DFB-Elf: Late setback for the B team against Hungary

Practical test instead of scoring fun and a very late blow in the neck: Julian Nagelsmann turned the end of the year for the national soccer team into a big practice session for his B team. After nine starting eleven changes, it was only enough to draw 1-1 (0-0) against Hungary at the end of the Nations League. Felix Nmecha (76th minute) took the lead with his first international goal, but Dominik Szoboszlai converted a hand penalty caused by Robin Koch to equalize well into injury time (90th + 8th).

The national coach also gained a lot of insight after a tough game in Budapest. It was obvious in the Ferenc Puskas Stadium: Without the magical line of Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz, who came on as a collective substitute after 60 minutes, the big attacking whirlwind didn’t even come close to running like it did in the 7-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina last Saturday.

After the unadorned end to a successful year, Nagelsmann has another important date coming up on Friday. The quarter-final games for the UEFA competition will be drawn in Nyon. Group winners Germany can meet Italy, Croatia or Denmark in March. It was annoying in Budapest: Wirtz received his second yellow card in the competition and was missing from the quarter-final first leg.

Nagelsmann had announced the radical treatment for the starting eleven. In consultation with the clubs, the busy professionals around Musiala, Wirtz and Co. should be given a breather. In addition, on the wet and cold November evening, the national coach was able to take a close look at who was pushing themselves from the second row and showing the “greed” that he vehemently demands.

Only captain Joshua Kimmich, for whom his ankle injury on Saturday was no reason to take a break, and Robert Andrich remained in the starting line-up. Julian Brandt, Leroy Sané, Chris Führich and Serge Gnabry were supposed to prove themselves offensively, which Gnabry did best in the first few minutes. Nagelsmann’s game system remained the same, but it was clear that the team had never played together like this before.

After initial wobbles, which Hungary did not punish, the DFB selection gained control of the game. However, many small inaccuracies in the setup prevented the fans traveling with us from seeing any greater chances to score. The hosts also had the first good opportunities: Alexander Nübel, who played instead of Oliver Baumann, parried the shots from Union Berlin’s Andras Schäfer (24th) and Zsolt Nagy (39th) in his second international match.

The Hungarians had had eventful days. During Saturday’s game in Amsterdam against the Netherlands, assistant coach Adam Szalai collapsed on the bench, and after the medical emergency the German opponent lost 4-0. On Tuesday, Nagelsmann presented his counterpart Marco Rossi with a jersey with Szalai’s name and the signatures of the DFB professionals before kick-off.

The national coach watched the first half on the sidelines with little enthusiasm. The game became tougher and the number of bad passes from the DFB selection increased. In addition, Hungary played significantly better than Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday – despite the fact that the hosts, as third in the group, no longer had any pressure to score points.

In the second half, Nagelsmann brought Robin Gosens into the game for Kimmich, the full-back added his first shot, which Hungarian goalkeeper Denes Dibusz was able to hold on to (50′). That wasn’t an initial spark for the German team. On the bench, Nagelsmann was annoyed to note the yellow card for Nico Schlotterbeck (58th), who had to intervene on the next Hungarian attempt towards the goal.

A good minute and a half later, Brandt hit the goal, but the Dortmund player finished offside and the goal didn’t count (60′). Then Nagelsmann had seen enough: Musiala, Wirtz and Havertz came into the game for Chris Führich, Gnabry and Brandt, and the regular wizards were supposed to sort it out. Havertz hit the post straight away (63′).

On the other side, Nübel was called upon again after a mistake by Andrich: The Stuttgart player made a strong save against Barnabas Varga (67′). At the beginning of the final phase, the DFB selection showed what Nagelsmann demands: never let up. Dortmund’s Nmecha took the lead with a shot from a corner. However, Koch’s handball led to an equalizer for the hosts – Szoboszlai didn’t miss the opportunity.