Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - April 22, 2023 Borussia Dortmund president Hans-Joachim Watzke before the match REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany still have time to recover from their bad international run of the past few years and play a successful Euro 2024 on home soil next year but they must rediscover their traditional strengths, the country's Football Association Vice President Hans-Joachim Watzke said on Wednesday
The Germans, four-time world and three-time European champions, have been eliminated in the first round in their last two World Cups including in Qatar in December.
Coach Hansi Flick took over after Germany's Round 16 exit at the Euro in 2021 and despite a winning start his team has been disappointing in the past two years.
"We still have the chance to play a good Euro," said Watzke, who is also chairman of the German Football League and CEO of Borussia Dortmund.
"But we finally have to start presenting ourselves differently," he told Sport Bild magazine. "Everyone knows that the time for experiments are over."
Germany have won just one of their last five matches since their shock World Cup group stage exit in December. They have also won only three of their last 11.
With German fans booing and jeering in recent games, Flick is under mounting pressure and his future depends on their performances in their upcoming friendly internationals against Japan on Sept. 9 and against 2022 World Cup finalists France on Sept. 12.
"We also have to try and rely on our virtues, even if this sounds a bit flat," he said.
For decades Germany were renowned for their never-give-up attitude on the pitch and their physical defending. In the past 10 years Germany have become a more skilled and attack-minded in their game but despite winning the 2014 World Cup they have not made a mark internationally since.
Their defence has also been suffering and the Germans have conceded nine goals in their last four internationals alone, of which three were losses and one was a draw.
"We have to create the feeling within our opponents that 'damn when you play against Germany then you are not safe, not even in the 93rd minute,'" Watzke said.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Kim Coghill)
