Euro 2020 news - Germany Euro 2020 Team Preview - What does Joachim Low have up his sleeve for the last hurrah?
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Updated 07/06/2021 at 11:48 GMT
This will be Joachim Low's last tournament in charge of the German national team before Hansi Flick takes over. What sort of tricks does the World Cup-winning coach have up his sleeve? In order to find out everything we need to know about the Germans we asked our colleague from Eurosport Germany, Katharina Wiedenmann.
Joachim Löw Germany Trainings Camp EURO
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It's always a bit of a weird situation when you are playing for one manager but know that he is leaving soon.
That is the situation the German national team finds itself in with it already having been confirmed that Joachim Low will leave at the end of the tournament and be replaced by his former assistant Hansi Flick.
In order to get the lowdown on Low and his squad we asked our colleague from Eurosport Germany, Katharina Wiedenmann to fill us in.
How is the squad looking?
Honestly not a lot of surprises. The nomination of Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels was pretty much expected as well as not including Jérôme Boateng.
Kevin Volland (Monaco) being a part of the squad was a bit surprising because his last international appearance was back in 2016. Marc-André ter Stegen is missing which probably wouldn't have mattered during EURO because Manuel Neuer is the first goalkeeper.
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Kevin Volland - AS Monaco
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Manager
Joachim Low approaches his last tournament as national coach. Since 2006 he has been in charge as Bundestrainer.
He is the German national coach with most matches (192) and most wins (121). Over 100 players had their debut under Low.
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Joachim Löw
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He always installed young talents and is known to be a great communicator. He won the World Cup in 2014 and the Confed Cup in 2017. So the EURO is the only title that is missing.
Star Player
It is rather difficult to name one player. You could even say "The star is the team". It has been like that for pretty much the whole Low era.
But there are some leaders in the team, of course. Joshua Kimmich for instance: He is not only the commander in chief at Bayern. He also played a central part at DFB when Müller, Hummels and Boateng were axed in 2019. He pushes his team and is the more defensive counterpart to Toni Kroos and Leon Goretzka.
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Joshua Kimmich - FC Bayern München
Image credit: Getty Images
Young Star
Two names come to my mind: Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala. The latter had a great first season at Bayern (39 matches). He has a wonderful technique, a real artist on the ball. Still he only recently had his debut for Germany which could result in him being mostly a joker for Löw.
Havertz as well hasn't played a vital part at DFB so far. He is still only 21 years old, but despite his age rather experienced (almost 150 first league matches for Chelsea and Leverkusen). After scoring the decisive goal in the Champions League final he should be on a high and therefore could be very important for Löw.
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Kai Havertz celebrating his goal in the UEFA Champions League final 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
Surprise Player
Robin Gosens and Kevin Volland, two players that are still below the radar. Volland had a really good season in Monaco. He could be a wildcard for Low in tight matches.
Gosens has had great success with Atalanta which put him into the spotlight in Germany. Because he can play as a left-back (a position not so well staffed) he might have a chance to play regularly at the EURO.
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Robin Gosens / Atalanta Bergamo
Image credit: Getty Images
Expected tactics
Löw mostly plays an offensive 4-3-3 or 3-4-2-1. The attack is packed with great players: Gnabry, Sané, Musiala, Werner, Havertz, Müller, you name it.
The players up front will be rotating. In midfield we have Kroos, Kimmich, Goretzka organising the game. In the back the return of Hummels might stabilise the lately shaky defense. And don't forget Manuel Neuer, arguably the best goal keeper in the world.
Prediction
The group stage is really tough with World champions France and European champions Portugal in it. So if they are able to survive this "group of death", anything can happen.
They got kicked out after the group stage at the last World Cup, so they might want to redeem themselves. Players such as Müller and Hummels bring a lot of tournament experience back into the team. Also, it is the big farewell for Low. Players and the whole staff will be doing everything they can to get him the title.
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