“We want to become World Champions”: Germany’s Hansi Flick targets World Cup glory in Qatar 2022

Germany manager Hansi Flick recently expressed his satisfaction over the national team’s progress in the past few months. Die Mannschaft’s remarkable transformation since Flick’s appointment has led to a growing sense of optimism among the players over their chances of lifting the World Cup trophy in Qatar. Speaking in an interview with ARD’s Sportschau, the former Bayern Munich coach didn’t shy away from revealing that Germany have indeed set their sights on winning the biggest tournament of the sport.

“It’s nice to see how the players are pulling along, how everyone is implementing the instructions well,” said Flick (as captured by SZ). “You can sense a spirit of optimism. Everyone wants to be there in Qatar. Everyone wants to be world champion. That’s our big goal. We’re not digging in our heels now. We want to try to ensure that we always bring our best performance in the game.”

On Friday, Germany will announce their squad for the upcoming International break. As part of their preparation for the World Cup, the friendly matches against Israel and Netherlands will be crucial in helping Flick assess 30-35 players.

“We have very strong teams as opponents in the Nations League, but also now in March with Holland,” the 56-year old added, whose side has drawn England and Italy in its Nations League group.

This time, Bundesliga’s teenage sensation Florian Wirtz will be unable to join Flick’s squad, having suffered an unfortunate ACL injury Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-0 defeat against FC Köln. Leon Goretzka, arguably the team’s most impactful central-midfielder, will also reportedly stay in Munich and work on regaining full fitness. In the 27-year old’s absence, Flick will most likely turn to Manchester City man İlkay Gündoğan as Joshua Kimmich’s partner in midfield and may even experiment with 19-year old Jamal Musiala in that position.