Germany were dumped out of the Women's World Cup in the group stages for the first time in their history, felled by teams they were expected to breeze past; Were they doomed from the start, or was this a product of multiple failings across the board?
Friday 4 August 2023 13:22, UK
Germany, a team that came to Australia with the billing as one of the favourites, have crashed at the first hurdle in a group they were expected to breeze through.
Only 12 months ago, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's side were in the final of the European Championships at Wembley, so close to winning a ninth title on the continent.
Fast forward a year later, and the 'Die Nationalelf' are out in the group stages of an international tournament for the first time in their history.
Somehow, South Korea and Colombia knew how to cultivate their demise, even at times resorting to bizarre measures to do so.
Were the two-time champions doomed before a single ball had been kicked? Or was this the product of multiple failings across the board?
Germany have had their fair share of injuries, and perhaps for that reason, we can forgive some of their defensive frailties.
They came to the World Cup without star right-back Giulia Gwinn who tore her anterior cruciate ligament last October and lost Carolin Simon to the same injury in their friendly against Zambia.
At the heart of the defence, there were more alarming issues.
Marina Hegering, who shone at the Euros last summer, was unavailable for the first two games due to an ankle strain. At the same time, Sara Doorsoun had to come off at half-time in the defeat to Colombia due to a muscular issue.
Sure, none of this was ideal, but with Voss-Tecklenburg's depth of squad, it was not expected to trigger a chain effect.
Voss-Tecklenburg wrung the changes - but not in the way Sarina Wiegman did when England faced the prospect of being without Kiera Walsh for their final group matches.
She put Svenja Huth at right-back and Sara Doorsoun as the middling anchor in a 4-3-3 system. Chantel Hagel, a left-footed midfielder, was deployed at left-back.
It meant that Germany had just two recognised defenders in their starting line-up. And it showed.
Colombia and South Korea flooded the wings and stretched their defence across 180 minutes, denying 'Die Nationalelf' a chance to dominate the Group H standings.
Nina Potzel, host of the German football podcast 'Die 45', spoke about this in great detail on the latest episode of 'The Offside Rule'.
"They always went through the centre, we didn't even think about the possibility of going down the wings; the overall communication in the back was not good" she lamented.
"There were times where I felt, 'why are you going that way, when there's so much space elsewhere'?"
Defensive uncertainty was something South Korea manager Colin Bell had also spotted.
Talking about Huth and Hagel, he said: "They haven't got the schooling of full-backs, so it was right to target those areas. They're very good players, but they're not full-backs."
He got that in one.
The Germans defensive weaknesses might have been forced upon them, but the same cannot be said for their attack.
Here is a team littered with stars, but the creativity and incision in central areas was severely lacking.
Klara Buhl and Jule Brand - Germany's most potent playmakers - could not flourish in the new system. Alexandra Popp cut a hauntingly isolated figure up top, and the otherwise mercurial Lena Oberdorf was left to resort to frustrating challenges in the midfield.
Former England striker Natasha Dowie was this week's guest on 'The Offside Rule' podcast, and shared her thoughts on last year's European Championship finalists and their missing offence.
"It's normally so hard to play against the Germans, they started so well against Morocco, but since then, they seemed to rely too heavily on Popp.
"They have too many talented players, too much quality to just focus on her. Oberdorf is one who I think massively disappointed me this tournament".
While she was a player who many tipped to be one of the breakout young stars, the Wolfsburg forward too was carrying an injury that meant she could not perform at her best.
Part of this was also down to the guile and grit of her opposition.
For instance, Bell's decision to introduce towering 36-year-old centre-forward Eun-sun Park as an emergency defender to mark Popp was undoubtedly one of the most unprecedented tactical tweaks in the history of the World Cup.
The fact that it worked tells of two things: the nations that we projected to fade out of the tournament deserve our praise, and, more worryingly, Germany had no plan B.
All the promises and hopeful ambitions made after last summer's exciting Euros campaign feel hollow.
"We've already said this tournament is a stepping stone in our development," Voss-Tecklenburg reinforced last July. "It wasn't enough now but this leads us to the next step."
Whatever happened in the aftermath of that result has not put 'Die Nationalelf' in a good place.
Potzel was just as confused and shocked at how things had panned out a year on from a successful national venture in England.
"I don't know what went wrong. I'm really in shock, just like everybody else. It seemed like a completely different team, missing passes, not talking to each other" she said.
Her scathing review brings an important question to the forefront: How do Germany recover from this position? Will it take an internal inquiry, or something far more substantial to discover the kinks in the collective armour?
The next few months will answer all those questions, and more.
The round of 16 takes place from August 5 to August 8 with eight games being played across Australia and New Zealand.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.
