a dual leadership consisting of Niclas Füllkrug and Timo Werner. Behind them, Florian Wirtz and Emre Can, among others, have a chance of probation. Marius Wolf makes his debut for the first team at right-back – he is the only debutant who can start against the South Americans.
The DFB line-up against Peru: Ter Stegen – Wolf, Ginter, Schlotterbeck, Raum – Can, Kimmich – Wirtz, Havertz – Füllkrug, Werner
DFB team: Flick promises “huge commitment” against Peru
During the week, Flick had already praised the six international newcomers in his squad for their good training performance. The national coach and also captain Kimmich declared a win over the Peruvians to be the “most important goal” when restarting after the World Cup. Flick promised the spectators in the sold-out stadium a German team with “huge commitment”.
