Germany

[AfricanBavarian]

Matthaus, Effenberg, Netzer you name it, they are all crazy old men in my opinion.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

Netzer is a great expert and I think he is also a nice and likeable guy.
The others are crazy indeed. They are not that old though.

 

[DennyCrane]

Even when he was doing well, Özil was always looked at with scepticism by guys like Raimund Hinko. I think his sadfrog looks and attitude don't really sit well with the 1970s Leitwolf- and anthem-obsessed generation (i.e. Breitner etc). Add to that his slump in form and you have an easy scapegoat. That said, the criticism is definitely warranted, but the extent and tone in which guys like Ballack are doing it is over the top.

The Arsenal move tarnished his reputation as well because it's seen as a setback. Being a Real Madrid player with the tag "Champions League Winner" would have shielded him from public criticism as well, at least partially. It's part of what makes the difference in perception between "player x sucks" or "coach y is using player x wrong". Note that the difference is perception only, not actual performance. I knew this entire thing would happen the moment a commentator dropped the 60-minutes-Mesut reference. It went only downhill from there.

 

[footyfan]

Interesting, I know fans dislike stats and technology in football, but I really think something like this helps teams study their opponents and themselves:

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2014/07/10/germanys-12th-man-at-the-world-cup-big-data/

 

[mozad]

And Brazil is being humilated again. This time by Holland who don't even need to win. Turns out that Germany's 7-1 win against Brazil, was not thanks to Germany but thanks to a disasterious brazilian team.

 

[AfricanBavarian]

Goootzzeeeee!!!!

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

Congrats to the German members here. :beer2:

 

[Flavia]

Congrats to all Germany fans. Hard fought game.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Great match. Was hoping for a Spain-Germany final, Germany was my 2nd favorite, glad they won with their brand of technical football.

 

[Alik]

Congratulations. Looks like you have a bright future too.

 

[Bertus]

Congratz Germany.

 

[PaulTaylor]

Congratz Germany (bar Muller)

 

[Galning]

Visiting a German friend of mine on Wednesday, hopefully she's still in the mood then

Congratulations Germany! They weren't really a class above the rest this tournament but definitely deserved it.

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

Visiting a German friend of mine on Wednesday, hopefully she's still in the mood then

Giggity.

 

[King Leo]

Visiting a German friend of mine on Wednesday, hopefully she's still in the mood then

Congratulations Germany! They weren't really a class above the rest this tournament but definitely deserved it.

congrats to the German fans here. A narrow win today. Better prepare for the Euro in 2 years, else a new Roja or young Belgian team will take it away from you.