Julian Nagelsmann praises Germany resilience ahead of Nations League semi-final against Portugal
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
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Coach Julian Nagelsmann is taking confidence from a spirited quarter-final triumph as Germany prepare to meet Portugal in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals.
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Hosts Germany are the only member of the final four yet to claim a Nations League title, but Julian Nagelsmann is determined to change that fact as their first finals campaign kicks off.
Speaking to UEFA ahead of a semi-final meeting with Portugal, the Germany coach voiced his excitement at contesting the finals on home soil, looked ahead to a tough match against Portugal and reflected on a tense quarter-final victory over Italy.
On hosting the finals
It was our aim to reach the final four and host the tournament in our country. Our next aim is to win. I think the fans are happy as well that we will be hosting another tournament here in Germany [after UEFA EURO 2024].
We've taken some very good steps in uniting the fans with the team again and that is key if you are targeting great success. We are happy to have them behind us again and we are hopeful that we can put in two really good performances here in Germany.
On semi-final opponents Portugal
They're a very good side with a lot of very good players. They obviously had a tense, tight game as well [in their quarter-final against Denmark]. I think they were clear favourites going into the game, but it didn't quite play out that way.
They have a lot of great individual players and a very, very good manager. It will be a tough game for sure.
On lessons from the quarter-final victory over Italy
We are still at a point where I think winning 4-0 would have been less valuable to our development than going through what we did [drawing 3-3 in the second leg for a 5-4 aggregate win]. Being given a reminder to be on your toes at all times is certainly no bad thing, so I think we took a bigger step with [the result] than we would have done if we had won 3-0 or 4-0.
Being able to come back and win the first leg, having gone behind away from home, showed that we can fight back if we go behind. In the second leg, we showed in the first half how good we can be, but we were also reminded that even at 3-0 the game is not over. In football there are momentum swings that you can't always explain logically, but at the end of the day we got through and that is all that matters.