The process of revving the German ‘’machine’’ has begun. Rustic components of the machine are being replaced, with the resultant effect of shocking the world in the next three years in Qatar. That is how to plan for the future, making short term, but enduring decisions. Indeed, the recent changes in the German team have thrown up lessons which developing football nations, such as Nigeria, should learn, if we hope to compete favourably with world beaters when the chips are down at the 2022 World Cup slated for Qatar.
The Germans have thriving youth academies, which produce new talents, using the country’s football federation’s templates. The changes in the squad are meant to expose those nurtured in the nurseries. Going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Germans were a seeming emerging force in the game, having fallen on their fours after a heartbreaking World Cup outing in 1998. Croatia cranked the German machine with a humiliating 3-0 victory, courtesy of goals scored by Robert Jami (45th minute), Goran Vlaovic (80th) and Davor Sucker (85th).
Berti Vogts (remember him? He was once Nigeria’s senior team’s manager) guided the German national team to a Euro 1992 runners-up place and a Euro 1996 win, two World Cup quarter-final defeats in 1994 and 1998. He stepped down as manager in September 1998. The Germans were provoked to do a holistic rebuilding of their team, which yielded dividends in 2002, four years after Vogts stepped aside. Germany and Brazil met in the final game on June 30, 2002, the first World Cup meeting between the two sides. The Brazilians won, with Ronaldo de Lima scoring goals which fetched him the highest goal scorer’s award. The Germans have also been runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup and four third-place finishes at World Cups. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
With such a rich resume, playing in the final of the 2002 World Cup wasn’t their target. They wanted the ultimate prize and strove for it, using flaws noticed in this final game to upgrade their national team. Things went awry for the Germans in the 2006 edition, even as hosts, because the final game was between the Italians and the French. Italy beat France 5–3 on penalties. The match ened 1–1 after an extra time on July 9, 2006 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany.
The Germans sprang into action to redeem their image, knowing that they had not won the World Cup at the senior level since 1990. They beat Argentina 1-0 on July 8, 1990 at the Stadio Olimpico in Italy’s capital. That was unacceptable to one of the world’s football powers and one of the eight that have won the World Cup. The eight countries are: Brazil, England, Argentina, Italy, Germany, Spain, Uruguay and France. The Germans have won four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996), and one Confederations Cup (2017), making them one of the most successful national teams in international competitions.
The major lesson that Nigeria’s football chieftains can learn from the Germans in rebuilding our national teams is the promotion of Joachim Low to senior level, jettisoning early penchant for elevating former star players to coaches. The other advantage was that Low bridged the transition of players from the younger teams to the senior side. Low did it so well at the 2017 Confederations Cup, where he dropped his 2014 World Cup-winning stars for younger boys who won the trophy in Brazil.
Immediately, Germany won the Confederations Cup in Brazil, they had 44 title-winning players, which was good but troubled the manager when it came to picking his best 22. It showed at the Russia 2018 World Cup with the way the Germans crumbled easily as defending champions. Rather than sack Low, the Germans kept him in the saddle. A lesson in continuity for Nigeria. After all, the game is about winning, drawing and losing games, even though all fans want their teams to win all titles and games.
Planning isn’t rocket science. It comes from taking stock. It becomes more difficult in teamwork where all facets of the relay need to be oiled to achieve set objectives. Germany are reaping the benefits of keeping Low on the job because he is walking a familiar path.
Low ruffled feathers among the hierarchy of the German machine, when he visited key players, such as those in the Bundesliga side Bayern Munich. He told them that he wasn’t going to invite them for the team’s matches. Low doesn’t reckon with their experience, which is what has ruined most attempts to reinvent the operations of the Super Eagles. The German boss ended the career of World Cup winners Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels and Thomas Muller.
‘’I thank Mats, Jerome and Thomas for the many successful, extraordinary and unique years we shared,’’ Low said in a statement issued by the German FA. Now it is time to set the course for the future. We want to give the team a new look. I am convinced that this is the right step. The youngsters coming through will have the room they need to grow. Now it’s up to them to take on responsibility.’’
What Low has done is to throw experience into the lagoon, having used the 2017 Confederations Cup held in Brazil to assemble younger players, who have imbibed the German winning mentality. Experience cannot be achieved, if those who should replace the ageing stars don’t play matches.
What most Nigerian coaches forget, unlike Low is that the experienced players started as rookies. They used the matches they played to improve on their games. Such experiences don’t come by not fielding new players or keeping them on the bench. It was difficult for Low, but he looked at the future. He didn’t respond to the jibes thrown at him by those dropped. He expected such responses, but has moved on.
The striking aspect of Low’s expedition was that it never leaked. No football chief accompanied the manager to see them. It wasn’t discussed at board meetings nor did Low banter with any so- called technical committee. It was the manager’s show, knowing that he will carry the can, if the German Machine doesn’t rev on all its cylinders at the next tournament.
Will Gernot Rohr, who interestingly is a German, adopt a similar template in ringing changes in the Super Eagles? Will the federation’s chiefs trust Rohr to make the right decisions? Will Nigerians back Rohr, if he decides to stick to his guns that Victor Moses should call him to say he wants to play again for Nigeria, before he could be invited? Is it right for Rohr to leave the door open for a seeming reluctant John Mikel Obi on grounds of his experience and leadership qualities? Does Rohr have the powers to re-jig the Eagles without recourse to the NFF board or its technical committee?
Where will Rohr find the replacements for our ageing stars from the rudderless domestic league? It is sickening to note that we have turned our searchlight to Europe for Nigeria-born kids to replace players across our national teams, including age-grade teams. We have lost hope in our domestic coaches in picking players with the right ages, which can’t be faulted by any disgruntled person.
Grassroots competitions, which in the past produced the new kids of our soccer are dead. The synergy between the schools and the states’ sports councils to develop sports in the 774 local government areas is extinct, largely because some of the playgrounds have been built up to accommodate more students. Physical and Health Colleges that groomed the games masters and mistresses who were redeployed to the schools are derelict, in some cases built up to become hotels, shops etc. The facilities inside colleges, such as the late Pa Michael Imoudu College of Physical and Health education in Afuze, Edo State, are outdated.
States’ ministries of education which had the relevant personnel to oil the operations to groom talents, have looked elsewhere for greener pastures, knowing that their calling has no future. Some governors have not helped matters by paying lip-service to sports. These governors are driven by their pre-election promises to the electorate, which most times doesn’t include sports. Sports can only thrive if the nurseries are oiled through competitions. The nurseries are the grassroots in the states.
We will be helping Rohr to fix our soccer if we return to the old templates, but this time with effective record keeping to prevent cheats from circumventing the system. Germany can re-jig their soccer teams because of her rich nurseries. We should emulate her.
