Following the announcement of the current squad list, Germany's national team coach Jürgen Klopp held a press conference. This article is the first part of that press conference.

Welcome back, Jürgen Klopp. I believe it was about two months ago when you were officially announced as the new national team coach. Time has flown since then, and now the first four international matches are just around the corner. Are you very excited about tomorrow?

Very excited. To be honest, I really didn't expect two months to pass so quickly. Has it really been two months already? Or just one month? Was I appointed in July or August?

It was in August, so it's actually only been just over a month.

Your math is good; mine has never been great. These two months feel like one, but we've packed an incredible amount into this time. The entire process has been very interesting, especially assembling the squad, which I have to say has been a lot of fun.

After everything that felt less than ideal before, we've taken a new approach: we no longer dwell on what we lack, but focus on what we have. We've discovered many excellent football talents and built the squad based on that. I'm very satisfied with this list.

Although most of you probably already know a lot about it, you don't have all the details yet, right? I really have a feeling we still have a surprise for everyone, and that's really cool! Whoever can guess the name that hasn't been announced yet wins this hat! The hat is over there in the box, grab it! You see, there are two names that haven't been announced yet—guess one correctly and you get the hat!

Thank you for this lovely hat, but for compliance reasons we need to clarify whether we can accept it, but thank you! A gesture from one of 83 million national team supporters—what a great idea!

I hadn't thought much about compliance! Well, let's see. My first match will be in Amsterdam, in new kit and of course with a new squad. There was a lot of media coverage, and at some point around 70 names were circulating.

Actually, many names circulated in the media, even though in reality there weren't that many. But when we looked at this squad list, 44 names were prominently displayed! Now we can show the names—it's really remarkable! Jürgen, this is a very unusual sight, because these names are divided into two lineups. You need to explain your thinking behind this.

Many factors were considered. First of all, it's very rare for a national team to play four matches within two weeks. The next round of league matches in different countries is on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which means some players are still playing on Sunday and can only join the national team on Monday.

The schedule that follows is very tight. First comes recovery training. Tuesday is similar, and by Wednesday there's only one final training session before the match—the day before—for tactical rehearsal and specific drills before flying to Amsterdam for Thursday's game. If a player has just finished a match on Sunday, they'll be facing this dilemma. Similarly, after returning from Amsterdam, they have to rush to Augsburg to play on Saturday with barely any time for recovery and training.

This is the situation for the first week, so for the first week's squad we've largely drawn from the World Cup squad, which already knew each other and had good chemistry, while adding the players we wanted to keep. However, for example, the Bayern and Brentford matches are on Friday evening, so the arrangements for the first week are quite manageable.

Additionally, I want to get to know as many players as possible personally during this time. Over the last four weeks I've traveled around, visited many players personally—whether on the training pitch or in follow-up conversations. Seeing them in person makes a huge difference compared to my earlier impressions. As I mentioned, I haven't been in the Bundesliga for 11 years. Watching a player perform live and developing a feel for his football—that difference is enormous, and I hope to be able to follow more games in person.

It's important to clarify that we haven't divided things into so-called "A-team" or "B-team." It's not about thinking that one team can only beat a certain opponent. In football, we of course want to win all four matches. Although we can't guarantee that results will go as we hope, both squads have been assembled to ensure good balance—with careful consideration of positional setup, player personalities, and the mix of experienced and young players. The purpose is to gather as much practical information as possible about the players.

As national team coach, I'm new to this role, and I'm aware of that; but I was a club coach for 25 years, so assembling a squad is not unfamiliar to me. Squad selection always serves the next match—to win the games over the next four weeks, but also for matches in one or two years by bringing in young players who could become absolute pillars of the team in one or two years' time. I've always done that in the past, and I'm continuing this philosophy completely now.

Of course, I know that everyone will have all kinds of questions about certain players, and that's completely understandable. I believe certain things are very important in life: First, everyone wants to improve; second, most of the people sitting here today are here because they received opportunities at key moments in their lives, and with those opportunities they can do what they love.

Of course, you not only have to get opportunities but also seize them yourself, and in the world of football it's exactly the same. We've now called up some young players who might well surprise everyone, which is completely understandable. But we see huge potential in these young guys and hope to be part of their development process, which is why we've introduced new faces.

After the World Cup, people might have felt that German football had completely collapsed, without talent, without good players; but after our careful observation over the past four weeks, a large number of football talents have come into our view—so many that we couldn't even call them all up under this particular format. The U21 national team squad will be announced tomorrow, and there are also many excellent young players there. We've even scouted some young players currently playing in the U16 and U17 age groups. So this isn't just for the immediate international matches, but also to lay the foundation for the national team in two or three years.

I'm very, very satisfied with this squad selection so far. Communication with players, clubs, and coaches has been very smooth, especially interactions with the players, which have been fantastic. I've spoken with every called-up player, whether by phone, FaceTime, or in person, and they've shown outstanding character; it's been a pleasure to speak with them.

I can tell you that representing the German national team means an incomparable honor to each of them, and I think that's worth stating publicly. Four weeks ago I was observing from the outside and wasn't always certain, but now I can confirm their importance. Together we've decided to reignite this passion starting Sunday. The first group of players will gather on Sunday, and official training with the first squad begins on Monday.

Übersetzt von KI.

Die AF-Website ist jetzt online! Vollständige Nachrichten, Kommentare, Spieldetails und Statistiken auf dem Computer. Besuchen Sie: www.allfootballapp.com