DFB boss Andreas Rettig spoke about the pressure before the upcoming round of 16 at the World Cup against Paraguay. “We know that we now have the knife on our neck in the knockout games. We already had that once against Slovakia. The pressure was great there too. We will see the face of Slovakia on Monday and not the face of Ecuador,” said the 63-year-old on MagentaTV before the DFB-Elf game on Monday (10.30 p.m./ZDF and MagentaTV).
Rettig alluded to the game against Slovakia in November, when the Germans were threatened with an unpleasant extra shift in the World Cup playoffs if they lost in World Cup qualifying. But national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team coped with the pressure, won clearly 6-0 and secured their World Cup ticket.
According to Rettig, the recent 1-2 defeat against Ecuador was deserved. “There’s no need to sugarcoat anything,” he said. At the same time, he showed little understanding for criticism of Nagelsmann. “I have to smile that after the game some people were amazed at how Julian Nagelsmann defended his players. That’s what I expect from a coach,” confirmed the official.