It is not every day that a young player gets to start for his national team out of nowhere and promptly score in the 2nd minute. It had seemed Jamie Leweling would be an exception to the rule, as his 2nd minute strike in Germany’s match against the Netherlands sent the crowd in the Allianz Arena into a delighted frenzy. Unfortunately, the strike was controversially ruled out. But neither Germany or Leweling let this keep them down, as they dominated the match en route to Leweling managing to bag a legitimate goal and downing the Netherlands 1-0.
Speaking after the match, Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann was enthused by the result: “Today was a big step. We did well and didn’t concede much,” the delighted coach professed, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “We absolutely deserved to win.”
There were always going to be questions about newcomer and match winner Leweling and Nagelsmann had some honest truths to share on the young lad: “I didn’t expect him to play so well. He handled many critical situations well. We surprised him [with being in the starting lineup].”
Leweling was not the only newcomer in the lineup, however, as Oliver Baumann calmly secured a clean sheet in his debut against the EURO 2024 semifinalists. Nagelsmann rated his performance highly: “Overall, I’d give him a 1 [best possible grade in Germany]. He also did very well with the ball. He played very well.”
With this result, Germany now sits 5 points ahead of the Netherlands with 2 games to go. Winning the Nations League group, after years of failure in the glorified friendlies tournament, is finally within grasp for Nagelsmann’s Germany and the former Bayern Munich boss does not want concentration to slip in these two games: “We have the ambition to win them. There’s a great atmosphere in the dressing room, everyone wants to win.”
Looking for more thoughts and analysis from Germany’s 1-0 victory over the Netherlands? Awesome, then we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show where our Jack Lauschway breaks down the match. Jack gives you all the analysis you need from the game, along with where the German national team might be headed. You can get the podcast on Patreon, Spotify, and below:
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