As head coach of Germany, Julian Nagelsmann is enjoying a lucky streak. Although he has progressed to the quarterfinals of Euro 2024, he will eventually need more than luck to carry the host country much farther in the tournament.
It took a fierce thunderstorm—play was halted for 22 minutes in the first half due to lightning and nonstop rain in Dortmund—as well as two VAR rulings in Germany’s advantage to upset Denmark in a round-of-16 match that Nagelsmann’s team eventually won 2-0 on the strength of a Kai Havertz penalty and a solo goal from Jamal Musiala. If the Danes had been as fortunate as Nagelsmann and won one or both of the VAR rulings, Germany may have been kicked out of their own party and the fallout would have started sooner rather than later.
After the game, Nagelsmann said, “We had so many adversities to overcome, and we were favorites, which makes it difficult.” “I’m glad they accomplished it. The gamers are recalling how amazing they are and throwing away their outdated memory stick.
“We acknowledged to the team that we weren’t always operating at our best. We need to wait for our happy times and exercise greater patience.”
The former manager of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, Nagelsmann, has committed to leading Germany as head coach till the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup. By then, he may have decided on his finest squad.
He shocked everyone by benching Florian Wirtz in favor of Leroy Sané for this match, and he also rejected pleas to give Germany’s goal-scoring super-sub, Niclas Füllkrug, his first-ever tournament start.
When questioned about Wirtz’s benching, Nagelsmann responded to German broadcasters before to the game, saying, “Against Switzerland, we didn’t sprint and offer enough depth.” “A player who exemplifies both is Leroy. Though he prefers to have the ball at his feet more and create things with two touches, [Wirtz] he consistently makes strong runs.
“Due to his quickness, Leroy provides a great deal of depth. He can provide what we were lacking in our opposition to Switzerland. We have to make a wise choice since we are choosing between two elite players.”
Conversely, Füllkrug was never going to start since Nagelsmann usually goes with Havertz. The Arsenal striker had squandered several opportunities before scoring from the penalty spot in this match as well.
Sané? Although he gave Nagelsmann the tempo he desired, he often went in circles and did not make the most of his inherent abilities. “It was his first game for a long time, but he got better in the second half,” Nagelsmann said.
Havertz’s goal in the end will help Nagelsmann defend his choice, but he now has some important choices to make before Friday’s quarterfinal matchup in Stuttgart against either Georgia or Spain.
With the exception of the greatest shock at a Euros since Iceland beat England in 2016, Spain is expected to defeat Georgia before taking on the Germans, which will put Nagelsmann and his team to the test. Germany is capable of winning both that match and the whole competition, but Nagelsmann will need to find a way to get his squad going, and it is hard to see him doing so without Wirtz in the starting lineup.
Denmark had spells of midfield supremacy, and Christian Eriksen had the time and room to exploit weaknesses in Germany’s defense. The Manchester United midfielder might have really hurt his side if he was surrounded by better players.
If Spain plays Germany, they will take advantage of the fact that they have more choices than Denmark has. However, the Danes may have won this match if not for the storm’s interruption and VAR’s intervention.
After a goalmouth scramble on minute 48, Joachim Andersen believed he had given Denmark the lead, but VAR disallowed the goal due to a marginal offside. The Danish midfield player Thomas Delaney was called offside because he let the tip of his toe err by a few millimeters.
Technically accurate, sure, but there was no benefit in this instance, and without VAR, the goal would never have been contested, much less called out. Denmark regretted the choice, but Germany seized the opportunity, and two minutes later they were grateful for VAR once again when Stuart Attwell and David Coote pushed referee Michael Oliver to assess Andersen’s handball after a cross from David Raum.
Once again, Denmark derived no benefit from the purported violation. The ball was scratched by Andersen’s fingernail, but the Snickometer—which was designed to detect handballs—registered the hit. Oliver concurred with his colleagues in the VAR room that Andersen’s arm was in an abnormal posture and pointed to the penalty spot. Take a look at it and you’ll wonder where he was supposed to have it.
“Throughout the game we worked our way into it and then suddenly it is my little toe offside and then the handball,” said Delaney. “It goes fast in modern football with VAR.”
After Havertz, who had until mostly been content to waste golden opportunities, converted the penalty, Germany never looked back. After Musiala scored a second goal on 68 minutes to make the score secure, the hosts played routinely for the next 20 minutes before going all out to create a false image of the game.
Teams and coaches may have fortunate streaks. Germany gained from the significant judgments that went their way, while Denmark was out of luck. As a result, the discussion over Nagelsmann’s choice and his inability to decide on his best squad can wait for another time.
But there’s no denying that discussion will eventually take place.
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When Germany plays Denmark, they will finally run out of luck.
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