BERLIN – Germany coach Hansi Flick praised his side’s dynamism in attack after forward Niclas Fullkrug scored twice to secure a 2-0 victory over Peru in a friendly on Saturday, as the hosts launched their mission to rebuild a competitive team for Euro 2024 on home soil.
In their first match since the 2022 World Cup group-stage exit, the Germans unusually deployed two strikers in Fullkrug and Timo Werner and were sharp in attack, especially during a strong first half in Mainz.
Midfielder Joshua Kimmich seemed to appreciate the change in formation, saying: “It’s great when our strikers score. Having people in the box really helped us today.”
They did, however, look uncertain at times with the ball in their own half, repeatedly losing possession and struggling with Peru’s high press.
“The team played with a lot of zip. A lot of things were good, these lads hadn’t played with each other much before... You could see that the team had dynamism, especially in attack. A lot of things were good today, maybe not at 100 per cent,” said Flick.
“Sometimes the last pass was not clean enough. We had times when we lost possession. We have to be more careful.
“But we also kept a clean sheet, which was very important for us.”
The 30-year-old Fullkrug opened his account in the 12th minute, turning in the ball after Kai Havertz had played it on with his chest. He had also scored their last World Cup group-stage goal.
Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese pulled off a stunning double save a little later by stopping Florian Wirtz’s shot and then denying Werner on the rebound.
But Werder Bremen forward Fullkrug, who made his Germany debut just days before the World Cup, bagged his fifth goal in only his fifth international, flicking in a superb cross from newcomer Marius Wolf in the 33rd minute.
“It was all about having a good start to the year and excite the fans,” he said.
“I think we did it well in the first half. Then it got a bit wild in the second half.”
Midfielder Leon Goretzka added: “We scored two nice goals and Niclas Fullkrug showed that he’s still capable of finding the back of the net for Germany...
“We got the win and a clean sheet too. We’re far from being perfect still. We wanted to start building some momentum and we did that.”
The second half continued in the same vein, with Peru lacking in ideas to threaten Germany, who came close to increasing their lead in the 60th minute when substitute Serge Gnabry hit the crossbar with a thundering mid-air volley, before Havertz sent a 68th-minute penalty onto the post.
Said defender Nico Schlotterbeck, who earned the spot kick: “We played well. We could have scored two or three more goals though, and that would have made it an even better evening.”
Germany next play Belgium on Tuesday in Cologne.
REUTERS, XINHUA
