October 12, (THEWILL) – After Germany clinched their place in the 2022 World Cup with a 4-0 win over North Macedonia on Monday, Hansi Flick praised his players’ mentality and their faultless start to his job as national team coach.
At the Tose Proeski Arena, Kai Havertz scored the game’s first goal, then Chelsea teammate Timo Werner scored a quickfire brace, with Jamal Musiala adding the fourth goal to become his country’s second-youngest scorer in history, at 18 years and 227 days.
Flick also became the second German head coach, after predecessor Joachim Low, to win all his first five games, and Die Mannschaft has now qualified for every World Cup since 1954, with only Brazil having done so.
The former Bayern Munich head coach was pleased with his team’s performance in Skopje, especially as they have scored 18 goals and conceded just one since his appointment.
“We now have five wins from five this season,” Flick said in post-match remarks. “The result was perfect. We wanted to qualify as quickly as possible. You have to compliment the team on their attitude.
“Of course the first half was a bit wild, but we can be happy that we won and qualified. We were very consistent after the first goal, so we can be satisfied.”
Werner had a game-high nine shots, two more than the entire North Macedonia team, and Flick praised the attacker ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“We now have time to develop and improve until November 2022. I’m looking forward to the task. Timo Werner’s second goal was the best today.
“He didn’t have it easy. He had a few chances in the game and scored two great goals.”
The Chelsea attacker, who has 21 goals for his country, stated that his bond with Flick is crucial to his success.
Werner said, “If the coach counts on you, it helps every player. I need this trust from outside. He gives me 100 per cent. I’ll try to pay that back.”
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
