“We are losing the captain and backbone of our team with Basti,” said Joachim Löw. “He was an important player on and off the pitch as well as for me personally. His departure will leave a hole in the side. However we have more established and experienced players. I expect and I know that they will take on more responsibility.”
Löw: “We want to say goodbye to Basti”
The German national team has played Finland 22 times in the past. Their only loss against Finland was on 12th August 1923 when the Germans lost 1-2 in Dresden. Recently Germany and Finland faced each other in a 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Both games ended in a draw. In Helsinki the teams drew 3-3 and Podolski scored the equaliser for Germany in the 90th minute in Hamburg to end the match 1-1.
“We want to say goodbye to Basti and thank him with our fans for everything he has done for the national team. He has abundant merits for the DFB, German football and our team. The match against Finland should get us in the mood for the World Cup qualifier against Norway.
World Cup qualifier against Norway
Germany begins their journey of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with the match against Norway. Germany are in Group C with Norway, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and San Marino. The winner of the group will qualify immediately for the World Cup and the runner-up will have to participate in a play-off match to qualify for the tournament.
Germany’s record against Norway is similar to that against Finland. The two countries have faced each other 20 times, winning 13, five draws and two losses. Norway won the most recent match between the two countries on the 11th February 2009 where Christian Grindheim scored the winning goal for the visitors in Düsseldorf.
Löw on the match against Norway: “It's not a guaranteed win"
“It won’t be easy to win the match in Norway,” said Löw. The football season in Germany has only just started and the players are yet to find their rhythm. The Norwegians will stretch us to our limit; they will stay tight and will obviously want to prove a point against the World Champions. We will take Norway very seriously as we want to start our journey of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup with a win.”
After the match against Norway, the German national team don’t have another scheduled fixture until October. Germany has World Cup qualifiers against Czech Republic and Northern Ireland on 8th and 11th October. Then qualification resumes on the 11th November against San Marino. The national team will end the year with a fixture in Italy.
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Up next for Germany are the Confederations Cup 2017 and World Cup Championship 2018, both in Russia. National coach Joachim Löw opens the door to the national team and wants to bring more young players into the highest level. He has revealed his squad for the international friendly against Finland on the 31st August and the World Cup qualifier against Norway on the 4th September.
Löw has nominated a 24-man squad including Max Meyer, Julian Brandt and Niklas Süle who all played in the final of the Olympics last week where they won the silver medal. For Niklas Süle, it is his first call up to the national team.
Löw spoke about his decision to include these three players in the squad. “Max Meyer and Julian Brandt have played for the national team before and we would like to get to know Niklas Süle better. These three players have earned their call ups with their excellent performances. I think they consider the call up as a motivation and an incentive to carry on delivering good performances. We hope that players like this continue to develop as they have a lot of potential. The door to the national team is open. I’m sure that over the next few months more players will get a chance.”
Four players from the Euro squad missing
European Championship 2016 squad players Jérome Boateng, Mario Gomez, Antonio Rüdiger and Leroy Sané have not received a call-up. Marco Reus and Ilkay Gündogan also don’t feature as they are still recovering from injuries sustained at the Euros. Despite this, eleven players who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany remain in the national squad. Löw spoke on his squad selection, he said, “Our goal is to build a team who will be able to win the World Cup in Russia. We have a lot of experienced players in our squad who provide the framework and take on responsibility. But at the same time we want to give younger players the chance to prove themselves.”
The international friendly against Finland will be the last time Bastian Schweinsteiger plays for the national team. The captain announced his retirement from international football a few days after the European Championships. He will earn his 121st cap in the match against Finland. Originally it was also meant to be the last match for Lukas Podolski aswell however due to injury he can’t feature and will make another match his swansong.
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“We are losing the captain and backbone of our team with Basti,” said Joachim Löw. “He was an important player on and off the pitch as well as for me personally. His departure will leave a hole in the side. However we have more established and experienced players. I expect and I know that they will take on more responsibility.”
Löw: “We want to say goodbye to Basti”
The German national team has played Finland 22 times in the past. Their only loss against Finland was on 12th August 1923 when the Germans lost 1-2 in Dresden. Recently Germany and Finland faced each other in a 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Both games ended in a draw. In Helsinki the teams drew 3-3 and Podolski scored the equaliser for Germany in the 90th minute in Hamburg to end the match 1-1.
“We want to say goodbye to Basti and thank him with our fans for everything he has done for the national team. He has abundant merits for the DFB, German football and our team. The match against Finland should get us in the mood for the World Cup qualifier against Norway.
World Cup qualifier against Norway
Germany begins their journey of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with the match against Norway. Germany are in Group C with Norway, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and San Marino. The winner of the group will qualify immediately for the World Cup and the runner-up will have to participate in a play-off match to qualify for the tournament.
Germany’s record against Norway is similar to that against Finland. The two countries have faced each other 20 times, winning 13, five draws and two losses. Norway won the most recent match between the two countries on the 11th February 2009 where Christian Grindheim scored the winning goal for the visitors in Düsseldorf.
Löw on the match against Norway: “It's not a guaranteed win"
“It won’t be easy to win the match in Norway,” said Löw. The football season in Germany has only just started and the players are yet to find their rhythm. The Norwegians will stretch us to our limit; they will stay tight and will obviously want to prove a point against the World Champions. We will take Norway very seriously as we want to start our journey of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup with a win.”
After the match against Norway, the German national team don’t have another scheduled fixture until October. Germany has World Cup qualifiers against Czech Republic and Northern Ireland on 8th and 11th October. Then qualification resumes on the 11th November against San Marino. The national team will end the year with a fixture in Italy.
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