Germany are assured of advancing from the Nations League group stage for the first time, and the ongoing positive trend also has to do with the big contingent from Bundesliga runners-up VfB Stuttgart.
Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav scored both goals in Friday's 2-1 win at Bosnia-Herzegovina, while team-mate Jamie Leweling took his place on Monday against the Netherlands and grabbed the 1-0 winner in his debut to clinch a quarter-final berth for Julian Nagelsmann's men.
Angelo Stiller and Maximilian Mittelstädt also represented Stuttgart in the starting 11 against the Dutch, while their goalkeeper Alexander Nübel played against Bosnia and Chris Führich was part of the squad as well.
Nagelsmann praises Stuttgart coach
The six Stuttgart players exceeded the combined amount of players from traditional powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
"They come here with a lot of trust," said Nagelsmann who praised Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness for his work.
"He is doing a lot of things right. The players arrive here trained very well," Nagelsmann said.
Leweling's fairy tale
Stiller said that "we are a decent block" of Stuttgart players but Leweling stood out as the feel-good story on Monday.
The 23-year-old only made the latest squad because Bayern's Jamal Musiala had to withdraw with injury, and then started on very short notice against the Dutch because Undav was not fully fit.
Leweling had a first goal two minutes into the game nullified because of an offside situation in the build-up, then had a shot blocked, before coming third time lucky in the 64th minute for the winner.
"We won as a team. I scored the goal, but we were good at the back. We played a good game and I'm pleased that I was able to help," Leweling said.
Nagelsmannn said that Leweling had an "exceptionally good debut" far beyond his expectations, and he admitted that "he wouldn't have been here if everyone would have been healthy."
New era and new depth
The match was preceded by an official farewell for veterans Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer and Ilkay Gündogan which signalled for good the end of an era with the 2014 World Cup title.
But Nagelsmann can also be pleased that he has plenty of depth as the latest victories came in the injury-related absences of Musiala, Kai Havertz, Niclas Füllkrug, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and others.
"We are very pleased and proud of our performance today. We had a lot of new players and a lot of young players. I thought that would be more noticeable as we were missing so many players," captain Joshua Kimmich said.
Stiller and Bayern youngster Alexandar Pavlovic had strong starting 11 debuts in midfield, and goalkeeper Oliver Baumann made a crucial late save in his maiden cap.
Winning mentality is back
"The greed that the team currently embodies is a big step. I'm very proud of the team," Nagelsmann said.
The coach said that Germany are becoming "a winning team" again that plays dominant football, after years of modest results.
Of the 17 games Nagelsmann has been in charge of, he was won 10, drawn four and lost three. Two of the defeats were in November 2023 and the only one this year in the Nations League quarter-finals against eventual champions Spain.
The next tasks
Germany need only one more victory in the final November group games against Bosnia and Hungary to clinch first place in the group for a quarter-final date in March against a runner-up.
Nagelsmann wants to reach the Nations League finals in June before the start of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup he then wants to win.
But he warned: "We still have a lot of steps to go."
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