Jürgen Klopp has said Germany’s football team can help ensure that “national pride is not entrusted to the wrong people”, in his first press conference as the country’s manager. Speaking in Frankfurt while announcing his first squad, the former Liverpool manager referred to the recent state election victory of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, which took almost 44% of the vote in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September. The AfD is also expecting strong results in elections on Sunday in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Klopp did not mention the AfD by name. Instead he advocated what he described as “positive patriotism”, saying: “I don’t want to entrust national pride to the wrong people. A crazy amount of things have happened not that long ago. There was a vote which some people probably found OK, but others would have thought: ‘Good heavens, what’s going on here?'” He continued: “From the perspective of someone in sport, I’d like to reclaim the flag for myself and for us. When we wave it, I don’t want that someone thinks: ‘What’s going on with you?’ I want that they think you’re happy and you understand how lucky you are to be born in this wonderful country or to have moved here and live here.”
On the subject of national pride itself, Klopp said he was “not even sure if one can – or is allowed to – use that term any more without it being misunderstood”, adding: “I can be proud of being German and still be open, diverse, kind and friendly.” He also argued that it was more important for the country to have enough doctors and caregivers, while suggesting football can “foster a sense of community here, allowing us to truly feel the power of sport”.
Klopp took the Germany job in July, after the four-time World Cup winners suffered a third successive early elimination at the tournament. The 59-year-old has often spoken out about social issues during his time in charge of Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Mainz.
His first squad is an unusually large one: 44 players for four upcoming Nations League matches, even though matchday lists are restricted to 23. “It’s very unusual that you’ve got four games in two weeks with the national team,” Klopp said. “I want to get to know as many players as possible in that time.” Germany begin away to the Netherlands, then play Greece home and away either side of hosting Serbia.
Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz will probably be limited to a maximum of two of those games, as Klopp looks to bring in more new faces and manage workloads. Karim Adeyemi returns for the first time in 11 months after a positive start at Barcelona, while Ajax’s Marc-André ter Stegen is the first-choice goalkeeper following Manuel Neuer’s international retirement. Many of those called up have never played for Germany, among them the Elversberg midfielder Felix Keidel and the Eintracht Frankfurt forward Younes Ebnoutalib, who have played only a handful of top-division games, along with Celtic’s Mika Baur, Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt and the Cologne youngster Said El Mala. The striker Deniz Undav and winger Leroy Sané were not selected.