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.