The Revival
What was so surprising about Germany finishing runner-up at the 2002 World Cup?
The Germans had reached four of the previous seven finals. The three-time champions' date with Brazil marked their seventh final overall.
Consider the four years of malaise that preceded the 2002 finals and it becomes easier to comprehend why the German public reacted more joyfully to this squad than to ones that managed to lift a title.
At France '98, Germany fell to Croatia in the quarterfinals, ''with such bad grace,'' writes Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger in ''Tor! The Story of German Football,'' that a newspaper printed a resignation letter and asked Coach Berti Vogts to sign it.
In 1999, with Erich Ribbeck at the helm, Germany suffered its worst defeat since losing to Algeria at the 1982 World Cup. The United States delivered the blow – 3-0 in Florida, with goals coming from German-based players Claudio Reyna, Jovan Kirovski and Tony Sanneh. Kicker Magazine's headline: ''That's Enough!''
At the 2000 European Championship – by then the United States had beaten Germany again, 2-0 – the Germans exited in the first round, losing their last game, 3-0, to Portugal's second string. A German newspaper printed a photo of Zinedine Zidane captioned, ''This is a soccer player.'' Beside it, a photo of a bratwurst was headed: ''This is a German international.''
The German federation (DFB) named Christoph Daum coach. After weeks of rumors that Daum was a cocaine user, he tested positive. Scandal now accompanied the on-field woes.
Daum's fall sealed Rudi Voeller as head coach. And only Voeller, one of the most beloved players in German history, could have survived Germany's 5-1 home loss to England last September with his stature intact.
''If Germany had lost its first three World Cup games and had been eliminated,'' Hesse-Lichtenberger says, ''Voeller would have come home and resigned. And the people would have begged him to stay on.''
But the Germans lost only one game – the final. However modest the national team talent had become, it was crippled further by pre-tournament injuries to Mehmet Scholl, Jens Nowotny and Sebastian Deisler. And Michael Ballack limped into the tournament.
The humble attitude of the first underdog German team to go to a World Cup in decades, and its incredible success, captured the imagination of German fans.
The German League, whose past three titles were settled dramatically on the last day of the season, could also celebrate 2002 as a good year. Bayer Leverkusen reached the Champions League final and Borussia Dortmund the UEFA Cup title game. (Both lost.)
Thanks to its strict accounting regulations – teams may not run a deficit – the league has been able to handle the collapse of the TV cash cow.
True, the insolvency of Kirch Media, which promised $1.5 billion for TV rights in a four-year deal through 2004, delivers a solid blow. (The new deal offers each club $2 million to $3 million less per season.)
The fallout isn't expected to be nearly as severe as in other nations. Although the clubs are more frugal on the transfer market, Bayer Leverkusen, for example, reports no major budget cuts. Bayern Munich has cut only special bonuses, such as those paid to players for winning a derby. Wolfsburg cut its roster from 29 players to 26, but its budget is increasing by $5 million thanks to sponsor Volkswagen.
As for the national team program, the runner-up finish hasn't, as some feared, overshadowed the need for reform. In July, DFB unveiled its $10 million-per-year player development program, which promises to bring 22,000 teens in for weekly training at 390 DFB-run stations around the country.
by Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla