The Other Way of Winning

Leibnitz University Hannover

Summer semester 2014

English communikation about today’s pictures

Student: Paul-Niklas Hillmer (3061480)

Docent: Janka Blanckertz

The other way of winning

[pic 1]

(N24 Sport)

This picture shows the head coaches of Brazil’s and Germany’s national teams Luiz Felipe Scolari and Joachim Löw arm in arm after their match in the semifinals of the football world cup 2014 which will be remembered through the ages, not just because of the unbelievable score line at the end of the game but because of both team’s and their coache’s storys that seem to be so similar but also so different at the same time. It is a story of love turning into hate and frustration turning into celebration.

Before the world cup in Brazil started the German football fans were in a strange mood. Germany’s national team has been a favorite in the tournaments before the world cup but always failed in the most important matches. In 2006 when Joachim Löw was assistant coach Germany reached the semifinals of the world cup in the own country which was the so called beginning of a new generation of football players, the ‘golden generation’. After Löw became the head coach Germany reached the final 2008 and the semifinals 2010 and 2012 but they were not able to win their first European championship since 1996 or world championship since 1990. Before the world cup of 2010 Löw surprised the fans by leaving players of the golden generation at home and nominating young players with very few international experience like Özil or Müller who as we now know became some of the biggest stars in the world of football. The German fans were dreaming of the title but winning the third place with this young team and the way they performed were seen as a glory victory as well and Löw was praised for forming this team and creating a new style of German football. The door seemed to be open for winning a title in the next tournament which took place two years later. The shooting stars from 2010 were big characters in their clubs now and the experienced players of 2006 were in the best age to go for the gold. But again the team lost in the semifinal and this time the German fans and media who were expecting the win of the title unleashed their frustration on Löw and the players. For most people Joachim was responsible for the loss because of obvious tactical mistakes while the players were missing a winning mentality when going after the media.

In 2014 the meanings were split. On the one hand Germany had a perfect combination of young and experienced players most of them playing in Champions League year after year and some of them even won it as the first German club since 2001. More players than ever before made it to the biggest clubs around Europe in England, Spain and Italy. But on the other hand a big part lost trust in Löw because of bad performances in the games before the tournament. In the eyes of the fans and media Löw could never do the right decisions when it comes to players, formations and tactics. 31% did not expect Germany to even reach the semifinals although Germany seemed to have the best squad ever when looking on the individual players. Löw had to win the world championship otherwise he would have been seen as the man ruining the greatest generation of modern German football.

In Brazil the things went in the complete other way. The Brazilian Team lost in the quarterfinals of 2006 and 2010 and the high class of former Brazilian football was nowhere to find anymore. But with being the host of the cup in 2014 and the returning of Luiz Felipe Scolari who lead them to the title in 2002 already as Brazilians coach there seemed to be a chance to find the old glance again. A new generation of players around the world star Neymar was grown. While there were protests against the world cup because parts of the folk saw it as wasting money, the football fans were dreaming of the title again. And after winning the Confederations Cup in a glorious way they had real arguments on their side.

When the world cup finally started the Brazilians sent an impressive message to the world. After the music of the national anthem turned off the players and the whole stadium went on screaming the anthem out with tears falling of their faces.  Although the performance was not the best Brazil won the match and the country was celebrating their heroes. Brazil went on with a draw and a win qualifying for the next round. They played with passion and fighting spirit but in the eyes of experts the team did not play that good when it comes to tactics. Germany at the same time started against the big name Portugal und humiliated them 4:0. Löw’s new tactic and formation surprised the German fans and even experts. While it was a brilliant tactic for everyone in the first game it was all rubbish again after the 2:2 against Ghana. In the round of the last sixteen Germany faced Algeria and the fans were horrified from what they witnessed. Algeria seemed to be the better team most of the game and Germany was lucky their goalkeeper had a good day. After the close victory Germany’s Mertesacker gave an interview which turned out to be a legendary one. He said the media must get away from expecting thrilling football and should think about themselves criticizing a team which just qualified for the quarterfinals of a world cup.  It was an experience the German world of football had to make. There is another way of winning that most of the fans never thought about. So the negative mood changed into trusting the team and Joachim Löw’s new ideas. Meanwhile the Brazilians went on to luckily reach the semifinals in close matches against the surprising teams of Chile and Mexico but they lost their star Neymar. Losing him was a shock for the Brazilian fans but they were still self-confident of beating Germany in the semifinal and seeing their heroes winning for their nation and for their injured star. But the semifinal went out to be a tragedy for whole Brazil. Getting embarrassed by a 7:1 defeat showed the Brazilians they were just living in a dream. The act of rising Neymar’s jersey up while singing the anthem looked like an act of willing and fighting spirit but turned out to be a desperate try of showing the non-existing strength. While the Brazilian’s dreams were crushed by a self-confident and perfect organized German team the giant frustration came out. The Brazilian crowd booed their own team in the second half and many left the stadium. Brazilian’s striker Fred was known as the darling of the public because he is playing in a club in Brazil and he is not as talented as his teammates but still scoring goals. But in this match he felt most of the crowd’s hate for showing a bad performance the whole tournament so that he retired later on. Meanwhile Germany’s striker Miroslav Klose was a symbolic figure in this match because of scoring his 16th world cup goal and becoming the all-time greatest goal scorer right before the eyes of the Brazilian Legend Ronaldo who was the record holder before which was also a destruction of all the Brazilians believed in. To put it in a nutshell Brazil got shown that passion and believing is not the right way of winning.