Germany hopes to repair reputation before hosting Euro 2024

BERLIN: With the European Championship looming next year, host Germany hopes this week to start repairing the tattered reputation of its men’s national soccer team.

Two World Cup flops and a poor showing in between have taken their toll on what was a proud heritage for Germany. The four-time World Cup winner no longer strikes fear among opponents.

The German Soccer Federation wants to change that before the country hosts Euro 2024. It’s an opportunity to restore lost pride, albeit with the potential for more embarrassment.

The campaign starts this week with friendly games against Peru in Mainz on Saturday, then Belgium in Cologne three days later.

The federation has given coach Hansi Flick another chance to lead the team after its first-round exit at the 2022 World Cup. It also brought in former Germany striker and coach Rudi Voller as sporting director to oversee what it hopes will be a successful shakeup.

Another one.

Former coach Joachim Low attempted a shakeup after Germany’s first-round exit at the 2018 World Cup, then ditched it after a 6-0 drubbing by Spain when he recalled veterans Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels for the coronavirus-delayed Euro 2020 tournament. It only got his team as far as the second round, where England ended Low’s 15-year stint in charge.

Flick is banking on more success with the latest focus on youth, building his squad on a foundation of talented but untested under-21 players. Flick has called up six debutants for the games against Peru and Belgium, while leaving out established regulars like Muller, Leroy Sane, Ilkay Gundogan, Antonio Rüdiger and Marco Reus among others.

“We’ve taken this path to see which players have the potential to be at the European Championship next year,”