Julian Nagelsmann said Germany required a dominant performance like their 7-1 victory over Curacao to rebuild confidence as they made a flying start to their World Cup Group E campaign.
Germany opened their World Cup Group E campaign in emphatic fashion, sweeping aside Curacao 7-1 at Houston Stadium.
Felix Nmecha, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown and Deniz Undav all got on the scoresheet in Texas, while Kai Havertz added a brace to complete the rout.
With that result, Germany’s all-time World Cup goal tally rose to 239, moving them ahead of Brazil (238) at the top of the competition’s scoring charts.
The win also extended Germany’s streak to 10 consecutive victories, matching their second-best run in history. Their only longer winning sequence came between 1979 and 1980, when they recorded 12 straight wins.
Despite the emphatic scoreline, Nagelsmann stressed the importance of the result for morale and confidence building.
"We really needed this convincing win."
"We needed this self-confidence. It was there but it definitely grew.
"We have to show [the fans] that we can perform, and we have to have the confidence. I think we’re in a better spot than we were entering this match.
"Given what happened at the last two tournaments in particular, this win is especially important."
Curacao, making their World Cup debut, briefly levelled the match when Livano Comenencia scored in the 21st minute.
Germany have now gone seven World Cup matches without a clean sheet, their longest such run since 1970. Only once have they endured a longer streak without a shutout in the competition, between 1934 and 1954.
"One team has very high expectations and the other one doesn’t and that’s a bit tricky," Nagelsmann added.
"We are on the right path, but, of course, there are things that we can do better, and we will have stronger opponents."
At 40 years and 79 days, Manuel Neuer became Germany’s oldest player at a major tournament, surpassing Lothar Matthäus, who held the previous record at Euro 2000.
"I think everyone hopes for a good start. In a tournament like this, getting off to a good start is especially important," Neuer said.
"The substitutes came on and brought great energy to the team. You could see the sense of enjoyment in our play."
For Curacao, the defeat was a harsh introduction to World Cup football. They became the first debutants since South Korea in 1954 to concede seven goals in their opening match, with only that same South Korea side having suffered a heavier debut loss (0-9 vs Hungary).
"It wasn't good," said Curacao coach Dick Advocaat. "If you lose 7-1, it wasn't good. Germany were simply too strong."
