After the quarter-final defeat at the home European Championship, Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Müller could not hide their emotions.
So close to the final in Berlin, the dream of the next European Championship title after 1996 has been shattered. For national coach Julian Nagelsmann (36) and his team, the European Championship ended in the quarter-finals after a dramatic extra time with a 1:2 defeat against title favorite Spain.
Nagelsmann fights back tears in the “Sportschau” as he looks back: “A time is over that was special, in which the boys gave a lot and which we lost undeservedly today.” The national coach thinks: “We reacted well in the second half, corrected a few things because we weren’t all at 100 percent in the first half. Spain had two decent chances in the second half, but we had five or six. We were also much closer to scoring the seventh goal in extra time.”
The last home tournament for Nagelsmann
In the end, the German national team was not “necessarily much better, but a bit clearer in the final third when it comes to finishing situations,” judges the former professional footballer. The team “invested” a lot and Nagelsmann did not have to intervene once in the last six weeks because the team was “drifting off track or unmotivated.” “It hurts because it will now take two years before we can do better. And a home tournament will probably not come again in my career.”
The national team coach positively assesses the “great symbiosis with the people in the country, with the fans”: “We’ll take that with us.” He and his coaching team now have the task of thinking about the squad for the UEFA Nations League. The opening match will take place on September 5, 2024.
Thomas Müller collapses
Thomas Müller (34) also shed tears after the European Championship exit. What will become of the Bayern professional, whose contract with FC Bayern ends in June 2025? His emotional outburst suggests that the 1:2 defeat could be his last DFB game in the national team.
Source: Stern
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