The failure of Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's side felt like a shock, but in truth, we should have seen it coming
had felt utterly inconceivable before the World Cup began, a one-in-a-million freak accident that didn’t warrant much worrying over, not even after the last-minute defeat by Colombia in the middle group game had ramped up the pressure. “Germany is not a nation that needs to tremble,” midfielder Lena Oberdorf had said after that 2-1 loss.Such confidence proved misguided.
Beyond crossing balls towards star striker Popp, Germany had precious little going for themselves in possession, especially against sides who defended with intelligence and commitment, as Colombia and South Korea did. Gegenpressing, a key component of their success at Euro 2022 against more dominant teams, was almost wholly absent, as was sharp combination play through the middle of the pitch.
For most of Thursday’s match, the players looked at a loss to make the formation work; nervousness and poor first touches riddled their game. “There was a mental block,” national teams director Joti Chatzialexiou said. Perhaps confidence within the team wasn’t quite as strong as their public statements suggested.
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