The world champions were playing France in Paris on Friday as a wave of attacks was unleashed across the city, killing 129 people.
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Germany will face the Netherlands in a home friendly on Tuesday with chancellor Angela Merkel set to attend in the wake of the deadly terror attacks across Paris.
The German football association (DFB) has confirmed that the national team’s friendly against Netherlands in Hannover will go ahead as planned.
Explosions could be heard inside the Stade de France during the game, and the Germany players and their French counterparts spent the night in the stadium. “But we all know how important it is to send a signal as a national team in favor of our values and culture”.
“The message is clear, we will not let ourselves be intimidated by terrorism”. “The fact that the team is taking the field against the Netherlands only a few days after the frightful experiences during the game in Paris is a clear signal. Coach Joachim Loew and each individual player deserve respect for this demonstration of solidarity with the victims and the entire French people”. Manuel Neuer, Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jerome Boateng and Jonas Hector have all left the squad, while Leroy Sane has joined up with the Under-21 side.
The result on the pitch will be of secondary importance following the terrible events in Paris, however, Netherlands have not beaten Germany since 2002 and the young players likely to feature at the HDI-Arena would do their prospects of further caps no harm by ending that drought.
“I welcome the decision by the DFB to play the game after discussions with Lower Saxony security officials”.
“There was a muffled bang that changed everything”.
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Germany’s acting FA president, Reinhard Rauball exalted the France team and said, “The French said that they were staying as long as Germany had to stay”.
