FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Euro 2024 - Quarter Final - Spain v Germany - Stuttgart Arena, Stuttgart, Germany - July 5, 2024 Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann speaks to the media before the match REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth/File Photo
(Reuters) - The German national team aim to block out pessimism and build positive momentum toward the 2026 World Cup, coach Julian Nagelsmann said ahead of Saturday's Nations League match against Hungary.
The Euro 2024 hosts had their dreams of a summer fairy tale dashed after a 2-1 quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Spain and saw Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan and Thomas Mueller retire from duty after the tournament.
Germany finished the tournament with one loss in five games, they won 2-0 against Hungary in the group stage and Nagelsmann said it was time to bring the positive energy from the Euros back.
"The first game after the Euros is important in terms of how we can keep the momentum going," the 37-year-old coach said.
"We deliberately didn't do anything new in training. We have very little time to train and want to consolidate the things we have done in the tournament. We want to see the enthusiasm of the Euros again."
After being ousted by Spain Germany fans were left with about two weeks of subdued passion. Nagelsmann, however, had said after the loss that his goal was to win the World Cup.
He reiterated that he will standby his goal despite the criticism he faced by the German media for putting pressure on the players.
"It's good that we are setting such high goals. I cannot understand some of the statements made by experts here, Nagelsmann added.
"When a coach says he wants to be world champion and is criticised for it, I think that's crazy. I would like to read the headlines if I had said I didn't want to be world champion."
Nagelsmann added that Germans could learn from Spain ahead of their Nations League run, who also won the Olympic Games after the Euros, "Spain first won the Nations League and then became European champions."
Asked about the new and somewhat unfamiliar faces in the starting eleven, with many of their mainstays absent, Nagelsmann said his side won't emulate their predecessors but bring their own talent.
"This group knows itself well, even if there's a few new players around. Pascal Gross will play (tomorrow), but he will not play the role of Kroos, but Pascal."
"Fulle (Niclas Fullkrug) will play (tomorrow) for Ilkay, with a slightly different formation. He doesn't have to play like him either. Everyone can do what they are good at."
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
