|
John O'Shea's late equaliser in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night has put the seal on world champions Germany's "historic false start" in the 2016 European Championship qualifiers, as the domestic press -- patient with the team following the Poland defeat -- began to ask questions on Wednesday. Despite dominating large spells of the match, a nervous final five minutes for Germany in their third 2016 European Championship qualifier left the World Cup winners with a 1-1 draw against Ireland, whom they had beaten 6-1 and 3-0 in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. Joachim Low's side remain fourth in their group, and have only picked up four points from their matches against Scotland, Poland and Ireland. "What's wrong with the world champions?" Die Zeit headlined, and elaborated on the reasons for "the worst start into any qualifying campaign." They especially looked at several key players during the road to the World Cup triumph. Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos, Zeit claimed, tried to put the blame on others, instead of stepping up. While Kroos once again "showed that he is the master of the well-tempered pass" and "can score goals", "the game slipped out of his hands when it mattered" and "he made the wrong decisions," the paper said. Die Zeit argued that "Rio was a triumph of the collective, the spirit," but that this "can't just be transported into the everyday life," not even in Gelsenkirchen where there "once again was an atmosphere to fall asleep to," which even "the cheerful Irish couldn't save." Like seven of Germany's last 14 home games, the Ireland match was not sold out, and the DFB has already announced to look into that problem. Following the World Cup triumph, DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach said that he "expects a boom," but both qualifiers against Scotland -- in Dortmund's Westfalenstadion -- and Ireland did not sell out. "That's something we take very serious and we will look into after those games," DFB press officer Jens Grittner told SID before the Ireland tie. "We, of course, have a great interest that Die Nationalmannschaft plays for a packed house." It was pretty silent in Gelsenkirchen, indeed, and some fans whistled at the team following O'Shea's late equaliser, but that was only a side note on a night that led to a start unprecedented in German footballing history. "There are reasons for it, and some of them are homemade," Die Welt said. "Where are the characters?" they asked and also bemoaned the lack of creativity. "An extraordinary ideas provider like Marco Reus is missed badly," the paper explained, but added that the "young German B team had enough quality to prevent the 2-0 in Poland and the 1-1 against Ireland. But the final product was lacking, and the easy superiority obviously led to a few percent less determination." In a comment piece headlined "code yellow in the land of the World champions" the football magazine kicker said that "anyone hoping that the 2-0 defeat in Warsaw was just a slip was utterly disappointed on Tuesday night. "The planned walk through Group D is turning into a marathon. And Joachim Low and his personnel will only charge the field from behind with a different attitude and different conviction than it was the case on Tuesday," the paper warned. Der Spiegel revived the old tradition of the "German Rumpelfussball" (rumble football), last seen under Bundestrainer Rudi Voller. "They passed the ball around the Irish defence like handballers do before the circle, looking for the space, which nearly never was found. It seemed without a concept, without ideas, without creativity," they said. "Shock in stoppage time," Suddeutsche Zeitung headlined and said that the land of the World champions has entered difficult times following a "shaky re-entrance into the atmosphere after their intergalactic ride at the World Cup." The tabloid Express was one of the few media outlets to mention Ireland in the headline. "John O'Shea steals Germany victory," they said. And complained: "Jogi ,that just can't be true. The World Cup jubilation is over." Germany's biggest tabloid Bild said: "Jogi, you make us mad," with the German headline reading "Jogi, ihr machst uns ir(r)e," a play on words with Ireland. "Stuck in the World Cup hole," the tabloid said, and noted "that they now have four stars on the jersey, but no longer play four-star football. "Without 10 injured players and those who have retired and a leader," they said, and also had a go at the silent Germany fans, who were "unterIRISCH for a home game," another play on words which translates into "abysmal."
|
