Contenders eye ‘big titles’ as Nations League final four kicks off

MUNICH – The Nations League Finals start on June 4 as Germany, Spain, France and Portugal seek to fine-tune their sides with the World Cup just a year away.

Tournament hosts Germany meet Portugal in Munich and title-holders Spain play France in Stuttgart a day later. The winners will face off in the Bavarian capital on June 8.

Created in 2018, the Nations League lacks the history and esteem of football’s major international tournaments and has been criticised for adding to an already crowded calendar.

But as Spain and France have shown in recent years, the competition can be a perfect launchpad to reach greater heights.

France’s Nations League triumph in 2021 came just over a year before their run to the World Cup final in Qatar, where they lost on penalties to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina.

Spain, runners-up to France in 2021, beat Croatia on penalties to win the 2023 Nations League. A year later, the Spanish were crowned European champions.

While some of the larger nations have fielded experimental line-ups, recent winners have used the tournament to develop and improve.

Of the final four, only Germany are yet to win a Nations League title, with Portugal’s success coming in the opening tournament in 2019.

Germany captain Joshua Kimmich will be handed his 100th international cap on June 4.

The Bayern Munich midfielder is the 14th Germany player to reach the milestone, but will become the only member of the 100 club not to have won a World Cup.

Kimmich said on June 2 that he “had a couple more chances” to correct the stat and said the Nations League would show how much progress Germany had made, after a disappointing decade.

“If it’s enough for the really big titles, we don’t know, it depends on a lot of factors,” he said.

World Cup winners in 2014, Germany crashed out of the following two World Cups at the group stage.

Their best result since a European Championship semi-final in 2016 was going out in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Spain at Euro 2024.

“We want to go into the (World Cup) well-prepared. We’ve said a few times that the preparation doesn’t start two weeks before, rather it’s already started,” Kimmich added.

“When we now compete in two internationals successfully, we can show we’re still on a good path.”

His sentiment was echoed by coach Julian Nagelsmann last week, who said that “we would love to win titles and keep feeding our self-confidence”.

“Even if it’s only a small title, for us as a group it’s very important... Confidence and trust are fragile elements that require constant nourishment,” he said.

Coming at the end of a long club season, each of the final four are nursing injuries.

Already without Jamal Musiala, Antonio Rudiger and Nico Schlotterbeck, Germany lost Jonathan Burkardt, Nadiem Amiri and Yann Bisseck to injury over the weekend. Burkardt was already a late replacement for the injured Angelo Stiller.

France are missing first-choice defenders Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba and Jules Kounde, along with Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.

Opponents Spain elected not to name Rodri in their Nations League squad, not wanting to rush the reigning Ballon d’Or winner as he returns from his anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Veteran Portugal talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, 40, has been named despite missing two of his past five club matches for Al-Nassr with muscle complaints.

Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves acknowledged the strain on top players, but told the Portuguese football association over the weekend that “when we reach this type of competition, at this level, tiredness takes a back seat”.

He said: “Tiredness is left behind and our main focus is to win the two games and win the Nations League.

“We have all the tools available to be at our best.” AFP