display

Whatever the end of the Joachim Löw era this EM summer, he will not be able to achieve the absolutely perfect finish.

It already existed back then in Rome.

When we saw Franz Beckenbauer strolling around the center circle on a mild July night with the gold medal around his neck under full moon lighting in 1990 - as a figure of light and world champion.

Löw can “only” go as European champion, which would also be worthy of all honor, and he was already world champion.

But what are the advantages of going into a major tournament with Germany as a “lame duck”?

A total of six of the nine Löw predecessors ended their tenure with a tournament, but only half were known beforehand: Helmut Schön, Franz Beckenbauer and Erich Ribbeck.

The Kaiser showed that a good finish is possible if the atmosphere is right.

That was the case.

"It was the best atmosphere I have ever experienced with the national team," said Jürgen Kohler, for example.

Source: pa / dpa / afp

That remained the exception, the Schön and Ribbeck cases serve as warning of history.

Helmut Schön, who died in 1996 and was allowed to look after a golden generation and who led them to European Championship (1972) and World Cup (1974) honors, actually wanted to quit after the triumph in Munich, but Ms. Anneliese provided another mandate with a simple question : “And what should we live on?” The Saxon, who is always a bit hesitant with the sensitive stomach, gave himself two more tournaments.

After second place at the 1976 European Championship, Argentina should be the last business trip.

Schön failed in Argentina

display

The momentum was long gone, the world championship eleven broke and the test results gave no hope for anything good.

The repatriation campaigns in the matter of Franz Beckenbauer and Jürgen Grabowski failed, courage sank.

In his biography, published shortly after the World Cup, Schön admitted: "Before I left for Argentina, I didn't believe that the German national team could become world champions again."

National coach Helmut Schön (right) and captain Berti Vogts at the 1978 World Cup

Source: pa / Roland Witsch / Roland Witschel

It didn't, winning only one out of six games and losing the last one - 2: 3 to Austria, the legendary disgrace of Cordoba.

Schön was embarrassed beforehand, when DFB President Hermann Neuberger gave an agency interview and rumbled: “I have the impression that our team is not training enough.

Maybe she's not fit. ”Also,“ two players are there who are causing a stir.

I prophesied that even before departure ”.

Would he have said that if the coach had stayed?

Neuberger quickly denied it, but the SID stuck to its presentation.

Schön was "deeply struck" and assumed that "something like that will have been talked about".

After returning, he took his hat and left after 14 mostly successful years, which ended with his worst tournament, of all things.

Schön: "I would have really wished for a better end to my job."

Ribbeck as "team boss without a team"

display

But none was worse than that of Erich Ribbeck, who stepped in after Berti Vogts resigned in autumn 1998 and had a contract until July 31, 2000.

Neither side was interested in an extension, as it soon became clear.

There was never again a revolt against a national coach.

Bayern's Jens Jeremies called the state of the national team "pathetic", and Ribbeck's assistant Uli Stielike put an all-round interview four weeks before the EM 2000 about the job.

In the training camp on Mallorca, a group of Bayern stars internally called for Ribbeck to be replaced; Libero Lothar Matthäus should take over the job.

He refused.

No matter.

"From then on, Ribbeck was a team boss without a team," wrote the "kicker".

This was followed by the worst European Championship of a German team to date, the departure after the preliminary round and a gloomy prophecy from Matthäus: "Germany must be careful not to disappear from the scene of major tournaments for years."