Germany's soccer team wants to focus on playing and not politics

BERLIN — No more heroes, Germany wants winners.

The days of the Germany soccer team making political gestures appear to be over. Coach Julian Nagelsmann says he wants his players to concentrate on playing and to leave the political statements aside.

“We saw in Qatar (at the 2022 World Cup) that too many political issues can harm a team,” Nagelsmann told broadcaster NTV on Tuesday. “I think we’ve all learned from that and should all learn from that. That’s why we have experts who take care of these things and should take care of them. We’re experts in sports and take care of sports.”

Germany flopped at the World Cup in Qatar after a campaign overshadowed by criticism of the host country’s human rights record. Many German fans called for a boycott of the tournament — some bars in Berlin and beyond refused to show it — and players and politicians alike made gestures in support of equal rights and tolerance.

German minister Nancy Faeser wore a “One Love” armband beside FIFA president Gianni Infantino while Germany players covered their mouths for the team photo before their opening World Cup match to protest FIFA’s clampdown on the armband, widely seen as a rebuke to Qatar.

Nagelsmann’s comments on Tuesday echo those given last week by Germany captain Joshua Kimmich, who expressed regret about the team’s gestures in Qatar, saying they “took away from the joy of the tournament.”

“It’s not our job to express ourselves politically,” Kimmich said.

Human rights are an issue again with Saudi Arabia set to be confirmed as host of the 2034 World Cup at a FIFA congress on Dec. 11. Saudi Arabia is the only candidate. Broadcaster RTL reported that the German soccer federation will vote in favor of the kingdom as host despite criticism from trade unions and human rights groups such as Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and FairSquare.

But Nagelsmann says human rights issues should not concern his team.

“In the end, it’s not me as a coach or we as a team who make the decision (for World Cup host) but the decisions are made in completely different areas, different spheres. It doesn’t have that much to do with us. We have to prepare ourselves accordingly wherever the tournament is taking place,” Nagelsmann said. “I think it’s obvious that not everything is perfect in Saudi Arabia. But again, that’s not for us to assess.”