SHOOTOUT SCHADENFREUDE
When Germany crashed out of the 1998 World Cup – a miserable 3-0 quarter-final defeat to Croatia – the DFB hit the factory reset button. Youth coaching was overhauled, as was the scouting system designed to spot the talent, and it was made compulsory for the 18 top teams in the country to build performance centres. Euro 2000 came too soon for any meaningful impact on the German national team – the defending champions finished bottom of their group – but the wheels were in motion. Das Reboot was born, and a generation of footballers later, Germany would again be world champions in 2014. “At least 10 players who are involved in the national team today we would have never found otherwise,” swooned Dietrich Weise in 2015, a key figure in the earlier revamp. “Think of Toni Kroos. He hails from a small place in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. No one would have looked at him.”
It’s hard to know where the next Kroos will come from, or what steps the DFB will take following Germany’s Geopolitics World Cup humiliation: a penalty-shootout defeat (!!!!) to plucky Paraguay, who had never previously scored a goal in World Cup knockout football. One suspects another German factory reset is needed, but the country was too busy sticking Das Boot into Julian Nagelsmann and co on Tuesday to think about that. Bild’s front page described the result as “the next German football nightmare”, while columnist Marion Horn went a step further: “German football is now living solely off its past reputation. And if I’m to believe Lothar Matthäus, then within the team, it was a more important issue whose mother was allowed to fly on the private jet and whose was not, than how we would win the cup.”
The hottest take, though, surely belonged to Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz: “Even though the elimination hurts: What a game, @DFB_Team!,” he finger-on-the-pulsed. “With your commitment and team spirit at this World Cup, you have thrilled our country. We are proud of you.” That freezing cold take from a politician wasn’t quite as bad as David Cameron, supposedly a long-time Aston Villa fan, telling an audience he supported West Ham, but it wasn’t far off. The Paraguay president, Santiago Peña, read the room a little bit better, immediately declaring a national holiday on Tuesday following his country’s historic win. For Germany, the road to 2030 starts now. Unfortunately for Nagelsmann – or Jürgen Klopp, or whoever else is put in charge of this mess – the revolution will be televised.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
We go again: join Scott Murray for Côte d’Ivoire 1-2 Norway from 4pm BST (1pm EDT). Then it’s over to Will Unwin for France 3-1 Sweden (10pm BST/5pm EDT), before Mexico 1-1 Ecuador (aet, 5-4 on pens) at 2am BST (9pm EDT). Vamos!
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When we have the ball we don’t have a problem, when we don’t have possession we’re going to have to be efficient. But we have a capacity to generate danger, which is a strength, and I want us to keep it” – France head coach Didier Deschamps issues a warning to the rest of the tournament.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
It looks bleak for upcoming games,
For who is replacing Reece James?
It should have been Quansah,
Instead might be Konsa …
Will England be shot down in flames?” – Nick Smith.
The Memory Lane image of Claudio Gentile taking down Maradona (yesterday’s full email), made me realise what this tournament has been missing: pantomime villains. Uruguay teams of yesteryear would proudly collect their red cards in the first 10 minutes of vital World Cup games, not the last. Even Portugal have become hard to hate, given how mean-spirited you have to be to scorn a group of young men helping an elderly gent across the pitch” – Justin Kavanagh.
Re: soccer (Daily letters passim): The great Sir Matt Busby, whose Proper Football credentials need no AI verification, titled his autobiography ‘Soccer at the Top’. Let’s move on: there are far more important reasons to berate Americans, like the disgusting stuff that passes for chocolate over there” – Antony Crossley.
Fair play to Germany for consistently boycotting the round of 16 during World Cups in countries with questionable human rights situations. Gotta respect that! – James Vortkamp-Tong.
If the James Bond franchise is looking for a name for their new villain, may I recommend Mullin Markwayne?” – Krishna Moorthy.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Nick Smith. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
World Cup Daily looks back over Monday’s heavyweight last-32 clashes, as Brazil survive and advance but Germany and the Netherlands crash out. Listen here.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
David Squires’ latest, up-to-the-minute GWC cartoon includes a German mullet, Casemiro’s brat summer and a Wordle easter egg. Get stuck in.
