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Germany needs some young blood
Posted: Sunday July 05, 1998 04:22 PM
PARIS (CNN/SI) -- It's out with the old and in with the new for German
soccer. But finding those new, young players to replace the
tried-and-trusted old guard could take some doing. Many of the
thirty-somethings are bowing out of the international arena after years of
success with Germany's
national team. Lothar Matthaus, the 37-year-old 1990 World
Cup-winning captain, and Jurgen Klinsmann, Germany's 33-year-old captain
during France
'98, are leading the exodus. Defenders Jurgen Kohler (32) and Olaf
Thon (32) will no longer wear a German shirt. Others like Andy Moeller
(30), Thomas Helmer (33), Thomas Haessler (32), Stefan Reuter (31) and
Andreas Kopke (36) are hardly what you'd call spring chickens. All could
have made their last World Cup finals appearance -- some may never play
international football again. You may be surprised to know Germany's
star striker Oliver Bierhoff has turned 30. He was late on the
international scene and even later to develop into a top-lass force at the
highest level. He'll be 34 at the next World Cup finals and probably beyond
his sell-buy date. Fellow strikers Ulf Kirsten and Olaf Marschall, mainly
on the bench in these finals, are both 32. Who does that leave?
Well, Jens Jeremies and Dietmar Hamann, who appeared at various times
during France '98 before Germany's 3-0 quarterfinal exit to Croatia, are
just 24. Christian Worns, whose sending off turned the match against
Croatia, is 26 and can hope to repair his wrong-doings in 2002. Jorg
Heinrich is 28 and has many good years left in him. Markus Babbel
(25), Christian Ziege (26), Steffen Freund (28) and Michael Tarnat (28)
round out the outfield players in the current squad. The reserve
goalkeepers are Jens Lehman (28) and Oliver Kahn (29). Germany had
the oldest average squad age in France '98 of 30.9 years. They played like
it as well, often appearing lethargic, devoid of fresh ideas and short of
the arrogance of youth. While England can
look forward to years of excitement from teenager Michael Owen and the
twenty-somethings David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Steve McMananaman and the
Neville brothers, Germany is struggling for young blood to give their
flagging national team a transfusion.
Coach Berti Vogts knows it. He's been harping on to the German Federation about it for years.
After the defeat by Croatia he said: "Of course a new national team has to be built, but for this we need the players. If you say 'Look the team is too old', then you have to ask as well 'where do our young talented players get the chance?'"
Vogts, who appears to have the backing of the German Federation, is prepared to stay on as coach, but only if he is given an assurance that the structure of soccer in that country is changed to bring on young players with skill and potential internati
onal quality.
For so long it seemed Germany had a conveyor belt of talent. Vogts fears it has stopped rotating.
Just seven outfield players under the age of 30 are on Germany's current squad -- none are bone fide stars.
The Bundesliga isn't bursting forth with players likely to change that anytime soon, with the possible exception of Bayern Munich's curiously "left-at-home" Mehmet Scholl. And anway if the players were there, Vogts would have at least some of them in
his squad already.
No, Germany is in a massive transition phase, perhaps the biggest in their modern history.
The European Championship qualifiers start later this year for the finals in 2000, when Germany's title will be put on the line. Vogts will start the laborious rebuilding process then -- but whether he can lay the foundations, erect the walls, put on
the roof and add the furnishings before the qualifying campaign is over is debatable.
Germany's saving grace is that it has an easy-looking group. But once in the finals, will we instantly be talking about Germany as potential title contenders, as is the norm at major soccer events?
It's doubtful. The days of Deutsch dominance are over unless the seeds of young talent are rapidly planted -- and nurtured quicker still.
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