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The horror is great - once again.
Germany is out of the World Cup, like it was in 2018. Then as now, the team failed in the preliminary round.
However, there are differences between the two embarrassments:
Peter Ahrens, SPIEGEL sports editor
»In 2018 we had a world champion who also went into this tournament with a certain arrogance and self-confidence, which was then punished. In addition, a team that was not united, in which there were different currents and, as they say, groups. In 2022, I think you just saw that you have to be concentrated and focused right from the start at a World Cup like this. A game that you screw up, and you screwed up this Japan game, is enough.«
The national coach and players had emphasized again and again how much quality there is in this team.
However, more neutral observers also recognized weaknesses.
Peter Ahrens, SPIEGEL sports editor
“We have a storm that doesn't score goals and we have a defense that's always good to concede. Those are two components that are pretty suboptimal for a successful team, I would say. Well, the players up there, no matter how technically trained they are, they are not final players and you knew that. And in the last game, where goals count, it was a mistake as a coach to rely on these players again.”
After the disappointing departure of his team, Hansi Flick is no longer untouchable for the first time in his year and a half in office.
Peter Ahrens, SPIEGEL sports editor
He has also recognized his limitations as a coach. In other words, he had his system played through against Japan, where a different system might have been more appropriate. He didn't bet on that jug effect in the game against Costa Rica. You can always say, yes, if the public demands a player, you don't have to give in as a coach, of course. But in this case it would simply have been the better solution. The solution would have been to go for goals right from the start.«
Incidentally, Flick has ruled out consequences for himself.
However, another DFB manager also has to question himself: manager Oliver Bierhoff.
Peter Ahrens, SPIEGEL sports editor
»At a world championship, that's a performance show for the entire world. And that's when you realize the limits Germany is then coming up against. And I don't know if there's always a hint of hubris, because every time Bierhoff says, for example, Germany is a title nation - and that's not the case at the moment when it comes to a World Cup. «
In just over a year and a half, Germany will host the European Football Championship.
The declared goal of the DFB is to win the title.
First, however, the team should survive the preliminary round.