Freiburg duo discuss national team life ahead of Germany's Serbia test
· Yahoo Sports
Germany’s final international break of 2026 sees Jürgen Klopp’s charges visit Serbia tonight before hosting the Netherlands on Monday. Sitting on five points after four outings, this year’s UEFA Nations League campaign hangs in the balance and even a positive result in Belgrade will only force an all-important decider.
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Trailing both the Netherlands and Greece by three points, Germany are in desperate need of a win against Serbia in tonight’s encounter ahead of their final match at the Olympiastadion.
SC Freiburg’s Philipp Treu and Derry Scherhant took up media duties, with the former touching on his development while the latter discussed his 24th birthday celebrations with the national team just three days ago.
On initially being welcomed into the fold, Treu was full of praise for familiar faces, singling out Nico Schlotterbeck in particular: “One thing that really helped me at the start was already knowing quite a few of the players.”
As one of the relatively new additions, Treu also faced a dilemma on what to do with his debut shirt: “It caused quite a stir, even at home (laughs). My girlfriend and I have agreed that it can go on the rail at home where I keep my most special shirts.”
In terms of matters on the pitch, attention then turned to the full-back’s playing style: “Moving to SC Freiburg has really helped me because I’m getting more opportunities to get involved in the final third. That’s been hugely beneficial in terms of improving my attacking play.”
Determined to provide an outlet on the flank, Treu expressed his desire to make a difference during this camp: “I want to offer even more of a goal threat in the next two games.”
With the Serbian federation currently being punished for a number of discriminatory incidents, tonight’smatch will have a slightly different feel. On playing behind closed doors, Treu naturally expressed his disappointment: “It’s obviously a shame because every footballer wants to play in front of fans.”
Drawing on his experience from the pandemic and trying to see the positive side, he reassuringly added: “One possible advantage is that we’ll be able to communicate even better on the pitch. But overall, the circumstances won’t make much difference to us.”
Scherhant, who also earned his first international call-up in September, celebrated another important milestone with the team on Tuesday:
“The team sang for me, in several different languages too.”
Adopting a slightly more serious tone, he added: “But I’ve already received the best birthday present I could ask for, which is being here with the national team.”
Despite the task at hand in Belgrade, the young forward was asked about potentially representing Germany at the Olympiastadion on Monday, offering up this very sincere response: “That would be an incredibly special moment for me. It’s almost impossible to imagine. I grew up just five minutes from the stadium.”
With confidence and maturity, Scherhant also showed a willingness to adapt his position in service of the whole: “We’re encouraged to stay high and wide and have the confidence to take defenders on. That’s what I tried to do in my first two games and it gave me another boost in confidence. I want to keepbuilding on that.”