Shock exit
July 10, 2011
"The summer fairy tale is over!" exclaims German daily tabloid Bild Zeitung. The paper was as surprised as everybody else that tournament favorites and double World Cup winners exited the championships from a 0-1 defeat to Japan. "A counter goal in the 108th minute shocked millions. The sought-for third World Cup title was not to be."
The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine blames the loss on "a failure of nerves." Germany "never quite assumed their role as favorites" and paid the price to a team with better nerves. "The pressure on the big stage meant a premature end for the German national team," the paper writes, adding that although physically inferior, the Japanese were superior when it came to ideas.
The Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung calls Saturday's result a "gigantic disappointment" that is hard to believe. "Nobody, absolutely nobody expected this." The paper is optimistic about the future, and says young players like Simone Laudehr, Okoyino da Mbabi and Alexandra Popp need to look forward and motivate themselves for the 2013 Euro Championships and the 2015 World Cup. However, for veteran striker Birgit Prinz, it was not the "personal farewell tour" she would have wished for.
"The German disappointment is all the greater because for 120 minutes they were closer to scoring than their opponent," says Die Zeit. The newspaper says the game was full of bad passes and hints at a feeling of complacency among the team. "It's inconceivable that we're now going home while the others carry on playing in the World Cup," the paper quotes Lira Bajramaj as saying.
Der Tagespiegel suggests coach Silvia Neid's choice of the old start formation led to "the old nervousness of the start of the tournament." Instead of the flowing team combinations that marked the match against France, "the ball was lost in midfield through unnecessary bad passes." Although the paper praised Japan's "technical ability and energy," they found fault with Mexican referee Quetzalli Alvarado for at times "not being able to find her whistle" for fouls on Linda Bresonik and Kerstin Garefrekes.
Compiled by Catherine Bolsover
Editor: Toma Tasovac