Germany's noble castle in the desert

Thomas Müller stood there in a tight pair of swimming trunks and eagerly awaited the next throw. His colleague Kai Havertz reached out, let a sack filled with corn slip out of his hand, and a murmur was heard at the pool. Between training sessions, the German national soccer players in Qatar relax with cornhole, a game that is particularly popular in the USA, in which you have to hit a hole in a wooden board. Havertz and fellow player Julian Brandt won thanks to the last throw, Müller played with Nico Schlotterbeck.

At the weekend, the selection of national coach Hansi Flick in Al Ruwais in Qatar began intensive preparation for their first World Cup game against Japan on Wednesday (2 p.m., ARD). And tries to be socially present off the field during the highly controversial tournament: On Sunday evening, some of Flick's stars played football with 20 women from Qatar. The campaign was part of the "Community Events" organized by the world association Fifa at the World Cup, with which all 32 teams in the host country promote social projects. The DFB is particularly committed to the development of women's football. "It's nice to share the joy of football and to get in touch," said attacking star Serge Gnabry before the campaign began.

The Al Shamal Stadium, where he and his colleagues train every day, is like a castle. Nobody can see anything from the outside, many security forces secure the facility, a security man sits alone under an umbrella in the desert behind the site. The police direct the team's bus to the units, and the German Football Association (DFB) has brought its own security guards with it in addition to the security forces from Qatar. National team director Oliver Bierhoff reported at the weekend about a conversation with an acquaintance. Looking at the recently completed DFB campus, he said with a wink: "You didn't manage to build Fort Knox in Frankfurt. Now you have succeeded here.”

Not far from the training facility, between the desert and the sea, is the 280,000 square meter Zulal Wellness Resort, where the team will be staying during the World Cup. Al Zulal is Arabic for "pure water."

The journey to the capital, Doha, takes just under an hour and a half from here. The hotel complex was recently opened and is an organic resort: there is no plastic packaging. Room prices for "normal" guests: Between 800 and 22,000 euros (700 square meter suite with butler) per night. Hotel manager is German, the hostel has 450 employees. "We have everything we need in Ruwais," said national coach Flick. The atmosphere is fantastic, the short distance to the training facility is an important aspect for him as a trainer.

The DFB has rented half the hotel for the World Cup, the team is housed in the less noble part of the facility. A screen was installed to separate the players from the other guests. This is where the “Spirit of Al Ruwais” is supposed to emerge, a special team spirit that carries the team through the tournament, just like at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when the team lived in the now legendary Campo Bahia and won the title. Top chef Anton Schmaus has traveled from Regensburg and is cooking for the team during the World Cup. Youssoufa Moukoko had a low-calorie cake on Sunday: the striker turned 18. He would like to win against Japan, said the striker. The crew sang for him.

"I'm convinced that we won't get cabin fever," says captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. And explains what the team otherwise does in the quarter in their free time: Among other things, the stars play padel tennis and on the video console. A darts board was also hung. In a sports hall at the training ground, the players can play basketball, and table tennis is also possible.

Above all, you have to use the time between training sessions to talk about football and analyze opponents Japan via video, according to Neuer. "We're trying to spend as much time outside as possible to adapt," defender Thilo Kehrer said of the high temperatures in Qatar. At the weekend it was around 29 degrees at noon.

Flick had his team train twice on Saturday. In the first unit in the morning, the focus was on game forms, followed by duels in over and under numbers and a tournament. Gnabry said: "One can hardly wait until the World Cup finally starts for us."

Bierhoff is having a lot of conversations with the players these days. After the embarrassing loss of the preliminary round at the 2018 World Cup and the round of 16 at the 2021 European Championship, it should finally be a successful tournament for the Germans again, but they don’t see themselves as favorites for the title. Bierhoff believes that South American teams such as Brazil and Argentina in particular should go far. "We've been warned from the first minute," he said. “We will have to be prepared that it will be a tough fight. Now the tunnel vision has to come for the first game. If we gain self-confidence straight away, then anything is possible.”