Perennial footballing superpower Germany continues to frustrate after a 3-3 draw against Ukraine at Wohninvest WESERSTADION.
Late goals from Chelsea forward Kai Havertz and an equalizer via Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich from the penalty spot rescued a result for Die Mannschaft against fellow UEFA nation Ukraine during an end-of-season charity friendly.
Though some will look past the result as meaningless, the warning alarms that continue to ring around the country are as prevalent as ever, with head trainer Hansi Flick now reportedly once again under pressure.
Despite Germany being a four-time World Cup winner, the joint-most successful nation at the European Championship, and regularly viewed as one of the finest producers of top-level talent anywhere in the world, Nationalelf has been a shadow of itself in recent seasons during the final years of Joachim Löw’s tenure; a reality that has carried over into the reign of his former number two Hansi Flick.
On the back of inconsistent team selections and the inability to nail down core players or a tactical schematic that fits what is required, Germany was incredibly poor during the 2022 Nations League as they finish third behind Italy and Hungary (with just one win across six fixtures) before following it up with crashing out of the group stage at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for the second consecutive tournament.
As hosts of Euro 2024 and lacking a qualification campaign, Germany will now have to rely on a string of friendlies to iron out the chinks in their armor before aiming for their fourth tournament win. But as the same issues persist in the team, the former Bayern manager - who received full backing from the DFB despite the disaster in Qatar - has a ton of work to do if he is to prove their decision was the better part of prudence.
Upcoming fixtures this month against Poland in Warsaw, and Colombia in Gelsenkirchen could offer either questions or answers when it comes to whether or not Flick is truly the man for the job. And while there are some suggestions that the still-unemployed Julian Nagelsmann should take charge of the national team, it is unlikely that the young tactician would make the jump to international management so soon.
At current, it remains that Germany is a giant in the midst of a deep sleep, with little current evidence to suggest that they won’t continue to press the snooze button.
