Kevin Trapp still hopes to participate in the European Championship despite DFB exclusion

Tuesday, April 16, 3 p.m.: Kevin Trapp has not ruled out his participation in the European Football Championship despite his recent rejection by national coach Julian Nagelsmann. “Of course it wasn't good news. But that didn't make me fall into a hole. “I'm trying to deal with it professionally and recover the situation,” said the goalkeeper. Bundesliga teams Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday.

Trapp beat them 2-3 late last year. Türkiye and 0-2 in Austria, since the representative of the then injured goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was between the posts in the international matches in March. in France (2:0) and against them Netherlands (2:1) but it was not taken into account.

“I found out a few days before the nomination,” Trapp reported, confirming: “I can handle it.” The European Championship at home from June 14 to July 14 remains his goal. “I still have the possibility of being recommended for the national team based on my performance,” said the 33-year-old.

Bobic missing DFB-Once is currently a “world-class forward”

Saturday April 13, 8:08 am: Fredi Bobic is missing a top-level attacker in the German soccer team. “We don't have a world-class striker,” the 1996 European champion told Editorial Network Germany (Saturday). Bobic, 52, doesn't necessarily see this as a problem for national coach Julian Nagelsmann. “Kai Havertz plays the position very differently, but it works very well with young stars Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala behind him,” said the former Bundesliga striker.

As an alternative to Havertz from FC Arsenal, Bayern's Champions League rival, Bobic named Dortmund professional Niclas Füllkrug as a “classic nine”. Füllkrug “always feels like he's scoring a goal when he puts on the national jersey. “We will definitely need it.” In the last match against the Netherlands, Füllkrug scored the winning goal with a 2-1 header, his eleventh international goal in his fifteenth game.

Bobic, a former VfB professional and coach, would also like to see Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav in the squad for the local Euro Cup. “Deniz Undav, if he comes into the squad, he will be a different type of player,” Bobic explained. “We would do well to have these different profiles with us.” Undav made his debut for the national team in the 2-0 victory against France at the end of March, but did not play against the Netherlands shortly after.

Ballack on Nagelsmann's future in the DFB: See you later EM wait

Monday April 8, 6:13 am: Former soccer runner-up Michael Ballack advocates waiting until after the European Championship for a possible contract extension for national coach Julian Nagelsmann. “First of all, it is important for Nagelsmann to show that he can do a very good job and be successful with a very good squad. “That's why you should definitely wait until after the European Championships before making a decision,” Ballack told “Kicker” (Monday) in an interview.

After the two friendly victories against France (2-0) and Holland (2-1). the DFB took a clear position publicly and declared that the goal was a long-term cooperation with Nagelsmann. Even before the two successful international matches, “it was expressed that we could imagine continuing with him until the next World Cup. That would be our great wish,” said sporting director Rudi Völler. Nagelsmann is also considered a possible successor to Thomas Tuchel as coach of the FC Bayern Munich negotiated.

Ballack praised Nagelsmann for having “listened to one or two people on the right and the left” after disappointing friendly defeats against Austria and Turkey last autumn. Now you've immediately seen what the team is capable of. However, at the European Championship at home the group will initially face Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland, “that is, against supposedly weaker teams in football terms, against whom we have had particularly difficult times recently,” said the 47-year-old. . Former captain of the DFB team. If you find the right setup and attitude, “it can work in the tournament. “Then we can play a successful European Championship.”

EM-Anthology without Neuer and company: That's why some stars are missing

16:25: Panini's successor Topps' new scrapbook of European soccer championship sticker images has caused confusion. Anyone who gets their hands on the sticker album, which has recently become available, will look in vain for some stars such as German national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Kylian Mbappé and Toni Kroos on their team pages.

“This is because the former tournament partner blocked certain parts of the collection to the detriment of the fans,” a spokesperson for the American company told the German Press Agency on Friday. This means that Topps does not have the image rights to photographs of players or individual badges. When asked by dpa, his predecessor Panini initially did not want to comment on licensing issues.

In previous tournaments the Italian The Panini company produces the scrapbooks for the European Championship; According to the European Football Union UEFA, the association has existed since 1980. The continental association had already signed a contract with Topps for the 2024 and 2028 European Championships.

On the double page of the German team there is space for photographs of three legends, one of whom is former national goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. However, fans will search in vain in the magazine for photographs of some of the professionals in the current squad, such as the promising Florian Wirtz. For this, for example, Mario Götze appears. The scorer in the 2014 World Cup final played his last international match just over a year ago. It is believed that “the variety of stickers and cards, and the selection of current and former players, will get everyone excited about the tournament,” the Topps spokesperson said.

Fans also expressed their surprise on the Internet because, in addition to the 24 qualified teams, the teams that do not participate in the European Championship also appear. The magazine hit the market shortly after the playoffs concluded in late March.

Entry in the Golden Book: DFB-Nagelsmann representative in Düsseldorf

Friday, April 5, 12:49 p.m.: National coach Julian Nagelsmann will sign the Golden Book of the city of Düsseldorf next Monday. During the so-called “Finalists' Workshop” of the summer European Championship, the mayor of Düsseldorf, Stephan Keller, will receive the mayor of Düsseldorf, including the DFB president, Bernd Neuendorf, and the sports director at 12:00. , Rudi Völler. City hall.

At the workshop in the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, national coaches and delegates from the 24 qualified football associations will learn about the current state of planning for the European Championship. Düsseldorf is one of the ten venues for the tournament.

Watzke's wish for the DFB: sign Nagelsmann for a longer period

Wednesday, April 3, 9:30 a.m.: BVB coach Hans-Joachim Watzke would like Julian Nagelsmann to remain as national coach after the European Championship at home. “The DFB should now try to extend Julián's contract. And if the DFB manages to sign him for a longer period, he would be good for German football,” stated the general director of Borussia Dortmund of the Bundesliga in the podcast Playmaker – The EM Talk with Sebastian Hellmann and 360Media. Watzke is also vice-president of the DFB and regarding possible contract negotiations with Nagelsmann he said: “I will stay a bit on the sidelines so that no one says that I had influence.”

Nagelsmann has a clear idea of ​​“how football should be played.” It's very conceptual, it has the right combination. He was at Hoffenheim, he was at Leipzig, he was at Bayern: so far Julian has been successful everywhere. If you have success with three clubs of different types, it is a good business card,” Watzke said.

After the cooling of relations between fans and the German national team following recent disappointing major events, Watzke believes that a new closeness can now emerge. “I think the team is already prepared to reach the hearts of the Germans. And since Germans generally have a very emotional and very strong relationship with football, they are also easily flammable,” he stated.

Hamann: “Let's wait and see” how good the DFB team is

Saturday March 30, 2:28 p.m.: Former national player Dietmar Hamann warns against excessive euphoria surrounding the German football team after recent successes in test matches in France and against the Netherlands. “Now let's wait and see,” the 50-year-old said on Sky on Saturday. The two games in Lyon (2-0) and in Frankfurt/Main (2-1) were “two good international games”, one after the other, nothing more. Hamann said he was “far away” from declaring the DFB team the top favorite for the summer European Championship.

“He still thinks that when it starts there will be three or four teams better than us,” said the television expert, who, however, stated that now things “look much better” than before, a few days before the games. . The team and national coach Julian Nagelsmann said goodbye to the winter break last year with two defeats against Turkey and Austria.

Hamann hardly participated in the speculation that Nagelsmann could return to FC Bayern Munich after the tournament, saying: “At the moment I am not surprised with Bayern.”

Read more current information about the DFB here.