After being in the golden square of the World and European Cups between 2006 and 2016, the German national football team has experienced one disappointment after another in the last four years, indicating a frightening decline that was clearly confirmed in the Qatar World Cup 2022.
“De Manchaft” suffered a sudden loss at the start of his career in the current version against his Japanese counterpart 1-2, then performed well to snatch a tie from Spain 1-1, before achieving a fruitless victory over weak Costa Rica 4-2 and exiting the narrow door for the first time. The second in succession.
German newspapers poured out their anger on their football team, which came out with nostalgia in the first round of the World Cup in Qatar.
Kicker magazine was the most fierce in criticizing those responsible for the German Federation and the national team, and said, “The German national team has gradually become dwarfed, and worse than that, our lack of development, and the next European Cup (hosted by Germany from June 14 to July 14, 2024) is just around the corner.”
And she talked about, “The German Federation has been completely drowned, which cannot continue. The responsibility extends to some senior officials, starting with coach Hansi Flick, passing through sports director Oliver Bierhoff, and ending with Federation President Bernd Neuendorf.”
As for the “Bild” newspaper, it said, “It is, without a doubt, the end of a great footballing country.”
She added, “This early exit is considered one of the worst evenings in our history. We must not look far for those responsible for this fall: the federation, the coach, the players and no one else.”
The date of December 1, 2022 will be remembered and will mark the end of an era for a country that was great and proud in football, winning the World Cup 4 times and the European Cup 3 times. This is far away.”
2018 disappointment
And Agence France-Presse monitored “what it called the terrible decline of Germany in the last four years,” noting that Germany entered the 2018 World Cup and is a candidate to retain its title that it won in Brazil four years ago, when Brazil crushed the host 7-1 in the semi-finals and Argentina Messi in the final. , especially since it included nine players among the world champions.
The draw also placed it in an easy group and teams from the second tier, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea, but it lost to Mexico and South Korea to occupy last place and exit from the first round. At that time, I met the fate of the defending champions, and this is what happened to France in 2002, Italy in 2010, and Spain in 2014.
Germany lost its first match against Mexico 0-1, before snatching a very difficult victory against Sweden 2-1 when Toni Kroos scored a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to breathe a little. But it completely collapsed in the last match against South Korea, and fell to it 0-2.
This was followed by Mesut Ozil announcing his retirement from international football, and more than that, he talked about the existence of discrimination in the ranks of the German national team.
Luv era and historic defeat
Joachim Loew, the engineer of his country’s victory in the 2014 World Cup, announced that he would leave the German national team months before the 2020 European Cup, noting that he worked as an assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann from 2004 to 2006 before succeeding him.
The European Cup was postponed to the summer of 2021 due to the repercussions of the Corona virus.
And in the fall of 2020, Germany suffered a historic defeat against Spain, 0-6, in Seville in the European Nations League, which necessitated the demand for Loew’s dismissal.
Unlike the 2018 World Cup, Germany found itself in a difficult group in the European Cup with France, which was crowned World Cup champion in 2018.
The match ended with France winning 1-0. After a difficult victory over Portugal 4-2 and a draw with Hungary 2-2, the “De Manshaft” career stopped in the final price against England, losing 0-2 to them. It was the first time that the German national team did not reach the quarter-finals in two consecutive tournaments, before its infernal fall continued after 18 months in Qatar.
The controversy over the “One Love” badge, which rejects discrimination, soured the early days of the German national team in Qatar.
Team captain Manuel Neuer repeated several times his desire to wear the armband, but the Germans finally acquiesced in the face of the risk of sporting sanctions from the International Federation (FIFA).
In protest, coach Hansi Flick’s players put their hands in front of their mouths, accusing FIFA of silencing them.
Flick refused to consider that making this move contributed to losing the opening match against Japan 1-2.
This false start was fatal for Germany, which regained its balance somewhat by drawing with Spain 1-1, and then beating Costa Rica (4-2).
But the fate of “Die Mannschaft” was not in her hands, so Japan dealt her a new blow by beating Spain 2-1, to get her out early from the race after four years of Russia’s fiasco.