Germany is ready to make its home European Championship debut. Tonight the team of Julian Nagelsmann will face Scotland in the opening match of the event; the coach spoke yesterday at a press conference, explaining how he managed to convince Toni Kroos to return to the national team: “Toni is fundamental for us; you can give him the ball at any time. His presence is important for everyone, especially for the younger players. It took a while to convince him: he told me he would return only if he felt we could win something.”
The first challenge: “We just have to put everything on the pitch and believe in ourselves. It will be fantastic to have the stadium on our side; I hope we can all enjoy a great tournament starting tomorrow and in the coming weeks. I want us to be united as a country and Tomorrow we all have to make a lot of noise. We have to take advantage of the fact that we are hosts.”
Tension: “I’m nervous, but it’s not that dramatic. I was nervous before every math exam: it didn’t go very well, I hope tomorrow will be better,” he said, smiling. “It’s normal to feel a little pressure before a match like this. Pressure is a privilege. There are thousands of players who want to feel this pressure because it’s a privilege. We try to have fun and be the best team. We can handle the pressure and beat Scotland”..
The replacement of Aleksandar Pavlovic with Emre Can: “Choice made for the defensive phase. Can is very fast, has a strong header and is well accepted in the group. He made a good impression: leaving the holidays so abruptly is not easy” .