Excitement is building in Germany ahead of the start of Euro 2024 with the opening game against Scotland on Friday night.
We spoke to German football journalist Yvonne Gabriel about Kai Havertz’s importance to the national team and more.
Read her thoughts in the preview below.
Havertz’s importance to the team
“He had some problems performing against Ukraine in the second last match, but he scored in the last one against Greece. The striker position was the last one with a big question mark around it. Havertz and Fullkrug are the two strikers fighting for that position. For now, Havertz is in the starting 11 and Fullkrug is a completely different striker, a more real number nine who is more physical and has good qualities with headers, while Kai seems to be full of self-consciousness so he’s very ambitious and of course the situation at Arsenal helped him a lot.
“He had a conversation with the coach Nagelsmann in March and he told him ‘if you perform well at Arsenal you have good chances to perform at the Euros and be in the starting 11’. Havertz mentioned that pushed him at Arsenal and now he’s ready for the tournament and he has big hopes to perform on a really high level.”
His popularity among the German fanbase
“The position of the striker is discussed a lot. He was never really a number nine and we had a lot of good strikers. Timo Werner, for example, he’s a good friend of Havertz. The feeling that he is a team player and he scores helped him a lot in the last matches. Now he has the feeling that Nagelsmann has belief in him, so that helps him and he is one of the more experienced players in a completely new team. I’m not sure but I think he’s the only one in the starting 11 who already scored in a European Championship.
"Kai has good harmony and energy with Musiala and Wirtz"
“He scored against France in March, that was a good match. He seems to have a good harmony with the players next to him, with Musiala and Wirtz. These are two of the guys with the most potential in the squad. They have a good harmony and energy and they can perform very well.
“He played on the left wing against Austria last November. It was really up and down for him and now Nagelsmann is really clear with what he wants to see in the team and where he sees everybody. For the Euros, he explained to every player their role in the squad.”
The mood in Germany
“It’s getting better and better each day. I went to Qatar as well and, compared to the World Cup there, it’s a completely new, good vibe and atmosphere. It’s all about the coach of course but the structure of the team is completely new. There are a lot of players who are new to the national team, so the energy is really good and Kai is one of the more experienced players, so he has a big importance for the team.”
What would be a successful tournament
“France of course and England are favourites. Some people say maybe Austria but they have a lot of injured players. I’ve talked to many players in the last week and they’ve said that it would only be a successful Euro if we reach the final. Other players said it’s only if we win the title.
"It’s a tournament in their own country so of course there are a lot of expectations. The last tournaments made Germany a little bit more humble because Qatar was a mess. Everybody is really excited to see what will happen against Scotland and how they will perform.
“The team has problems against teams who are more defensive, but we’re all excited and the vibes are so much better.”
More in our expert view series: Leandro Trossard | Jakub Kiwior
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