I’m not going to take anything away from football legend Lothar Matthäus’ impressive career as a player, but what he comes up with after Germany crashed out of the World Cup in the round of 16 is just nonsense.
The fiasco is a reality and whether the players get a schnapps and a lie in the hotel between matches is much less important than the fact Julian Nagelsmann is the national team manager. – Sporten.com’s expert panel has constantly pointed out the coach broiler’s many weaknesses. Hiring Jürgen Klopp as the new national team manager will have much more significance for Germany than “booty”
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Lothar Matthäus, who himself has World Cup gold with Germany in 1990, believes Germany’s early World Cup exit is due to the players being distracted by girlfriends and families – and claims that internal conflicts over travel and accommodation arrangements created discord in the squad.
When Germany crashed out of the World Cup against Paraguay, it was not the first time Matthäus experienced German players being affected by too much privacy during a championship. He points to the 1994 World Cup, when Germany was knocked out in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria – and claims that the same thing happened this time.
After the early World Cup exit for the German national team, the 1990 World Cup winner makes it clear what went fundamentally wrong from his point of view. He is particularly critical of the fact that the players’ wives and families were allowed to accompany the team to the training camp from the start. He says to RTL:
“I still believe that you can really reach the quarter-finals without a World Cup without a family. Sometimes three weeks, four weeks away from family.”
“There is a lot to process, both on and off the pitch. Wives, families – everyone was involved. There were many headlines.
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The families created irritation in the squad
Matthäus claims that the presence of families created internal discussions – about who was allowed to travel how, and who was allowed to live where.
“It started to be about who was allowed to travel, how and who was allowed to live where. There was a lot of discussion in the team. It was never made public, but I know it caused irritation,” he says.
According to the former midfielder, one player reacted to a teammate being allowed to bring his mother on the plane, while another was allowed to bring both his wife and children. At the same time, others are said to have had to travel on ordinary scheduled flights.
“Then it’s about family vacation, not the World Cup
Matthäus therefore believes that the families should not come until later in the championship.
“Otherwise, it’s not about the World Cup, but about being on a family holiday,” he says.
The photo shows several of Germany’s players with their loved ones during the championship: Kai Havertz with his wife Sophia, Joshua Kimmich with Lina Meyer, Manuel Neuer with his mother, son and wife, and Jamal Musiala with his mother Carolin. Matthäus believes that all this attention to private life took the focus away from what should be the most important thing – football.
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