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Germany begin new era under Flick with 3 straight wins

Germany started their new era under coach Hansi Flick with three wins in a row, scoring 12 goals and conceding none, but the ex-Bayern Munich manager believes they can still improve.

"We only had a few training sessions. Our goal was to win the three games, and we achieved that," said Flick, after a 4-0 win over Iceland in Reykjavik yesterday morning (Singapore time).

"We're not at 100 per cent yet, but the team is on the right track. The guys are implementing things the way we imagine."

Flick, who took over from Joachim Loew after Euro 2020, added that there was still room for improvement.

"(Too often) the last decisive pass was not correct, the timing wasn't right, these are things we have to do better," he said.

Germany, who started their qualifiers with a 2-1 loss to North Macedonia in March, have consolidated their top spot in Group J. They are four points ahead of second-placed Armenia.

They took just five minutes to take the lead against Iceland,with Leroy Sane playing in Serge Gnabry to score. After a lengthy VAR (video assistant referee) review for a possible offside, the goal stood.

The visitors added a second 20 minutes later when Antonio Ruediger was left unmarked to score with a header from a Joshua Kimmich free-kick.

Iceland nearly scored after the break but Albert Gudmundsson was ruled offside.

Sane effectively killed the game off when he rifled the ball into the roof of the net 11 minutes into the second half.

Timo Werner added a late fourth with an effort that hit the post and bounced out before spinning across the line. - REUTERS

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