German Elf "like the three monkeys"?

Marcel Reif complains about the "pathetic" attitude of the teams

Created: 11/24/2022, 10:52 am

The guests at "Maischberger" on November 23, 2022.

© ARD / maischberger.

the week

The German team is met with criticism at the World Cup in Qatar.

Reif tries to appease, but Hatice Akyün speaks of "ridiculous action". 

Munich – It almost fell into oblivion.

On Wednesday was the opening game of the German national soccer team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

After a short dutiful analysis by moderator Marcel Reif as to why the game against Japan was lost 1:2, Sandra Maischberger turned to the captain's armband.

After days of discussion, FIFA banned the wearing of the so-called "One Love Bandage" and justified this with its ban on political messages.

In response, the German players covered their mouths with their right hands for the mandatory team photo before kick-off.

Columnist Hatice Akyün finds the German team's action "ridiculous, it seems a bit like the three monkeys: hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing".

She would have wished for an attitude, which means nothing other than bearing the consequences, but not ducking away.

She shares the assessment of Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), who advocated simply taking the risk and seeing what FIFA could come up with.

"Maischberger" - These guests will discuss on November 23 with:

• Carlo Masala

  - military expert

• Boris Bondarev

  - former Russian UN diplomat in Geneva, joined

• Gilda Sahebi

  – Journalist and Doctor

• Marcel Reif

  – sports journalist

• Hatice Akyün

  – columnist at the Tagesspiegel

• Florian Harms

  – Editor-in-Chief at t-online

Marcel Reif doesn't want to blame the players, but considers it "pathetic" how the associations allowed FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to show them off.

“The associations have gotten carried away,” judges Reif.

"But if this World Cup is good for something, then the Iran team showed it," says the journalist.

The players would have to expect "completely different consequences" in their home country than the Germans would have had to do because of the "One Love Bandage".

Iran's players didn't sing the national anthem in their World Cup opening game.

Journalist Gilda Sahebi provides surprising insights into this.

She says the Iranian people are angry with the players.

They would have liked a stronger action.

Like the players of the Iranian national basketball team, who took off their headscarves and had their picture taken.

The footballers are also resented for meeting with the Iranian President before leaving for Qatar.  

Human rights violations are now being denounced in Qatar, while Iran has looked the other way for decades.

Sahebi speaks of "years of naivety towards Iran".

In the reporting, too, only the nuclear agreement took place, which gave the western world the feeling that everything was going well in Iran.

In fact, human rights violations were ignored.

The rhetoric of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is becoming clearer, but the journalist is waiting for clear sanctions.

The chancellor listened carefully to a conversation, but said nothing himself.

Ukraine war at "Maischberger": Masala sees "no turning point" in the recapture of Cherson

Boris Bondarev worked as a Russian diplomat for 20 years, most recently at the UN in Geneva and resigned in May this year due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Bondarew is connected to the studio from a secret location in Switzerland.

He assumes that the outcome of the war depends on support from the West.

He does not expect negotiations to start soon.

"You need a strong negotiating position for that, that's the point," he says.

Military expert Carlo Masala disagrees with Maischberger on the importance of recapturing Cherson.

"It was an important success, but not a turning point," says Masala, who paints a bleak scenario.

According to his information, the Russian soldiers intend to dig in to launch a new offensive in the spring.

Another mobilization may follow and the ammunition factories "work double shifts".

also read

Putin before the fall?

“There are intrigues around”

China is arming itself, Russia is weakening: Putin threatens to lose Vladivostok

It cannot be assumed that Ukraine will be able to reconquer all lost territories militarily.

The only goal must be to gain territory little by little so that a rethink takes place in Russia.

"If you in Russia start thinking about what to invest in the war for what return, then the way to the negotiating table would be free."

"Putin miscalculated," says Bondarev.

"He was given misinformation by the Foreign Office and the secret service." Based on this information, the Russian President believed that "the Ukrainians received the Russian soldiers with flowers in order to be liberated from the Nazi regime".

In addition, Putin was of the opinion that the war would be decided long before the West could get involved.

Masala sees "the first signs that we could get into troubled waters".

He refers to the decreasing support for the war in the German population.

For the first time since the beginning of the war, less than 50 percent of the people in Germany are in favor of arms deliveries to Ukraine.

His clear warning: "There are already predetermined breaking points in the essential world." By this Masala means, for example, the governing parties in Italy that are aligned with Putin, the oppositions in France and the President of Hungary.

If the mood shifts, these camps will gain massive popularity and cause unrest.

"Maischberger" - conclusion of the program

A thematic sweep without much discussion.

Depth of content only came up in the conversation about Ukraine, in which Carlo Masala gave his assessment.

The most pithy remarks were made in the exchange about the World Cup, in which Hatice Akyün in particular did not mince his words.

It is clear, however, that no serious discussion can be expected if all guests are on the same page.