Saturday 05 / October / 2024
The manager of Germany's national football squad Julian Nagelsmann on Saturday paid tribute to his team's performance at Euro 2024 after their 2-1 extra-time elimination by Spain in the quarter-finals.
Germany came from a goal down in Stuttgart on Friday evening to send the match into extra time when Florian Wirtz scored an 89th-minute equalizer.
The German side then had a penalty claim denied before conceding a Mikel Merino goal in the 119th minute.
Nagelsmann noted that the German team's "belief in ourselves has returned," a reference to almost a decade of failures at major tournaments. During a tearful news conference, the manager said the team's performances had also bridged gaps with often-skeptical fans.
“I said we’d need the people of the country behind us, because we know we simply weren’t good at the last tournaments, that we as a team, as a federation, didn’t give much back to the people of the country from a sporting perspective,” an emotional Nagelsmann told reporters at the squad's base camp in the Bavarian village of Herzogenaurach.
“And from the last matches, I think the fans realized that we want to achieve something and change things," he said. "The faith has grown, (the fans) believe in us again," he said, adding: "When we see the videos of fans, it's emotional. We would have liked to have given the supporters even more."
Nagelsmann promised that the team would "try to reinforce things" following their exit, but that a "completely new start" was unnecessary ahead of the UEFA Nations League in September. The German team also left their base camp at Herzogenaurach on Saturday.
German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann covers his tears during a news conference, a day after the squad was eliminated from Euro 2024, in Herzzogenaurach, Bavaria on July 6th, 2024.
Sporting director Rudi Völler and German FA president Bernd Neuendorf saluted Nagelsmann and his team.
Völler called the performances "remarkable," adding that Germany was returning to the elite in world football.
"It was our wish to play our way to the top of the world, and I think we've succeeded," he said, adding that the team "is not quite where we want to be because we would have then advanced another round or two."
Völler added that the pool of "good and young players" will continue in this way in the Nations League and next year's qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Neuendorf, meanwhile, said the national squad had "suffered a defeat but didn't fail."
"We can all be proud of what happened on and off the pitch," he added, saying the team won back the hearts of the fans in outstanding fashion.
Neuendorf said that Nagelsmann had "redefined the coaching role" with his "unbelievable energy and spirit."
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann comforts midfielder Tony Kroos following the team's exit from Euro 2024, in Stuttgart, Germany, on July 5th 2024
