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The painful new reality Germany face after disastrous World Cup exit
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- The painful new reality Germany face after disastrous World Cup exit
Finally, Uli Stielike has company. For 44 years, an outstanding player for Borussia Monchengladbach , Real Madrid and his country stood alone as the only German man to miss a penalty in a World Cup shootout. Then three came in a flurry: Kai Havertz with a tame attempt, Nick Woltemade with a still tamer one and Jonathan Tah with his wild, skied effort the most crucial of the three before Jose Canale confirmed their fate.
The old stereotypes of Germany football, the Turniermannschaft with their menacing inexorableness, are being destroyed. An exit to Paraguay did not feel very German; but now a staple of the business end of tournaments have failed to make the last 16 of a third successive World Cup. Germany's last victory in a knockout tie remains the 2014 final.
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Since then, they have lost, either over 90 minutes or on penalties, to Mexico , South Korea , Japan , Ecuador and Paraguay, each a result that would have seemed unGerman. There had been pessimism about this week from some in the German footballing world: but in anticipation of a last-16 defeat to France in Philadelphia. Instead, it is Paraguay who head to Pennsylvania. German are off home.
For Julian Nagelsmann, while he said he would "love" to continue in the job, it is presumably to face unemployment. He has been stalked by Jurgen Klopp at this tournament , the spectre of a possible successor coming from the charismatic former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool manager, following his country on punditry duties.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann looks dejected after the match (Reuters)
The eventual verdict may be that Nagelsmann has flattered to deceive as the Bundestrainer. Germany have made spectacular starts to two tournaments under him, walloping Scotland 5-1 and Curacao 7-1 but then tailed off . A quarter-final appearance in Euro 2024 could have been a platform for progress. Now Nagelsmann, like Joachim Low and Hansi Flick before him, has become a manager with serious feats on his CV to struggle in a World Cup.
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In the United States, Germany were unconvincing against the more obdurate opponents they faced. They just beat Cote d'Ivoire, lost to Ecuador in a game the German players, if not the manager, admitted the South Americans wanted more, and dominated possession and chances against Paraguay, yet looked uninspired in scoring a solitary goal in 120 minutes. A second, from Jonathan Tah, was perhaps wrongly chalked off but Nagelsmann's Germany had sufficient shortcomings that they cannot simply plead misfortune.
Germany's Nick Woltemade, Malick Thiaw and Nadiem Amiri react (Reuters)
The manager's decision to bring Manuel Neuer out of international retirement backfired; he looked his 40 years, especially against Ecuador. Nagelsmann's strange faith in Leroy Sane was not rewarded, either. Eight years ago, when the winger had blistering speed, Low ought to have taken him to the World Cup. Two wrongs don't make a right. Nagelsmann started Sane in every game, and he scored a second-minute goal against Ecuador. But against Paraguay, Sane was awful, losing the ball 23 times and completing none of his seven dribbles.
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Meanwhile, Jamal Musiala was benched; Nagelsmann's decision-making was questioned earlier in the tournament when he kept Deniz Undav out of the starting 11 when the striker's first two cameos produced three goals and two assists in 56 minutes.
Germany's Kai Havertz reacts (Reuters)
Germany's Jamal Musiala appears dejected after defeat (PA)
Perhaps he was right to begin with, though. Undav was ineffective as a starter against Paraguay, while deploying him from the beginning cost Germany their super-sub. Where Nagelsmann merited sympathy, arguably, was that Germany lost Lennart Karl and Serge Gnabry to injuries before the tournament. Situations at club level may have counted against Nagelsmann, too: Florian Wirtz 's debut season at Liverpool did not go to plan and Woltemade's first at Newcastle got worse. Without Karl and Gnabry, though, Nagelsmann struggled for a formula; Germany's goal tally looked healthy, but only due to facing Curacao .
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Step back from individual issues and there can be wider problems. One theory is that a focus on possession, some of it influenced by the former Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola, has taken away from traditional German strengths. The current generation have the technique but perhaps not the presence or the remorselessness of their predecessors. There is a host of contenders for the No 10 role but, since Miroslav Klose, there has been no archetypal German centre-forward for any length of time. Without the Germans of stereotype, the fear factor may be going.
Certainly the last three World Cups have suggested Germany can be drowned by a rising tide in the global game: the 15th, 25th or 35th best sides in the world are rather better than they were.
But Germany still expect to win such games. "Shock is probably a fine word," said Havertz after Paraguay eliminated them. It was a surprise and yet, the longer Germany failed to get a second goal against Paraguay, there was a growing sense that this would be the day their unblemished record in World Cup penalty shootouts ended. The team who used to outlast everyone else became the first of the real big guns to go. And, strange as it sounds to those with memories of the era of German inevitability, maybe that is part of their identity now.
