The Germany Men’s national team play their next World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia tomorrow (20:45 CEST). Just before they left for Skopje, national team head coach Hansi Flick and Serge Gnabry, who scored the equaliser against Romania, answered questions from the media at a press conference. DFB.de has summarised the key remarks from the pair.
Hansi Flick on...
... upcoming opponents North Macedonia: We’re facing a team that definitely knows how to play football. They’re unbeaten under their new head coach and of course they’ll be confident going into this game after what happened last time. We need to be ready for a loud and vibrant atmosphere at the ground. But we want to play our own game, impose our style, and win the match.
... Timo Werner: Of course I can’t change what’s going on at the minute, but what I can say is that he’s doing his job here very well. He makes good runs in behind, finds space and he knows where the goal is. He’s a vital part of our team.
... the midfield duo of Goretzka/Kimmich: I think everyone knows how well they get on with each other off the pitch. They are both excellent professionals and they both want to win every match. They proved that as well as their ability to play in the pivot against Romania. We should all be glad to have one of the best midfield duos in the world playing for us.
... the team’s mentality: It’s always been our aim from the very beginning to play for the fans. The team showed great desire against Romania to turn the game around and get the win. You could see the team’s togetherness and willingness to play for each other, and this mentality was acknowledged and appreciated by the fans.
Serge Gnabry on...
... the last match against North Macedonia: Of course the defeat in Duisburg still bugs us. Despite all that, it’s still another game which we want to win as we look to secure qualification for the World Cup.
... ambitions for a World Cup win: If you take a look at our squad, it’s clear we’ve got the quality to do that. The tradition that the German national team has a World Cup victory as its overarching aim has not changed. Of course, it’s a huge objective but it’s difficult to achieve anything if you don’t set goals.
... Germany’s attacking play: We’ve still got room for improvement. If we were already perfect, then we could just pack our bags and go home, but there’s always something to work on, although in the last game we did do a lot of good things.