Hey, maybe losing in the most painful way imaginable was a blessing in disguise? Had Germany scraped through and been beaten by France in the last-16, the DFB may have been able to persuade themselves that the team was mere fractions away from being competitive.
Perhaps they might even have claimed that the scent of progress could be detected in the wind. After two group-stage eliminations at World Cups, at least we won a tie here. And we only lost to Spain in extra-time two years ago, guys. Probably that’s what Jonathan Tah was thinking as he hoofed his penalty back over the Atlantic Ocean.
Germany cannot escape their own reflection now. The only thing worse than not playing knockout matches at World Cups is playing them as heavy favourites and being humiliated. And they lost on penalties at a World Cup for the first time too, so the stereotyped jokes at the expense of others don’t even work anymore.
Jurgen Klopp has been everywhere during this tournament – he’s surely too obvious not to appoint? (Photo: AFP)
This is a national emergency for the DFB. Their team will go at least 16 years without ranking in the top 16 of any World Cup tournament. Once they were giants, then champions, then contenders and now has-beens and when-will-they-be-agains. The list of nations to win a knockout tie since them: Canada, Russia, Sweden, Morocco, Croatia.
