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Disgraced Defending champs head home after dismal performance
Posted: Tuesday June 20, 2000 06:47 PM
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Humiliated by Portugal's reserves, Germany surrendered its European title in disgrace and was heading home Wednesday, ridiculed even by its own fans. "Give us one more, give us one more," shouted German fans after Sergio Conceicao notched his and Portugal's second goal on a warm and humid night at the Feijenoord Stadium on Tuesday. And Conceicao duly obliged, blasting another low kick into the far corner to give the kiss of death to the former powerhouse in the 70th minute. "Auf Wiedersehen, auf Wiedersehen," shouted the delighted Portuguese fans, adding salt to the wound. The Germans had been hoping to get some friendly help from Romania Tuesday to maintain their unlikely quest to reach the quarterfinals after a stinging loss to England. Romania even obliged, beating England 3-2. But the Germans could not live up to their part of the equation and never even came close to beating Portugal. Without ideas, technically inferior, the Germans were simply outclassed. "We lived to see how a technically superior team humiliated us. We couldn't raise the pressure," said coach Erich Ribbeck. "This defeat hurts, but what hurts more is that we went out with a such a performance," he said. Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, guilty for the second Portuguese goal, said of his team's dismal display: "I am ashamed of this performance. This was the worst moment of the last two years. We have to be accountable for the this performance." "We were totally resigned in the second half-time," said defender Jens Nowotny. It was Germany's earliest exit since 1984 from the competition it had won a record three times. This was probably the worst German side to show up at a major competition in memory, with a shell-shocked, staggering defense, an attack that scored one goal in three games and a midfield that was so lacking in skill it was almost embarrassing. The Germans knew coming into the tournament that they would have problems and their stated goal was to reach the quarterfinals. They couldn't even achieve that minimum goal, earning just a point in three games and finishing bottom of Group A, after two defeats and a draw. After salvaging a 1-1 draw against Romania, Germany lost its first match to England in 34 years, beaten 1-0. The second-string Portuguese team threaded its neat passing game through the plodding German midfield then executed superbly past a confused, out-of-depth German defense. It may be a while before the Germans are seen again at a major championship and the Portuguese may not see Germany when they stage the championship in 2004. Coupled with the 3-0 defeat against Croatia in the quarterfinals of the 1998 World Cup, Germany has now failed miserably in two major championships in a row. No wonder the Germans fans booed and whistled loudly as the team left the field, with their heads down. The three-time World Cup champion is in a deep slump, its aging stars way over the hill and very little homegrown talent on the horizon. Lothar Matthäus, 39, extended his world record to 150 internationals but perhaps he should have stopped some 20 games ago. It was also the last match for the embattled Ribbeck, who lasted two controversial years in the job. "I failed," Ribbeck conceded, but did not immediately resign. But the Germans are already actively looking for a successor, with Christoph Daum, the Bayer Leverkusen coach, looking the likely candidate. Germany now has to rebuild, but with whom? Even before the match, Ribbeck conceded that there were few exciting young German players ready to come in and carry the once mighty soccer side. The outlook is bleak for the nation that produced Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Mueller and Guenter Netzer, to mention just some of the past greats. "We have to try to regroup and right the ship again," said midfielder Mehmet Scholl. The Germans now could have a difficult time qualifying for the 2002 World Cup. "We have to restructure and try to qualify," goalkeeper Kahn said.
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