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Hansi Flick quits as Germany manager after dismal World Cup campaign
Hans-Dieter "Hansi" Flick stepped down from his post as Germany manager today following a World Cup campaign in Qatar which saw the European powerhouses eliminated in the group stage. In a joint statement with the German Football Association (DFB) it was announced that Flick’s contract would no longer see him presiding over “Die Mannschaft’s” 2024 European Championship tournament, of which Germany are the host nation. Flick had been Germany’s manager for a little over a year prior to his resignation, overseeing the team’s European League group stage matches against Belgium, Poland and Denmark. While qualification for the European League’s semi-finals was secured prior to the World Cup, Germany’s failure to advance into the knockout rounds of international football’s biggest stage cannot be seen as anything other than a failure. Thomas Tuchel and Heiko Herrlich have already been named as Flick’s potential successors in the wake of his resignation.
Situated in Group E of the World Cup, Germany were drawn against Costa Rica, Japan and Spain for the Qatari tournament. Their opening match saw a frustrating 1-1 draw play out, with Joshua Kimmick scoring for the pre-match favourites. Then, Germany would succumb to a humiliating 4-1 defeat against their European rivals, Spain, Nico Schlotterbeck the sole scorer on this occasion. Germany needed a victory in their final game against Japan should they have stood a chance of qualifying from their group. Alas, the game ended goalless, sealing a shock qualification into the round-of-sixteen for the Asian side. Media surrounding Germany’s humiliating elimination from the World Cup was undoubtedly heightened given every other favorite for the tournament breezed through the competition’s group stage. Hansi Flick came under immense criticism over the course of the small campaign, with a lack of intelligent defensive organization and no creativity nor fluidity in the final third being pinpointed as large contributors to Germany’s ultimate downfall.
Belgium would become the fifth consecutive European side to win the World Cup, mercilessly thrashing Brazil in the final. Romelu Lukaku, who had the Golden Boot award wrapped up prior to this bout, was forced out with injury. However, Belgium didn’t need their central man and didn’t struggle for goals as Axel Witsel, Youri Tielemans, Toby Alderweireld and Kevin de Bruyne all got on the scoresheet en route to victory. Neymar would score first, however that’d be Brazil’s only goal of the match which saw Belgium massively outperform their expected goals. This victory sparked massive scenes of jubilation in the Belgian capital, the dubbed “Golden Generation” for the nation fulfilling their destiny, albeit later than most would have expected them to. Attention now turns to the 2024 European Championships to see if football’s new top dog will be able to expand on their newly-found legacy. Suffice to say, Europe’s other top nations won’t make the world champion’s task an easy outing.
