Whatever comes next, Germany must conserve the spirit of Rudi Völler to find success
In just a short period of time, Rudi Völler has re-ignited a sense of euphoria around the German national team, setting the tone for whoever comes next.
Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to facilitate a turnaround. According to a report by Kicker, 10.3 million people in Germany turned on their television sets to watch the German national team beat France 2-1 in Dortmund. In comparison, just 5.85 million watched Germany’s 4-1 defeat to Japan on Saturday. The numbers for the France game, in fact, are comparable to those of big tournament games at the European Championships and World Cups.
But it wasn’t just in front of the television sets. The atmosphere in Dortmund was also the best for a national team since before the 2014 World Cup. It is telling that ending the Klinsmann-Löw-Bierhoff-Flick era seemed to have stopped the growing alienation between Die Nationalmannschaft and the German public.
“I am sick and tired of all those calls that demand that we have to capture the fans,” Thomas Müller said after the game. “We simply must win games. Every fan wants nothing else but to see us win games, and if we can’t do that, then you can give autographs for 14 hours straight and have all sorts of open-door events without an impact—it is success that mobilizes and excites people.”
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