This time, Bernd Neuendorf was not standing in the international airport of Doha, but in front of a golden decorative wall of his association, which crashed again at a World Cup.
The reason for switching to the ZDF news studio was the same as almost exactly eight months ago in the men’s finals. More as a crisis manager than as President of the German Football Association, the 62-year-old had to explain how things will continue after the embarrassing preliminary round, now with the women. German football on the ground?
claim and reality
As with the men in Qatar at the end of 2022, the loss of the women hit the association suddenly. The knockout round was firmly planned, even more so than with the male DFB selection even participation in the final. “I sat on my packed suitcases, we had firmly assumed that we would reach the round of 16,” said Neuendorf. “Unfortunately that’s not the case now, it’s very disappointing and very bitter. And to be honest, that’s not what we want either.”
This was once world class in all areas. In the past few months up to the start of the World Cup, the Vice European Champions coached by national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg seemed to be on the right track. Then came the three games against Morocco (6-0), Colombia (1-2) and South Korea (1-1). “What remains is the pain and a very, very black day for German football,” said former international Julia Simic in her “ran” column.
The former league boss Donata Hopfen, who was at odds with the German Football League, turned the even bigger wheel and wrote in the social network “LinkedIn” that German football was “left behind and urgently needs change – new ideas, openness to modern impulses and approaches”. . Otherwise, the men’s home European Championship next year will not be a summer fairy tale, but “a summer scare”. Ex-national player Tabea Kemme criticized in her “t-online” column: “I see structural problems that run through the team and also through German football.” Neuendorf said in the “Heute Journal” that it was rated too quickly only in extremes.
reaction and consequences
As difficult as the situation of the two flagship teams of the DFB is to compare, the immediate measures taken by the association are similar: first of all, continue as before. “We will sit down and see what conclusions we can draw from this,” said Neuendorf, but the national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg – unlike in Qatar national coach Hansi Flick – expressed his confidence just a few hours after the failure. Women’s football is “one of his priorities”.
After the men left, which was accompanied by much more drastic words in the media, director Oliver Bierhoff had to go, Flick was allowed to stay in Frankfurt / Main after days of hanging up and a summit meeting. DFB convened a “task force” with big names from the past and as a result Rudi Völler as the new sporting director. This has not helped the image of the DFB selection so far, on the contrary, after poor performances in the summer, the national coach is under great pressure in the upcoming international matches in September against Japan and France. There were no drastic structural changes.
From September, the women will play the newly created Nations League for the Olympic qualification for Paris 2024. The Olympic football tournament is much more important in women’s football than for men – Voss-Tecklenburg will also have that in mind, who will stay with the DFB on Friday at least implied. Neuendorf reported on a phone call with the national coach after the South Korea game, there were no “hasty conclusions”.
Voss-Tecklenburg will “criticize very sharply, with the team, with himself, with the coaching staff,” said Simic. “I think there will be changes, also in terms of personnel. The face of the national team will change a bit.” There was no great upheaval among the men. Neuendorf referred to the successes of the junior teams in the U17 and U19 area. The training of young talents is particularly criticized by both men and women.
“We don’t learn to make decisions,” Kemme wrote. “In Germany we play strategic football and don’t give intuition any room. In theory, the players know every possible solution, but sometimes you have to make instinctive decisions on the pitch.” In men’s football, the critics also miss the so-called football field players.
outlook and opportunities
Neuendorf admitted that sporting success was “above everything”. However, the DFB President does not fear drastic effects on the euphoria at the men’s European Championship in the coming year. “You can see that from various things,” he said, referring to the willingness of the volunteers for the home tournament. In women’s football, the DFB is applying together with Belgium and the Netherlands to host the 2027 World Cup, which the world association FIFA has already declared as a milestone for equality in football.
The World Cup was “a damper” for the development of women’s football in Germany, which had benefited greatly from the success at the European Championship. “In general” the positive development “can no longer be stopped,” said Neuendorf. After the home World Cup in 2011, the association had made very little of the brief summer euphoria, the DFB selection had been eliminated in the quarter-finals.
DFB statements on the World Cup
