AMSTERDAM, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Germany coach Juergen Klopp refused to make any promises of silverware on Wednesday but said signs of progress should be visible when his side face the Netherlands in his first match in charge in the Nations League on Thursday.
The former Liverpool manager succeeded Julian Nagelsmann in July after Germany’s shock 2026 World Cup exit.
Nagelsmann had said following Germany’s Euro 2024 quarter-final defeat that he was sad he would have to wait two years to lift the World Cup, a prediction that came back to haunt him when his side were eliminated by outsiders Paraguay this summer.
Klopp was asked about his remark at the start of his Liverpool tenure that he would probably have won a title if he was still in the job four years later. He went on to win a string of trophies, including the Premier League andChampions League titles.
He was far more circumspect on Wednesday. “I don’twant to promise anything,” Klopp told a press conference. “What I can say is we will try and that’s what it is about now. That’s where we are at the moment.”
Four-times world champions Germany have been eliminated early at the last three World Cups and have tasted no major international success since lifting their last World Cup in 2014.
Klopp raised eyebrows last week by naming two separate squads for two sets of two matches in the coming days as he rebuilds the national team ahead of Euro 2028.
“I am inchargeof the senior team and my task is to take the football there so that we are in with a chance to win every game we play,” Klopp said. “It won’t work every day but we are working at it.I hope we can see some things already tomorrow.”
“We need to take steps and the boys are ready for that,” he said.
After visiting the Netherlands on Thursday, Germany host Greece on Sunday and Serbia on October 1 before travelling to Greece three days later.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis)
