Fans are unhappy with Julian Nagelsmann’s decision to include Germany winger Leroy Sane in the starting XI for their final 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage fixture against Ecuador.
Germany national team boss Nagelsmann made two changes to the team that started their last outing – a 2-1 win over Cote d’Ivoire. The alterations are done in defence, with David Raum and Antonio Rudiger replacing Nathaniel Brown and Nico Schlotterbeck.
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Sane, who started Germany’s opening two matches at the ongoing tournament, retained his position in attack. While Die Mannschaft won both games and have secured their ticket for the next round, Sane endured subdued performances in the two outings – against debutants Curacao and Cote d’Ivoire.
That, however, did not deter Nagelsmann from starting the winger for their final group fixture. While the result of today’s match will have no effect on their current position in Group E, fans are unimpressed with the decision to include Sane in the starting line-up.
A fan wrote:
“Nagelsmann needs to drop the Sane gimmick man😭”
Another tweeted:
“Shame on naglesman for still preferring his personal favorite Sane ahead of undav-disgusting.”
A third remarked:
“Sane has been on a bad form, why putting him.”
Germany are the third team to punch their ticket into the knockout rounds following last week’s win over Ivory Coast. It is a significant progress for the hosts of the 2006 World Cup after they failed to get out of the group stage both at the 2018 edition in Russia and in Qatar in 2022.
Nagelsmann calls for ‘focus’ ahead of Ecuador clash after Germany secure spot in World Cup knockouts
Despite already being guaranteed to finish top of the group, Nagelsmann warned his team not to ‘get carried away’, urging them to shift their attention to Ecuador.
“We shouldn’t get carried away,” the Germany coach said. “We’ve won two games, one fairly clearly and one by a narrow margin. The focus now is on Ecuador. After that, we’ll see who we play on Monday. We should stay in the here and now and not look too far ahead.”
The former Bayern Munich boss also noted that he won’t rotate his team against Ecuador, stressing that they intend to win the match and use it to prepare for the knockout stage.
“It’s absolutely fair to ask whether we should make changes or not. We’ve thought about it a lot as a coaching staff and spoken to the players. We still have a game that we want to win, and we also want to use it to prepare for the knockout stage, with everything that involves,” he added.
Nagelamann’s side sit atop their table with six points, while Ecuador sit third with one point.
Edited by Ezekiel Olamide
