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| Germany’s Ilkay Gundogan celebrates with Marco Reus |
Germany will look to extend their winning run under coach Hansi Flick when they face Israel and Netherlands in the coming days but the teamโs priority is to peak at the year-ending World Cup in Qatar, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan said on Friday.
The Germans, four-time winners who suffered a shock first round exit at the 2018 World Cup, have won all seven of their matches under Flick, having also qualified for the World Cup at the end of the year.
โThe excitement for this year is great,โ Gundogan told a news conference. โIt is a good start against a motivated and young Israeli team and then the test and the Dutch.โ
Germany host Israel in Sinsheim on Saturday before travelling to Amsterdam on Tuesday to face Netherlands in another friendly.
โWe want to start the year as successfully as possible. There is a lot at stake with the year ending with the World Cup in November and December,โ Gundogan said.
โIn the past year under Flick we got the chance to add more momentum to the team. We used the time pretty well. We are on a good path and we want to continue that. The team should peak at the tournament and that is our priority.โ
Flick succeeded Joachim Loew after last yearโs European championship last-16 exit to England, and has brought in a number of young players as he looks to shape a team that can again compete at the top level.
Among them is Freiburg defender Nico Schlotterbeck who will earn his first cap on Saturday, Flick said.
โFor us what is important is to have players who have the mental development to deliver performances at key matches,โ Flick said.
โWe will see who can do that and who has qualities that are important for the team.โ
โEveryone still has eight months to deliver performances that prove they want to play in this team.โ
REUTERS
