Julian Nagelsmann has urged his Germany players to channel their nervous energy into a victorious home tournament at Euro 2024, demanding they handle the expectation on their shoulders when they face Scotland in the opening match on Friday night.
There is a sense of renewed optimism around the host nation, who flopped in recent competitions but have revived since the turn of the year. Nagelsmann, who will manage at a major finals for the first time, senses nerves in his squad but believes they can be used to gather potentially decisive momentum.
“I think we’re a bit nervous but it’s an important point, we have to have a certain nervousness,” he said. “There was such a buzz [in the camp], a bit like in school. It was really loud: ‘Can everyone please calm down a bit!’.
“I look in our players’ eyes and see the belief and will to win. I want us to believe in ourselves: we have great players, good togetherness, home advantage, we’ve had great training sessions and a good mentality. We have everything: we just have to show it tomorrow, and that’s why belief is very important.”
Reflecting on his own journey from a rural part of Bavaria to the Germany hotseat, Nagelsmann spoke of his own sense of mild trepidation. “On the bus earlier I messaged a guy close to me,” he explained. “I said it’s quite crazy: I come from a tiny village with 700 people, he comes from somewhere with 1,200, both villages have more cows than inhabitants. I’m looking forward to it. I’m a little bit nervous but it’s nothing dramatic.”
Nagelsmann elaborated on the process behind persuading the 2014 World Cup winner Toni Kroos, who has been fundamental to their uptick since ending nearly three years’ international retirement in March, to help drive their tilt at glory. The 34-year-old midfielder will end his playing career after the tournament and has a chance to go out in a blaze of glory.
“He’s so important for us, very calm on the pitch and important for the whole squad,” he said. “In November we had our first phone call about this topic [of returning]. It took a bit of time as he wanted to know the future of the national team. He said in one of our calls that he’d only be part of the side if he thought we could win. I had to persuade him a bit, but in the end it was: ‘Let’s rock’.”
Germany tumbled out of the last two World Cups in the group stage and were knocked out of Euro 2020 by England in the last 16, but the coach does not sense his players are encumbered by ghosts of past failures. “I don’t want to talk about the past,” he said. “Where we want to go is more important. We want to be more successful than the other teams, we’ll try to do our best. We want to be one of the best in this cup, and I’m sure we want to win this cup as well.”
Scotland arrive in Munich as heavy outsiders but Nagelsmann praised the evolution of their game and suggested Steve Clarke’s side can, in comparison to his own, operate with the shackles off. “They don’t have world stars but that makes them very dangerous,” he said. “They work very hard and have a classic mentality but it’s not a kick and rush team. They can do that, but they can play football. I think ”
Nagelsmann reported a clean bill of health among his squad, which Emre Can has joined as a replacement for Aleksandar Pavlovic. The Bayern Munich youngster has tonsillitis and withdrew on Wednesday.
