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Following Germany’s 0-2 loss to France in the Nations League third-place play-off, Die Mannschaft head coach Julian Nagelsmann believes the win was undeserved.
Germany dominated the majority of the match, particularly in the first 45 minutes, as France struggled to get out of their half.
Making a few changes, including going to a back four, Germany were eager to press high up the pitch and stop France from getting the ball to their attacking players.
Florian Wirtz, Nick Woltemade, and Karim Adeyemi were the danger men for Germany, but ultimately, they couldn’t finish their chances.
Late in the first half, France countered before finishing via Kylian Mbappé. Germany pushed even more in the second half and believed they had an equaliser from substitute Denis Undav. However, VAR intervened and declared that Niclas Füllkrug fouled a France player in the build-up.
A defensive mistake late on was punished by Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise as German succumbed to defeat in Stuttgart.
Speaking after the game, Nagelsmann was keen to point out that the score didn’t reflect the game.
“Given the chances and the course of the game, France’s win was undeserved. We should have taken the lead based on our chances, but we have to put the ball over the line ourselves. Our attacking players like Karim Adeyemi and Nick Woltemade still need to mature at this level; unfortunately, our finishing quality wasn’t good today. It’s important that we create chances, but we also have to finish them.”
GGFN’s Jack Meenan provided the player ratings from this Nations League encounter.
Germany will begin their World Cup qualifying in September, where they will firstly travel to Slovakia before hosting Northern Ireland three days later.
GGFN | Jamie Allen
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