Ok, so I may have been a bit melodramatic last night. Having had a semi-decent nights sleep and the majority of the day to dwell on the defeat of the German National Football team, I can now say this with now without having to fight the urge to gag: Spain played really, really well and deserved to win. Barcelona...I'm sorry, Spain, dominated the game with intense pressure and the most precise passing play I have ever seen in my football viewing life. It may not be the prettiest or most exciting football in the world, but to call it anything other than dominant would be painfully remiss. There I said. Now give me five minutes to bash my head against the wall.
Ahhh....much better.
So now the question is: where does Die Mannschaft go from here? Other than the match for third place. Well, it's best to start with the man who made it all happen: Jogi Loew. OH GOD PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US!!! PLEASE PLEASE STAY! I PROMISE I'LL MAKE ALL THE BAD MEN GO AWAY!
I kid, but in all seriousness, it is virtually impossible to overstate the importance of Loew's presence. The entire team, their style of play, the individual players all of it bears his mark. The fashionable German coach recieved a lot of flak from both the press and the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund) in the run up to the World Cup. For, the teams middling performance during the winter, for his choice of players possible even his v-neck sweaters, nothing was out of bounds. Now those same doubters are singing his praises. The only question is: will Jogi Loew put the past behind him and focus on the Euro Cup in 2012? He has crafted something great. A team that is so young and capable of such dominance should not be left to the devices of a coach who doesn't have the same vision. Make no mistake, Loew has a vision, and this is just the beginning.
Next is the team. Lifted by dazzling performances that raised expectations to truly dizzying heights, the squad must now pull itself back from depression and realize that they too are only at the beginning. With an average age of 25, this team,with only a few exception, can still contend in 2-3 more World Cup tournaments. Contend and contend strongly. The loss is bitter, and being stopped so short of the final for the second time in a row doubly so. But they need to remind themselves that at the moment, there are only two teams in Europe and four teams worldwide that can contend with them. Their future is bright, and they are only starting.
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