Yesterday, Loris came online for a little bit and we talked about the game. Surprisingly enough, it made me feel better – there was someone who, ultimately, was even more upset than I was. But it was only when I was lying around in bed that the frustration truly hit me: It is an unprecedented case of disappointment.
I have been following this team ever since 1996 when the team from 1990 was still around. Afterwards, the team just got worse and worse, and I only superficially paid attention to them. Then there was the surprising final in 2002, where you expected them to lose against Brazil. Then there was 2006, which I would call the beginning of the new team – a little sloppy, not too capable but very, very dynamic. It’s not a Wunder von Bern but for me, pretty close. For years, Germany is the only team in the entire world which is truly fun to watch, and ever since, the team has only gotten better and more fun. Some of the people I used to like are not there anymore (Neuville, Odonkor – haha, Müller is only replacement), but that doesn’t really matter, because so many great new players entered the field. I even consider Gomez a good player, I just dislike him on a personal level. Nowadays, the team is not just a Turniermannschaft anymore, these are actually good players as the Champions League results of Bayern Munich this year suggest. Germany’s soccer team single-handedly turns the Germans into a likable country, since God knows the unpleasant faces of German people certainly do not help.
Considering this past, I had high expectations. I mean, come on, except for Spain everybody else pretty much sucked. They were considering the Netherlands (who were again unlucky but ultimately also pretty bad) or Russia other favorites for the match – that says enough about the overall quality of the teams. (It wouldn’t surprise me if the European teams lost badly in Brazil in two years.) As a result, this Eurocup could easily have been Germany’s. I expected it – everybody probably expected it. And then I realized that I never expected anything before. I was shocked (and happy) when they made it into the final 2002, I was hopeful for 2006 (but actually I thought they were going to suck) and I was absolutely ecstatic about their results 2010 because really, Germany’s win against Argentina was crazy. I understand the Argentinians now – they absolutely deserved to win a world cup in this decade, but it never worked out. Partially because of Germany after all! (It is because of that that I am typically rooting for Argentina and I prefer them over Brazil and Uruguay, but what can I do when they end up playing against Germany? :D) This time they played against friggin’ Italy. Italy! The darkest and most shameful soccer nation of all – why did it have to be Italy again!
Unlike for the 1990 team, which had a bunch of great players I liked, the current team has a bunch of players who I feel strongly for. It is not as bad for the kids, since Özil, Khedira, Müller etc. will still have other chances. But this one was probably one of the last chances for Lahm, and most likely it was the last chance for Klose to win a title. Everyone knows that, and this time it is just so sad. If they had been a bad team, it would probably be easier to accept, but this is a bright, positive and capable team, and it just feels unfair. It was mad luck which allowed the team to get into the finals in 2002, and it’s bad luck for them to lose the eurocup.
Someone I know wrote that she was “strongly disappointed in [her] country’s team” and subsequently produced non-German food. I was like… what, are you their mother or what? I don’t think it’s our judgement call to be disappointed as if we contributed to their education, because we didn’t. I also think there was absolutely no reason to be disappointed in them at all. They did very well, just like the Netherlands did pretty well, they were largely just not lucky. I would never, even for a second, turn away from this team nor from this country, quite au contraire. (Though arguably there is no reason to be proud of this country just because the team is doing well.) All you can be disappointed about is the game itself.
I think I was much more frustrated than I thought, and I realized that I could not put these thoughts just into the introduction of some movie post. (Most of are common knowledge after all, so sorry about the rant.) Another aspect I consider is that I ultimately have not worked a lot this week. Work is the only thing in this world which gives me peace of mind after all. So there, time to work.
PS. It just dawned on me that in 2006 my teenage angst self vowed not to eat anything Italian until the next world cup. Obviously that did not last very long.
