Klopp calls for unity following AfD win

Juergen Klopp yesterday said that Germany’s soccer team can help ensure “national pride is not entrusted to the wrong people” after Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) election victory.

At a Frankfurt news conference announcing his first squad as Germany manager, the former Liverpool coach referenced the state election landslide win by the anti-immigration AfD on Sept. 6.

The party won almost 44 percent of the vote in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt and expects strong results in elections on Sunday in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Germany head coach Juergen Klopp arrives for a news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, yesterday.

Photo: Reuters

Klopp took over the Germany job in July after the four-time FIFA World Cup winners suffered a third straight early elimination at the tournament. The 59-year-old has often spoke out about social issues during his time as manager of Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and FSV Mainz 05.

While not mentioning the AfD by name, Klopp advocated for adopting “positive patriotism,” while saying: “I don’t want to entrust national pride to the wrong people.”

“A crazy amount of things have happened not that long ago,” he said. “There was a vote which some people probably found OK, but others would have thought ‘good heavens, what’s going on here?’”

“From the perspective of someone in sport, I’d like to reclaim the flag for myself and for us. When we wave it, I don’t want that someone thinks: ‘what’s going on with you?’ I want that they think you’re happy and you understand how lucky you are to be born in this wonderful country or to have moved here and live here,” he added.

Topics involving patriotism and nationalism are often sensitive in Germany, a country still at pains to atone for its dark history of Nazi rule, World War II and the Holocaust.

Speaking of national pride, Klopp said he was “not even sure if one can — or is allowed to — use that term anymore without it being misunderstood.”

“I can be proud of being German and still be open, diverse, kind and friendly,” he said.

It was more important that the country had enough doctors and caregivers, but soccer can “foster a sense of community here, allowing us to truly feel the power of sport,” the coach said.

Klopp took the unusual step of naming a huge 44-man squad for four upcoming UEFA Nations League matches, despite match day lists being restricted to 23 players.

“It’s very unusual that you’ve got four games in two weeks with the national team,” Klopp said. “I want to get to know as many players as possible in that time.”

Klopp won the UEFA Champions League and Premier League during a trophy-laden nine-year stint at Liverpool.