After being in the golden square of World Cups and European Championships between 2006 and 2016, the Germany national football team has experienced one disappointment after another over the past four years, which points to a frightening decline which has clearly been confirmed in the Cup of Qatar 2022 World Cup.
‘De Manchaft’ suffered a sudden defeat early in his current run against his Japanese counterparts 1-2, then performed well to snatch a 1-1 draw from Spain, before picking up an unsuccessful victory over weakling Costa Rica 4- 2 and coming out of the narrow goal for the first time, the second consecutively.
German newspapers have unleashed their anger on their soccer team, which came out with nostalgia in the first round of the World Cup in Qatar.
Kicker magazine was the fiercest in criticizing those responsible for the German FA and national team, saying: “The German national team has gradually become tiny, and worse still, our lack of development and the upcoming European Cup (hosted by Germany from 14 June to 14 July 2024) is just around the corner.”
And he recounted: “The German federation has been completely drowned, which cannot continue. The responsibility extends to some top managers, starting with coach Hansi Flick, passing through sporting director Oliver Bierhoff, and ending with the president of the Bernd Neuendorf Federation”.
Regarding the newspaper “Bild”, he said: “It is, without a doubt, the end of a great footballing country.”
He added: “This early exit is regarded as one of the worst nights 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 1 December 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.”
Disappointment 2018
And Agence France-Presse has been tracking “what it called Germany’s appalling decline over the past four years,” noting that Germany entered the 2018 World Cup and is a candidate to retain the title it won in Brazil four years ago when the Brazil defeated the hosts 7-1 in the semifinals and Argentina Messi in the final, especially as it included nine players among the world champions.
The draw also placed them in an easy group and second division teams Mexico, Sweden and South Korea, but they lost to Mexico and South Korea to take the last place and exit the first round. In that period I met the fate of the defending champions, and that’s what happened to France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014.
Germany lost their first game against Mexico 0-1, before snatching a very difficult victory against Sweden 2-1 when Toni Kroos scored in the fifth minute of added time to breathe. But it completely collapsed in the last game against South Korea, and fell 0-2.
This was followed by Mesut Ozil announcing his retirement from international football and, above all, speaking out about the existence of discrimination within the ranks of the German national team.
It was Luv and historical defeat
Joachim Loew, the engineer of his country’s 2014 World Cup victory, announced he would be leaving the Germany 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 has been postponed to the summer of 2021 due to the repercussions of the Corona virus.
And in the autumn of 2020, Germany suffered a historic defeat to Spain, 0-6, in Seville in the European Nations League, necessitating a request for Loew’s sending off.
Unlike the 2018 World Cup, Germany found themselves in a difficult group in the European Cup with France, who were crowned World Cup champions in 2018.
The match ended with France winning 1-0. After a difficult 4-2 victory over Portugal and a 2-2 draw with Hungary, ‘De Manshaft’s’ career ended in the final price against England, losing 0-2 to them. It was the first time the German national team had failed to reach the quarter-finals in back-to-back tournaments, before their hellish fall continued after 18 months in Qatar.
The controversy over the ‘One Love’ badge, which rejects discrimination, has soured the German national team’s early days in Qatar.
Team captain Manuel Neuer repeated his wish to wear the armband several times, but the Germans finally agreed in the face of the risk of sporting sanctions from the International Federation (FIFA).
In protest, coach Hansi Flick’s players put their hands over their mouths, accusing FIFA of silencing them.
Flick declined considering that this move helped them lose their 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 another blow by beating Spain 2-1, eliminating them early after Russia’s four-year fiasco.
