Berlin (dpa) – The star is missing and the list of injuries is long: Under difficult circumstances, new national coach Michau Wenarski starts with his team in the Nations League, but he has high hopes for the youth.
“We have a lot of young players who were not with the national team before and now we will get their chance, especially in matches in Canada,” Winarski told dpa before Germany’s opening match against hosts Canada on June 7. local time) in Ottawa.
Pole has been in office since April of this year. Preparations for the first major mission began in mid-May at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Kienbaum, just outside Berlin. “The players are hungry, they want to grow up. We could do a good job,” says the 38-year-old, had it not been for the injuries.
It’s a long list to be offered by the former world-class player: among others, quarterback Tobias Creek and country player Daniel Malisha are not currently fully flexible. Captain Lucas Kampa will miss the first four games in North America. Other players are not fit either.
Winarski: “Of course we want to win matches”
Twelve matches for each team are tentatively scheduled in the Nations League. The world’s top 16 men’s and women’s teams play against each other in three stadiums over six weeks. The best eight advance to the final round. Games in this Nations League are important to the global ranking. After Ottawa, the German men played in Quezon City (Philippines) and Osaka (Japan). The team is ranked 16th in the world, and plays most matches as an underdog.
Winiarski does not give a specific target position. “Of course we want to win matches, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on either of them. It’s a new situation for a lot of people.” The team is in turmoil and injuries made preparations difficult. The team is also learning a new system.
Development is the first priority. “It’s not that easy because we’ve only been together for three weeks. The first games will be great experiences. Because of the League of Nations, but also because we’ll use it to import. This way we can get better with every match,” says the Polish, who became world champion in 2014. As captain of his national team.
“George is no longer a young player either”
The 38-year-old has had to lay off the big names in recent years – and not just in the League of Nations. And star George Grozer will not participate in the World Cup finals in Poland and Slovenia at the end of August. We decided together that he would be sitting off the field this summer and recovering,” Winarski said. “We all know how good George is, but he’s not a young player anymore.”
Here, too, he focuses on the positive: “It’s also a good opportunity for Linus Webber to play all summer.” Grozer wants to be there again next year. The biggest goal is to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. It will be very difficult, but not impossible. I really believe we can do this with our common work. Christian Donnis, Director of Sports at DVV, also stated this goal when Winarski was appointed. In addition, they want to “return to the top 10 in the world rankings in the next few years”.
Winiarski doesn’t allow looking at his cards when it comes to his system, but makes clear what he also wants to see from his team: “The energy on the field is important to me and that the team fights together from start to finish.”
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