What a collective debacle: Spain shows the DFB with all brutality

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

With a good game and a group victory in the Nations League, Joachim Löw wants to put an end to this strange international year of matches. But what the coach of the German soccer team lives then in Seville against Spain is the greatest humiliation of his long term.

A historic disgrace like the end of a year of lost international matches: the desperately overwhelmed national team has experienced the worst debacle in 89 years and has lost the maturity of EM. In the “final” for the group win in Spain’s Nations League, the astonishing selection of national coach Joachim Löw had no chance from the start and left the pitch after a memorable 6-0 (3- 0). The biggest defeat since 1931 (0: 6 against Austria) followed a shocked and petrified Löw on the sidelines.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer lived an afternoon to forget in his record match (96th international match), when Álvaro Morata (17th), Ferran Torres (33rd, 55th, 72nd), Rodrigo (38th) and Mikel Oyarzabal scored. (89.) The Bayern goalkeeper was left powerless. Neuer’s front men almost only chased after the Spanish enthusiasts and revealed terrible gaps in defense and serious coordination problems. The disaster gives Löw and his team many duties for the upcoming European Championship year.

“That was very disappointing for all of us, not just the defensive players,” Neuer said. “The body language disappointed everyone. We should have talked more, especially after conceding the first goal. That was very little in terms of leadership and communication. There is no right time for a match like this.” Serge Gnabry added, no less disappointed: “We had no chance. Spain deserved to win at the top. We did it wrong, so there are no excuses. Now you know what your situation is.”

Germany was miles away from their first competitive victory against La Roja in 32 years at the La Cartuja Olympic Stadium. The Spaniards, who were not convincing recently, qualified for the Final Four in October 2021. There, world champion France is already determined as an opponent. With the kick-off, Neuer became the only goalkeeper in DFB history. With his 96th international game, the captain surpassed Sepp Maier (95), who for him is a “goalkeeper legend”. However, Neuer is still miles away from international record Sergio Ramos, who played for Spain 178 times against Germany.

Spain attacked early and hard

Ramos tested Neuer with a free kick in the 7th minute, which was blocked by the Bayern goalkeeper. The DFB team was lucky that referee Andreas Ekberg (Sweden) had misplaced Ilkay Gündogan’s minor foul on Leipzig pro Dani Olmo outside the penalty area. Unlike the first leg (1: 1), when Löw had experimented with risky man-to-man tactics, the German team began to wait.

But the Spanish attacked early and fast, as their weak point they had obviously chosen the left defense with the inexperienced Philipp Max and Robin Koch. After the consequent 0: 1, Löw’s team advanced a little further, but this gave space to the Spanish buttresses. The failure of Ferrán Torres (18th), the offside of Morata (23rd) and a world-class parade of Neuer against Torres (30th) initially prevented a 0-2. But that was only postponed. Torres took advantage of the rebound from a crossbar by Olmo, who was criminally abandoned by Max for the second shot, and three minutes later Rodrigo headed in.

The Spanish, with Ramos and Sergio Canales injured in the first half, dominated the game almost at will. But they received almost no resistance. “That was nothing,” said ARD expert Bastian Schweinsteiger at halftime. After changing sides, despite a system change, nothing changed. In Toni Kroos, who was also disappointed, who missed the yellow card against Ukraine (3-1), the teammates could not stand up. Offensive, the turbo trio Timo Werner, Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry stayed in the air. Just a crossbar shot from Gnabry secured a strong moment for the DFB team. The only.