Second German Hecatomb of the Summer

Germany experienced a new football disappointment just a month after being eliminated by the English team in the round of 16 of the European Championship. The Olympic team of the four-time world champion did not go from a draw to one against the Ivory Coast and, in this way, said goodbye to the Olympic Games in the most premature way. It is urgent to draw conclusions from a black summer for a Mannschaft that, under the orders of coach Flick, wants to resume the course in the Qatar World Cup.

I needed to win the Mannschaft and it showed from the beginning. Kuntz’s men managed to get the leather and put the Ivorians in trouble, who were lucky when a header from Ache crashed into the crossbar. It was the clearest occasion for a German team that, as it happened in previous appointments, went from more to less and, even, had to thank the referee for his decision not to expel captain Arnold on the brink of halftime after a tackle on Kouamé.

The script of the clash did not change in the second period, with a better German team, but without hitting up. It was then that Germany began to get nervous and allowed the Ivory Coast to get closer to the framework protected by Müller. And quite unlike the Mannschaft, the Ivorians didn’t need too many chances to tip the balance in their favor. With just over 20 minutes to go, an own goal from Henrichs put the game very uphill for Germany.

He pulled the Mannschaft out of character and, barely six minutes later, he managed to put the tables again by means of a great direct free kick executed by Löwen that crashed into the squad of the frame protected by the goalkeeper Ira. There was a quarter of an hour left, Kuntz’s pupils jumped for the goal that would have given them a pass to the quarterfinals and the Ivorians found themselves with space to counterattack. There were chances in both areas, but the good defensive approach by the Ivory Coast finally sealed the second German catastrophe of the summer.