Let's get away.

The German tour group was in a hurry during the night.

After a late meal at the hotel, we went straight to the airport.

Not because Iceland has nothing to offer for tourists or because the autumn weather with temperatures of around eight degrees and a little rain had bothered us.

But the entourage was on the road purely on business and had completely fulfilled its assignment.

With a 4-0 victory in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, the selection of the German Football Association (DFB) left Reykjavik late on Thursday with the goal of Frankfurt am Main.

Tobias Rabe

Responsible editor for Sport Online.

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But as smoothly as the sporting task was solved, the return trip turned out to be problematic.

The charter plane landed unscheduled in the night in Edinburgh, Scotland.

From there, all inmates should travel individually to their different destinations.

The DFB announced this early Thursday morning via Twitter.

Exact reasons for the stopover were not given.

Initially, a brief message only said “Safety first”, a little later the association announced: “We're fine.

Safety check on the machine is running. "

Nevertheless, the eleven days together of the German national players with the new national coach Hansi Flick and his team can be considered successful.

The difficult start with the 2-0 win against outsiders Liechtenstein in Sankt Gallen, Switzerland was followed by a rousing 6-0 win against Armenia in Stuttgart and now the successful conclusion in Iceland.

Three games, three wins, no goal conceded on twelve goals of their own, that is the flawless record on paper, but much more important is the change in mood.

This German national team is fun again, both for itself and for the fans.

"That was implemented excellently"

"It is a good finish to go home with nine points in the bag," said Flick. His conclusion after starting in a new role at the DFB was positive. "If you take the three games, we can be very satisfied with the development," said the national coach, who was the co-trainer of his predecessor Joachim Löw from 2006 to 2014 and now, after his time as sports director at the DFB, which ended in early 2017, in had returned to a responsible position. “We set nine points from the three games as a target. The team did an excellent job. "

The results of the national team are reminiscent of Flick's start at Bayern in November 2019. At that time, a 2-0 in the Champions League against Piraeus was followed by two 4-0 wins in the Bundesliga over Dortmund and in Düsseldorf. However, it is not to be expected that the country selection process will continue like that of the German flagship club from Munich. In his year and a half, Flick and his team won seven titles. So many are not awarded to national teams in such a short period of time. But winning the World Cup in Qatar is also a long way off - despite all the positive approaches.

Because the three opponents that Flick and Co. got at the premiere are not fighting in the weight class in which they have to survive in a world tournament. The new national coach showed his joy about the successes and the conquered first place in the qualification group, which should bring the World Cup ticket in a month or two, but he didn't want to look too far ahead that evening in Iceland. “Let's stay calm now. I think it's important that we feel our way from game to game. ”October will continue when Romania is waiting in Hamburg and the game in North Macedonia.