It was fun to see the two semi-finals at the EM. Although the joy was somewhat clouded from a German point of view. Because we were mercilessly shown that we no longer have any business there.
It sounds hard, but it’s true: we would only have bothered!
In terms of sport, we can no longer keep up with the absolute top, which was particularly evident from the level of the game between Spain and Italy. Do we still not want to admit it?
Well then, here are the facts:
Preliminary round at the 2018 World Cup, then a 0: 6 against Spain, now the next early failure at the EM after just one win from four games.
None of these catastrophes can pass as a slip. We are in a fatal downward spiral with an increasing speed of fall.
Even more conspicuous and probably even more fatal: Our team lacks emotions. And with it passion. An inhibited Leroy Sané with a negative body language became the German symbol of this EM.
The criticism of ex-national player Lukas Podolski in BILD has to be unreservedly agreed: “Ambition, will, fighting spirit – it all seemed so bleak. Nothing moved. “
A colleague said to me this week: “It felt like the last big emotion a German player felt was Mertesacker’s ice bin at the 2014 World Cup.”
Legendary (and clicked a million times on YouTube) how he snapped at the critical ZDF reporter after the close 2: 1 nV against Algeria: “What do you want from me now? Do you want a successful World Cup or should you drop out and have played well. I’ll lie down in the ice bin for three days and then we’ll analyze the game. “
After the interview, he joined an advertising gang. And for many, this was in retrospect the signal that Germany could become world champions a little later with a lot of passion.
Jogi Löw will also suspect today that it would have been better if he had done it like Franz Beckenbauer in 1990 and would have resigned at the height of his career. Afterwards he could only seldom start the fire, in the end not at all.
A fire with which teams like Switzerland or Denmark overtook us at this European Championship. From our point of view, weren’t they the “little ones”?
We will be forced to become more humble again.
Because “The Team” is currently a sham package – beautiful packaging with no corresponding content.
But now I’m really looking forward to the final. To the Italians, who push themselves with their anthem and celebrate successful defensive actions like other goals. The fighting English who then sing “Sweet Caroline” with their fans. Emotions and passion in a loop.
It is now up to the new national coach, Hansi Flick, to get something like that back for us too …
.
