Germany is set to clash with old rivals England at Wembley this evening as both national sides have dropped the ball in the latest UEFA Nations League cycle.
Die Mannschaft bungled a chance to claim the top spot in Group A3 when they fell to a 1-0 defeat against shock group leaders Hungary at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena on Friday night thanks to a wonder goal from veteran center-forward Ádám Szalai, with Germany failing to come out of the blocks in front of home support in a bid to reach the Nations League finals to prepare to host Euro 2024.
As for England, Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions faired even worse than tonight’s antagonists after succumbing to European champions Italy at the San Siro in a result that confirmed England’s relegation to Nations League B as Harry Kane and company now head into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on the back of their worst form in years. One player that won’t be joining the England squad this winter is Germany’s Jamal Musiala.
Despite Stuttgart being the city of his birth, Musiala featured prominently at youth level for England after moving to the country and plying his trade in Chelsea’s academy setup. But after choosing to represent the country of his birth and embarking on a meteoric rise at Bayern Munich while now being touted as one of the brightest talents in world football, Hansi Flick has highlighted Musiala’s progress for club and country ahead of coming to grips with Southgate later tonight.
Hansi Flick on Musiala: “Hermann Gerland, my assistant coach at Bayern at the time, said: “We have a good player on the Campus” and I said: “Bring him over and we’ll take a look.” He then trained with us and you could see right away that he is a great talent.” pic.twitter.com/FABYR26S65
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) September 26, 2022
“The development he has made is great and he knows how to hold his own in tight spaces. He has a good feeling for the space and is very good at dribbling. He’s also developed defensively and wins the ball back a lot for us. I’m glad he’s playing for Germany.”
Musiala is now thought to be one of the key cogs in the wheel for Flick in the national team squad and has already featured sixteen times for his country despite still being just nineteen years of age.
Whether he will get one over on a few of his former youth international teammates tonight remains to be seen, but one does have to wonder if he ever would have been given the same opportunities under Southgate in the long run.
