Overview
- Julian Nagelsmann confirmed on Sunday that Manuel Neuer will return to goal and Nathaniel Brown will start at left back for Germany’s opening World Cup match against Curaçao.
- Nagelsmann said Jamal Musiala is in the squad but not at full match fitness and will be given phased minutes so he can reach peak form later in the tournament.
- Jürgen Klopp said his earlier on-air suggestion of an alternate starting XI was a misunderstanding and not intended as criticism of Musiala or Nagelsmann.
- The pundit discussion has reopened questions about Klopp’s public profile as a potential future national coach, a theme Nagelsmann declined to debate at his press conference.
- Separately, Germany’s Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko set a national team record average at the Darts World Cup, and opinion pieces warned that big sporting events can create opportunities for governments to push controversial policy changes while public attention is elsewhere.