Germany coach Hansi Flick will be fielding a stronger team against Netherlands on Tuesday with keeper Manuel Neuer and defender Antonio Rudiger back in the squad as he looks to keep up his winning run.
Flick’s team is on an eight-game winning streak since he took over last year but statistics mattered little to the German ahead of Tuesday’s friendly international in Amsterdam.
“I am not interested in the run. I am only interested in a winning run if it means at the end of December we have won eight games in a row,” Flick told a virtual news conference. “And you all know well what that would mean.”
The World Cup in Qatar starts in November and ends in December and Germany, who crashed out following the first round of the 2018 tournament, have set their sights on winning a fifth world crown.
“I told the team I want to win this game (against Netherlands) because every win makes us stronger and gives us more confidence,” Flick said.
Germany made it eight wins in a row under Flick following their 2-0 victory over Israel on Saturday with many players absent through injuries, rest or other reasons.
Since he took over, Germany have scored 33 goals and conceded just two.
“We go into every game to win it,” Flick said. “We have the necessary respect for the Dutch. They have top players and quality in every part of the team. We want to try to put them under pressure to force them to make mistakes.
“Statistics are good for the statisticians but I know we have the next game in front of us and want to win it. We have to have that demand with the quality in our team.”
